![]() ![]() Zhong si, "to fear capital punishment," is a combination found in the near-contemporary Legalist text Han Feizi, 人不樂生則人主不尊,不重死則令不行也 “If the people do not have joy in life then the lord of men will not be venerated, if they do not fear capital punishment then the ordinances will be ignored” (“An wei,” 3). For instance, in the notorious Verse 80, which details an ideal Daoist state where the people have been reduced to a species of domestic animal for the "sage," Waley translates 使民重死而不遠徙 as "He could bring it about that the people would be ready to lay down their lives and lay them down again in defence of their homes, rather than emigrate.” This is lunatic. Waley often falls into the "No True Daoist" error, in which instead of translating the text, he transcribes what he thinks a Daoist should have said. However, even as a translation, it is questionable. This is very dated now, having been done long before the discovery of ancient manuscripts of the text in question at Mawangdui and Guodian. ![]()
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