grasping and holding yin and yang, exhaling and inhaling essence qi
Spencer Green: Translation and Commentary on Suwen Chapter 1, Line 4
黃帝曰：余聞上古有真人者，提挈天地，把握陰陽，呼吸精氣，獨立守神，肌肉若一，故能壽敝天地，无有終時，此其道生。
The yellow emperor said: "I've heard the elder ages had those who [were] perfected people, lifting and carrying heaven and earth, grasping and holding yin and yang, exhaling and inhaling essence qi, solitarily standing [to] safeguard shen, skin and flesh are as one, therefore able to live longer [than] worn out heaven and earth, without having an ending of years. This [was] their way of living.
敝 is in interesting character in this sentence, since I read this word as an adjective, I found it interesting to have Heaven and Earth referred to as “worn out”. I haven’t come across heaven and earth ever being referred to in this way. But given the context, I think that it as a reasonable use. I had also considered translating it as a verb by “deteriorating” but that implies an eventual end to 天地 which I didn’t want to imply.
此其道生 - I’ve gradually developed the preference to translate 道 as simply “way” partially because I think that Dao has reached the point of being a loaded term in the english language with a great deal of misunderstanding of the term. Whilst I still think that “way” retains the gravity of the word Dao but is downplayed. As in a circumstance where one might say to some wayward youth “You have lost the way” or someone soul searching “I have lost my way.”
I also prefer 生 as “living” opposed to “generated” because I don’t think that the way was generated, but rather their way of living became the perfected example of how to follow or find the way.
中古之時，有至人者，淳德全道，和於陰陽，調於四時，去世離俗，積精全神，游行天地之間，視聽八達之外，此蓋益其壽命而強者也，亦歸於真人。
Middle ages times has those who are virtuous people, [with] untainted virtue preserving the dao, attuned with yin & yang, shifting with the four seasons, leaving the world [they] disengage [from the] secular, accumulating essence they preserve their shen, swimming forward in the space between heaven and earth, seeing and hearing in all directions of the exterior [world], this overall increased their lifespan and their strength, They can also be counted among the Zhen Ren.
神 was left untranslated as shen, due to the abrahamic cultural implications of the word “spirit” which, as I understand it, carries the meaning of an undying portion of a human being which lives forever after the deterioration of the human body. As of yet I don’t believe that in the context of the 內經 that there was deemed an undying portion of a human being, so I sidestepped the difficulty for the time being.
其次有聖人者，處天地之和，從八風之理，適嗜欲於世俗之間，无恚嗔之心，行不欲離於世，被服章，舉不欲觀於俗，外不勞形於事，內无思想之患，以恬愉為務，以自得為功，形體不敝，精神不散，亦可以百數。
They next have those who are sagely people, ceasing heaven and earth attunement, following the patterns of the eight winds, focusing on the cravings [and] wants in [and] among the mundane world, without a heart of wrath and anger, enacting without desire the separation from the mundane, wearing embroidered garments, rousing without desire the contemplation of fashion, exteriorly doesn’t exhaust the form through action, interiorly without the yearning thoughts of vexation, using content and ease for the sake of itself, using their own attainments for the sake of distinction, the form and limbs didn't deteriorate, the essence and shen aren't scattered, these [people] can use 100 years [of life].
The crux of this reading of the passage rests on the term 處 (third tone) which I translate as “cease”. The cessation of attunement or harmony with heaven and earth gives a pejorative tone to all aspects of this class of people as described through the rest of the sentence. This seems necessary to read it in this fashion, because now people no longer last as long as ‘worn-out’ heaven and earth but rather reach 100 years.
其次有賢人者，法則天地，象似日月，辯列星辰，逆從陰陽，分別四時，將從上古合同於道，亦可使益壽而有極時。
The next [age] has those who are esteemed people, if [there were] laws then [they were those of] heaven and earth, [their] icons resemble the sun and moon, articulating the divisions of the stars and celestial bodies, contrary to the dictates of yin yang, separating and parting from the four seasons, intending to follow the uppermost ages uniting and joining in the way, for this [it] is possible to bring about increasing longevity and the culmination of fate.
