instruments for the profit of a state should not be shown to the people.To be perfectly honest, I struggle with understanding this line. The translations are vastly different. Besides the three different views presented above, Jonathan Star translates this line as
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
And a country's weapons should not be displayed.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
The sharp instruments of the state
Cannot be shown to the people
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
A country that reveals its strength is soon conquered by an enemy.As I've stated numerous times before, I hold myself up as no expert. I'm just a simple bloke who tries to share with you what each line means to me through my own words or the words of others that speaks to me. In this case, I am unsure of the meaning and so maybe one of you can fill in the blank.
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
My teacher's translation (interpretation) is:
ReplyDelete"The Tao that all things derive from and follow with cannot be perceived by common people,"
although he is writing from an internal alchemy point of view.
Red Pine says:
"a state's greatest weapon isn't meant to be shown."
A commentary therein says "Weakness is the greatest weapon of the state...once rulers show weakness they attract enemies and shame."
Jonathan Star's earlier line (Line 9) is about the "wisdom of obscurity." I think it simply means to keep your strength hidden.
For some reason the old image of W.C. Fields hiding behind a hand of cards comes to my mind:
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/252-346
This also illustrates the limitations of looking at a "line" in isolation from the whole verse.
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