I'm reading Zhuangzi. In the original, as in the original classical Chinese (humblebrag...). Classical Chinese which I have enjoyed studying since I first did in 1976, during studies of modern Mandarin. I love the compression of classical Chinese, the elegance.
The translation is by James Legge (1815-1897). Not a great translation, according to me. But I'm not about to try my own... Also not a great edition, by Dragon Reader, a paperback which tends to fall apart, but it'll do. The Classical Chinese is followed by Legge's translation.
Reading through, rather selectively -- because a lot of of Zhuangzi is tosh -- I found some bits of it that seemed to reflect the woke vs non-woke battles we have today. Zhuangzi lived in the Warring States period 475 BC to 9 AD (Western Han), so roughly 2,500 years ago. Plus ça change!
Example: From Tian Xia, (The World) Article 7.1. Talking of the then famous debater Hui Shi (惠施). This is Zhuangzi hammering Hu Shi; hammering what we would call today the SJW, the woke brigade, the "woke-erati"... This online version is also Legge's translation. Colours relate to the Chinese below.
Hui Shi had many ingenious notions. His writings would fill five carriages; but his doctrines were erroneous and contradictory, and his words were wide of their mark. Taking up one thing after another, he would say:
- 'That which is so great that there is nothing outside it may be called the Great One; and that which is so small that there is nothing inside it maybe called the Small One.'
- 'What has no thickness and will not admit of being repeated is 1000 li [miles] in size.' 'Heaven may be as low as the earth.' 'A mountain may be as level as a marsh.'
- ' The sun in the meridian may be the sun declining.' 'A creature may be born to life and may die at the same time.'
Hui Shi sounds rather like today's SJWs who claim that everything is relative, that there is no real Truth, that, indeed, 2 + 2 can equal 5? If he were on Twitter today, Zhuangzi would say: "Hu Shi: that guy's a woke dick"....
Bits I like, in the original, the classical Chinese, colours relating to the above:
惠施多方，其書五車. Reads, in modern Mandarin: Huì shī duōfāng, Qí shū wǔ chē. Literal translation: Hui Shi Many Sides; His Books Five Carts. Less literally: "Hui Shi is all over the place, and churns out enough to sink a ship"...Hui Shi by such sayings as these made himself very conspicuous [famous] throughout the kingdom, and was considered an able debater... And his acolytes went further with the woke-ness, all of 2,500 years ago: They vie to outdo one another in what today we'd call moral relativity. Eg: 'There are feathers in an egg.' 'A fowl has three feet.' 'The kingdom belongs to Ying.' 'A dog might have been (called) a sheep.' 'A horse has eggs.' 'A tadpole has a tail.' 'Fire is not hot.' 'A mountain gives forth a voice.' 'A wheel does not tread on the ground.' 'The eye does not see.' 'The finger indicates, but needs not touch, (the object).' 'Where you come to may not be the end.' 'The tortoise is longer than the snake.' 'The carpenter's square is not square'... One I like: 犬可以為羊. Read as: Quǎn kěyǐ wéi yáng. Literal translation: Dog can be like sheep. Less literally: "Don't dogs -- especially creamy-coloured ones, ivory coloured ones -- sometimes look like sheep, especially when they've just had a bath? And even if they deny it vehemently?". That's our Basil:  |
