dì (帝)
I—we—our five mouths…
the husk of the initial protective bud casing—the sepal—but not really the true inner flower of
firing arrows from the mouth—sure
of whom the short-tailed bird speaks, the one that
has this
baby with arms wide open and legs swaddled [this word is the second, “zî’,子”part of Lâozî’s honorific name]…
likeness—like an elephant skeleton letting us imagine a living elephant—of
‘God of Heaven’—as we call our emperors, for they’re like flower sepals connecting to above with their covering of that ever-present, timeless, whole head-cloth ‘ji’ square fabric which our grown men wrap around the ‘little bird’ top knots on their heads once they’ve received their adult, public courtesy-names— (dì, 帝)
has this
being long before—like one’s dead ancestor.
That’s the last line of Chapter 4. As you recall, Lâozî began Chapter 4 with some details about following The Way of the loose-haired chieftain. Specifically it involves pouring water from the center, like from the hollow drum at the base of a flagpole, and yet now bearded, you’re doing truly useful work like a water bucket by means of carrying capacity. And at the same time, this particular territory is not really full to overflowing it vessel. It’s concealed like sugar cane sweetness tucked in the ends of folded cloth and frozen like ice—Oh! A breath like wind through tree branches!—and surviving like a baby that has health issues but still is sprouting. That’s a relief, whether we’re considering The Way or this little baby used to symbolize survival.
And now here, in the next line, Lâozî concludes Chapter 4 by saying “I am not really sure whose baby… it looks like the God of Heaven’s ancestor.” Other translators keep some aspects of these old glyph images of child/parenthood in their versions of this line:
Yi Wu translates it as:
I do not know whose son it is.
It symbolizes that which precedes the Creator.
Feng and English translate it as:
I do not know from whence it comes.
It is the forefather of the gods.
~
This is the only place in the first 37 chapters of the Dào Dé Jīng where we see the word dì (帝):
The image is sometimes considered to be a sepal, like that which we see so commonly in the word bù (不) which has this pictogram:
Indeed if you compare the drawings, you see that does seem to be a big part of the dì character though not all of it. Others consider the central element in the character’s composition to be jin 巾, the traditional head cloth for adults:
And yet other etymologists say the dì character is a picture of tied up firewood (perhaps for a sacrifice) or an altar. At any rate, early on, this image was used to mean “God of Heaven” and then emperor.
~
What all did we learn in Chapter 4?
Point 1: This is the first time since Chapter 1 that Lâozî circles back and actually starts talking about The Way of the loose-haired chieftain. We learn its paradoxical pouring out of water “and yet, now, bearded,” doing of useful work in the fashion of a water bucket has this particular territory: it’s not overflowing its vessel.
So… how do you pour out water, do useful work, and not overflow your vessel? Use a bucket. Or maybe: be like a bucket.
Point 2: And this particular territory is concealed and surviving like a vulnerable but sprouting baby.
So… that seems like good news. Although, to be honest, until now I didn’t know it was in danger of not surviving. This makes me re-read the intervening list of paradoxes with a new eye. Is it a list of the dangers of this particular territory? Or a list of corrective actions taken to make this particular territory survive? Re-read our last post yourself and see what you think.
Point 3: And by the way: we don’t know whose baby it is, but it looks like God/the emperor’s ancestor.
So…The Way’s origin isn’t known, but it pre-dates even God.
And/or there’s a baby whose parenthood isn’t known, but it looks like the emperor.
Or both.
~
Once more, I’m filled with curiosity, some wild theories, and great admiration for Lâozî’s ability to write short lines of one-syllable words with complex images that carry multiple (!) layers of meaning.
In the next chapter, we’ll see if our hero is up to this call to the Way, whether it’s a literal Way of working and having a baby or the meta-Way so beloved by philosophers and meaning-seekers for millenia.
Thanks for being here, and be sure to use the contact form to let me know what you’re thinking. See you next time!
The Dào of Lâozî 