Men of wisdom and kindness came forth, and then hypocrisy began to spread梉good men were counterfeited by the base]. Discord arose in families, and this manifested [by contrast] the virtues of filial piety and compassion. The State was thrown into anarchy, and this led to the appearance of faithful Ministers.
19
When Sages are rejected as rulers, and the services of the wise are discarded, the people's wealth will increase a hundredfold; [for their hearts will all be set on covetousness]. When benevolence and rectitude [in government] are abjured, [such will be the height of disorder that] the people will revert to their natural qualities of filial piety and compassion [by sheer force of reaction]. When ingenuities of luxury and eagerness for gain are renounced, there will be no more robbers梉for there will be no accumulations of wealth to be worth stealing]. These three propositions show that mere externals are insufficient for good government, and therefore each man should be ordered to confine himself to performing his own special work in life.
* It is evident, from the forced interpretation of the above sentences, that the Commentator has expended all his ingenuity in an attempt to clear Lao Tsze from the imputation of reviling the Sages and repudiating ethical morality. How far he has succeeded, those who are familiar with the Confucianist expositors are able to judge for themselves.
20
By looking always on the reality of things, and preserving the simple truth, [the people] will become less selfish and have fewer desires; and by pursuing their researches [into the Doctrine] to the utmost limit, they may avoid sorrow.
How small is the distance dividing a prompt affirmative from a sycophantic acquiescence; [yet] how great is that between virtue and immorality! I cannot but fear that which is feared by others.[Their scholarship], how neglected is it! It is still night with them.
The world is joyful and merry as on a day of sacrifice, or as those who mount a belvedere in spring-time. I alone prefer solitude and quiet, and seek not to pry into futurity. I am like an infant ere it has grown to be a child; listlessly I roam hither and thither, as though I had no home to go to. The multitude have abundance and to spare; I alone am like one who has relinquished everything. Have I, therefore, the heart of a fool? Confused and dim, while the vulgar are [apparently] enlightened; I alone am in the dark. Tossed to and fro, like the sea; roving without cessation. The multitude have whereupon to employ their energies; I alone am doltish as a clown.[But] I alone differ from all others in that I reverence my Nursing Mother.
21
The appearance of Virtue in its fullest exuberance is no more than the result of compliance with the TAO. TAO, considered as an entity, is obscure and vague. Vague and obscure! yet within it there is Form. Obscure and vague! yet within it there is Substance. Vacuous and unfathomable! yet within it there is Quintessential Energy梐nd this is supremely real. Within it, too, there is Trustworthiness; from ancient down to modern times its name has never been lost; by it I can include in the range of my observation the whole of animate nature. How am I cognisant of the acquiescence of animate nature [in TAO]?桞y TAO itself.
22
[In cultivating TAO] there are first the sprouts; then perfection. First, there is perversion; then rectification. First there is hollowness [receptivity]; then plenitude. First there is destruction [of the old]; then renovation. First there is humility; then acquisition. Self-sufficiency is followed by suspicion [on the part of others]. Therefore the Sage preserves unity [in his heart] and becomes a pattern to the whole world. He does not say himself that he can see, and therefore he is perspicacious. He does not say himself that he is right, and therefore he is manifested to all. He does pot praise himself, and therefore his merit is recognised. He is not self-conceited, and therefore he increases [in knowledge]. And as he never strives with anybody, so the world does not strive with him.
Can that saying of the olden times?First the sprouts, then perfection"梑e called meaningless? The attainment of genuine perfection implies a reversion [to the original nature of man].
23
Reticence in speech leads to spontaneity. A boisterous wind does not continue after dawn; a deluge of rain does not outlast the day. Who is it that produces these two phenomena?桯eaven and Earth. Seeing, then, that the forces of nature cannot last for ever, how much less can man?
Wherefore among those who order their affairs in accordance with TAO, those who understand the doctrine are identified with TAO; those who are possessed of virtue are identified with the Virtue [or attributes梠f TAO]; while those who lose both are identified with their loss梉so that they do not recognise it as being loss].
