道德经一

Daodejing One: 18/59





shǐ

this means “start” or “beginning”

we said that

zhī means “of”

but makes the sentence go backwards

tiānzhīshǐ

sky – earth – of – start

start – of – sky – earth

the beginning of the sky and the earth

so this line is saying:

 

“namelessness” (無名wúmíng)

is the beginning of

the sky and the earth

“namelessness” (無名wúmíng)

means there are no distinctions

there is nothing but a oneness

nothing that you can name

it’s just a chaotic stuff

 

or we could understand this as:

 

“nothingness” (無 )

gives name to (名míng)

the sky and the earth

 

the sky and the earth

and all the things within

become distinct nameable things

from nothingness

 

let’s forget about the daodejing now

and just have a chat

you and me

 

have you ever thought

how strange it is

that things exist?

 

why is there something?

and not nothing?

 

doesn’t this seem like a pretty modern

existentialist thought?

a thought that we start pondering

in cafes

now that we’ve got very intelligent

but guess what?

these lads 2,000+ years ago

were thinking

“weird! there’s stuff.”

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