C : this and the next 5 lines could still be talking about the sage, but
because it seems to be a different section, it is translated in this
fashion
D : Simonis claims that the grammatical sense in which "one" is being used
means "one-ing creatures", hence knowing (or seeing, sensing, perceiving,
etc.) your oneness with them
E : "spirit-like" is taken to mean that your understanding of Dao has
reached the same level as that of the spirits, who are presumably not
confused by having senses or a heart/mind (from Simonis)
F : in this and the 5 lines above, it is assumed that it is the creatures
and duties that are being transformed and changed, because earlier it is
said that the sage takes part in changes but is not himself transformed or
changed
G : usually translated as "grasps the One" or "holds to the One" (the one
what? principle? Dao?), "maintaining Oneness" is taken to mean being able
to keep the sense of Oneness referred to above
H : he "rules" creatures in that they do not confuse his senses or
heart/mind (referred to below)
I : creatures do not "use" him in that they do not confuse his senses or
heart/mind (referred to below)
J : it is unclear what it meant here : "one word", "one saying", "word of
the One" ("One" perhaps referring to Dao?), "word of Oneness", "sound of
Oneness", possibly even "the whole utterance", etc.; so it is just left
literally translated as "one word"
K : "spirit-like understanding" is taken to refer to a state of
consciousness where you can intuitively understand Dao very clearly (from
Simonis)
L : you will "understand" them in that you will understand their proper
value (mentioned below), you will not allow them to confuse your senses or
heart/mind (referred to immediately below), etc.
M : presumably the heart/mind, or perhaps the "center"
N : the image seems to be that of a dragon - your head is in heaven, your
tail is on the earth, and your coils fill the "nine provinces" (the whole
world)
O : this is usually translated as "flood-like" (to match Mencius), but
literally means "like a vast body of water", and a flood does not seem to
be as harmonious and equable as a wide, calm lake
P : two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, two elimination, one sexual
Q : "four seas" also indicates the whole world
R : there are three possible symbols here, "to grasp or catch" (which Roth
says is the original symbol), "to roll into a ball with the hands", and
"to concentrate", and all are equally likely (as far as I can tell), so
the word used is a combination of all three
S : the symbol given ("flea") makes no sense; however it seems that it
must complete a double negative (do not [neglect/hesitate/fail] to?),
because twice below the Nei Ye encourages the reader to make plans
T : there is no subject in this sentence in the original Chinese! But the
phrase "that Dao" is used four other times, and "that Dao will naturally
arrive" appears below (using different symbols)
U : the five senses
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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