That抯 likely to come full circle.
Where the general camped
There the brambles grow.
In the wake of a great army
Bad harvests inevitably follow.
The good man aims at ending war,
And doing so fears to intimidate.
Achieve the aim but don抰 boast.
Achieve the aim without display.
Achieve the aim without arrogance.
Achieve the aim but don抰 assert it.
Achieve the aim but don抰 intimidate.
The creature that ignores what exists from of old
Is described as going against the Way.
What goes against the Way
Will come to a swift end.
31
Since weapons are instruments of evil,
And people detest them,
A wise man can抰 stand their use.
A gentleman, in his house,
Makes the left the place of honour.
In military matters
The right is the place of honour.
Since weapons are instruments of evil,
They are not the instruments of the gentleman.
When he is forced to use them
He does so without savouring it.
Victory is not glorious,
Those for whom it is glorious
Delight in killing human beings.
Those who delight in killing human beings
Will never control the realm.
The left takes precedence on joyous occasions.
The right takes precedence on sad occasions.
A lieutenant抯 place is on the left.
A general抯 place is on the right.
Mourning rites are observed.
When there are mounds of dead
One should weep with sorrow.
When one is victorious
Observe the mourning rites.
32
The Way has no name.
The un-carved block is small
But no one dares to claim it.
If the rulers could accept this
The myriad creatures would submit of themselves,
Heaven and earth would unite
And the sweet dew would fall.
The people could be dealt with
Without the making of laws.
When it is carved there are names.
When there are names it is time to stop.
Knowing when to stop
Keeps one from danger.
The world抯 relation to the Way
Is like rills and streams
To the River and Sea.
33
One who understands others is clever.
One who understands the 憇elf?is enlightened.
One who conquers others is forceful.
One who conquers the 憇elf?is strong.
One who can be content is rich.
One who can act with purpose has will.
One who doesn抰 lose place endures.
One who dies without loss has lived a life.
34
The Way is broad like a river.
How can it be deflected to left or right?
The myriad creatures depend on it for life
Yet it imposes no authority.
It does its work but claims no merit.
It feeds and clothes the people
Without claiming to rule them.
Free of desires it can be called 憇mall?
Yet as the myriad creatures turn to it,
And it does not claim to rule them,
It can be called 慻reat?
Because it never regards itself as great
It is capable of being great.
35
Hold on to the great Image
And people will travel along.
Travelling along without harm
They will exist in peace.
Music and food tempt
The passer-by to stop.
The Way passes into the mouth
Without any flavour.
Look and it cannot be seen.
Listen, it cannot be heard.
Yet it cannot be exhausted.
36
In order to shrink it
It has to be stretched.
In order to weaken it
It has to be strong.
In order to raze it
You have to build it.
In order to take from it
You have to give to it.
This is called subtle understanding.
The soft and gentle conquers
The hard and violent.
The fish should not abandon the depths.
The state抯 rewards and punishments
Should not be open to everyone.
37
The Way is always inaction,
But nothing is left undone.
If the rulers could realise it
The people would be themselves transformed.
If, being transformed, they show desire
I restrain it by means of the un-carved block.
The nameless un-carved block
Is freedom from desire.
Without desire they are calm,
And the realm is of itself at peace.
38
The highest virtue doesn抰 practise virtue
That抯 why it is virtuous.
The lowest virtue is always 憊irtuous?br> That抯 why it has no virtue.
The highest virtue is inaction
But nothing is left undone.
The lowest virtue is action
But things are always left undone.
Benevolence is acting
But without ulterior motives.
Rectitude is acting
But with ulterior motives.
Those steeped in the rites act,
And when no one responds,
They roll up their sleeves
And resort to threats.
So when the Way was lost
There was 憊irtue?
When virtue was lost
There was benevolence.
When benevolence was lost
There was rectitude.
When rectitude was lost
There were the rites.
The rites are only the semblance
Of loyalty and sincerity,
And a source of disorder.
The seer is a flowery decoration
Obscuring the Way,
And a source of foolishness.
So the wise live in the substance
And not in the semblance.
In the fruit
And not in the flower.
They take the one, and leave the other.
39
Of old these possess Oneness:
Heaven because of the One is clear.
Earth because of the One is firm.
Powers because of the One have force.
Valleys because of the One are filled.
People because of the One subsist.
Rulers because of the One can govern.
The One creates these effects.
If heaven was not clear it might shatter.
If earth was not firm it might subside.
If powers had no force they might be exhausted.
If the valley was not filled it might run dry.
If people lacked subsistence they might perish.
If rulers could not govern they might fall.
So the superior has the inferior as root.
The higher has the lower at its base.
So rulers call themselves 慳bandoned, humble, and unfortunate?
Is this not taking the inferior as root?
So the highest effect is not a burden,
Neither desiring to be rare like jade,
Nor solitary like a rock.
40
Returning is how the Way progresses.
Weakness is how it performs its function.
The myriad creatures arise from Something,
And Something arises from Nothing.
41
When the best students hear of the Way
They try zealously to put it into practice.
When average students hear of the Way
It抯 sometimes here and sometimes gone.
When the worst students hear of the Way
They burst out laughing.
Not laughing would make it
Unworthy to be called the Way.
So the ancient text says:
The way that is bright seems dull.
The way forward seems to lead back.
The smooth way seems rough.
The highest virtue seems a valley.
The purest whiteness seems stained.
Excessive virtue seems defective.
Solid virtue seems inactive.
Simplicity appears sullied.
