上海 Blog #16
二零一五年六月五号星期五
Friday June 5th, 2015
Local Time: 22:29 Shanghai Time
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so in an attempt not to inundate you, all I’m going to give you are a few quotes from the Dao De Jing (a Daoist text we are reading in religion class) and inform you that today we went to the PuDong district (oh yes) which is the most modern piece of Shanghai. Twenty-five years ago, PuDong was no more than a piece of land on which nobody wanted to build (see, with less words you get less sentences ending in prepositions). Now, it is bustling with many of the architectural wonders I’m about to show you, many of which seem to tower straight into heaven itself.
道 可 道 ， 非 常 道 。 (The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way.)
名 可 名 ， 非 常 名 。(The name that can be named is not the constant name.)
无 名 天 地 之 始 ﹔ (The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;)
有 名 万 物 之 母 。(The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.)
故 常 无 ， 欲 以 观 其 妙 ﹔ (Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets;)
常 有 ， 欲 以 观 其 徼 。(But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.)
此 两 者 ， 同 出 而 异 名 ， 同 谓 之 玄 。(These two are the same but diverge in name as they issue forth.)
玄 之 又 玄 ， 众 妙 之 门 。(Being the same they are called mysteries, mystery upon mystery –the gateway of the manifold secrets.)
