Introducing the new translation of Laozi’ s Scripture on Way and Virtue
Way of Truth in Man’s World
Wang Zhicheng
Deputy Secretary-in-general
China Society of Religions and
Zhejiang University professor
Dr. Zhu Wenxin
China Academy of Fine Art
The appearance of Laozi was a miracle in the history of Chinese culture. His existence in mankind was as miraculous as gold hidden in broken tiles and flying dragons amid a horde of snakes! He was so rare that it was puzzling and perplexing even to Sima Qian, the great historian in the Western Han Dynasty who had been so strongly positivistic. Far from pouring out words in a steady flow as usually in his biographies of historical figures, he turned out to be quite hesitant and wavering in wording, his notes became vague and ambiguous, using such words as “possibly Laozi” at one time and “probably no” at another, saying “Nobody in the world knew of him,” and even came to the helpless conclusion that Laozi was but a “hidden superior man!”
Fortunately he left behind a Classic on Way and Virtue; otherwise there wouldn’t be any way to prove his once existence among us as a “superb man.” Legend had it that Laozi cultivated in way and virtue and wrote about it in two volumes, Laozi in circulation or Scripture on Way and Virtue, usually known as the aftermaths of Confucius and Mozi, the oldest editions being Chu bamboo edition Laozi, Laozi in Volume I and Volume II copied on silk, Fuyi edition. There were countless notes on Laozi in various dynasties, among which the most important ones were Heshanggong edition, Yanzun edition and Wang Bi edition, etc.
As to the Scripture being translated into other languages, statistics by authoritarians showed that among the most translations of ancient classics, the Scripture came second only to the Bible which, as far as we know, it was the powerful religious preaching background that made it the first numerically, while Laozi had been handed down through ages entirely based on the inmost admiration of all ancient peoples of the world for him and their pure love for his philosophy. As early as in the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD), there was the Sanskrit translation of Laozi by High Monk Xuanzang. Subsequently, books on Laozi were spread worldwide. As far as translations were concerned, they were translated into as many as more than 60 languages in Europe alone. No accurate estimate of the volumes in circulation is available. Nor could there be any proper estimation of merit performance. But one thing is clear: It was one of the earliest global classics, to be sure.
According to British famous scholar Dr. Joseph Lee, member of London Royal Society, the Scripture could probably be the most profound and exquisite masterpiece in China’s ancient documentation, unprecedented and unrepeatable. Hence, there were also a multitude of interpretations. The first chapter beginning with The Way, if explained in words, is not the true or eternal Way, alone, had innumerable notes and interpretations.
It was not ungrounded that the Scripture became an ancient classic of success. The magnitude it enjoyed was ample enough to contain and denote all dimensions and polarizations in a global and pluralistic era of diverse civilizations without too much obstacle impeding the progress in time, space or culture. This is astounding, indeed. Hence, the more we got intertwined with it, the more emotionally we would acclaim its profundity
As we know, Zhuangzi’s philosophy was the very origin of Chinese art spirit. It had enormous impact on innumerable painters, musicians and poets through ages. But we must not forget either that the Taoist doctrine and preaching which stemmed from Laozi’s spirit also were the prober and implementer of Chinese science itself. They were even the few philosophical systems in human history that could go well with the spirit of modern science. Just as pointed out by Dr. Joseph Lee in the second volume of his Chinese History of Science and Technology when he quoted Feng Youlan as saying, “Taoism was the only mysticism in the world that was unscientific,”
Feng sounded somewhat arbitrary here. Perhaps he did not compare the Way with the Indian primitive Buddhism and Vedanta philosophy, which in particular was so amazingly coincident with Taoism in basic spirit that they advanced in parallel in the search of the existence of the universe and in internal self- probe. On the other hand, they even came to similar conclusions without prior consultation in certain underlying ideas, such as the identification of core concept of Vedanta “Brahman” with Way in Taoist philosophy, Advaita in the former with the spirit of identification in the latter as expressed in “The universe is in common growth with me and all things identify with me.” Such results of thinking by different sages in different places precisely verified the words of Song Confucian Lu Xiangshan: “A sage in the East Sea shared the meaning and rationale with that in the Western Sea.” Just as the origin of Taoism was the Scripture, that of Vedanta philosophy was the Upanishads. In a certain sense, the Scripture was the only Chinese copy of the Upanishads extant.
