I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God.Notice the differences in whom each translator makes reference to. Legge, a Christian, references THE god. Feng & English reference gods in the generic. Lin references the mythic Yellow Emperor.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
I do not know from whence it comes. It is the forefather of the gods.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
I do not know whose offspring it is Its image is the predecessor of the Emperor
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
Damned if I know where it came from. It's just always been around.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Of course, I like Ron Hogan's rendition best. It doesn't reference anything specific at all! Tao just is.
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I always liked the translations of Tolbert McCarroll and Wong Kiew Kit. This is what the former says:
ReplyDeleteI do not know whose child it is.
It existed before the common ancestor.
I think the translation that we hold to reflects our beliefs on Taoism, and influences our beliefs concerning Taoism as well. Of course, I think that Hogan probably captures the Taoist spirit best. I don't think I've read his tranlsation. I'll have to look into it.