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Chapter 68

Chapter 68 has two sections. The first eight lines (by my numbering, though most treat them as four lines) are paradoxes on combat—— literally and metaphorically—— with parallel structures beginning [shan] [verb][zhe], 'those who are good at...'. The first three pairs end with [bu] [verb contrast]; each end word occurs only once in the DDJ, which may be significant. The fourth pair ends 'wei zhi xia', its own contrast used in part to finalise the section. The last three lines form a second section of parallels, [shi wei][object][zhi][noun]. How the translators treat these three lines indicates how much stock they put in parallel analysis.

While the roots of 'wû²' imply stopping someone with weapons and may encourage explanatory notes to a translation, I recoil from offering those notes as translation, such as WW's common ploy of confusing etymology for expression.

The DDJ has words for 'appear' (L1), 'show' (RH), 'exhibit' (EC), and 'rely on' (DC), and they are not used here; and 'oppressive' (WC) seems editorial. As for the simpler terms, I find 'warlike' to be a poor English expression. What is 'warlike'? A chess match? A football game? There is nothing really like war, and there's nothing warlike about war. 'bellicose' is just a fancy way of saying 'warlike'. 'aggressive', 'violent', and 'rush ahead' are too non-specific for the context, as may also be 'armed', which is also covered by 'bing'.

I think the first root, 'nu, slave', supplies sound and meaning here. Those who are good at fighting are not ruled by passion, but maintain control of their minds and hearts. Beserkers may cause some damage on a local scale, but don't provide much of a long-range strategy. 'angry', though used by most translators, does not convey that sense of passion, though 'passion' often is assumed to be of the romantic variety. 'enraged' is closer, though it implies a limitation to the emotional range. A more universal concept would encompass not just loss of control because of anger, but perhaps jealousy, hatred, regret, revenge, and not just emotional but political and dogmatic motivations. 'fanatical' or 'zealous' seem more encompassing, and I favour the latter.

'yù¬' is a homograph of 'yû (or, with)'.

FY has 'zhëng 爭 [contend]' for 'yù¬'.

Translators may shy from this literal phrase of 'using men' as seemingly unDaoist talk of manipulation. But in the martial context of this chapter, 'employing', 'managing', or 'boss' shows a conceptual break, and is a little anachronistic.

Though there are many variants of vocabulary, only AH does not adhere to the given structure: 'This is what is called having noncontentious efficacy'.

Here the parallel structure is frequently abandoned, so it is necessary to keep in mind that 'using men' is a repeat from line 7.

The MWD versions omit 'zhi li' ('power of') from line 10. Whether this reflects an older or an abherrent tradition is unclear, but it emphasises that 'using men' should remain intact, with the expanded version 'the power of using men', not 'using the power of men', two very distinct concepts.

The only other occurrence of 'li' in the DDJ is 33:03, where it is almost universally translated as 'power', 'force', or 'strength'; the weaker terms 'ability', 'capacity', and 'efforts' here are unfounded and misleading.

AH retains 'zhi li' but it is not reflected in the translation. L2 does not account for the same translation he gives of the MWD.

At this point, the divergence in versions and translations multiplies. MWD-A omits 'pei'; MWD-B substitutes 'fei' ('fat') ; MWD and FY add 'ye' at the end of the line. This has given commentators and translators leeway to omit words and argue for different structures.

L1 omits 'gu' but offers no explanation in his note. AH follows MWD-A omission of 'pei', but in a note translates WB as 'the matching with an axis', rejected presumably because it is "asymmetical in the number of characters". However both MWD versions are asymmetrical (A: 6-4-7, B: 6-4-8). AH maintains the 'zhi li' at the end of line 10, so has 6-6-3, asymmetry still not avoided, and any argument based on it is thus specious. AH also adds a comma after 'tian', but it does not correlate it to the translation, which should then read 'so-called Heaven, which is an axis of old'.

RP retains 'pei' and has a break after 'tian'. C1 quotes a commentary from one Yu Yueh that argues against a break at 'tian' based on the rimes of 'wu', 'nu', 'yu', and 'xia' (if such they be) and of 'de', 'li', and 'ji'. I take any assertions of rime scheme with a grain of salt, but parallel structures are persuasive to me. So C1's argument is skewed by his rendition of 'identity with the ultimate', when it should be 'ultimate of identity'. 'beyond space and time' though clever is not justified.

So for line 11, we should accept the same pattern as lines 9 and 10: 'so-called [de] of...', 'so-called [li] of...', and 'so-called [ji] of...'.

I am tentatively leaning now toward treating 'gu' as 'ancients', a class of beings like the 'sheng ren', ideal humans. Of the eight times 'gu' is used in the DDJ, six are in the form 'gu zhi', commonly rendered 'of ancient times' or 'of old'. But this now seems out of character of how the [object][zhi][noun] form is typically used. 'tian' then may be a description of the 'gu'. This is not without precedence in the DDJ. In 06:04, there is 'tian gen' ('Heavenly root'); 10:09 'tian men' ('Heavenly gate'); 47:04, 79:09 'tian dao' ('Heavenly Way'); 62:10 'tian zi' ('Heavenly Son'); 73:14 'tian wang' ('Heavenly net'). So here would be 'Heavenly ancients'.

There are six occurrences of 'jí¹' in the DDJ (q.v.).

This is the single occurrence of 'pei' in the DDJ.

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