<p>When searching modern translation of classical literature, try adding 白話 into your search keyword</p>
<p>Searched 白話道德經 (vernacular Tao Te Ching) and I got the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>【老子·第一章】</p>
</blockquote>
<p>　道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。</p>
<p>　　無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。</p>
<p>　　故常無，欲以觀其妙；常有，欲以觀其徼。</p>
<p>　　此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。玄之又玄，眾妙之門</p>
<p>【翻譯】：</p>
<p>道可以說，但不是通常所說的道。名可以起，但不是通常所起的名。</p>
<p>可以說他是無，因為他在天地創始之前；也可以說他是有，因為他是萬物的母親。</p>
<p>所以，從虛無的角度，可以揣摩他的奧妙。從實有的角度，可以看到他的蹤跡。</p>
<p>實有與虛無只是說法不同，兩者實際上同出一源。這種同一，就叫做玄秘。玄秘而又玄秘啊！宇宙間萬般奧妙的源頭。</p>
<ul>
<li>原文網址：<a href="https://kknews.cc/culture/8bgz6jl.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://kknews.cc/culture/8bgz6jl.html</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T17:52:16.877Z
2021-10-19T17:58:42.030Z
2021-10-19T17:58:42.030Z
Tang Ho
<p>Apologies for a classic &quot;lmgtfy&quot; question, but you probably appreciate that the nature of what I'm asking is hard to properly convey to a search engine, regardless of whether the query is submitted in Chinese or English.</p>
<p>Basically I'm curious if there have been any translations/paraphrases of the daodejing from the original Classical Chinese into a modern widely spoken dialect? Classical Chinese is more or less <strong>an entirely different language</strong> to any/all of the modern dialects. On top of that, the daodejing is one of the most translated texts of all time, so I'm incredibly curious to know if anyone who speaks mando/canto/shang/etc has bothered to paraphrase/translate it into a modern dialect?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T17:44:29.897Z
Searched 白話道德經 (vernacular Tao Te Ching) and I got  https://kknews.cc/culture/8bgz6jl.html
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T17:47:03.790Z
@TangHo ah thanks so much! "vernacular" was the keyword i needed apparently XD now my search results are much more hit than miss.
TheIronKnuckle
<translation><mandarin><cantonese><classical-chinese><shanghainese>
Is there a translation of the daodejing into modern mandarin grammar?
# Is there a translation of the daodejing into modern mandarin grammar?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-19)

Apologies for a classic "lmgtfy" question, but you probably appreciate that the nature of what I'm asking is hard to properly convey to a search engine, regardless of whether the query is submitted in Chinese or English.

Basically I'm curious if there have been any translations/paraphrases of the daodejing from the original Classical Chinese into a modern widely spoken dialect? Classical Chinese is more or less **an entirely different language** to any/all of the modern dialects. On top of that, the daodejing is one of the most translated texts of all time, so I'm incredibly curious to know if anyone who speaks mando/canto/shang/etc has bothered to paraphrase/translate it into a modern dialect?

**Tags:** translation, mandarin, cantonese, classical-chinese, shanghainese

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Searched 白話道德經 (vernacular Tao Te Ching) and I got  https://kknews.cc/culture/8bgz6jl.html  
> **username_0**: @username_1 ah thanks so much! "vernacular" was the keyword i needed apparently XD now my search results are much more hit than miss.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-10-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

When searching modern translation of classical literature, try adding 白話 into your search keyword

Searched 白話道德經 (vernacular Tao Te Ching) and I got the following:

> 【老子·第一章】

　道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。

　　無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。

　　故常無，欲以觀其妙；常有，欲以觀其徼。

　　此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。玄之又玄，眾妙之門

【翻譯】：

道可以說，但不是通常所說的道。名可以起，但不是通常所起的名。

可以說他是無，因為他在天地創始之前；也可以說他是有，因為他是萬物的母親。

所以，從虛無的角度，可以揣摩他的奧妙。從實有的角度，可以看到他的蹤跡。

實有與虛無只是說法不同，兩者實際上同出一源。這種同一，就叫做玄秘。玄秘而又玄秘啊！宇宙間萬般奧妙的源頭。

* 原文網址：<https://kknews.cc/culture/8bgz6jl.html>


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