Who knows his manhood's strength,
Yet still his female feebleness maintains;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Know the strength of man,
But keep a woman's care!
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Know the masculine, hold to the feminine
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
If you are strong, but remain sensitive,
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Here is
John Lash's take on these first two lines of Verse 28.
A woman does not have the same muscular strength as a man and cannot force her way through life. She must be more careful than the male in avoiding violent situations. Hence the female is a symbol of Tai Chi. Lao Tzu is saying that you should understand the Yang, how strength, force, and aggression are used, what brings them into play, etc., but you should hold to the Yin, to non-violence, softness, gentleness, compassion, etc.
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
I kinda feel like there's more too it than that, though that's a good interpretation as well. My most recent post on Notes from The Outside is actually more or less about this. (not that I'm trying to plug my blog, but I want to save myself a long reply)
ReplyDeletehttp://notesoutside.blogspot.com
"Hence the female is a symbol of Tai Chi."
ReplyDeleteI find this slightly puzzling and misleading (although his overall statement is certainly accurate).
Tai Chi (Taiji, not Tai "Qi") is the principle, the symbol of yin and yang in their dynamic balance and movement. Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan), the martial art, is based on yin and yang...I don't understand why Lash says "the female is a symbol of tai chi." Indeed there are some qigong forms that are considered yin, some are yang, but tai chi incorporates both. (Perhaps he may be referring to the difference between soft Taoist internal styles as compared to hard Buddhist/Shaolin external styles.)
Actually I think this line is less about male and female specifically, and more about strength and weakness, and other characteristics of yang and yin that come into play in tai chi practice, and life as a whole.
Masculine is penetrating and forceful. Feminine is yielding and gentle. Tai Chi Chuan holds to the latter, not to the former.
ReplyDeleteI've often said that Taoism is sexist against men. Taoism holds water as an ideal, the ultimate symbol of traditional feminine aspects.
In order to be complete, we must be aware of all aspects. In order to live best, we must be gentle and yielding.
@ Four Tael--Wudang-style taijiquan has some surprising yang, forceful movements. Breathtaking, really. Water can be yang...have you ever been to Niagara Falls? Not exactly gentle and yielding.
ReplyDeleteIf anything,I think the Taoist ideal is somewhat androgynous. TTC 28 suggests this.
First, the emphasis on Wudang Kungfu is always on the yielding. It's a defensive martial art, used for countering.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, waterfalls don't work on the force of the water. They work on the force of gravity acting upon the water. Water is perfectly suited to be acted upon by gravity, given its softness (that is the origin of aquifers).
By the way, the entire point of Tai Chi Chuan is to let your opponent be aggressive and forceful, and use their own force against them. If you are using only your own force as your primary means of attack, you are not practicing Tai Chi Chuan properly.
ReplyDeleteI yield to your point (to which I did allude in my first comment) , though I still find Lash's statement, which did not appear to be about the martial art, but about the taiji itself, a little misleading.
ReplyDeleteAny sexism you find in taoism you bring to it yourself. (If anything, I have sometimes found it quite the opposite; not until Sun Buer was there much useful information about practices designed for women.)
"Water is perfectly suited to be acted upon by gravity, given its softness (that is the origin of aquifers)."
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this intriguing remark, and it occurs to me that one might ergard gravity as the yang force working on the yin water. I think it supports my point about the taiji.