Pu (Taoism)
Pu is a Chinese word meaning "unworked wood; inherent quality; simple" that was an early Daoist metaphor for the natural state of humanity, and relates with the Daoist keyword "ziran" (literally "self so") "natural; spontaneous". The scholar Ge Hong (283-343 CE) immortalized "pu" in his pen name "Baopuzi" "Master who Embraces Simplicity" and eponymous book "Baopuzi". Terminology. "Pu" can be written with either of the variant Chinese characters or , which are linguistically complex. Characters. Both and are classified as radical-phonetic characters, combining the semantically significant "tree" radical (commonly used for writing names of trees and wooden  objects) with the phonetic indicators "pu" or "bu" . The Chinese character "pu" was first recorded on Chinese bronze inscriptions from the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BCE), and the character "pu" was first recorded in Chinese classics from the Warring States period (475-221 BCE). When the People's Republic of China promulgated simplified Chinese characters in 1956, the established variant "pu" (with 6 strokes) was chosen to replace the traditional Chinese character "pu" (with 16 strokes). One of the two (c. 168 BCE) Mawangdui silk manuscript versions of the "Daodejing", discovered in 1973 by archeologists excavating a tomb , uses a rare textual variant character for "pu" : "wò" "a house tent (esp. with a wooden roof)", written with the "tree radical" and "wu" "room; house" phonetic. The "B" text, like the received version, uses "pu" 8 times in 6 chapters; the "A" text uses "wò" 6 times in 4 chapters and has lacunae in chapters 19 and 57. The (c. 121 CE) "Shuowen jiezi" defines "wo" as "muzhang" "wood canopy", and the (early 3rd century) "Guangya" defines it as "choumu" "curtain; cover". These variant words "pú" < *"phrôk" "unworked wood" and "wò" < *"ʔôk" "house tent" are semantically and  phonologically dissimilar. Pronunciations and meanings. The comprehensive Chinese character dictionary "Hanyu Da Zidian" (1987: 2:1291, 2:1154) lists 2 pronunciations and 8 meanings for the character , and 6 pronunciations and 11 meanings for ; which are summarized below. The glyph can be read: The glyph can be read to mean: The "Erya", which is the oldest Chinese dictionary, defined "pu" and "supu" as "oak" names (in "Explaining Trees" chapter 14). First, "pu" is defined as "bao" (14:45). Guo Pu's "Erya" commentary identified this "pu" tree as "yupu" ""Quercus acutissima", saw-tooth oak" (which occurs in the "Shijing" below). "Bao" is usually  read "fu" "drumstick", and Guo noted this name "bao" denoted "a kind of oak  that grew in clumps", and quotes the "Shijing" usage as "baoli" instead of "baoli" "bushy oak" (see below). The "Bencao Gangmu" says there are two varieties of "hu" ""Quercus mongolica", Mongolian oak", the "bao" is small and grows in clumps while the "li" is tall and has large leaves. Second, "supu" is defined as "xin" "heart; mind" (14:64). Guo identifies "supu" (cf. reverse "pusu" in the "Shijing" below) as "husu" (with "hu" "Mongolian oak"), the ""Quercus dentata", daimyo oak". While "xin" "heart; mind" is a common  Chinese word, this "Erya" definition is the only known context in which it names a tree. The "Yijing" uses "xin" to mean "thorn; prick",: "Among varieties of wood it means those which are firm and have much pith". The "Shuowen Jiezi", the first Chinese dictionary of characters, simply defines "pu" as "mupi" "tree bark; wood with bark", and "pu" as "musu" "plain wood; unworked lumber" (later meaning "lignin" in scientific terminology). Returning to the central Daoist meaning of "pu", Pas and Leung challenge the stereotyped "uncarved block" translation of "pu": "The idea implied in it comes closer to "wholeness," which  is also contained in "uncarved block," except that "uncarved block" has been reified. As a result, what was an excellent analogy of the Tao has become sterile and counterproductive." Citing the "pu" translations of Séraphin Couvreur "wood that has not been worked on; simple, without ornament, without disguise" and Bernhard Karlgren "wood in its natural state, not worked: rough, plain, natural, simple"; Pas and Leung conclude, "it is obvious where the expression "uncarved block" came from, but the addition of "block" is an interpretation. The term means "plain wood," "uncarved wood."" Etymology. Reconstructions of Old Chinese pronunciations have transformed Chinese  etymology. Old Chinese reconstructions of "pu" or "bu" include: Victor Mair suggests that "pu" < *"phluk" "unhewn log" is "almost certainly related to the English word "block," which probably derives from the Indo-European root "bhelk" (beam)". Axel Schuessler says the etymology of "pú" < *"phrôk" "to trim wood" could either be an "aspirated iterative derivation" from "bāo" < *"prôk" "cut up, peel, pluck", or "belong to the homophonous etymon with the basic meaning 'in a natural state, unworked', as in "pú" 'in a natural state', 'unworked precious stone'." Early textual references. "Pu" occurs in some of the earliest Chinese  classics, frequently in Daoist ones. Shijing. Two odes in the "Shijing" "Classic of Poetry" use "pu" compounds to mean "an oak". "Pusu" occurs in Ode 23: "scrubby oaks", "a clump of oaks", "low shrubby trees". The Mao commentary describes the "pusu" as a 小木 "small tree". The "Erya" (above) writes this reversible compound as "supu" . "Yupu" is the name of Ode 238, which records using this tree for firewood: "the "yih" and the "p'oh"", "the oak clumps". Commentaries describe the "yupu" as a "dense and shrubby tree". In addition, Ode 132 has "baoli" : "the bushy oaks", "a clump of oaks , luxuriant oaks". The "Erya" has "baoli" , writing "bao" as "an oak" instead of "bushy; luxuriant". Shujing. The "Shujing" "Classic of