XXV
56There is a thing confusedly formed,
Born before heaven and earth.
Silent and void
It stands alone and does not change,
Goes round and does not weary.
It is capable of being the mother of the world.
I know not its name
So I style it ‘the way’.
56aI give it the makeshift name of‘the great’.
Being great, it is further described as receding,
Receding, it is described as far away,
Being far away, it is described as turning back.
57Hence the way is great; heaven is great; earth is great; and the king is also great. Within the realm there are four things that are great, and the king counts as one.
58Man models himself on earth,
Earth on heaven,
Heaven on the way,
And the way on that which is naturally so.
XXVI
59The heavy is the root of the light;
The still is the lord of the restless.
59aTherefore the gentleman1 when travelling all day
Never lets the heavily laden carts out of his sight.
It is only2 when he is safely behind walls3 and watch-towers
That he rests peacefully and is above worries.
How, then, should a ruler often thousand chariots
Make light of his own person in the eyes of the empire?
59bIf light, then the root is lost;
If restless, then the lord is lost.
XXVII
60One who excels in travelling leaves no wheel tracks;
One who excels in speech makes no slips;
One who excels in reckoning uses no counting rods;
One who excels in shutting uses no bolts yet what he has shut cannot be opened;
One who excels in tying uses no cords yet what he has tied cannot be undone.
61Therefore the sage always excels in saving people, and so abandons no one; always excels in saving things, and so abandons nothing.
61aThis is called following one’s discernment.
62Hence the good man is the teacher the bad learns from;
And the bad man is the material the good works on.
Not to value the teacher
Nor to love the material
Though it seems clever, betrays great bewilderment.
62aThis is called the essential and the secret.
XXVIII
63Know the male
But keep to the role of the female
And be a ravine to the empire.
If you are a ravine to the empire,
Then the constant virtue will not desert you
And you will again return to being a babe.
Know the white
But keep to the role of the black
And be a model to the empire.
If you are a model to the empire,
Then the constant virtue will not be wanting
And you will return to the infinite.
Know honour*
But keep to the role of the disgraced
And be a valley to the empire.
If you are a valley to the empire,
Then the constant virtue will be sufficient
And you will return to being the uncarved block.
64When the uncarved block shatters it becomes vessels.† The sage makes use of these and becomes the lord over the officials.
65Hence the greatest cutting
Does not sever.
XXIX
66Whoever takes the empire and wishes to do anything to it I see will have no respite. The empire is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it.
67Hence some things lead and some follow;
Some breathe gently and some breathe hard;
Some are strong and some are weak;
Some destroy and some are destroyed.
68Therefore the sage avoids excess, extravagance, and arrogance.
XXX
69One who assists the ruler of men by means of the way does not intimidate the empire by a show of arms.
69aThis is something which is liable to rebound.
Where troops have encamped
There will brambles grow;
In the wake of a mighty army
Bad harvests follow without fail.
69bOne who1 is good aims only at bringing his campaign to a conclusion and dare not thereby intimidate. Bring it to a conclusion but do not boast; bring it to a conclusion but do not boast; bring it to a conclusion but do not be arrogant; bring it to a conclusion but only when there is no choice; bring it to a conclusion but do not intimidate.
70A creature in its prime doing harm*2 to the old
Is known as going against the way.
That which goes against the way will come to an early end.
XXXI*
72(a) It is because1 arms are instruments of ill omen and there are Things that detest them that one who has the way does not abide by their use. (b) The gentleman gives precedence to the left when at home, but to the right when he goes to war. Arms are instruments of ill omen, not the instruments of the gentleman. When one is compelled to use them, it is best to do so without relish. There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men. One who exults in the killing of men will never have his way in the empire, (c) On occasions of rejoicing precedence is given to the left; on occasions of mourning precedence is given to the right. A lieutenant’s place is on the left; the general’s place is on the right. This means that it is mourning rites that are observed. When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe the rites of mourning.
XXXII
72The way is for ever nameless.
