道德经一
Daodejing One: 18/59
無
名
天
地
之
始
始shǐ
this means “start” or “beginning”
we said that
之zhī means “of”
but makes the sentence go backwards
天tiān 地dì 之zhī 始shǐ
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 wú)
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.”
