xīn
In honor of Saint Valentines Day and love of every kind, here’s a special post featuring, yes: love. We see three kinds of love as we go through the first 37 chapters (the “Dào part”) of the Dào Dé Jīng.
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First, we’ll meet ài (愛). Its modern translation is, quite simply, to love. Specifically it’s to treasure, or be fond of and also can be an honorific for someone else’s daughter or an adjective like affectionate or beloved. I love this bronze inscription image from the Warring States period (it’s the closest I can find to what Lâozî might have drawn):
In the later Qin dynasty, a foot (夊) was added to the bottom of this character—you can see it if you study the modern character, 愛. It’s thought this was done to show that this character had to do with people. But the original character’s meaning was carried by the picture of a heart. Originally in Oracle Bone inscriptions it looked much (thrillingly much!) like the Valentine heart I hope you draw somewhere today:
Aw! We’ll see this character, xīn (心), on its own and as a sub-component in many places throughout the Dào. By Western Zhou times, the bronze inscription had morphed to what, honestly, looks a lot less like a heart to me (?!):
The upper sub-component of ài is considered to be the phonetic part that just gives the word its sound. It’s pronounced jì, and its original Oracle Bone Script character looked like this:
It shows a kneeling figure… but with those extra lines from the top of the head to the neck. This character means: when food becomes stuck in the throat. Oh my gosh. When it comes to the heart, we all know that feeling. That’s why I’ve translated ài to mean:
loving—your heart-core in your throat—
Lâozî uses this character in three places:
- First, in terms of a leader loving the civilians.
- Second, in terms of oneself, when really making an effort, loving Heaven-Below (usually assumed to mean this earthly world).
- Third, in terms a “virtuous” person loving the “materials” they work with (AKA “not-really virtuous people!”)
Lots of food for thought in this character and how it’s used. I love the idea that Lâozî’s main characters get choked up over the world at large, the masses, the “non-virtuous.” Those mystics tend to do that, don’t they.
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The next kind of love is a person, an intimate: qīn (親). In modern times, this character can mean any kind of bosom beloved including a close friend, parent, brother, sister, or other blood relative. It also can mean marriage, kissing, or being close to someone. Look at this gorgeous old character:
The character on the right’s considered the part that gives the word its meaning: it’s someone looking and seeing, a big old eye for their head.
The left character’s considered to be the phonetic part. Like the heart above, it’s pronounced xīn. Interesting, huh. But what it shows breaks one’s heart: it’s a picture of a chisel used to mark slaves and criminals. Etymologically, its oldest Proto-Sino-Tibetan root meant liver, heart, bile, bitter.
Since I like to include all aspects of a character, I translate it for myself as:
intimate — a loved one you see closely even in suffering like from that chisel used to mark slaves and criminals
Qīn appears twice in the Dáo. Once it refers to the second-best kind of leader—this beloved one. The other time, it’s when talking about the unfortunate consequences that follow when “the six intimates are not really harmonizing.” Very mysterious. We will delve into those implications later when we deal more fully with Chapters 17 and 18.
Until then, this character has a big effect one me because seeing one another, to me, is truly love. Actually seeing one another, wounds and all, and holding everything in safety and love is profound for both the seer and the seen. (The New Testament describes Jesus loving a particular individual only one time. It was the rich guy who had as much chance of getting to heaven as would a camel in sliding through the eye of a needle. Here’s what the Bible says about that: “Jesus, seeing him. loved him.” Seeing seem to be a lot of what love’s about.)
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Lastly, we have cí (慈). This character shows two skeins of silk string dyed black atop a heart:
Modern translations are the kind of love or affection shown from someone older to someone younger, benevolent, and, in the more classic sense, the honorific for a mother. Throughout the Dào, I call it:
benevolent as doubly-profound parental love, mysterious as two loops of string dyed black over the heart-core
It’s also become the character for the Buddhist concept of maitrī: loving-kindness, good will, friendliness. That’s about right isn’t it. The best part of Valentine’s Day.
In my house, we celebrate this day of love with ALL heart-shaped and red foods. Mashed potatoes! Cake! Meatloaf for the non-vegetarians! This tradition started with my qīn college roommate, Polly—who died way too young of a BRCA-associated breast cancer—and the other beloveds we lived with (Nancy, Gwen, and Ann). Every Valentine’s Day since, I’ve delighted in that tradition, whether it was alone, with friends, with my little kids, with my grown kids, or with my honey. As a result, I’ve never once had those Valentine Day blues that the modern “romantic” take on this day causes in so many people. I hope you treat yourself with just this kind of cí today and every single day. Thanks for reading along here with me. I love you.
The Dào of Lâozî 