and that small states, by abasing themselves to a great state, win it over to them.These two lines suggest to me the art of reverse psychology -- convincing someone in power willingly to do the opposite of their intention.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
And if a small country submits to a great country,
It can conquer the great country.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
If the small country is lower than the large country
Then it can be taken by the large country
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
If you submit to someone
more powerful than yourself,
you create an opportunity
to get your own way.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
In all honesty, however, this is one of the few verses in the TTC I wrestle with. I'm not altogether sure of what it means!
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There's some esoteric yin-yang reversal stuff implied which has to do with neidan practice.
ReplyDeleteBut since you are looking at it from a political point of view, think of North Korea and Kim Jong-un's recent surprise...(which I at first thoguht was due to China's intervention since the talks were in Beijing) but...he gets food, we get the assurance (maybe) that he will stop his nuclear weapons program.
It is interesting that there is apparent incongruence between Feng-English and Derek Lin here. It would help to go back and do closer line-by-line scrutiny with the actual characters. I don't generally like Ron Hogan's interpretations, but this one seems to support my comment about North Korea.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that what Kim Jong-un really wants is security and favorable public opinion. Giving him the benefit of the dobut, here.
ReplyDelete