114The way gives them life;
Virtue rears them;
Things give them shape;
Circumstances bring them to maturity.
114aTherefore the myriad creatures all revere the way and honour virtue. Yet the way is revered and virtue honoured not because this is decreed by any authority but because it is natural for them to be treated so.
115Thus the way gives them life and rears1 them;
Brings them up and nurses them; -
Brings them to fruition and maturity;
Feeds and shelters them.
116It gives them life yet claims no possession;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It is the steward yet exercises no authority.
Such is called the mysterious virtue.
LII
117The world had a beginning
And this beginning could1 be the mother of the world.
When you know the mother
Go on to know the child.
After you have known the child
Go back to holding fast to the mother,
And to the end of your days you will not meet with danger.
118Block the openings,
Shut the doors,*
And all your life you will not run dry.
Unblock the openings,
Add to your troubles,
And to the end of your days you will be beyond salvation.
119To see the small is called discernment;
To hold fast to the submissive is called strength.
Use the light
But give up the discernment.
Bring not misfortune upon yourself.
119a This is known as following the constant.2
LIII
120Were I possessed of the least knowledge, I would, when walking on the great way, fear only paths that lead astray. The great way is easy, yet people prefer by-paths.
121The court is corrupt,
The fields are overgrown with weeds,
The granaries are empty;
Yet there are those dressed in fineries,
With swords at their sides,
Filled with food and drink,
And possessed of too much wealth.
This is known as taking the lead in robbery.
121aFar indeed is this from the way.
LIV
122What is firmly rooted cannot be pulled out;
What is tightly held in the arms will not slip loose;
Through this the offering of sacrifice by descendants will never come to an end.
123Cultivate it in your person
And its virtue will be genuine;
Cultivate it in the family
And its virtue will be more than sufficient;
Cultivate it in the hamlet
And its virtue will endure;
Cultivate it in the state
And its virtue will abound;
Cultivate it in the empire
And its virtue will be pervasive.
124Hence look at the person through the person; look at the family through the family; look at the hamlet through the hamlet; look at the state through the state; look at the empire through the empire.
124aHow do I know that the empire is like that? By means of this.
LV
125One who possesses virtue in abundance is comparable to a new born babe:
Poisonous insects1 will not sting it;
Ferocious animals will not pounce on it;
Predatory birds will not swoop down on it.
Its bones are weak and its sinews supple yet its hold is firm.
It does not know of the union of2 male and female yet
its male member3 will stir:
This is because its virility is at its height.
It howls all day yet does not become hoarse:
This is because its harmony is at its height.
126To know harmony is called the constant;
To know the constant is called discernment.
To try to add to one’s vitality is called ill-omened;
For the mind to egg on the breath is called violent.
127A creature in its prime doing harm to the old
Is known as going against the way.
That which goes against the way will come to an early end.*
LVI
128One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know.
129Block the openings;
Shut the doors.
Blunt the sharpness;
Untangle the knots;
Soften the glare;
Let your wheels move only along old ruts.
129aThis is known as mysterious sameness.
130Hence you cannot get close to it, nor can you keep it at arm’s length; you cannot bestow benefit on it, nor can you do it harm; you cannot ennoble it, nor can you debase it.
130aTherefore it is valued by the empire.
LVII
131Govern the state by being straightforward; wage war by being crafty; but win the empire by not being meddlesome.
131aHow do I know that it is like that? By means of this.
132The more taboos there are in the empire
The poorer the people;
The more sharpened tools the people have
The more benighted the state;
The more skills the people have
The further novelties multiply;
The better known the laws and edicts
The more thieves and robbers there are.
133Hence the sage says,
I take no action and the people are transformed of themselves;
I prefer stillness and the people are rectified of themselves;
I am not meddlesome and the people prosper of themselves;
I am free from desire and the people of themselves become simple like the uncarved block.
LVIII
134When the government is muddled
The people are simple;
When the government is alert
The people are cunning.
135It is on disaster that good fortune perches;
It is beneath good fortune that disaster crouches.
135aWho knows the limit? Does not the straightforward exist? The straightforward changes again into the crafty, and the good changes again into the monstrous. Indeed, it is long since the people were perplexed.
136Therefore the sage is square-edged but does not scrape,
Has corners but does not jab,
Extends himself but not at the expense of others,
Shines but does not dazzle.
LIX
137In ruling the people’and in serving heaven it is best for a ruler to be sparing.
It is because he is sparing
That he may be said to follow the way from the start;
Following the way from the start he may be said to accumulate an abundance of virtue;
Accumulating an abundance of virtue there is nothing he cannot overcome;
When there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limit;
When no one knows his limit
He can possess a state;1
When he possesses the mother of a state
He can then endure.
This is called the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives to see many days.
LX
138Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.*
139When the empire is ruled in accordance with the way,
The spirits lose their potencies.
Or rather, it is not that they lose their potencies,
But that, though they have their potencies, they do not harm the people.
It is not only they who, having their potencies, do not harm the people.
The sage, also, does not harm the people.
As neither does any harm, each attributes the merit to the other.
LXI
140A large state is the lower reaches of a river -
The place where all the
streams of the world unite.*
141In the union1 of the world,
The female always gets the better of the male by stillness.
141aBeing still, she takes the lower position.
142Hence the large state, by taking the lower position, annexes the small state;
The small state, by taking the lower position, afEliates itself to the large state.
142aThus the one, by taking the lower position, annexes;
The other, by taking the lower position, is annexed.
All that the large state wants is to take the other under its wing;
All that the small state wants is to have its services accepted by the other.
If each of the two wants to find its proper place,2
It is meet that the large should take the lower position.
