It gives them life without possession.
It benefits them but asks no thanks.
It does its work but claims no merit.
Because it claims no merit
Merit is never lacking in it.
3
Don抰 give honours to the worthy,
Protect people from ambition.
Don抰 value scarce things,
Protect the people from envy.
Don抰 show what抯 desired,
Keep people from temptation.
So, in governing, the wise
Empty the mind
But fill the stomach,
Weaken ambition
But strengthen the bones,
Keep things free of
Desire and learning,
So the clever take no action.
Act without taking action
And things will be in order.
4
The Way is full: use won抰 empty it.
Deep is the matrix of the myriad creatures.
Blunt the sharp:
Loosen the knots:
Dim the glare:
Follow old tracks.
Shadowy, it seems hardly there.
I don抰 know whose child it is.
It seems like the ancestral form.
5
Heaven and earth are ruthless,
Trampling the myriad creatures like straw dogs.
The wise are ruthless,
Considering the people as straw dogs.
The space between earth and heaven,
Isn抰 it like a bellows?
It抯 empty but never exhausted.
The more it works the more flows out.
Much speech leads in the end to silence.
Better to hold fast to the Void.
6
The spirit of the valley never dies.
It is called the mysterious female.
The gate of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth.
Barely seen, it hardly seems there,
Yet use will never exhaust it.
7
Heaven and Earth endure,
By not endowing themselves with life.
Then they can be long-lived.
So the wise place Self last,
And it comes first,
Call it other than themselves,
And it persists.
By not thinking of Self
The personal goal is achieved.
8
The highest virtue is like water.
Since water helps the myriad creatures,
And settles, without contention,
Where no one wishes to live,
It is near to the Way.
In a house position matters.
In mental quality depth matters.
In friends kindness matters.
In speaking honesty matters.
In government order matters.
In transactions ability matters.
In actions promptness matters.
By not contending it never errs.
9
Rather than filling it overfull
Better to stop in time.
Sharpen it to a point
The edge won抰 last forever.
Gold and jade may fill the house
But no one can retain them.
Boasting of wealth and virtue,
Brings trouble on oneself.
Reticence when the job is done,
Is the Way of heaven.
10
Carrying your spiritual body on your head
Can you embrace the One and not let go?
Concentrating the breath
Can you become supple as a child?
Can you polish the mysterious mirror
And leave no mark?
Can you love the people and rule the state
Without indulging in action?
When the gates of heaven open and close,
Can you keep to the female role?
When your mind penetrates the four directions
Are you able to know nothing?
It gives them life and nurtures.
It gives them life without possession.
It benefits them but asks no thanks.
It holds but imposes no authority.
Such is the mysterious virtue.
11
Thirty spokes
Round one hub.
Employ the nothing inside
And you can use a cart.
Knead the clay to make a pot.
Employ the nothing inside
And you can use a pot.
Cut out doors and windows.
Employ the nothing inside
And you can use a room.
What is achieved is something,
By employing nothing it can be used.
12
The five colours blind us.
The five notes deafen us.
The five tastes deaden us.
Pursuing and catching
Disturb the mind.
Wanting scarce things
Delays our progress.
So the wise are:
For the stomach
And not the eye.
Taking the one, they leave the other.
13
Favour and loss of it both disturb us.
Rank and body are both a problem.
What抯 meant by 慺avour and loss of it both disturb us?
Favour disturbs the subject when it抯 given
As much as it does when it抯 taken away.
That抯 what抯 meant by 慺avour and loss of it both disturb us?
What抯 meant by 憆ank and body are both a problem?
I抳e problems because I have a body.
When I抳e no body where抯 my problem?
Who values the body even more than the empire,
Can be trusted with the empire.
Who loves the body even more than the empire,
Can be a custodian of the empire.
14
What cannot be seen is called indistinguishable.
What cannot be heard is called indistinct.
What cannot be touched is called indefinite.
The three can抰 be comprehended
So they抮e confused and considered one.
Its surface is not bright.
Its depths are not obscured.
Dimly seen it can抰 be named
So returns to the insubstantial.
This is the shapeless shape,
The form without substance.
This is called blurred and shadowy.
Approach it you can抰 see its face.
Follow it you can抰 see its back.
Hold fast to the ancient Way
In order to control the present.
Knowing the source of the ancient,
Is the thread that runs through the Way.
15
He who knew the way of old
Was delicately subtle, mysteriously knowing,
Too deep to be understood.
Because he could not be understood
He can only be vaguely described:
Tentative, as if crossing a rushing river,
Alert, as if afraid of his neighbours,
Stiff, like a guest,
Fluid, like thawing ice,
Dense, like the un-carved block,
Empty, like the valley,
Turbid, like muddy water.
Who can be turbid, yet gradually clear?
Who can be still, yet gradually stir into life?
One who holds fast to the Way
Does not desire completeness.
Because they do not desire completeness
They can be worn, and not renewed.
16
I try my best to achieve emptiness.
I hold firmly to stillness.
The myriad creatures rise together
And I watch them return.
The myriad things flourish
And each returns to its root.
Returning to the root is silence.
Silence is returning to being.
Returning to being is knowing the constant.
Knowing the constant is enlightenment.
Acting without knowing
The constant is harmful.
Acting while knowing
The constant is balance.
Balance leads to nobility,
Nobility to what is above,
What is above to the Way,
The Way to the eternal.
To the end of life
There is no danger.
17
The greatest ruler is one they know from of old.
The next is one they love and praise.
The next is one they fear.
The next is one they despise.
Where there is lack of faith,
There is a lack of respect.
Employ reticence, and care with words.
When the work is done and the task complete
The people will say: 慖t just happened.?br>
18
When the great Way is lost
There is 慴enevolence and rectitude?
