Tóng

Every and any commonplace plate you see,

… is an example of ordinary things being altogether in this worldly, earthly, mortal existence. At least that’s the sentiment I construct when I string together one sentence that includes all the different definitions (in italics) of the sub-component 凡 (fán). And I love that sentiment. One of the most special thing about the fact that we’re all ordinary mortal humans is how we’re all in this together—you can find us in every household all over the world.

As you can see, in today’s word tóng (同), that common flat dish is drawn above an image we’ve seen before, a mouth:

From our first post’s version of Chapter 1, you’ll remember that I thought the plate and mouth symbolized “altogetherness” because they’re so commonly found together. At least around my mouth! So I originally translated this word as altogether with one another—as together as a commonplace plate with a mouth. But being around these characters more, I’ve learned that while sometimes a mouth does indeed depict a mouth, at other times it means a hole, an entrance, or an exit (like the mouth of a cave) or maybe the fact that something is coming out of a mouth, i.e., someone is saying it. We have the same use of this word in English. (“‘Oh no,’ she mouthed.” Or “I was mouthing off again.”)

So… once again… I’ve refined my translation:

spoken of altogether with one another—like all mortal, earthly commonplace plates—

And once again, the translation most true to the image AND the abstractions is also the most lyrical (despite or maybe because of being additionally complex).

The modern definitions of tóng are: same, identical, together, with each other, with, and, and as well as. Although this word appears in only three of the first 37 chapters (the Dào part) of the Dào Dé Jīng, it’s hard to say exactly how others translate it in these places. Probably because tóng occurs in some of the most confusing lines and they’re trying to make it more succinct and understandable, translators often lump things together and interpret these lines in a readable way rather than directly translate them such that you can put your finger on each word. Furthermore, without exception, each translator I’ve seen varies this word quite a bit within the Dáo Dè Jīng depending on if they think it’s being used as an adjective or a verb. That said, the most common translations I can make out are: same, both, unites, assimilates, merge, accords with, follows, at one with, and in accord with.

Now…. right or wrong of me, you know what I’m about to say: I get downright disgruntled when I can’t tell when/where the same particular word is being used! Happily, my translation seems to work everywhere, which means you and I can read along feeling… gruntled?! Granted, we also will be a little bewildered. But we know Lâozî likes us like that…for now anyway.

Thank you so much for joining me here again today and for your messages of support and interest. Together, we’ve dived deep—methodically, objectively, literally, and pictorially—into the majority of Chapter 1’s words! We’re getting close to stepping back from our cracked open neutral bewilderment and taking a look at what happens when we put it altogether. See you tomorrow.