History" ("Zhoushu" , "Zicai" "Chinese catalpa lumber" section) uses "pu" once in the compound "pozhou" ("po" "trim unworked wood" and "zhuo" "hack; chop off"): "as in working with the wood of the rottlera, when the toil of the coarser and finer operations has been completed, they have to apply the paint of red and other colours", "It is as when one works on catalpa wood; when he has toiled in trimming and carving it, he should take measures for making it  red or green". Legge notes that "pu" means "the rough fashioning of the work" and "zhou" means "the fine finish given to it". Karlgren quotes the Han commentator Ma Rong that "po" denotes "wood that has not yet been worked into a utensil; unworked wood", and concludes "po" means "to treat the unworked wood (in the first rough cutting); to trim" is a variation of the same stem as "pu" "in a natural state; simple". Daodejing. Six "Daodejing" chapters use "pu" , two of them twice, for a total of 8 occurrences. Chapter 19 parallels the near-synonyms "su" "raw silk ; white; plain; simple; quiet" and "pu" "unworked wood; plain; simple", and was the source for Ge Hong's pen-name Baopuzi "Master who Embraces Simplicity". Holmes Welch describes "pu" "the Uncarved Block" and "su" "Raw Silk" as symbols that Laozi used to expound his basic doctrine of "the return to our original nature". In modern usage, "pu" and "su" mean "plain," but originally "pu" "was wood as it came from the tree before man had dressed it", while "su" "was silk that man had never dyed or painted." Chapters 28 and 57 mention simple "pu" in reference to "shengren" "sages , Chapter 15 similarly refers to ancient Daoist adepts and describes pu" as "dun" "sincere; honest; plain". Among all the "Daodejing" occurrences of "pu", chapter 28 is the only case in which the transmitted and excavated versions are significantly different – the transmitted text has an extra grammatical particle "zhi" "a possessive marker; a 3rd person pronoun" after "yong" "use; employ". Robert G. Henricks explains this small grammatical change between the standard text saying the sage "yong zhi" "uses it" and the excavated silk text saying "yong" "is used". The transmitted version "When the uncarved wood is broken up, it is turned  into concrete things. But when the sage uses it, he becomes the leading official." should be read "When uncarved wood is cut up, it's turned into vessels. When the Sage is used, he becomes the Head of Officials." D. C. Lau says the traditional passage "seems to say that when the uncarved block shatters it becomes vessels. A vessel is a specialist who is only fitted to be an official. Hence the sage when he makes use of these vessels becomes the lord over the officials.", but in Mawangdui passage, "The meaning is very different. The uncarved block is  a symbol for the sage. Just as the uncarved block becomes vessels when it shatters so does the sage become the chief of the officials when he allows himself to be employed, and just as the uncarved block is ruined when it becomes useful, so does a sage become ruined when he becomes useful." The word "qi" "vessel; utensil" is translated here as "tools", "concrete things", "vessels", "specialists", and "officials". Chapters 32 and 37 both address "houwang" "feudal lords and kings" and describe the "Dao" as "wuming" "nameless", while 37 also calls "pu" "nameless". Chapter 37 has a minor textual  difference between "buyu" "not desire" in the standard version and "buru" "not disgrace" in the Mawangdui version. Lau explains "pu" in the "Daodejing" primarily means "the uncarved block is in a state as yet untouched by the artificial interference of human ingenuity and so is a symbol for the original state of man before desire is produced in him by artificial means". The (c. 3rd century CE) "Heshang Gong" commentary version of this Daoist text interchangeably writes "pu" as both and . Three chapters (28, 32, 37) use in both text and commentary, and one (15) uses in both. One (19 ) uses in text and in commentary, and another (57) uses in text and in commentary. Of nine "Daodejing" chapters without or in the text, three (3, 38, 41) use in commentary, and six (17, 64, 68, 71, 80, 81) use . For examples, Welch paraphrases the "Daodejing" relationship among "pu", "de" "inherent character; inner power", and "wuwei" "non-action; non-doing". Outwardly, one cannot achieve "de" "until you have erased the aggressive patterns etched by society into your nature. You must return to your natural self, to ["pu"]. You must discard morality and ambition, for if you keep these you  will never be capable of compassion, moderation, and humility. When you discard some of your wishes, you will have them all." Inwardly, one performs several cultivations. "For, to achieve the outward ["pu"] you will have to cultivate a ["wuwei"] of the mind. And when the mind is quiet, ["pu"] will deepen. It will become a faculty for intuitively sensing the order of the universe—the [Dao] that can be named." Zhuangzi. "Pu" occurs 20 times in the (ca. 3rd century BCE) Daoist classic "Zhuangzi". The standard "Zhuangzi" text writes "pu" both with the 16–stroke character six times in three  chapters (9, 13, and 31) and with the 6–stroke variant character fourteen times in six chapters (7, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20), which evidences the heterogeneous textual origins. For instance, the word "pubi" (with "bi" "low; mean; vulgar; unsophisticated") is written both "crude, mean [heart]" (chapter 31) and "simple and unsophisticated [people]" (10). A frequently occurring "Zhuangzi" metaphor contrasts returning to "pu" "unhewn log" with carving "qi" "vessels" (which means "specialist; official" in "Daodejing" 28). Another "Zhuangzi" chapter uses this term "fupu" "return to simplicity". References. Footnotes