It cries all day without becoming hoarse,
This is because it抯 in perfect harmony.
To know this harmony is called the constant.
To know the constant is called enlightenment.
Fuelling the vital spirits is called disastrous.
Mind impelling the breath is called violence.
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.
56
One who knows does not speak.
One who speaks does not know.
Block up the openings.
t the doors,
Blunt the sharp:
Loose the knots:
Dim the glare:
Follow old tracks.
This is called mysterious oneness.
You can抰 possess it but can抰 escape it.
You can抰 benefit it or harm it.
You can抰 honour it or debase it.
So it抯 valued throughout the realm.
57
Govern the state by being honest.
Wage war by being clever.
Achieve the realm by not meddling.
How do I know it is like that? By this:
The more regulations
The poorer the people.
The more sharp weapons
The more troubled the country.
The cleverer the people
The more distractions.
The wider the knowledge of law,
The more there are thieves and rogues.
So the wise say:
I take no action and the people transform themselves.
I remain still and the people set themselves right.
I don抰 interfere and the people themselves prosper.
I am free of desires and the people of themselves
Hold to the un-carved block.
58
When government meanders
The people are straightforward.
When government interferes
The people are cunning.
The fortunate leans on the unfortunate,
The unfortunate crouches beneath the fortunate.
Who knows when to stop?
Where is the simple?
The simple becomes cunning,
The good becomes perverse.
The people have certainly
Been wrong for a long time!
So the wise are foursquare
But not sharp.
Have corners
But don抰 cut.
Extend themselves
But spare others.
Shine out
But don抰 glare.
59
In governing the people and serving heaven
Moderation is best in a ruler.
By being moderate
One starts from the Way.
Starting from the Way
One gains a wealth of virtue.
Gaining a wealth of virtue
There is nothing that can抰 be overcome.
When there抯 nothing that can抰 be overcome
There are no limitations.
When there are no limitations
The realm can be achieved.
When the mother of the realm is achieved,
One endures.
This is called 慸eep roots and a firm stem?br> Through which one acquires long life.
60
Ruling a large state is like boiling a delicate fish.
When the realm is governed by the Way
Malicious influences lose their power.
Or rather they retain their power
But cause the people no harm.
Neither they nor the wise
Cause the people harm.
Since neither harms the people
Their merit is one and the same.
61
A large state should be the estuary of a river,
Where all the streams of the world come together.
In the coming together of the world
The female overcomes the male by weakness.
Being weak she takes the lower position.
So a large state taking the lower position
Allies itself with a small state.
A small state taking the lower position
Is allied with a large state.
One by taking the lower position allies itself,
The other by taking the lower position is allied.
All the large state wishes
Is to join with and nourish the other.
All the small state wishes
Is for its services to be accepted by the other.
In order to achieve what they wish
The great adopt the lower position.
62
The Way is the myriad creatures?refuge.
It is that which the good extend,
And that which defends the bad.
Eloquent words can win promotion.
Eloquent actions can elevate.
Even if a person is bad, should one reject them?
When the ruler is installed
And the three great ministers appointed,
Though jade disks
And four-horse teams are offered,
It抯 better to grant the gift of the Way
Without stirring from one抯 place.
Why was the Way valued of old?
Was it not said it brought achievement,
And mitigated the punishment of the guilty.
So it was prized by the realm.
63
Do what involves no action.
Promote things without meddling.
Savour what has no flavour.
Make the small, great
And the few, many.
Counter harm with virtue.
Tackle the difficult while it抯 still easy,
Address the great while it抯 still small.
Difficult things have easy beginnings,
Great things have small beginnings.
Because the wise never try to be great,
That is how they achieve greatness.
Rash promises are rarely fulfilled.
Thinking things easy makes them difficult.
The wise treat things as if they were difficult.
And so are not overcome by difficulties.
64
It抯 easy to control what is at rest.
It抯 easy to handle what抯 not yet developed.
It抯 easy to shatter what抯 still un-tempered.
It抯 easy to disperse what抯 still limited.
Deal with things before they grow.
Manage affairs before they抮e chaotic.
A tree as wide as a man抯 arms
Grows from a tiny seed.
A tower nine stories high
Rises from piles of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts with a single step.
Whoever meddles with things ruins them.
Whoever grasps things loses them.
The wise by non-action ruin nothing.
By not grasping they lose nothing.
People in their projects
Fail on the brink of success.
Be as careful at the end as the start
And failure will be avoided.
So the wise desire to be free of desire,
And place no value on what is scarce:
Learn how to exist without learning,
And correct the faults of the many:
Help all things to conform to nature,
And avoid the rashness of action.
65
Those of old who were skilled in the Way
Did not use it to enlighten people,
But rather to maintain simplicity.
When people are difficult to govern
It抯 because they抳e become too clever.
Governing the state by cleverness
Is a disaster for the state.
Not to govern a state by cleverness
Is a blessing for the state.
These are the givens.
To always understand the given,
Is called mysterious virtue.
Mysterious virtue is deep and profound.
When things return to the given, it returns.
And only then are things in complete accord.
66
The reason why River and Sea can be
The rulers of the hundred valleys
Is because they adopt the lower position.
So they can command the hundred valleys.
In order to command people
You should be humble with them.
If you want to lead people
You should follow behind.
