;

Pwun-pwun. Hwun-hwun

Critical Text

紛	紛	紜	紜	鬥	亂
fen	fen	yun	yun	dou	luan
pwun	pwun	hwun	hwun	fight	chaotic

而	不	可	亂	渾	渾
er	bu	ke	luan	hun	hun
and	not	able	chaos	hwun	hwun

沌	沌	形	圓	而	不
dun	dun	xing	yuan	er	bu
dwun	dwun	form	round	and	not

可	敗
ke	bai
able	defeat

Yinqueshan Text

。。。可敗

Shiyijia zhu Text

紛紛紜紜鬥亂而不可亂渾渾沌沌形圓而不可敗

Translation

Pwun-pwun. Hwun-hwun. The fight is chaotic yet one is not subject to chaos. Hwun-hwun. Dwun-dwun. One's form is round and one cannot be defeated.

Annotations

The meaning of pwun-hwun (fenyun 蟘紜, "tangled threads") is as much onomatopoetic as it is referential. "Pwun-hwun" approximates the early pronunciation *p'iwen-hwen. "Hwun-dwun" (hundun 渾沌) approximates *hwen-dwen.

This chapter is interwoven with the image of the circle/cycle (xun, huan and yuan variously as verbal, adjectival and nominative), indicating perfection and perpetuity.