Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die. Of every ten, three are ministers of life (to themselves);The beginning lines of Verse 50 are a bit mystifying. As we can see from the three translations above, they agree that Lao Tzu is writing about three in ten. However, two commentators quoted by Red Pine, Han Fei and Tu Er-Wei, contend that the numerical symbolism signifies the number thirteen!
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Between birth and death,
Three in ten are followers of life,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Coming into life, entering death
The followers of life, three in ten
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
(No corresponding lines.)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
According to Pine,
Han Fe says it means "three and ten" or "thirteen" and refers to the four limbs and nine orifices of the body, which can be guarded to preserve life or indulged to end it.To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
Tu Er-Wei also reads "thirteen" but sees its numerical significance in the moon, which becomes full thirteen days after it first appears and which disappears after another thirteen days.
We'll struggle to know the "correct" interpretation. But all they are is interpretations.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like the 3 in 10 version, I like where it goes.
I'm traveling and wish I had the Jonathan Star book to look at, and my teacher's (OMG) version. I might have brought them with me, but they'd probably be in my so far lost luggage...
ReplyDeleteBut I can't stop thinking about this. I suspect it could refer to the Taoist seven hun and three po (the yang and yin souls, which go various ways at death). I don't see the "thirteen" in the text; it definitely has to do with three in ten.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I mean three hun and seven po....I'm jet lagged and it's one in the morning. You can get your souls cofused this way! You can google "hun and po" for some background.
ReplyDeleteThis is all really interesting, to me anyway. There is a lunar element to all this, (so the 13 stuff may have some validity) and it goes back to early (certainly pre-LaoTzu shamanistic cosmology and concepts):
ReplyDeleteinteresting article:
http://acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=28537