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Chapter 25, Lines 1-5
25:01 yôu wù hùn chéng
Something mixed completely
| yôu wù |
| Something, There is/was Something | FE, AL, W1, LY, RH, VM, JL, CM, EC, DH, DL, WW, LG, JS, AW, WC |
| There is/was a thing | L1, C1, PI |
| There is one thing | WO |
| There was some process | AH |
| Imagine a nebulous thing | RP |
| There is a Being | PC |
| Having substance | GR |
| There was a ... of matter | DC |
| hùn chéng |
| undefined and complete | JL |
| undefined and yet complete in itself | W1 |
| undifferentiated and yet complete | WC |
| unformed and complete | AL |
| formless, complete in itself | JS |
| formless yet complete | AW |
| featureless yet complete | VM |
| wondrous and complete | PC |
| confusedly formed | L1 |
| confused yet perfect | PI |
| invariably complete | WO |
| mysteriously formed | FE |
| nebulous | LY |
| nebulous existing | EC |
| formed spontaneously | AH |
| Imagine a nebulous thing | RP |
| perfect in its disorder | CM |
| all murky shadow | DH |
| formlessly created | DL |
| mingled and ungraspable as bubbling water, and yet complete | WW |
| contains everything | LG |
| formed out of chaos | RH |
| a "gathering" chaos | C1 |
| chaotic formation | DC |
| formed from chaos | GR |
| chaotic formation of matter | DC |
GD has 'you-alt zhuang hun-alt 又狀混 cheng'; MWD has 'kun 昆' for 'hun'. RH does not comment. AH uses 'hun', on which is commented that the rendition 'chaos' "puts a negative twist on an idea that is basically positive in classical Chinese". RP has standard text.
先天地生
25:02 xïan tïan dì shëng
Born before All
| Born before heaven and earth | L1, FE, W1, RH, VM, EC, DH, DL, GR |
| Which is born before Heaven and Earth | CM |
| Before heaven and earth were born | AL |
| which arose before Heaven and earth | PI |
| Emerging before the heavens and the earth | AH |
| Before Heaven and Earth were, it is already there | WO |
| Before heaven and earth, it was | PC |
| Before heaven and earth it is | LG |
| There before Heaven and Earth | JS |
| here before Heaven and Earth | RP |
| It exists/existed before Heaven and Earth | AW, WC, WW |
| Which existed prior to heaven and earth | C1 |
| Before the existence of Heaven and Earth | DC |
| Before the Heaven and Earth existed | LY |
LY reverses lines 1 and 2. In a note, WW argues against the use of past tense here.
寂兮寥兮
25:03 jì² xï líao¹ xï
Silent oh lonesome oh
These are the only occurrences of 'jì²' and 'líao¹' in the DDJ.
| 寂 |
| jì², silent |
| roots | pinyin, English |
|
宀叔
|
mián roof, shü uncle
|
| silent, silence | L1, FE, W1, C1, LY, RP, VM, AH, CM, EC, DH, DL, GR |
| noiseless | DC |
| still | WO, JL, LG, PI |
| calm | PC |
| solitary | AL |
| quiet and still | RH |
| quiet and tranquil | WW |
| tranquil | JS |
| 寥 |
| líao¹, lonesome |
| roots | pinyin, English |
|
宀翏
|
mián roof, liào sound of the wind
|
| void | L1, FE |
| empty, emptiness | AH, C1, AH, EC, DH |
| empty and at rest | WW |
| lonely | WO |
| silent | AL |
| unbodied | LG |
| boundless | W1 |
| amorphous | VM |
| formless | JL |
| desolate | CM |
| ethereal | DL |
| elusive | RP |
| spiritual | PC |
| isolated | LY |
| pure and deep | RH |
| indistinct | PI |
| vast | JS |
| sparse | GR |
| shapeless | DC |
MWD-A has 'xiu [embroidered?] he liao he 繡呵寥呵'; MWD-B has 'xiao [miserable?] he liao he蕭呵寥呵'. RH has a pair for each, though he does not explain why or which in his notes. AH uses 'ji he liao he'. RP has 'su [respectful?] 肅 xi liao xi'
JL also translates 'wú zhùang 狀' as 'formless'.
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