Contents

Preface ix
A Noteon theRomanization xi

Introduction t
The Site: Location and Date of the Tomb 4
The Texts Found in the Tomb 5
IaaTi A, B, and C 6
Punctuation and the Issue of Chapter Divisions
InterestingCases:Chapters19,30, and63 tt
The Philosophy of the "Bamboo Slip laa{" ry
Conclusion-What 1sthe "Bamboo Slip LaoTi?

Translation of the "Bamboo Slip Lao7i"

Translator's Notes z5
I-ao1i A 27
LaoTiB 8s
Lao{C ztt

Appendixes
Appendix I. Sima Qian's "Biography of Laozi' 233
Appendix II. Line-by-Line Comparisons ry7
Appendix III. Punctuation Marks and Determination of
Chapter Divisions $s

Notes tg7
Bibliography 2zj
Index 229
 Translation of the "Bamboo Slip laogi"

tzz C:4 (Chapter 54, part z) C:5"Taiyi shengshui," Part | (slips r-8, ro-rz)'r ,zj

Transcription Modern Equivalents Note: In the Wenwu transcription,the "Taiyi shengshui"selectionis divided into
tltreepans: slips r-8 areseenasa unit, slip 9 standsalone,and slips ro-r4 aretreated
' ffizaw.z ffizaw.z er thethird part of the text.'oI think that slips ro-ru follow direcdy from the end of
' WZA)ffiZ- #tZ#XZ rfip 8; I will translateand discussslips9, rl-r4inthe next section.Here, I maintain

' 4/\ftFfrffEft& gAftFfi{ffiR[& tlrat the "this" at the end of line 8 meansboth the "process"herein describedand
the "sourceof the processD-Taiyi,the "Great One." Doesthis meanthat "Great
+ ft4fi!!! tr*nfrk
rftft&1 ( )rre"is the "name" (ning, f;) of what we "refer to as"(wei,
ffi) or "designate"
ki,7) the "Dao"l Not necessarily.Relevanthereare the lines in chapterzy of the
' #48;1 FlJ S H-
ft EK THftgEffiFUftFftS4 l.ao1irwherespeakingof the sourceof heavenand earth,the author explains:"I do
6 ^ZEk& E K/rtr Fn& ZEft&tEftE,E-Ft&EkZ rfot yet know its namefming, f;]; t simply 'call it' fti {i, } Z)h. Dao. Were I
w.z_ lorcedto give it a name,I would sayit's
'The
Great' [d", f)." Lines ro-rz makethe
z ft.DlnAeRZieRTF# E samedistinction betweenwhat somethingactually rs, that is, its "name," and how
a
+z-F.
+lv we "refer to" that thing, what it is "called" (wei, ffi), that is, its "designation" (g,
'f:).
a 94%E*.2 gTry'tF.fr7_Ffri&
FfiilT-
Translation
e frDlfl?ffiEnz.Atxffi WZH*ffifrW.ffi
Er)l6EffiH
(a) The Great One gave birth to water. Water returned and assistedTaiyi, in
ffiffi.H-
this way developing heaven. Heaven returned and assistedTaiyi, in this way
developing the earth. Heaven and earth [repeatedly assistedeach other], in this
way developing the "gods above and below." The "gods above and below",'
repeatedlyassistedeach other, in this way developing Yin and yang. yin and
Yang repeatedly assistedeach other, in this way developing the four seasons.
'l'he
four seasonsrepeatedlyassistedeachother, in this way developing cold and
hot. Cold and hot repeatedly assistedeach other, in this way developing moist
and dry. Moist and dry repeatedly assistedeach other; they developed the year,
and the processcame to an end.
Therefore, the year was produced by moisture and drynessl moisture and dry-
nesswere produced by cold and hot. Cold and hot and the four seasons,v/ere
produced by Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang were produced by the "gods above
and beloc/." The "gods above and below" were produced by heavenand earth,
and heavenand earth were produced by the Great One. This being so, the Great
One is concealedin water and moveswith the four seasons.Completing a cycle,
[it starts] over againl [we regard this beginning as] the mother of the ten thou-
sand things: first it is depleted, then it is full; we regard this beginning as the
guiding principle of the ten thousand things." This is something that heaven
 Translationof the "Bamboo Slipl-ao("