Though the uncarved block is small
No one in the world dare claim its allegiance.
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it
The myriad creatures will submit of their own accord,
Heaven and earth will unite and sweet dew will fall,
And the people will be equitable, though no one so decrees.
Only when it is cut are there names.
As soon as there are names
One ought to know that it is time to stop.
Knowing when to stop one can be free from danger.
73The way is to the world as the River and the Sea are to rivulets and streams.
XXXIII
74He who knows others is clever;
He who knows himself has discernment.
He who overcomes others has force;
He who overcomes himself is strong.
75He who knows contentment is rich;
He who perseveres is a man of purpose;
He who does not lose his station will endure;
He who lives out his days has had a long life.
XXXIV
76The way is broad, reaching left as well as right.
The myriad creatures depend on it for life yet it claims no authority.
It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit.
It clothes and feeds the myriad creatures yet lays no claim to being their master.
76aFor ever free of desire, it can be called small; yet, as it lays no claim to being master when the myriad creatures turn to it, it can be called great.
76bIt is because it never attempts itself to be great that it succeeds in becoming great.
XXXV
77Have in your hold the great image
And the empire will come to you.
Coming to you and meeting with no harm
It will be safe and sound.
Music and food
Will induce the wayfarer to stop.
78The way in its passage through the mouth is without flavour.
It cannot be seen,
It cannot be heard,
Yet i
t cannot be exhausted by use.
XXXVI
79If you would have a thing shrink,
You must first stretch it;
If you would have a thing weakened,
You must first strengthen it;
If you would have a thing laid aside,
You must first set it up;
If you would take from a thing,
You must first give to it.
79aThis is called subtle discernment:
The submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong.
80The fish must not be allowed to leave the deep;
The instruments of power in a state must not be revealed to anyone.*
XXXVII
81The way never acts yet nothing is left undone.
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it,
The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.
After they are transformed, should desire raise its head,
I shall press it down with the weight of the nameless uncarved block.
The nameless uncarved block
Is but freedom from desire,
And if I cease to desire and remain still,
The empire will be at peace of its own accord.
BOOK TWO
XXXVIII
82A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue and that is why he has virtue. A man of the lowest virtue never strays from virtue and that is why he is without virtue. The former never acts yet leaves nothing undone.1 The latter acts but there are things left undone. A man of the highest benevolence acts, but from no ulterior motive. A man of the highest rectitude acts, but from ulterior motive. A man most conversant in the rites acts, but when no one responds rolls up his sleeves and resorts to persuasion by force.
83Hence when the way was lost there was virtue; when virtue was lost there was benevolence; when benevolence was lost there was rectitude; when rectitude was lost there were the rites.
84The rites are the wearing thin of loyalty and good faith
And the beginning of disorder;
Foreknowledge is the flowery embellishment of the way
And the beginning of folly.
84aHence the man of large mind abides in the thick not in the thin, in the fruit not in the flower.
84bTherefore he discards the one and takes the other.
XXXIX
85Of old, these came to be in possession of the One:
Heaven in virtue of the One is limpid;
Earth in virtue of the One is settled;
Gods in virtue of the One have their potencies;
The valley in virtue of the One is full;
The myriad creatures in virtue of the One are alive;
Lords and princes in virtue of the One become leaders in the empire.
It is the One1 that makes these what they are.
85aWithout what makes it limpid heaven might split;
Without what makes it settled earth might sink;
Without what gives them their potencies gods might
spend themselves;
Without what makes it full the valley might run dry;
Without what keeps them alive the myriad creatures
might perish;
Without what makes them leaders2 lords and princes might fall.
86Hence the superior must have the inferior as root; the high must have the low as base.
86aThus lords and princes refer to themselves as ‘solitary’, ‘desolate’, and ‘hapless’. This is taking the inferior as root, is it not?
87Hence the highest renown is without renown,3
Not wishing to be one among many like jade
Nor to be aloof like stone.