So the wise command the people
But avoid being a burden.
They go in front of the people
But cause no obstruction.
Therefore the realm gladly upholds them,
And never resents doing so.
Because they do not contend
No one in the realm contends with them.
67
The whole world calls my Way vast
And says it resembles nothing else.
It is precisely because it is vast
That it resembles nothing else.
If it resembled something else
How could it be anything but small?
I have three treasures
I hold to and cherish.
The first is compassion,
The second is moderation,
The third is called not rashly
Taking the lead in the realm.
Being compassionate I can show courage,
Being moderate I can be generous,
Not rashly taking the lead
I can command the officials.
Courage without compassion,
Generosity without moderation,
Going in front instead of behind,
Is certain to end in destruction.
With compassion you will win in war
And be impregnable in peace.
Heaven will protect you
With the gift of compassion.
68
The greatest warrior is not formidable.
The greatest fighter is never angry.
The best strategist never encounters the enemy.
The best employer of talent is humble.
This is known as the power of non-contention.
This is known as respecting others?talents.
This is known as echoing the profundity of heaven.
69
The strategists say:
慖t抯 rash to play the host: I prefer to play the guest.
It抯 rash to go forward an inch, I retreat a foot instead.?br> This is known as advancing without moving,
Rolling up one抯 sleeve without an arm,
Meeting an enemy by force without an enemy,
And waging war without a battle.
There抯 nothing worse than treating war lightly.
Doing that will lose me all my treasure.
When two opponents encounter each other,
The one that is most regretful will win.
70
My words are easy to understand
And easy to put into practice,
Yet no one can understand them
Or put them into practice.
Words must have an origin
And actions must have a guide.
People ignorant of this
Fail to understand me.
Those who understand are few:
Those who ignore me are celebrated.
So the wise though meanly dressed,
Hide priceless jade on their person.
71
To know without thinking one knows is best.
Not to know but to think one knows is harmful.
It is by being aware of harm that one avoids it.
The wise person does not come to harm.
It is because the wise are aware of harm
That they avoid coming to harm.
72
When people don抰 respect what is powerful
Things have the power to overcome them.
Don抰 press down on their lives,
Don抰 constrict their livelihood.
It抯 because you don抰 oppress them,
That they won抰 weary of the burden.
So the wise know themselves,
But don抰 make a display of themselves,
Love themselves
But don抰 over-value themselves.
Taking the one, they leave the other.
73
One who抯 fearless in being brave will be killed.
One who抯 fearless in being cautious remains alive.
One of these is useful, the other harmful.
Heaven disdains what it disdains
Who knows the reasons why?
Even the wise find these things difficult.
The way of heaven
Overcomes easily without contention,
Replies though it does not speak,
Invites though it does not summon,
Obeys the laws though it seems free.
The net of heaven is vast.
The mesh is wide
But nothing slips through.
74
If people don抰 fear death
How will you frighten them with death?
If people always fear death
And I seize and execute
Anyone who does anything new,
Who will dare to move?
There is a public executioner who kills.
Killing on behalf of the public executioner,
Is called cutting wood on behalf of the carpenter.
In cutting wood on behalf of the carpenter,
There are few who escape hurting their hands.
75
The people are starving.
It抯 because their rulers over-tax them
That the people are starving.
The people are hard to govern.
It抯 because their rulers are quick to act
That people are hard to govern.
The people treat death lightly.
It抯 because people over-value life
That they treat death lightly.
It抯 because one sets no store by life,
That one is wiser than those who do.
76
We are supple and weak when born,
And hard and stiff when dead.
Trees and grass are supple and tender shoots,
But dry and withered when dead.
The hard and stiff are companions of death.
The supple and weak are companions of life.
The stiffly held weapon will not conquer.
Hard wood will fall to the axe.
The tall and stiff is of inferior rank.
The supple and weak is of superior rank.
77
The Way of heaven is like stringing a bow.
It depresses the high,
And raises the low.
It takes from excess,
And gives to the lacking.
It抯 heaven抯 Way
To take from excess
And give to the lacking.
People do otherwise.
They take from those who lack
And give to those with excess.
Who can take his excess
And give it to the realm?
One who knows the Way.
So the wise do good but ask no thanks.
They do their work but claim no merit.
They do not wish to display their virtue.
78
Nothing in the world is weaker or gentler than water.
But nothing exceeds it at conquering the hard and strong.
That is because nothing displaces it.
That the weak overcomes the strong,
And the gentle overcomes the hard,
Is something that everyone knows
But no one can put into practice.
So the wise say:
One who takes on himself the state抯 humility
Is called a ruler worthy of its institutions.
One who takes on himself the state抯 adversity,
Is called a ruler worthy of governing the realm.
True words
Seem perverse.
79
When there is peace between great enemies
There is bound to be lingering resentment.
How can this be considered virtuous?
So the wise become creditors
But exact no payment from the people.
The virtuous keep the tally,
Those without virtue exact it.
The Way of heaven shows no favouritism.
It merely supports the good.
80
Let states and their population be small in size.
Let the people, though they have weapons
For an army, not use them.
Let them take death seriously
And not wander to far-off places.
Though they have boats and wagons
Let them not find a use for them.
Though they have weapons and armour
Let them have no occasion to show them.
Return them to measuring with a knotted rope,
They抣l find savour in their food,