r24 cannot destroy the earth cannot smother, and Yin and Yang cannot produca talkedabout as the 'One' (ja) i" the Lao1i, the phrase"Great One" (rciyi) does n,
The gentlemanknows this is referred to as ["the Way."] . . . (slips r-8) not yet occur.'t IsabelleRobinet,on the other hand,hasargued'rthesearetwo quite
different cosmologicalviews, in that, in contrast to chapter 4z of the Lao1i_-in
@) what is belowis soil; yet we referto itlwei thi, # Z) astheearth:
which successivethings "produce" (sheng,fr) one xnedlsl-in "Taiyi shengshui"
is above is air; yet we refer to it as heaven. In the sameway, "the Way" is
thingsareproduced,but then they "return" and interactwith or "assist"Taiyi, thus
designationki, ?l. "But, may I ask,what is its namel*irg, &l?" One
producingadditional things.
usesthe Way to work at his taskscertainly relies on its namel for this reason
Finally as some scholarshave already noted, cosmologicalschemesin which
tasks are completed and he endures. When the Sageworks at his tasks,he
everythingin the world originatesfrom the 'Great One" are found in many rexts,
relies on its name;asa result his deedsare achievedand he suffers no harm.
including the "Zhongxia ii" (f+ p ft[,, tr,tidsummer)chapterof theLushi chunqiu
heaven and earth, "name" and "designation" both stand together. But when
(E ft6ryk, Mr. Lu's Spring and Autumn) and the "Li yun" (tH;8, Changesin
move beyond thesedomains,we can think of nothing that would fit [as a
the Rites) chapterof theLiji. The relevantlines in the "Li yun" are: "For this rea-
(slips ro--rz)
son,the rites must originatewith the Great One [dayi, )1-):It separates, forming
heavenand earth; revolves, creating Yin and Yang; changes,creating the four sea-
Comments and Notes sonsland orders all things, creating the ghosts and the gods.r"The Lashi cluryiu
accountbeginswith the words "The Great One producedthe two principlesfliangri,
Interestin the god named"Taiyi" (t- ot t -, th. Great One) hasbeen
ffi {ff], which producedYin and Yang.Yin and Yangchangedandtransformed,one
erableamong scholarsin China with the realizationthat one of the paintings
ascended,the other went down,"t' Then in successionare mentioned heavenand
in Tomb No. 1 at Mawangduiinry73 is a picture of Taiyi, with the deities
earth,tle sun and the moon, starsand constellations,the four seasons(somebeing
(E A\, Lord Thunder) and Yushi (N Em,the Rain Master).standing to his right
hot and somecold), and finally the ten thousandthings: "The ten thousandthings
his left." Taiyi is portrayedasa god with a red faceand redlegs,anderson top of hi
emergedfrom the Great One and were transformed fhuo, 4V, given forml given
head, arms that appearto be wings, and a mouth that could be a bird's beak- Thi
lifet] by Yin and Yang."r'
portrayal of god--of the "supreme" god who lives in the sky-as a fusion of bi
and dragon (the antlers-dragons have horns), can be tracedback to Shang dy-
nasty times (c. r5oo n.c.).'a
'Daq
But in pre-Qin philosophicaltexts,"Taiyi" is simply anothernamefor the
the Way, which is how it is used here. As Ge Zhaoguang(€ tts,Jfl has recendy
shown, "Taiyi," "Duq" and "Taiji" (t E, the Great Ultimate) are terms that arc
used interchangeablyin texts of this era." The term "Taiyi" itself is never usedin
theLao1i.But, asseenin the completeform of the text, the "One" seemsto be used
to meanthe Way in severalchapters(ro, zz, )9r 42),andin chapter25,asnoted, the
author claimsthat, were he forcedto give it (the Way) a name,he would sayit is thc
"Great" (d", )<)-
Cui Renyi and Li Xueqin both believethat "Taiyi shengshui"is relatedto chap'
ter 4z of theLao{,which opensin the following way: "The Way gavebirth to the
one; the One gavebirth to the Two; the Two gavebirth to the Three; andthe Threc
gavebirth to the ten thousandthings."'6However, Cui thinks it is clearthat chapter
4z of the Lao7i is basedon "Taiyi"; the former is abstractand symbolic, while thc
laner talks about actualthings.'7Li argues,to the contrary that "Taiyi shengshui"
must be later thanthe receivededition of theLao{ since,although the Way is often
 Translation
of the"BambooSliphqi"