Those who become thus identified with TAO are also received joyfully by those who already possess the TAO. Those who become identified with its Virtue are also received joyfully by those who already possess the Virtue. The loss sustained by those who are identified with the loss of both is also rejoiced in by those who are already in the same case.
Where there is insufficiency of faith on the part of one, there will result an entire absence of faith on the part of others.
24
A man who raises himself on tiptoe cannot remain firm. A man with crooked legs cannot walk [far].
He who says himself that he can see is not enlightened. He who says himself that he is right is not manifested to others. He who praises himself has no merit. He who is self-conceited will not increase [in knowledge].
Such men may be said to search after TAO that they may gorge themselves in feeding, and act the parasite; moreover, they are universally detested. Therefore those who are possessed of TAO do not act thus.
25
There was Something formed from chaos, which came into being before Heaven and Earth. Silent and boundless it stands alone, and never changes. It pervades every place, and incurs no danger [of being impaired]. It may be called the Mother of the Universe. I know not its name; but its designation is TAO. If forced to call it something, I will call it great. Being great, it moves ever onward; and thus I say that it is remote. Being remote, I say that it returns.
Therefore TAO is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the King also is great. In the Universe there are four things that are great, and the King is one of them. Man regulates himself by the Earth; Earth regulates itself by Heaven; Heaven regulates itseIf by TAO; and TAO regulates itseIf by its own inherent nature梠r, spontaneously.
26
The weighty is the source of the light; stillness dominates disquietude. Wherefore, while the Sage proceeds the whole day [according to TAO], he never departs from either calmness or gravity. Although there may be spectacles of worldly glory [to attract him] he sits quietly alone, far above the common crowd. How is that a Prince of Ten Thousand Studs of Horses can regard his own person as of less importance than his regal dignity?
This lightness [on the part of the Prince] loses him his Ministers, while restlessness [on the part of the Ministers] loses them their Prince.
* The phrase ### might well be rendered "is the ruin of their Prince;" but this is not sanctioned by Lü Ts?, who interprets it as meaning that such Ministers will be dismissed.
27
The conduct of the virtuous leaves neither trace nor clue. The words of the virtuous afford no ground for fault-finding. The projects of the virtuous require no intrigue.
When the virtuous are obstructed [in their policy], though there be no bolt to the door which ts them in, it yet cannot be opened. When the virtuous enter into relations with others, though they be not bound by the ties of contract, they yet may not release themselves [from their obligations].
Thus the Sage ever uses his goodness in saving others; and therefore there are none who are abandoned. He ever uses his goodness in saving the inanimate creation; and therefore there are none of these who are abandoned. This is called being doubly enlightened.
Wherefore the virtuous man is the teacher, or patron, of the bad man, while the bad man is employed as material, on which to work, by the virtuous man. If the bad man does not reverence the other as his teacher, nor the good man love the former as his material; then, in spite of any wisdom either may possess, they are both greatly blinded. This doctrine is both important and sublime.
28
He who, conscious of manly strength, guards a womanly weakness, becomes the channel of the whole Empire [to which all minor streams converge]. Being thus the channel of the whole Empire, the cardinal virtues [###] will never depart from him, and he will revert to a condition of childlike innocence.
He who, conscious of light, keeps in obscurity, will become a model for the whole Empire. Being a model for the whole Empire, the cardinal virtues will never fail him, and he will revert to the Unconditioned.
He who, conscious of his glory, guards humility, will become the valley of the whole Empire. Being the valley of the Empire, he will revert to his original simplicity. When this simplicity is distributed, q.d., brought into play, the man becomes a thing of utility [to the State].
* That is, an implement. Compare the expression ### a man of talent, an able officer. The Commentator refers us to the Lun Yü, Book V, chap. 3, q.v.
The Sage employs men of this simplicity, and advances them to high rank; therefore his administration is on a grand scale, and never comes to an end.
29
When a man desires to obtain the Empire, and govern it [by acting on this principle of simplicity], I see that he does so in spite of himself. The insignia of royalty may not be used by such.