When cleverness appears
There is 慻reat ritual?
When the family is not harmonious,
There is 慺ilial piety?
When the state is in chaos
There are 憀oyal?ministers.
19
Eliminate the 憇age? forget 憌isdom?br> People will be a hundred times better off.
Eliminate 慴enevolence? forget 憆ectitude?
And people will have filial piety.
Eliminate cleverness: forget profit,
And there抣l be less thieves and rogues.
Superficial things are insufficient,
What is needed is all-embracing.
Exhibit the unadorned.
Hold fast to the un-carved block.
Avoid the thought of Self.
Eliminate desire.
20
Eliminate learning: and there抯 no worry.
Between 憏es?and 憂o? what抯 the difference?
What separates 慻ood?and 慴ad?
But one must respect what others respect.
The people are happy
As if at a marvellous feast,
Or going on a spring outing,
Only I am unmoved and silent,
Abandoned to disorder without limit.
Like a baby that抯 not yet smiled,
Aimless, like one of the homeless.
The people have all they want,
It抯 only me that抯 in need,
My mind抯 ignorant ?so dull!
Yet the crowd are clear-minded,
It抯 only me that抯 muddled.
Yet the crowd are all-knowing,
Only from me it抯 hidden.
Levelled flat like the ocean,
Like an endless wind blowing.
Everyone has a purpose.
It抯 only me that抯 raw and foolish.
I抦 different from the others.
I like being fed by the Mother!
21
Great virtue follows the Way
And the Way alone.
How shadowy, how indistinct!
Within it is the form.
How shadowy, how indistinct!
Within it is the 憈hing?
How dim, how dark!
Within it is the substance.
The substance is perfectly real,
Within, it can be tested.
From present to ancient times
Its name was never lost.
So we can investigate the origins of all.
How do I know the origins of all are that?
By means of this.
22
Bowed down and so preserved.
Bent and then straightened.
Hollowed out then filled.
Worn away then renewed.
From the few achievement
From the many confusion.
So the wise grasp the One
And become a pattern for all.
Not shown, therefore apparent,
Not asserted, therefore known,
Not boasted of, therefore of worth,
Not contentious, so enduring.
It抯 because the wise do not contend,
That no one can contend with them.
When the ancients said:
態owed down and so preserved?br> That was no empty saying.
It allows one to be preserved
To the end.
23
To speak infrequently
Is natural.
So a strong wind won抰 last all morning,
A downpour won抰 last all day.
What causes these? Heaven and earth.
If even heaven and earth must rest,
How much more so human beings?
Therefore align yourself to the Way.
Aligned with the Way you are one with the Way.
Aligned with virtue you are one with virtue.
Aligned with the heavens you are one with the heavens.
The Way accepts this alignment gladly.
Virtue accepts this alignment gladly.
The heavens accept this alignment gladly.
When there is lack of faith
There is a lack of respect.
24
On tiptoes you can抰 stand.
Straddled you can抰 walk.
Shown, therefore not apparent,
Asserted, therefore not known,
Boasted of, therefore not of worth,
Contentious, so not enduring.
The Way calls these
慐xcess food and useless waste?br> As things dislike them,
Those of the Way do not employ them.
25
There is something formed of chaos,
Born before heaven and earth.
Silent and void, it is not renewed,
It goes on forever without failing
It can be seen as the World-Mother.
I don抰 know its name.
So I have to call it the Way.
I have to label it as 憈he great?
Being great implies a distancing
Distancing implies being far-off,
Being far-off implies returning.
So the Way is great: heaven is great:
Earth is great: the ruler is great.
Within the realm four things are great,
And the ruler is one.
The ruler reflects the earth
Earth reflects the heavens
The heavens reflect the Way
The Way reflects what is.
26
Heaviness is the root of lightness:
The still is ruler of the turbulent.
So the nobleman travels all day
Without losing sight of the heavy wagons.
When he抯 secure behind walls and towers,
Then he抯 at rest and without trouble.
How can a ruler of ten thousand chariots,
Treat the people lightly in his thoughts?
In lightness the root is lost:
In turbulence the ruler is lost.
27
Expert travelling leaves no track:
Expert speaking is free of faults.
Expert counting uses no beads.
Expert closing stays t without locks.
Expert tying is firm without knots.
So the wise are expert in utilising people
And discarding no one,
Expert in utilising things
And discarding nothing.
This is called the application of knowledge.
So the wise are teachers the ignorant learn from,
And the ignorant are material for the wise.
Not to value the teacher,
Not to love the material,
Though it seems clever
Reveals confusion.
This is called the essential secret.
28
Know the masculine
But keep to the feminine,
And be a valley to the realm.
If you are a valley to the realm
Then constant virtue won抰 leave you,
And you will return to infancy.
Know the bright
But keep to the shadows,
And be a pattern for the realm.
If you are a pattern for the realm
Then constant virtue will not be lacking
And you will return to the unlimited.
Know the glorious
But keep to the humble
And be a valley to the realm.
If you are a valley to the realm
Then constant virtue will be complete
And you will return to the un-carved block.
The un-carved block is cut into 憊essels?
Wise men use them, as rulers of 憊essels?
The great cutter
Does not cut away.
29
Whoever takes hold of the realm
And wants to manipulate it
Will have no peace.
The realm is a sacred vessel
That should not be interfered with.
Whoever touches it will spoil it.
Whoever grasps it will lose it.
Some lead and some follow,
Some breathe easily, some breathe hard,
Some are strong and some are weak,
Some destroy: some are destroyed.
So the wise avoid excess,
Avoid the pompous, and the arrogant.
30
Ruling the people by means of the Way
Does not involve awing the realm with force.