XL
88Turning back is how the way moves;
Weakness is the means-the way employs.
89The myriad creatures in the world are born from Some-thing, and Something from Nothing.
XLI
90When the best student hears about the way
He practises it assiduously;
When the average student hears about the way
It seems to him one moment there and gone the next;
When the worst student hears about the way
He laughs out loud.
If he did not laugh
It would be unworthy of being the way.
91Hence the Chien yen has it:
The way that is bright seems dull;
The way that leads forward seems to lead backward;
The way that is even seems rough.
The highest virtue is like the valley;
The sheerest whiteness seems sullied;
Ample virtue seems defective;
Vigorous virtue seems indolent;
Plain virtue1 seems soiled;
The great square has no corners.
The great vessel takes long to complete;
The great note is rarefied in sound;
The great image has no shape.
92The way conceals itself in being nameless.
It is the way alone that excels in bestowing and in2 accomplishing.
XLII
93The way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.
94The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two.’
95There are no words which men detest more than ‘solitary’, ‘desolate’, and ‘hapless’, yet lords and princes use these to refer to themselves.
96Thus a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished and diminished by being added to.
97What others teach I also teach. ‘The violent will not come to a a natural end.’ I shall take this as my precept.
XLIII
98The most submissive thing in the world can ride roughshod over, the hardest in the world - that which is without substance entering that which has no crevices.
99That is why I know the benefit of resorting to no action. The teaching that uses no words, the benefit1 of resorting to no action, these are beyond the understanding of all but a very few in the world.
XLIV
100Your name or your person,
Which is dearer?
Your person or your goods,
Which is worth more?
Gain or loss,
Which is a greater bane?
That is why excessive meanness
Is sure to lead to great expense;
Too much store
Is sure to end in immense loss.
Know contentment
And you will suffer no disgrace;
Know when to stop
And you will meet with no danger.
You can then endure.
XLV
101Great perfection seems chipped,
Yet use will not wear it out;
Great fullness seems -empty,
Yet use will not drain it;
Great straightness seems bent;
Great skill seems awkward;
Great eloquence seems tongue-tied.
102Restlessness overcomes cold; stillness overcomes heat.
103Limpid and still,
One can be a leader in the empire.
XLVI
104When the way prevails in the empire, fleet-footed horses are relegated to ploughing the fields; when the way does not prevail in the empire, war-horses breed on the border.
105There is no crime greater than having too many desires;1
There is no disaster greater than not being content;
There is no misfortune greater than being covetous.
105aHence in being content,2 one will always have enough.
XLVII
106Without stirring abroad
One can know the whole world;
Without looking out of the window
One can see the way of heaven.
The further one goes
The less one knows.1
107Therefore the sage knows without having to stir,2
Identifies without having to see,
Accomplishes without having to act.
XLVIII
108In the pursuit of learning one knows more every day; in the pursuit of the way one does less every day. One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone.
109It is always through not meddling that the empire is won. Should you meddle, then you are not equal to the task of winning the empire.
XLIX
110The sage has no mind, of his own. He takes as his own the mind of the people,
111Those who are good I treat as good. Those who are not good I also treat as good. In so doing I gain in goodness. Those who are of good faith I have faith in. Those who are lacking in good faith I also have faith in. In so doing I gain in good faith.
112The sage in his attempt to distract the mind of the empire seeks urgently to muddle it. The people all have something to occupy their eyes and ears,1 and the sage treats them all like children.
L
113When going one way means life and going the other means death, three in ten will be comrades of life, three in ten will be comrades of death, and there are those who value life1 and as a result move into the realm of death, and these also number three in ten.* Why is this so? Because they set too much store by life. I have heard it said that one who excels in safeguarding his own life does not meet with rhinoceros or tiger when travelling on land nor is he touched by weapons when charging into an army. There is nowhere for the rhinoceros to pitch its horn; there is nowhere for the tiger to place its claws; there is nowhere for the weapon to lodge its blade. Why is this so? Because for him there is no realm of death.
LI