As probing works of many dimensions on the Universe – Gods --- Man, the Upanishads and Scripture with their coincidence opened up a search in time, that is Kairos, which is not only quantitative, but also qualitative in dimension, and the era of Laozi was precisely the era of explosions of all global civilizations and wisdoms, or called “Axial Age” by German philosopher Karl Jaspers. That was not merely individual action of a certain civilization, but the moment of common awakening of a great civilization: While the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were preaching, Zoroaster was pondering in Iran, and in the remote Greece, Heraclitus in Ephesus was dreaming of Logos operation. There and then Laozi was born miraculously in China. And his Scripture of over 5000 Chinese characters seized the championship with its inexhaustible profundity.
Once, Martin Heidegger enjoyed most hearing a Taiwan scholar introducing a sagacious saying for the first time. When articulating the existentialism as a philosophical system, he time and again directly quoted the words of Laozi, no matter in correspondence or in making speeches. Even in his study, he had a passage in chapter fifteen of the Scripture hung on the wall that read: What a man of magnitude he was as if he were a pool of contaminate water! Who can settle down the dirty thick water and make it clean and limpid again?”
In a word, the Scripture was a classic of wisdom of eternal value that had withstood the thrashings of history at different times and in different places. Just because of its existence, man envisioned important landmarks in the spiritual acme. He would become much more courageous in his road of life and gain more patience in his way astray, just like catching sight of a fountain in a desert, or a lighthouse in a lost sea voyage. It was not only a resource in the first Axial Age,, but should also be an important spiritual resource in the second. Hence, although there are plenty of translations, each would possess its particular worth in scaling the heights in essentials. An outstanding one would serve as good scaffolding by which to climb up. Once the target is reached, you would feel as if it were the moon up above or water in your bottle, without any obstacle or any dread in mind, no more books and nor language required..
We remember an American scholar called Jacob Needleman said half-jokingly he wanted to point out that not only the character Way, but actual all the Scripture was beyond translation ---- translation into all languages including Chinese! And this when he heard a Taoist scholar Feng Jiafu of Chinese origin told the readers the difficulty in accurately conveying the meaning of that particular Chinese character in foreign languages in the introduction.
