Part I
Part II
Part I
Chapter 1
1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging
Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of
heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of
all things.
3. Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
4. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as
development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we
call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of
all that is subtle and wonderful.
Chapter 2
1. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in
doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the
skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the
want of skill is.
2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one
to (the idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one
(the idea of) the other; that length and shortness fashion out the one
the figure of the other; that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise
from the contrast of the one with the other; that the musical notes and
tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and
that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.
3. Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and
conveys his instructions without the use of speech.
4. All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to
show itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership;
they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a
reward for the results). The work is accomplished, and there is no
resting in it (as an achievement).
The work is done, but how no one can see;
'Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.
Chapter 3
1. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to
keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles
which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming
thieves; not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the
way to keep their minds from disorder.
2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties
their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens
their bones.
3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and
without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep
them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from
action, good order is universal.
Chapter 4
1. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our
employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep
and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all
things!
2. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the
complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring
ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and
still the Tao is, as if it would ever so continue!
3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been
before God.
Chapter 5
1. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to
be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt
with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal
with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a
bellows?
'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;
'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more.
Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;
Your inner being guard, and keep it free.
Chapter 6
The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;
The female mystery thus do we name.
Its gate, from which at first they issued forth,
Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth.
Long and unbroken does its power remain,
Used gently, and without the touch of pain.
Chapter 7
1. Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason
why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is
because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are
able to continue and endure.
2. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is
found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign
to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no
personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?
Chapter 8
1. The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence
of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying,
without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike.
Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.
2. The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the
place; that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is
in their being with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing
good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and that
of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.
3. And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle
(about his low position), no one finds fault with him.
Chapter 9
1. It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to
carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been
sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
2. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep
them safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its
evil on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming
distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.
Chapter 10
1. When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one
embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided
attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of
pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the
most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a
flaw.
2. In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed
without any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his
gates of heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his
intelligence reaches in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be
without knowledge?
3. (The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it
produces them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet
does not boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control
them. This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).
Chapter 11 The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on
the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay
is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that
their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to
form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use
depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for
profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.
Chapter 12
1. Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;
Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,
Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
2. Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the
belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him
the latter, and prefers to seek the former.
Chapter 13
1. Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour
and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same
kind).
2. What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace?
Disgrace is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour). The
getting that (favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the
losing it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity):--this is what
is meant by saying that favour and disgrace would seem equally to be
feared. And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are
to be (similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable
to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had
not the body, what great calamity could come to me?
3. Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as
he honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who
would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may
be entrusted with it.
Chapter 14
1. We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the
Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the
Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name
it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the
subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The
One.
2. Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not
obscure. Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it
again returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the
Formless, and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the
Fleeting and Indeterminable.
3. We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not
see its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the
things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in
the beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.
Chapter 15
1. The skilful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle
and exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were deep
(also) so as to elude men's knowledge. As they were thus beyond men's
knowledge, I will make an effort to describe of what sort they appeared
to be.
2. Shrinking looked they like those who wade through a stream in
winter; irresolute like those who are afraid of all around them; grave
like a guest (in awe of his host); evanescent like ice that is melting
away; unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything;
vacant like a valley, and dull like muddy water.
3. Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and
it will gradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest?
Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.
4. They who preserve this method of the Tao do not wish to be
full (of themselves). It is through their not being full of themselves
that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.
Chapter 16
1. The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree,
and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike
go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return
(to their original state). When things (in the vegetable world) have
displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its
root. This returning to their root is what we call the state of
stillness; and that stillness may be called a reporting that they have
fulfilled their appointed end.
2. The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it leads
to wild movements and evil issues. The knowledge of that unchanging rule
produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and
forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things). From this
community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is
king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to heaven he
possesses the Tao. Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end
of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay.
Chapter 17
1. In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there
were (their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised them.
In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them. Thus it
was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of
faith in them ensued (in the people).
2. How irresolute did those (earliest rulers) appear, showing (by
their reticence) the importance which they set upon their words! Their
work was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people
all said, 'We are as we are, of ourselves!'
Chapter 18
1. When the Great Tao (Way or Method) ceased to be observed,
benevolence and righteousness came into vogue. (Then) appeared wisdom
and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.
2. When harmony no longer prevailed throughout the six kinships,
filial sons found their manifestation; when the states and clans fell
into disorder, loyal ministers appeared.