The great square has no corners.
The great vessel takes long to fashion.
The great note is soundless.
The great image has no form.
The Way hides in namelessness.
It is good at giving and perfecting.
42
The Way creates one: one creates two:
Two creates three: three creates every being.
All beings carry the yin on their back
And embrace the yang in their arms,
Their gentleness achieves harmony.
Men hate the words 慳bandoned, humble, and unfortunate?br> Yet rulers call themselves by these names.
So things are sometimes augmented
By being diminished,
And diminished by addition.
I teach what others also teach:
慣he violent won抰 die a natural death.?br> I adopt this as my basic principle.
43
The softest thing in the world
Subdues the hardest thing in the world.
Non-being enters impenetrable space.
That is why I know the power of non-action.
Very few people in the world
Know how to teach without words
And profit from non-action.
44
Which is dearer
Your fame or your self?
Which is more precious
Your self or possessions?
Which is worse
To gain or to lose?
So, great love
Leads to great sacrifice.
Great riches
Lead to great losses.
Know what is sufficient
And you won抰 be humbled.
Know when to stop
And you抣l be free from danger.
Then you抣l last a long time.
45
Great perfection seems flawed.
Yet use will not diminish it.
Great fullness seems empty
Yet use will not exhaust it.
Great straightness seems bent.
Great skill seems awkward.
Great eloquence seems stilted.
Movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.
Clear and calm,
One can be a ruler of the realm.
46
When the Way reigns in the land,
Horses go back to ploughing the fields.
When the Way does not reign in the land,
War-horses breed on the frontiers.
There抯 no crime worse
Than to pander to one抯 desires.
There抯 no sickness worse
Than not knowing what is enough.
There抯 no greater catastrophe
Than the lust for gain.
Whoever knows what is enough
Will be happy with his fate.
47
You can know the universe
Without leaving your house.
You can see the ways of heaven
Without looking out of your window.
The further you go
The less you know.
That抯 why the wise achieve without moving,
Name what is, without needing to see it,
Accomplish great things without action.
48
In pursuing one抯 studies
Something抯 added each day.
In practising the Way
Something抯 subtracted each day.
It grows less and less
Until one reaches non-action.
When one reaches non-action
Nothing is left undone.
It抯 always through not interfering
That one can control the realm.
Whoever loves to interfere
Will never control the people.
49
The wise have no fixed opinion.
They take the peoples?opinion as their own.
Those who are good I treat as good.
Those who are bad I treat as good.
That抯 the perfection of goodness.
Those who are honest I treat as honest.
Those who are dishonest I treat as honest.
That抯 the perfection of honesty.
Among the people the wise reserve their opinion
And live in harmony with them.
The multitude satisfy their eyes and ears,
And the wise treat them as little children.
50
Pursuing life and pursuing death
A third will be followers of life,
A third will be followers of death.
And a third chase life into the realms of death.
Why? Because they want to live to excess.
I抳e heard that those who control their life,
Never encounter tigers or rhinos on their travels,
Are never harmed by weapons when in a fight.
There抯 nowhere for the rhino to plant its horn.
There抯 nowhere for the tiger to set its claw.
There抯 nowhere for the weapon to lodge its blade.
Why? Because they抳e abolished the realm of death.
51
The Way creates them.
Virtue raises them.
Things shape them.
Events mature them.
So the myriad creatures value the Way
And all honour virtue.
The Way is valued and virtue honoured
Not by force, but of its nature.
So the Way creates them and raises them,
Rears them and nourishes them,
Develops and matures them,
Feeds and shelters them.
It gives them life without possession.
It benefits them but asks no thanks.
It holds but imposes no authority.
Such is the mysterious virtue.
52
All things have an origin.
The origin could be called the Mother.
When you know the Mother,
You can know the child.
When you know the child,
Return to clasp the Mother,
And you抣l find no danger
To the end of your life.
Block up the openings.
t the doors,
And you抣l not fail
To the end of your life.
Unblock the openings,
Add to your problems,
You抣l be beyond help
To the end of your life.
To see the subtle is called discernment.
To hold to the weak is called strength.
Use discernment but return to the light.
This is called pursuing the constant.
53
If I had a little knowledge
I抎 walk the great Way,
And only fear straying from it.
The great Way is broad,
But people like sidetracks.
The Court is immaculate
But the fields are full of weeds.
The barns are empty
But the rulers are finely dressed,
Swords by their sides,
Gorged with food and drink,
Owning too much wealth.
This is called glorious theft.
This is far away from the Way.
54
The well-rooted cannot be dislodged.
The tightly-held will not be lost.
Generation after generation
Worship their ancestors forever.
Cultivate it in yourself
Its virtue will be real.
Cultivate it in the family
Its virtue will overflow.
Cultivate it in the village
Its virtue will extend.
Cultivate it in the state
Its virtue will flourish.
Cultivate it in the realm
Its virtue will be all-pervasive.
Assess the self by considering yourself.
Assessthe family by considering the family.
Assess the village by considering the village.
Assess the state by considering the state.
Assess the realm by considering the realm.
How do I know the realm is like that?
By means of this.
55
One who possesses true virtue
Is like a new-born infant.
Poisonous insects won抰 sting it.
Savage creatures won抰 bite it.
Birds of prey won抰 claw it.
Though its bones are weak,
And its muscles feeble,
Its grip is still strong.
Though it doesn抰 know about sexual union
Its sexual parts are already active,
This is because it has perfect vitality.