Of course, as far as this is concerned, Laozi himself already expressed it clearer than anybody else. What we intended to say is that we cannot say (the Way, if expressed in words, is not the true or eternal Way)! In such a context of language, all translations are entitled to the same right in wording.
中文原文：
推荐《道德经》新译本
王志成 朱文信
老子的出现，是中国文化史的一道奇迹。在人类之中，他的存在——就像黄金藏于瓦砾、飞龙潜于群蛇一般神奇！这种奇迹甚为罕见，以至于令具有强烈实证主义精神的大史学家司马迁颇为为难。在“列传”中，司马迁一反滔滔不绝的常态，语言显得摇摆不定，记录变得模糊不清，如“或曰儋即老子”，又说“或曰非也，世莫知其然否”。最后只好无奈作结——“老子，隐君子也！”
幸亏他为我们留下一部《道德经》，否则真的无从证实一位绝顶高人当真曾生活在我们中间。相传老子修道德，著书上下篇。现在通行本《老子》（即《道德经》），普遍认为在孔子、墨子之后。最古老的版本有：楚简《老子》、帛书《老子》甲乙本、傅奕本。历代对《老子》的注释则不计其数，其中重要的如河上公本、严遵本、王弼本等。
至于《道德经》被翻译成其他语言，据有关权威人士统计，世界各国译本最多的古代典籍，除了《圣经》以外，就是《道德经》了，而我们知道，《圣经》的译本之多，无疑乃得力于其强大的宗教传道背景，至于《老子》一书的流传却完全是基于各国人民对于老子发至内心的崇仰与纯粹的哲学喜好。早在我国唐代就有了老子的梵文译本，译者即著名高僧玄奘法师，至此而后，老子的书就在全世界开始流传，就译本而论，如今光欧洲就已多达60多种。其总发行量更是无法作出准确估计，沾溉嘉惠士林的功德亦无从估量。但我们可以肯定这是最早全球化的伟大典籍之一。
用英国著名学者、伦敦皇家学会会员李约瑟博士的话说，《道德经》可能是中国古文献中空前绝后的“最深奥、最优美的作品”。故而对它的解读也是异彩纷呈，聚类繁多。光是其“道可道”的首篇就有无数的诠论与解释。
《道德经》作为成功走向世界的古代典籍，殊非无故。它阔大的气象能够含摄全球化与多元化时代不同文明的各种维度与极性，而不会有太多的时间、地域与文化上的障碍。这是令人很惊讶的事情，所以当我们涉入越深，则越对老子所抵达的精神深度情不自禁地加以叹美。
我们知道，老庄哲学是中国艺术精神的根本源头，对历朝历代的无数画家、音乐家与诗人产生过重大影响。但我们也不要忘记，由老子精神而来的道家与道教也是中国科学身体力行的探索者与实验者，它甚至是人类历史上少数可以与现代科学精神握手言欢的哲学体系。正如李约瑟博士在其《中国科学技术史》第二卷中引用冯友兰的话云，道家是“世界上唯一不反对科学”的神秘主义。
冯友兰这话显然有些武断，或许他未曾比较过印度的原始佛学与吠檀多哲学，尤其是后者，其基本精神与道家惊人地一致，对于宇宙存在的探索与内在自我的探索乃齐头并进。而一些根本思想更是不约而同、不谋而合地得出类似结论，譬如吠檀多的核心概念“梵”（Brahman）与道家哲学中的“道”，吠檀多的“不二论”( Advaita )与道家的“天地与我并生，万物与我为一”的齐物精神等，这种不同圣者在不同地域的思索结果正应了宋儒陆象山所谓的“东海有圣人出焉，此心同也，此理同也。西海有圣人出焉，此心同也，此理同也”。正如道家的思想源头是《道德经》，而吠檀多的哲学源头则是《奥义书》，某种意义而言，《道德经》正是孤篇传世的汉籍“奥义书”。
作为同是对“宇宙-神-人”多个维度探索的作品，《奥义书》与《道德经》的一致性为我们开启了对于时间的思索，那就是“凯洛斯”（Kairos），时间不但具备量的维度，而且具备质的维度，老子时代正是世界不同文明与智慧大爆发的时代，这已被德国哲人雅斯贝尔斯（Karl Jaspers ）唤之为“轴心时代”（Axial Age）。那不仅是某种文明的个别行为，而是所有伟大文明共同觉醒的时刻，中东有以赛亚、耶利米等先知在传道，伊朗有琐罗亚斯德在沉思，而在遥远的希腊，以弗所的赫拉克利特在冥想“逻各斯”（Logos）的运行。而其中，唯有老子是奇迹般地诞生于中国，5000余字的《道德经》凭其不可穷尽的深邃义理傲视群雄。
当年海德格尔（Martin Heidegger）听台湾一学者初次介绍《道德经》中的圣言，就格外喜爱。在表达其存在主义哲学体系时，曾于多个场合直接引用老子的原话，无论是书信，还是发言。甚至在其书房中还挂着《道德经》十五章中的一段话：“孰能浊以止，静之徐清？孰能安以久，动之徐生？”并且作为对存在（Being）有深入思考的哲人，他也深喜老子“知雄守雌，知白守黑”（第28章）的中道恪守之精神。
总之，老子的《道德经》是一部经得起历史的淘洗，在不同时间、不同地域都具有恒久价值的智慧典籍，人类因它的存在，而望见了精神高峰所在的重要地标，如同沙行遇泉、夜路获灯，而在生命的道路上增添更多的勇气，带来更多的耐心，不至于迷失在漫漫途中。它不但是第一轴心时代的资源，也应该是第二轴心时代的重要精神资源。
故此，它的译本虽然所在皆多，但每一种翻译都以其精神的登高而拥有其意义，杰出的译本则更是旁人藉着攀援的优秀脚手架，人们可以顺道而行，缘手而上，一旦抵达，则月在青天水在瓶，再无挂碍，再无畏怖，书籍和语言也一并弃下。
记得美国学者尼德曼（Jacob Needleman）在华裔道家学者冯家福的《道德经》译本的导言里提及“道”这个词难以用外文准确传达时，半开玩笑半认真地说道：“我更想指出的是，非但是关于‘道’这个词，实际上整部《道德经 》都不能被译成任何文字……其中也包括了汉字！”当然，就此而言，老子本人已经表达得比谁都清楚：我所要说的，是我所不能说的（道可道，非常道）！在此一语境之下，则所有译本都与原文获得了同等的言说权利。
王志成 浙江大学教授、中国宗教学会副秘书长