The unwrought material, when divided and distributed, forms vessels.It would be unrealistic to expect any of us to stay in a pure primordial state. We have lives to lead, people to relate to, work to perform and leisure to enjoy. Just like an uncarved block of wood (or jade, Baroness) that is turned into a tool, we progress from infancy to the life of an adult.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
When the block is carved, it becomes useful.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Plain wood splits, then becomes tools
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
I think it is important to remember, however, that our lives can be molded more than one time. This becomes possible if we always leave a part of ourselves in the uncarved block state.
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I think what I liked about pu as uncut jade was the idea that it would be carved into something ornamental or symbolic, not practical or useful. As beautiful as carved jade is, it is basically frivolous and generates desire to own it, to put some arbitrary meaning and value to it, separate from the natural state of the jade itself.
ReplyDelete(I'm just saying this in the interest of dialogue.)
This verse is very much about returning to or maintaining that uncarved state.
I'd like to hear more about how "our lives can be molded more than one time" if we leave part of ourselves uncarved. This sounds more like putty. Do we just discard those carved parts? What would be one's uncarved state that we maintain?