In other news, a family member who's taking part in a bible study group, showed me Tao Te Ching which they are now reading to compare it to the bible. I ended up talking about it because it was the first eastern book I read and used. The "real" translation I read was boring and hard to understand. Someone gave me a nicely illustrated and "sloppy but language wise fluent" version which I had with me and read over and over. That's how I started on this in the first place.
Well long story short, I tried asking Bing Copilot to read Tao Te Ching for me, but got the reply it's copyrighted(?). It can't be, it's ancient. So I asked instead to have it translate the original text to my language, and then it was suddenly ok. Probably a copyright on some modern translation, but the original Chinese text obv isn't.
Anyway, from just reading the first two lines with Copilot and discussing each Chinese character and the structure of the text, I suddenly had a deep and sudden insight on what Lao Zi was actually talking about. Weird how things work, huh?
This is what happens if you ask a simple question, and I went from here
Bing:
The first two lines of the Tao Te Ching by Laozi are:
道可道,非常道;
名可名,非常名。
Let’s break down each character and its meaning:
道 (dào): Way, path, principle.
可 (kě): Can, may, able to.
道 (dào): Way, path, principle (repeated).
非 (fēi): Not, non-, un-.
常 (cháng): Constant, eternal.
道 (dào): Way, path, principle (repeated).
名 (míng): Name, term.
可 (kě): Can, may, able to (repeated).
名 (míng): Name, term (repeated).
非 (fēi): Not, non-, un- (repeated).
常 (cháng): Constant, eternal (repeated).
名 (míng): Name, term (repeated).
Translation and Explanation:
道可道,非常道: “The way that can be spoken of is not the eternal way.”
道 (dào): The concept of the “Way” or “Path” in Taoism.
可 (kě): Indicates possibility or capability.
道 (dào): Repetition emphasizes the concept.
非 (fēi): Negation.
常 (cháng): Eternal, constant.
道 (dào): The true, unchanging “Way.”
名可名,非常名: “The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”
名 (míng): The concept of “Name” or “Term.”
可 (kě): Indicates possibility or capability.
名 (míng): Repetition emphasizes the concept.
非 (fēi): Negation.
常 (cháng): Eternal, constant.
名 (míng): The true, unchanging “Name.”
These lines suggest that the true essence of the Tao (the Way) and its manifestations cannot be fully captured or expressed through words or names. The eternal Tao transcends human language and conceptualization.