and yet now, bearded—

ér

A beard. That’s the pictogram for ér in the old Western Zhou Bronze Inscription script that Lâozî seems likely to have used— and the modern character looks almost exactly the same:

而

Modern translations include and, and also, and yet, whereas, while, nevertheless, and from___to___, however the most common interpretation is but. “Literary” (which often means “older”) use includes you and your, but (ha!) Dào translators most often stick with some variation of but.

But. But… how do you get but from a beard? My guess is that with a beard, something indeed has changed from __ to ___. Even so, the first version of the thing is still there. And yet it also has this different quality now, at this time. Whereas and while there’s a smooth face underneath, nevertheless there’s definitely this hair on top.

(Some linguists say this pictogram depicts roots. Interestingly, I can see how that would carry some of those same implications: a very new different surface thing is co-existing with some previous something that’s still there, underneath. But the trend with the most reputable sources seems to be beard, so that’s what I’m using here.)

I loved looking into this word because it made me consider the subtle meanings and differences of all the little connecting words we use to show there’s a change from the preceding word/phrase to the following word/phrase. As far as I can tell (and remember, I don’t speak Chinese), ér seems to capture most of the aspects of but, possibly with an emphasis on while and whereas. So I wanted my translation to capture, in particular, the classic linking and juxtaposition of two things that are different plus the time change (now), the continuity (and, yet), and of course the original pictogram:

and yet now, bearded—

What do you think? Would it be better as simply “but” or maybe… “but, as if bearded?” Something else? Let me know your ideas and reactions by clicking on the comment counter in this post’s header or using the form in the Contact tab. I love my translation BUT also remain open! (Ha!)

Thanks for joining me here. I will see you tomorrow to look at an even tinier character with potentially even more impact on the Dâo‘s logic. (Ha again!)

UPDATE: in this later post, you’ll see where I changed ny translation of this term after digging deeper and discovering that its “literary” translation is you or your.