This article will delve into the very important golden sentences in the Tao Te Ching: "Frustrate its sharpness, resolve its disputes, and its light, and its dust" (Chapter 4), which is also the "Four Heavenly Dao" defined by the author. The author believes that the traditional mainstream interpretation has been wrong for 2,000 years, and this article will take you to see what it is.
The author has studied Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching for decades, and in 2023 published a book on the interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, "The Inheritance of Wisdom", and the main content of this article is based on this book.
Let's take a look at Chapter 4** and the traditional translation and the author's translation
Chapter 4**].
Dao Chong, and use it or not profit. Abyss, like the sect of all things. Frustrate its sharpness, resolve its disputes, and its light, and its dust. Zhanxi, as if it exists. I don't know whose son is the first of the emperors.
Traditional Translation].
The Great Dao is empty and formless, but its effects are endless. It is far-reaching, like the suzerain of all things. He restricts his sharpness, removes distractions, reconciles light, and mixes with dirt. It's hidden, but it seems to actually exist. I don't know whose descendant it is, it seems to have existed before the Emperor of Heaven.
The author's translation] Dao, (like the source of living water) flows and spreads, but the role of his flow and dissemination is full but not overflowing. Far-reaching, he is like the suzerain of all things. He grinds the edges and corners of all things, dissolves the entities of all things, reconciles the light of all things, and gathers the dust of all things. It's clear, and the Tao seems to exist. I don't know who gave birth to him, but it seems that he existed before the gods who opened the world.
Here back to the topic of this article, the main comparison is to compare the four sentences of "frustration of sharpness, resolution of disputes, and its light, and its dust".
In the traditional interpretation, the subject of the sentence omitted and the object of the predicate verb (its) are basically pointed to the "Tao", and many interpretations of this "Tao" can refer to the person who cultivates the Tao or the person who has the Tao, so there is the idiom "and the light and the dust", which clarifies the realm of "not showing the edge and not showing oneself" that the person who cultivates the Tao should have.
In the traditional interpretation, the four "thes" here refer to the "Tao", which is problematic. Therefore, the overall interpretation is also problematic.
Through the method of "seven-dimensional comprehension and decoding", the author has solved the four "its", all of which refer to "all things", and read through the content of the whole chapter, and the four sentences each express a role of "Tao" on all things, which is correct, at least feasible, and the specific explanation is more in line with Lao Tzu's naturalistic thought, see below.
Frustration of its sharpness, resolution of its disputes, and its light, with its dust" can be interpreted and summarized as the "Four Heavenly Paths":Grinding the edges and corners of all things, dissolving the entities of all things, harmonizing the light of all things, and gathering the dust of all things.
This is very different from the traditional interpretation, and the author will further explain it in detail below, and compare and point out the problems of the traditional interpretation.
Frustration of its sharpness: frustrating the edges and corners of all things, that is, the edges and corners of all things are easy to be frustrated by the way of heaven. For example, stones slowly turn into pebbles in rivers, and the sharp corners of objects in life are easy to be filed. This is the reduction effect of the Heavenly Dao on the sharpness or sharpness of all things.
Traditional explanation: (Tao or Taoist) converges (oneself) sharpness. It is a misunderstanding to say that the Tao reins in its own sharpness, and it is a simple application of Lao Tzu's idea of advocating weakness. In fact, the author's interpretation is that the "Tao" sharpens the edges and corners of all things, which just shows that from the perspective of all things, strength has greater drawbacks. Frustration also echoes Chapter 34 "The Avenue is Flooded, It Can Be Left and Right", and Chapter 73 "If You Dare to Kill", etc.
Resolving the Conflict: Dissolving the entities of all things (the entities that are disturbed together are the entities), that is, the entities of all things will be slowly weakened or decomposed due to the Heavenly Dao. For example, some or even all of the stones in the river or in the air will slowly turn into mud and dust; For example, wood is burned to ashes, and it becomes loose and unsolid due to decay. This is the dissolving effect of the Heavenly Dao on the internal connection of all things.
Traditional interpretation: (Tao or Taoist) to eliminate distractions. Compared with the author's explanation, from a practical point of view, the traditional interpretation is not accurate enough and is not in place.
Harmony with its light: Harmonize the light of all things, harmonize the sun, moon and stars, and the brightness of the fire, the reflection of the surface of objects, etc., which is suitable for human survival. Light does not only refer to light in the narrow sense, but also refers to various influences. From the perspective of modern science, it can also be said that the "Tao" allows human beings to adapt to the environment. This is the reconciling effect of the Heavenly Dao's influence on all things.
Traditional interpretation: (Tao or Taoist) to reconcile (one's) light. The Tao itself "travels around and does not die", how can we talk about reconciliation? !
Same as its dust: Gather with the dust of all things, that is, all things are "resolved" into "dust" and then re-aggregated because of the Tao. For example, plants decay or their ashes enter the land and then gather to form plants; Another example is that clay is fired into porcelain. In addition to the function of gathering and creating, Tao also has the function of innovation and creation, such as the ancient winemaking, and the coal and oil discovered in modern times. From the perspective of modern science, it refers to the formation of new substances or forms after certain physical, chemical, and biochemical changes in subtle substances.
Traditional interpretation: (Tao or Taoist) mixed with dirt. It seems to be good, but looking through this chapter and these four sentences, this explanation is not precise and correct.
The Heavenly Dao dissolves all things into dust and then aggregates them again, thus creating the Heavenly Dao cycle. The effects of these four heavenly paths are also circulating in the internal parts of things, so that the changes in a thing as a whole appear complex or rich. These four heavenly realms also play a role in society and life.
Understanding these four sentences according to the "Four Heavenly Dao" explained by the author is very helpful for a deep and accurate understanding of the Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu carefully observed the effect of "Tao" on all things, and after a lot of observation, he concisely summarized these four golden sentences. In Chapter 37, the core of the nameless simplicity refers to the "Four Heavenly Paths", which can be used to solve the problem of the restoration of all things and sentient beings; In chapter 56, it is used to elevate the mind to attain the same level. In chapter 56, the same "frustration of its sharpness, resolution of its conflicts, and its light, and its dust", but the four "its" here refer to the "heart" of the cultivator, and the author's explanation is also very different from the traditional interpretation, so I will discuss it in a separate article.
The author has read countless explanations of these four sentences in chapter 4, but none of them have explained their original meanings, and they have missed the "Four Heavenly Daos" of Lao Tzu's naturalism, which is extremely valuable. The author's book "The Inheritance of Wisdom" has a lot of content to correct traditional interpretations, and you are welcome to order it online for reference.
Although Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is only more than 5,000 words, its system is huge and complex, and there are many versions, and the original copy is difficult to find, and it needs to be carefully analyzed and processed to be correctly interpreted. In the process of studying the Tao Te Ching, the author collected his personal experience and ability, and at the same time absorbed the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching itself, and created the "Seven-dimensional Enlightenment and Decoding" method to analyze the Tao Te Ching, decoded the theme of each chapter, and interpreted many difficult sentences, and combined with multiple versions and new archaeological discoveries to make a ** revision of Wang Bi's book, and published the book "The Inheritance of Wisdom". The author believes that the overall interpretation of this trinity has many unique features, and has made a useful exploration for the comprehensive and correct decoding of the Tao Te Ching.