BEYOND “DOING NOTHING”: IVANHOE’S RENDERING OF WUWEI IN THE DAODEJING (CHS. 1, 3, 37, 48), WITH LAU, HENRICKS, AND AMES AND HALL AS CONTEXT
Abstract
This article provides a comparative analysis of the rendering of wuwei in DDJ 1, 3, 37, and 48 across four influential English translations: Lau (1963), Henricks (1989), Ivanhoe (2002), and Ames and Hall (2003). It offers aligned close readings of wording, metaphor handling, syntax (parallelism, ellipsis), and paratext (prefaces, notes, glossaries) by combining Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), a hermeneutics of paratext (Genette, 1997), and Venuti’s foreignisation/domestication orientation (Venuti, 1995). I contend that translations that maintain the main line’s metaphor networks and paradox while moving clarification to succinct, strategically placed notes and a stable glossary consistently steer readers away from the cliché of “doing nothing” and towards a non-coercive, situation-responsive understanding of wuwei. The result is a repeatable template for teaching-appropriate paratext design and metaphor-sensitive translation. In order to emphasise depth and reproducibility, the scope is purposefully limited (four chapters; English translations); the useful deliverable is a succinct style sheet for instructors and translators.
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