LXII
143The way is the refuge for the myriad creatures.
It is that by which the good man protects,
And that by which the bad is protected.
144Beautiful words when offered will win high rank in return;
Beautiful1 deeds can raise a man above others.
145Even if a man is not good, why should he be abandoned?
146Hence when the emperor is set up and the three ducal ministers are appointed, he who makes a present of the way without stirring from his seat is preferable to one who offers presents of jade disks followed by a team of four horses. Why was this way valued of old? Was it not said that by means of it one got what one wanted and escaped the consequences when one transgressed?
146aTherefore it is valued by the empire.
LXIII
147Do that which consists in taking no action; pursue that which is not meddlesome; savour that which has no flavour.
148Make the small big and the few many; do good to him who has done you an injury.
149Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult; make something big by starting with it when small.
149aDifficult things in the world must needs have their beginnings in the easy; big things must needs have their beginnings in the small.
150Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds in becoming great.
151One who makes promises rashly rarely keeps good faith; one who is in the habit of considering things easy meets with frequent difficulties.
151aTherefore even the sage treats some things as difficult. That is why in the end no difficulties can get the better of him.
LXIV
152It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure;
It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop;
It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle;
It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute.
152aDeal with a thing while it is still nothing;
Keep a thing in order before disorder sets in.
153A tree that can fill the span of a man’s arms
Grows from a downy tip;1
A terrace nine storeys high
Rises from hodfuls of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts from beneath one’s feet.
154Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it.
154aTherefore the sage, because he does nothing, never ruins anything; and, because he does not lay hold of anything, loses nothing.
155In their enterprises the people
Always ruin them when on the verge of success.
Be as careful at the end as at the beginning
And there will be no ruined enterprises.
156Therefore the sage desires not to desire
And does not value goods which are hard to come by;
Learns to be without learning
And makes good the mistakes of the multitude
In order to help the myriad creatures to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.
LXV
157Of old those who excelled in the pursuit of the way did not use it to enlighten the people but to hoodwink them. The reason why the people are difficult to govern is that they are too clever.
158Hence to rule a state by cleverness
Will be to the detriment of the state;
Not to rule a state by cleverness
Will be a boon to the state.
These two are models.1
Always to know the models
Is known as mysterious virtue.
Mysterious virtue is profound and far-reaching,
But when things turn back it turns back with them.
158aOnly then is complete conformity realized.
LXVI
159The reason why the River and the Sea are able to be king of the hundred valleys is that they excel in taking the lower position. Hence they are able to be king of the hundred valleys.
160Therefore, desiring to rule over the people,
One must in one’s words humble oneself before them;
And, desiring to lead the people,
One must, in one’s person, follow behind them.
161Therefore the sage takes his place over the people yet is no burden; takes his place ahead of the people yet causes no obstruction. That is why the empire supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so.
162It is because he does not contend that no one in the empire is in a position to contend with him.
LXVII
163The whole world says that my way is vast and resembles nothing. It is because it is vast that it resembles nothing. If it resembled anything, it would, long before now, have become small.
164I have three treasures
Which I hold and cherish.
The first is known as compassion,
The second is known as frugality,
The third is known as not daring to take the lead in the empire;
Being compassionate one could afford to be courageous,
Being frugal one could afford to extend one’s territory,
Not daring to take the lead in the empire one could afford to be lord over the vessels.*
164aNow, to forsake compassion for courage, to forsake frugality for expansion, to forsake the rear for the lead, is sure to end in death.
165Through compassion, one will triumph in attack and be impregnable in defence. What heaven succours it protects with the gift of compassion.
LXVIII
166One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable;
One who excels in fighting is never roused in anger;
One who excels in defeating his enemy does not join issue;
One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them.
166aThis is known as the virtue of non-contention;
This is known as making use of the efforts of others;
This is known as matching the sublimity of heaven.1
LXIX
167The strategists have a saying,
I dare not play the host but play the guest,*
I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot instead.
168This is known as marching forward when there is no road,
Rolling up one’s sleeves when there is no arm,
Dragging one’s adversary by force when there is no adversary,
And taking up arms when there are no arms.1
169There is no disaster greater than taking on an enemy too easily. So doing nearly cost me my treasure. Thus of two sides raising arms against each other, it is the one that is sorrow-stricken that wins.
LXX
170My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice.
171Words have an ancestor and affairs have a sovereign.*
172It is because people are ignorant that they fail to understand me.
Those who understand me are few;
Those who imitate† me are honoured.
172aTherefore the sage, while clad in homespun, conceals on his person a
priceless piece of jade.
LXXI
173To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
173aIt is by being alive to difficulty that one can avoid it. The sage meets with no difficulty. It is because he is alive to it that he meets with no difficulty.
LXXII
174When the people lack a proper sense of awe, then some awful visitation will descend upon them.
175Do not constrict their living space; do not press down on their means of livelihood. It is because you do not press down on them that they will not weary of the burden.
176Hence the sage knows himself but does not display himself, loves himself but does not exalt himself.
176aTherefore he discards the one and takes the other.
LXXIII
177He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death;
He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.
Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.
178Heaven hates what it hates,
Who knows the reason why?
178aTherefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
179The way of heaven
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend,
In responding though it does not speak,
In attracting though it does not summon,
In laying plans though it appears slack.
179aThe net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever slips through.
LXXIV
180When the people are not afraid of death, wherefore frighten them with death? Were the people always afraid of death, and were I able to arrest and put to death those who innovate, then who would dare? There is a regular executioner whose charge it is to kill. To kill on behalf of the executioner is what is described as chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter. In chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter, there are few who escape hurting their own hands instead.