Chapter 19
1. If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it
would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our
benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become
filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful contrivances and
discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.
2. Those three methods (of government)
Thought olden ways in elegance did fail
And made these names their want of worth to veil;
But simple views, and courses plain and true
Would selfish ends and many lusts eschew.
Chapter 20
1. When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The (ready) 'yes,' and (flattering) 'yea;'--
Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill;--
What space the gulf between shall fill? What all men fear is indeed to
be feared; but how wide and without end is the range of questions
(asking to be discussed)!
2. The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if
enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone
seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of
their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look
dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men
all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My
mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men
look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They
look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem
to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest.
All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and
incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from other
men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).
Chapter 21
The grandest forms of active force
From Tao come, their only source.
Who can of Tao the nature tell?
Our sight it flies, our touch as well.
Eluding sight, eluding touch,
The forms of things all in it crouch;
Eluding touch, eluding sight,
There are their semblances, all right.
Profound it is, dark and obscure;
Things' essences all there endure.
Those essences the truth enfold
Of what, when seen, shall then be told.
Now it is so; 'twas so of old.
Its name--what passes not away;
So, in their beautiful array,
Things form and never know decay.
How know I that it is so with all the beauties of existing things? By
this (nature of the Tao).
Chapter 22
1. The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the
empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he
whose (desires) are many goes astray.
2. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of
humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-
display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he
is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is
acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires
superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore
no one in the world is able to strive with him.
3. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes
complete' was not vainly spoken:--all real completion is comprehended
under it.
Chapter 23
1. Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the
spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole
morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it
that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and Earth. If Heaven and
Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how much less can
man!
2. Therefore when one is making the Tao his business, those who
are also pursuing it, agree with him in it, and those who are making the
manifestation of its course their object agree with him in that; while
even those who are failing in both these things agree with him where
they fail.
3. Hence, those with whom he agrees as to the Tao have the
happiness of attaining to it; those with whom he agrees as to its
manifestation have the happiness of attaining to it; and those with whom
he agrees in their failure have also the happiness of attaining (to the
Tao). (But) when there is not faith sufficient (on his part), a want of
faith (in him) ensues (on the part of the others).
Chapter 24
He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches his
legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself does not
shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts
himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self- conceited
has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed from the
standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour on the
body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course) of the Tao
do not adopt and allow them.
Chapter 25
1. There was something undefined and complete, coming into
existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless,
standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no
danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all
things.
2. I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the
Tao (the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I
call it The Great.
3. Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes
remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao is great;
Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king is also great. In
the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one
of them.
4. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from
Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its
being what it is.
Chapter 26
1. Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of
movement.
2. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go
far from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects
to look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to
them. How should the lord of a myriad chariots carry himself lightly
before the kingdom? If he do act lightly, he has lost his root (of
gravity); if he proceed to active movement, he will lose his throne.
Chapter 27
1. The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or
footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with
or blamed; the skilful reckoner uses no tallies; the skilful closer
needs no bolts or bars, while to open what he has shut will be
impossible; the skilful binder uses no strings or knots, while to
unloose what he has bound will be impossible. In the same way the sage
is always skilful at saving men, and so he does not cast away any man;
he is always skilful at saving things, and so he does not cast away
anything. This is called 'Hiding the light of his procedure.'
2. Therefore the man of skill is a master (to be looked up to) by
him who has not the skill; and he who has not the skill is the helper of
(the reputation of) him who has the skill. If the one did not honour his
master, and the other did not rejoice in his helper, an (observer),
though intelligent, might greatly err about them. This is called 'The
utmost degree of mystery.'
Chapter 28
1. Who knows his manhood's strength,
Yet still his female feebleness maintains;
As to one channel flow the many drains,
All come to him, yea, all beneath the sky.
Thus he the constant excellence retains;
The simple child again, free from all stains.
Who knows how white attracts,
Yet always keeps himself within black's shade,
The pattern of humility displayed,
Displayed in view of all beneath the sky;
He in the unchanging excellence arrayed,
Endless return to man's first state has made.
Who knows how glory shines,
Yet loves disgrace, nor e'er for it is pale;
Behold his presence in a spacious vale,
To which men come from all beneath the sky.
The unchanging excellence completes its tale;
The simple infant man in him we hail.