126 C:5"Taiyi shengshui," Part I (,l'Teiyi shengshui," part ll (slips 9, r3-t4)r, tz,

Transcription ll uu I at ion (tentative) :

G)t-4zj< ' /(Fmt- ' EtlFlX . Xtrfrfit- ' ElXFtll 'l'he

xEn ! n&, Et)lFtl$Ef" ffiEniEfE^fi &,, fr.uffl.*fr o (r) Way of Heaven values weakness.To cut awayr4at what is complete in
triEfEffi&,fr.Dlll.trlF+ " Z9H+E^fi&, frUEF"HX'Afi order to add on to life is to attack using force, to punish using . . . (slip
9)
fEfrffi&, fr.D)ll.gi*" igi*iEfE^ffi&,fixffiffi+. f,ffi t'
& Z F f r + - &8, ,t * 2 , B * Z f f i 4 . & ' " H X + ' r u E + AI' (t) llleaven is incomplete] in the northwest. what is below it (i.e., the earth) is
Z-Fft+- " +BZ , +frWz-ffi+-&, " +tEEA' XWZ-FfittL' high and firm. The earth is incomplete in the southeast.what is above it
WA' )\-ZFfr+.U. Ef,t-EKzJ<, ffinE+, iftffi4tr (i.e., the sky) [is low and soft (l). when what is above is lacking,] there is a
DaHn& " &t*€CiE' IIBFEn#4." II|..X7_.FfrT'6E# , surplus below, and when what is below is lacking, there is a surplus above.
2Ffr6f,86,A B 7_FftTAZFl- " E + E IJU.ZE Ztr tr I tr (slipsr3-r4)
[ . (slipsr-8)
('onmentsand Notes
(b)T,a&,mEzw" t-,w& ' m E Z X t E / i f f f ; & .
tr)T&? tl iH'#-+A'IIE,IT
& , frgimmHR: H^z lf wc are right in connectingslips ro to rz of this selectionwith slips r to g, we are

&, /fE-tT&, fr+tffifri+Tffi)" xE &*tnfi" fr!&Tf bft with the problem of what to do with slips9, r3, and r4. All three slipsare diffi-
rult to translatelacking a context; all three could be translatedin many different
EfEtr. !Ea " (slipsro-Iz)
rrys. we must also decidewhether the three are connected:Is it possiblethat the
three formed a unit that began with slip 9l what rs clear is that slips 13 and 14
Modern Equivalents .rlrrne the reader'sfamiliarity with a well-known chinese cosmologicalmyth, a
' ft.D) rryrlr cited in the Huainanli as follows: r "In antiquiry Gonggong
(a)t-S.zJ< , d(Ffifi/t- , EtlFtX ' Xtrffit- [Jt r] fought
rrtlr Zhuanxu tffi tF] over who would be God.
xlt{FtEfl& ' ELlEtfEn" ++W'IFtEf&,' fUIXWW' [Having lost], he got angry and
hrttcd Mount Buzhou t4 El zilJ]. Heaven'spillar then broke, and eafth's cord
w"Etlffi&,, ft.D)FtElF+ " EIF+'.€ffie,, ft.]))Ftia*. il
'Ifuflffi&,,frD)ll.t&:R.WF-"EfEffi& , lxffiffirL " tfr.ffi,#'
'rPped, so that heavennow dips down in the northwest.As a result,the sunand the
" n,.n, 2leng with the starsand constellations,now move in that direction. In addi-
fRZ-Ffr+.&, " tfr,f*.A,tHXZ-Fft+-&" iA*A ' WWE' trr, the earth no longer 6lls up the spacein the southeast.Thus the rivers, flood
Z F f t + , " W W A+, f i F f r Z - F f"r + f S. &EE,f ' X t E Z F f r + - & ' rrtcrs, and the dust and the dirt now senlein that direction.',
! f u € ' x - z F f t + & ' " E f r t / t - f f i f t z ] < '? l ' t F + ' f r m 'lir
elaborate:SarahAllan has persuasivelyargued that the ancientchinese un-
tM , UfrtffilHfrJE" -t#.-H-' Dlftd,FH Wt#." tl|.XLfr &rrtood the cosmosto be in the shapeof a turtle; the upper shell of the turtle was
" E + fEtf.ZFEI)H?I
hE#., IN,ZFfrTAU,tr,WW7--FfrZrh?ffi. drc rlome of the sky, while the under shell servedas the earth,ssurface.r6The sky
!trnltr! " rr. lreldin placeover the earthby four mountains/pillars(= the legsof the turtle),
lx.rtcd in the northwest, northeast,southeast,and southwest.In addition, there
(b)T, a&' ffi#zvfu"t' ' fi,& , fri#zx.. ;E/JiE?&. te rc "cords" (rrr, ffi) connectingheavenand earth,to keepthe two from separat-
ffi-H-&? HF ; g ^Zre
lXE frt.+A,il'l7F&,tk#zt.ffi rrl c,mpletely should anything happento one of the pillars (i.e., the mountains).
&' /f#H&, tLrhll.fri HTIE " Xtfu&?iLn" fii6H, i' Ircn Gonggongbroke the northwesternpillar, naturallythe dome,/shellthentipped
E t E t H ' 1!.n ! . rr rl*t direction,putting suchstresson tre "cord" in the southeastthat it broke. As
 Translationof the "Bamboo SlipLao{"

