Monday, August 24, 2009

Daode Jing: Chapter 81 信言不美

4 comments:

Teresa Hwang Feng Shui & Design said...

Dear Master Yu,

Very wise words!

Thank you for sharing the video with us.

Best regards,

Teresa

The blog of Annie Peheva said...

Dear Joseph,

In Chapter 9 of "Dao De Jing" the great Chinese sage Lao Zi says:

"When gold and jade fill the hall,
nobody cannot keep them safe. "

However, one of the most used traditional wishes in China is namely to have "a hall full with gold and jade"...

金玉满堂


Annie

Joseph Yu said...

Dear Annie,

The original words in Chapter 9 of Dao De Jing are:

「持而盈之,不如其已;揣而銳之,不可長保;金玉滿堂,莫之能守;富貴而驕,自遺其咎。功成身退,天之道」

The third sentence says, "When gold and jade fill the hall, nobody can safeguard them."

Unfortunately most people take the first half of the sentence in describing the wealthy and forget about the second half. Sometimes it may be used as an ironic wish.

JY

The blog of Annie Peheva said...

Yes, and that's also why Lao Zi says "Pleasant words are not trustworthy"美言不信... I mean the pleasant words of an ironic wish. :-)