Florentin Smarandache
2013
Positive (Original) Chapter 1 The Way that can be followed is not the eternal Way. The name that can be called is not the eternal name. The Principle that can be explained is not the eternal Principle. “Nonexistence” is the name of the origin of heaven and earth; “Existence” is the name of creating the myriad things. Therefore, the essence of Principle always can be seen from “Nonexistence”; The operation of Principle always can be seen from “Existence”. These two are profound and from the same origin, while their titles are different. More and more profound, that is the general door to all essences. Negative Chapter 1 The Way that cannot be followed is the Eternal Way. The name that cannot be called is the eternal name. The Principle that cannot be explained is the eternal Principle. ‘Nonexistence’ is not the name of the origin of heaven and earth; ‘Existence’ is not the name of creating the myriad things. Therefore, the essence of Principle cannot ever be seen from ‘Nonexistence’; The operation of Principle cannot ever be seen from ‘Existence’. These two are simple and from the different origins, while their titles are different. Simple and simple, that is the general door to all essences. Commentary on Negative Chapter 1 The Principle that cannot be explained is the Principle which needs to be discussed eternally, but this is just the meaning of Eternal Principle. The name that cannot be called is the name which needs to be pursued eternally, but this is just the meaning of eternal name. As we already pointed out in the foreword, the sentence “The Principle that can be explained is not the eternal Principle”, may have many ‘negative interpretations’, or even degrees of negations. For instance, the Chinese first emperor Qin Shihuang’s atrocity “to burn the books and bury the Confucian scholars alive”, is an example “To blockade and forbid the Principle, thus there is not the eternal Principle”. Namely, with this manner, Qin Shihuang attempted to prevent the Confuc
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