Aquatarkus Posted February 22, 2013 at 11:21 PM Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 at 11:21 PM Dear friends, I cannot understand the meaning of 绝圣弃智 chengyu in the following context: 这种绝圣弃智的行径在这里是没有的. I think it means something like "there isn't such a 绝圣弃智 behaviour here", but what kind of a behaviour? I found an article in baidu, but could not understand it. I suspect it's like "intellectual, independent, defiant of authorities". Am I on the right way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted February 23, 2013 at 01:30 AM Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 at 01:30 AM I understand 绝圣弃智 to mean "not follow blindly (people and conventional knowledge)", and see it as a good thing like being objective, but I guess it is kind of radical... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
li3wei1 Posted February 23, 2013 at 08:00 AM Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 at 08:00 AM It's from chapter 19 of the 道德经, and means something like 'stop trying to be clever'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted February 23, 2013 at 01:07 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 at 01:07 PM Looks like I didn't get it the first time, but the translation in #3 doesn't really work. The explanation here marks it as a positive concept, not just "stop trying to be clever", but giving up on using your cleverness to win out over others for the greater good. But the sentence OP is struggling with appears to come from here, where the author is not using that meaning at all and seems to just be using it to mean plain old 抛弃智慧. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatarkus Posted February 23, 2013 at 08:08 PM Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 at 08:08 PM You are right in guessing the source of this sentence and its author most likely don't use the discussed above meaning of 绝圣弃智. However, the "plain old 抛弃智慧" is not very obvious to me, either. Literally it's translated as "throw away wisdom", but what are the connotations? Is it the quote from 道德经 too? Frankly, I don't understand how to translate the sentence to English.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted February 24, 2013 at 05:44 AM Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 05:44 AM 绝圣弃智，民利百倍；绝仁弃义，民复孝慈；绝巧弃利，盗贼无有。此三者以为文不足，故令有所属。见素抱朴，少私寡欲，绝学无忧。 This is how the phrase appears in 道德经. In the context of your story, the author says upstream there is a young guy who is really into his fishing and doesn't give a hoot about the beauty around him. But, 这种绝圣弃智的行径在这里是没有的, because there is an old guy here who is gonna die soon and he is all about appreciating the beauty of the area. The author seems to be trying to say that not appreciating beauty is 绝圣弃智的行径. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatarkus Posted February 24, 2013 at 11:04 PM Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 at 11:04 PM Thank you for your help. May I ask just one more question, also originating from the same story about a fisherman? A little bit later the author says: 老渔翁收了一串子母钩儿，上边有四尾活泼刺刺的鳟鱼. Old angler collected his fishing hooks and other tackle in one bunch, there were four live trouts on top of it (?) I don't quite understand what is 一串子母钩儿 here. Is this some big and small kinds of fishing hooks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted February 25, 2013 at 12:58 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 at 12:58 AM When he brought in his fishing line he'd caught 4 fish. A 子母钩 is a type of fishing hook, with a small hook attached to a bigger hook usually used to catch big fish. I am not a fisherman so I can't speak to how realistic it is that this type of hook rigging can catch four of those kind of fish. 上边 here you should definitely not translate as "on top of it", but just "on" should suffice. "On the hook(s)", "On the end of the line", etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 25, 2013 at 01:05 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 at 01:05 AM 活泼刺刺 Yu might wish to check if it is just a typo or if you have misunderstood the word. I believe it should be 剌剌 not 刺刺. But if you use pinyininput, then you must have misunderstood the word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatarkus Posted February 25, 2013 at 11:01 AM Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 at 11:01 AM A 子母钩 is a type of fishing hook, with a small hook attached to a bigger hook usually used to catch big fish. I am not a fisherman so I can't speak to how realistic it is that this type of hook rigging can catch four of those kind of fish. I'm being told that 子母钩 is a double-hook rig, 母 denotes the hook with a bait, 子 the other without a bait. Maybe it's correct, but I'm not a fisherman too. Thank you for the remark on 上边, it's really useful Yu might wish to check if it is just a typo or if you have misunderstood the word. Yes, it must be a typo. Just a misprint in the book. If I may ask just one more question, I'd like you to pay attention to this sentence (from the same story): 直等鱼儿钻到水底. He is waiting for the fish to come down to the bottom of the river. 倏然溜走，牵动了钓竿，老渔翁这才伸手下去把钓丝拉回来。 Suddenly it's almost gone, having just touched the fishing rod (line?), and only then the old fisherman reach out his hand to pull out the line. I'm not quite sure of the meaning of 倏然溜走，牵动了钓竿. Does it relate to a fish that has almost escaped the hooks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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