2. The unwrought material, when divided and distributed, forms
vessels. The sage, when employed, becomes the Head of all the Officers
(of government); and in his greatest regulations he employs no violent
measures.
Chapter 29
1. If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to
effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed. The kingdom
is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing. He who would
so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.
2. The course and nature of things is such that
What was in front is now behind;
What warmed anon we freezing find.
Strength is of weakness oft the spoil;
The store in ruins mocks our toil. Hence the sage puts away excessive
effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence.
Chapter 30
1. He who would assist a lord of men in harmony with the Tao will
not assert his mastery in the kingdom by force of arms. Such a course is
sure to meet with its proper return.
2. Wherever a host is stationed, briars and thorns spring up. In
the sequence of great armies there are sure to be bad years.
3. A skilful (commander) strikes a decisive blow, and stops. He
does not dare (by continuing his operations) to assert and complete his
mastery. He will strike the blow, but will be on his guard against being
vain or boastful or arrogant in consequence of it. He strikes it as a
matter of necessity; he strikes it, but not from a wish for mastery.
4. When things have attained their strong maturity they become
old. This may be said to be not in accordance with the Tao: and what is
not in accordance with it soon comes to an end.
Chapter 31
1. Now arms, however beautiful, are instruments of evil omen,
hateful, it may be said, to all creatures. Therefore they who have the
Tao do not like to employ them.
2. The superior man ordinarily considers the left hand the most
honourable place, but in time of war the right hand. Those sharp weapons
are instruments of evil omen, and not the instruments of the superior
man;--he uses them only on the compulsion of necessity. Calm and repose
are what he prizes; victory (by force of arms) is to him undesirable. To
consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men; and
he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the
kingdom.
3. On occasions of festivity to be on the left hand is the prized
position; on occasions of mourning, the right hand. The second in
command of the army has his place on the left; the general commanding in
chief has his on the right;--his place, that is, is assigned to him as
in the rites of mourning. He who has killed multitudes of men should
weep for them with the bitterest grief; and the victor in battle has his
place (rightly) according to those rites.
Chapter 32
1. The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name.
2. Though in its primordial simplicity it may be small, the whole
world dares not deal with (one embodying) it as a minister. If a feudal
prince or the king could guard and hold it, all would spontaneously
submit themselves to him.
3. Heaven and Earth (under its guidance) unite together and send
down the sweet dew, which, without the directions of men, reaches
equally everywhere as of its own accord.
4. As soon as it proceeds to action, it has a name. When it once
has that name, (men) can know to rest in it. When they know to rest in
it, they can be free from all risk of failure and error.
5. The relation of the Tao to all the world is like that of the
great rivers and seas to the streams from the valleys.
Chapter 33
1. He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is
intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself
is mighty. He who is satisfied with his lot is rich; he who goes on
acting with energy has a (firm) will.
2. He who does not fail in the requirements of his position,
continues long; he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.
Chapter 34
1. All-pervading is the Great Tao! It may be found on the left
hand and on the right.
2. All things depend on it for their production, which it gives
to them, not one refusing obedience to it. When its work is
accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it. It clothes
all things as with a garment, and makes no assumption of being their
lord;--it may be named in the smallest things. All things return (to
their root and disappear), and do not know that it is it which presides
over their doing so;--it may be named in the greatest things.
3. Hence the sage is able (in the same way) to accomplish his
great achievements. It is through his not making himself great that he
can accomplish them.
Chapter 35
1. To him who holds in his hands the Great Image (of the
invisible Tao), the whole world repairs. Men resort to him, and receive
no hurt, but (find) rest, peace, and the feeling of ease.
2. Music and dainties will make the passing guest stop (for a
time). But though the Tao as it comes from the mouth, seems insipid and
has no flavour, though it seems not worth being looked at or listened
to, the use of it is inexhaustible.
Chapter 36
1. When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a
(previous) expiration; when he is going to weaken another, he will first
strengthen him; when he is going to overthrow another, he will first
have raised him up; when he is going to despoil another, he will first
have made gifts to him:--this is called 'Hiding the light (of his
procedure).'
2. The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.
3. Fishes should not be taken from the deep; instruments for the
profit of a state should not be shown to the people.
Chapter 37
1. The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of
doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do.
2. If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things
would of themselves be transformed by them.
3. If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I
would express the desire by the nameless simplicity.
Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.
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