"Sheng-Ren, or the Saint in Taoist Texts". Analysis of Four Spanish Translations of "Daode jing"

Abstract

The figure of saint represents the superior ideal of the personality in the Chinese ancient thought, and it is one of the most important themes of Daode jing, the classic text of philosophical taoism. However, Daode jing contains some confusion in ideas because it is expressed through the paradox and by the difficulty involved in relating these texts in Spanish translations. Thus, comparing the translations of the texts referring to the figure of the saint helps us to interpret their vocabulary, while the possibility of reading several translations of the same chapters inspires us to develop a personal explanation about the saint. This work will try to concentrate on the question “how to become a saint” to deviate towards other deeper meanings through the analysis of the different versions of four Spanish translators.