* The sacred vessels, or tripods, of the Empire were those made after the semblance of the constellation ### by the Yellow Emperor. See K慳ng Hsi, under the character ###. The idea of the Commentator, which is exceedingly difficult to catch, is that the man who embraces the simplicity of TAO, referred to in the previous chapter, should, to be consistent, have nothing to do with the pomp and trappings of Imperial state. It is true that the rendering of ### by "used" is a liberty, and the idea apparently is that in the reign of such an Emperor as Lao Tsze is supposing such things should not even be made.
Those who make them will break them; those who clutch at them will lose them. For among the things of the world there are those who lead and those who follow; there are ejaculations of grief and ejaculations of gladness; there are those who are strong and those who are weak; there are those who sustain loads and those who are good for nothing. For this reason the Sage puts away excess, display, and pride.
30
Those who use TAO in assisting their Sovereign do not employ soldiers to force the Empire. The methods of government they adopt are such as have a tendency to react upon themselves. Where garrisons are quartered, briars and thorns spring up梣.d., the land is deserted by the people. Disastrous years inevitably follow in the wake of great armies.
Wise rulers act with decision, and nothing more. They do not venture to use overbearing measures. They are decided without self-conceit, or boasting, or pride. They are decided in spite of themselves, and without presuming on brute force.
After a man has arrived at the prime of his strength, he begins to age. This is attributable to his not possessing TAO. Those who do not possess TAO die before their time.
31
The finest weapons of war are implements of disaster. All creatures hate them; therefore those who are possessed of TAO make no use of them.
The ideal man, in his own house, regards the left hand as the more honourable. Those who use weapons of war, give honour to the right梉as being that in which arms are brandished]. Weapons are implements of disaster; they are not the implements employed by the ideal man. If he ever uses them, he does so because he cannot help it. He regards tranquillity and passionlessness as supreme.
Victory in war is not a beautiful thing. Those who see beauty in it are such as take delight in killing men. It is impossible for those who take delight in killing others to obtain the suffrages of the Empire.
In matters of joyful import, the left-hand is the more highly esteemed; in matters of disaster, the right-hand. The general second in command occupies the left-hand position [in the war-chariot]; it is the general-in-chief who is stationed on the right. The meaning of this is that the latter is placed similarly to a chief mourner at a funeral梣.d., in an inauspicious position. Having been instrumental in killing multitudes of people, he should weep bitterly with pity and compassion. Having gained a victory in battle, he thus still occupies the position of [chief] mourner at a funeral.
32
TAO remains ever nameless. However insignificant may be the simplicity [of those who cultivate it] the Empire does not presume to claim their services [as Ministers].
* The Commentator points out that even the friendship of those eminent for TAO has often been sought in vain by Princes; how much more difficult, then, is it, to secure their help in subordinate positions!
If Princes and Monarchs could but preserve this simplicity, every creature in the world would submit itself to them; Heaven and Earth would be in mutual accord, and shower down sweet dew; the people would need no laws, but live in harmony of themselves.
It was in the beginning that a name was fabricated [for TAO]. This name once existing, Heaven, also, may be known; and such knowledge ensures the indestructibility [of the doctrine].
The presence of TAO in the world may be compared to streams [which ever flow], and mountain-gorges [which are indestructible], in their union with rivers and seas [which are unfathomable].
33
They who know others are shrewd; self-knowers are enlightened. Those who overcome others have bodily strength; self-vanquishers have determination. Those who know when they have enough are rich. Those who act with determination or perseverance have strength of will. Those who lose not what they have learnt梩he TAO梤etain it always. Those who, up till death, are not lost [to TAO], enjoy posthumous activity.
* The text is simply ###.It means that their works and doctrines live after them, as Confucius may be said to be still alive in China. The idea appears identical with that of the Positivists.
34
The Great TAO is all-pervasive; it may be seen on the right and on the left.
All things depend upon it, and are produced; it denies itself to none.
It achieves its works of merit, but has no name or reputation [among men]. With tenderness it nourishes all things, yet claims no lordship over them.