thq C:6"Taiyi shengshui," Part ll

t28 a result, heaven and earth are no longer level; they are closer together than
oncewere in the northwest, and further aPartin the southeast'
lianscription
While that explainswhat slips r3-r4 might mean,what can we make of slip
mean
My translationassumesthat key words in the expressionmeanwhat they
of qiang (ffi, strong or force) andruo ( u )X E H W , ' & l t # , . tr
thcLao{,lnthe Lao7i,in the opposition U 1 6 + - A; { i f t B ' H K ! ' n!!
and the fi
weak or soft), it is the soft and the weak that overcomethe strong ! tr (sliPe)
..to add on to life" (yisheng, 'ds+) is condemnedin chapter 55 in
Moreover,
'bad omen'
lines: "To add on to life is called a 1ti""g, 1i); For the mind to ( 1 ,f )i t E J b ' / f T H D ) r y" E T E f I H H ' / f t ! ! ! ' !nlD
'forcing things' by "
the breath-that is called lqiang,dfi].',t Still, *hat is meant g ,X+nT , ZiE.ftT+ ,X+mt.1(slips r3_r4)
ting away at what is com plete" (xuecheng,HIJlX) is not clear without knowing
of the original passage.
Is it possiblethat all three of theseslipsaremeantto be readtogetherl It is ter Illodern Equivalents
ing to seea connectionsincethe word qiang(ffi) is prominentin both passages'
textformy..highand6rmD-.whatisbelowitishighandfrm,'-isgaoyiqia (")XEHdd'HtJlxA,D)'A+.A;{tKtfi'Fftn, nnn
thing, whereasit is condqmned
€ tl tfi). Qiang translatedthis way is a positive trtrn
slip 9. But gaoyi qiang could be translated in different ways, since the yi that
..and" more commonly means"by this means"or *becauseof-' Tht
translateas (b)rtEJt, tsTH txt6. t&TiiE . 4iE.ft
the para ttrFH' ^Htt,E!){t6
gaoyi qiangcouldalsobe read "is high as the result of violence," and
'is low as the result of violence-' Lla ,€-ffittT , 7j.,EnTa' Hffif*t. r
ii.r. th"t refers to the sky might havebeen
anothertranslationof slips r3-r4 might be:
Heaven is incomplete in the northwest. What is below it (i.e., the earth)
what
high as the result of violence. The earth is incomplete in the southeast.
abovc
above it (i.e., the sky) is low as the result of violence. where what is
i
lacking, there is a surplus below, and where what is below is lacking, there
surplusabove."(sliPsr3-r4)
The "violence"wouldrefer,of course'to the actof Gonggong'The
what
then would becomecould the words in slip 9-"To cut something off from
deedlrr They rn
completein order to add on to life"-zlro refer to Gonggong's
andyi
erpeciallysirr"ehe broke off part of a pillar that wasalready"complete,"
(to ext.nd life) could alsobe translatedas "to better your life." Unfornrnately,
words xuecheng-"to cut off from what is complete"-and ir*heng-'1s52
At
your life"-s3ill do not exactly desctibeGonggong's actions and his situation'
that these three slips were meant to t
result, I cannot yet argue with any certainty
read together.ao