Fearful when they get it,
Fearful when they lose it.
That's why favor and disgrace are the same fear.
What is meant by
"Honor and distress: same self"?
The self registers our distress:
If we have no self,
We have no distress.
Therefore,
He who values all things as his self
Is fit to manage all things.
He who loves all things as his self
Is fit to be trusted with all things.
14
Look at it; you can't see it:
Call it shapeless.
Listen to it: you can't hear it:
Call it soundless.
Grasp at it; you can't hold it:
Call it bodiless.
These three are beyond scrutiny;
Therefore they blend into one.
Its upped side it not bright,
Its lower side is not dark.
Continually the can't-be-named goes on
And comes back to nothingness.
Call it the formless form,
The imageless image,
The obscure.
From in front, you don't see its head.
From behind, you don't see its back.
But hold onto the Tao of old
And you can handle today's nowness.
Knowing the primal is the key to Tao.
15
The ancient masters were
Inwardly subtle and darkly perceptive.
Their depth was beyond understanding.
Because they were beyond understanding,
They can be described only by appearance:
Hesitant as if wading a river in winter,
Reluctant as if fearing a neighbor,
Reserved as if acting as guest,
Effacing like ice starting to melt,
Simple like uncarved wood,
Open like a valley,
Confused like muddy water.
Who else could clear muddy water
By quieting it?
Who else could move clear water
By bringing it to life?
Whoever keeps to Tao
Does not want to be full.
Not full, he can practice
Concealment instead of accomplishment.
16
Attain utmost emptiness;
Hold firm to stillness.
The ten thousand things stir about;
I only watch for their going back.
Things flourish,
But each returns to its root.
Returning to the root is peace
And peace is going back to reality.
To go back to reality is to be constant.
To know the constant is to find insight;
Not to know the constant is to court calamity.
To know the constant is to be broad.
To be broad is to be just.
To be just is to be manly.
To be manly is to be heavenly.
To be heavenly is to find Tao.
To find Tao is to live forever
And to rob danger from death.
17
Of the best ruler,
The people only know he exists.
Next comes one the love and praise.
Next comes one they fear.
Next comes one they abhor.
When you are lacking in trust,
Others have no trust in you.
Of the work of one who is short with his words,
The hundred families say,
We have done it ourselves!
18
When Tao is cast aside,
Duty and humanity abide.
When prudence and wit appear,
Great hypocrites are here.
When the six relations have no point,
Filial piety and paternal love are taught.
When the countryside is out of joint,
Loyalty and allegiance are man's lot.
19
Give up wisdom, abandon knowledge,
And the people will benefit a hundredfold.
Give up benevolence, abandon righteousness,
And the people will go back to natural affection.
Give up cunning, abandon gain,
And robbers and thieves will disappear.
These external rules are not enough.
Hold to what can be counted on:
Keep to simplicity,
Grasp the primal,
Reduce the self,
And curb desire.
20
Give up learning:
You will no anxieties.
How much difference is there
Between ah and oh?
How much difference is there
Between god and evil?
What men fear
Must I fear?
Utter nonsense!
All men are happy happy,
As if consuming sacrificial feasts,
As if mounting the Spring Terrace.
I alone am mild
Like one who gives no sign,
Like an infant who does not smile,
Forlorn like one with no place to go.
All men have plenty;
I alone am a loser
A fool at heart indeed!
The world's people are bright bright;
I alone am dull dull.
The world's people are smart smart;
I alone am low low,
Bland as the sea,
Aimless as the wind.
All men have their uses;
I alone am stubborn and uncouth.
But I differ most from the others
In prizing food drawn from my Mother.
21
The nature of great virtue
is to follow Tao alone.
And Tao's style is elusive, evasive.
Evasive, elusive
Yet within it is form.
elusive, evasive,
Yet within it is substance.
Dark and dim,
Yet within it is vitality,
Its vitality is very real:
Within it is trust.
From of old
Its name has not ceased,
For it has watched all beginnings.
How can all beginnings be known?
Inward light!
22
Twist and get whole.
Bend and get straight.
Be empty and get filled.
Be worn and get renewed.
Have little: get much.
Have much: get baffled.
Therefore the sage
Holds to the One and
Becomes beneath-heaven's model.
He does not show himself,
Hence he shines.
Does not assert himself,
Hence he is seen.
Does not boast his merits,
Hence he survives.
Does not compete with anyone,
Hence no one beneath heaven
Can compete with him.
The old saying,
The twisted shall be made whole
Is it not true?
Be whole and you will return.
23
Nature speaks little.
Squalls do not last the morning
Nor downpours the day.
What stirs them up
Heaven-and-earth!
Even heaven-and-earth
Does not long make a fuss.
How much less should men!
Therefore,
He who follows Tao is one with Tao.
He who follows virtue is one with virtue.
He who courts loss is one with his losses.
Tao is glad to get whoever comes to Tao.
Virtue is glad to get whoever comes to virtue.
Loss is glad to get whoever comes to loss.
When you are lacking in trust,
Others have no trust in you.
24
On tiptoe you don't stand.
Astride you don't walk.
Showing yourself, you don't shine.
Asserting yourself, you don't show.
Boasting yourself won't get you credit.
Vaunting yourself won't let you endure.
In Tao, these things are called
Tumors and dregs, which all things abhor.
Whoever has Tao does not dwell on them.
25
Something there is without form and complete,
Born before heaven and earth,
Solitary and vast,
Standing alone without change,
Everywhere pervading all things,
Mothering all beneath heaven.
I don't know its name;
I style it Tao,
And for want of a name call it great.
To be great is to go on.
To go on is to be far.
To be far is to return.
Therefore,
Tao is great.
Earth is great.
Man is great.
The universe has four greats,
And man is one of them.
Man follows earth;
Earth follows heaven;
Heaven follows Tao;
Tao follows itself.
26
The solid is the root of the light,
The still is the master of the restless.
Therefore,
The sage travels all day
But never leaves the baggage wagon.
Though there are arresting sights,
He does not stir but sits.
Why does the master of ten thousand chariots
Act lightly to all beneath heaven?
Lightness will uproot him,
Restlessness unman him.
27
Good walkers leave no tracks:
Good speakers make no points;
Good reckoners use no counters.
Good lockers turn no keys,
Yet no one opens their locks.
Good binders tie no ropes,
Yet no one undoes their knots.
What is more,
The sage is always good at saving men:
No one is cast out.
He is also good at saving things:
No thing is cast out.
Call this following the light.
Hence good men teach the not good.
Not-good men are the lessons of the good.
Not to esteem the teacher,
Not to love the lesson,
Is to go astray despite great learning.
Call this the subtle secret.
28
Know the masculine;
Keep to the feminine.
Be beneath-heaven's ravine.
To be beneath-heaven's ravine
Is to stay with unceasing virtue
And return to infancy.
Know the white;
Keep to the black.
Be beneath-heaven's model.
To beneath-heaven's valley
Is to stay with abundant virtue
And return to simplicity.
When simplicity diversifies
It produces instruments
That the sage uses as officers.
Indeed, a great leader does little cutting.
29
Does anyone want to take the world
And act on it?
I don't see how he can succeed.
The world is a sacred vessel
Not to be acted on.
Whoever acts on it spoils it;
Whoever grasps at it loses.
Indeed, there is a time for
Some things to go forward
And some to go behind;
Some to blow hot
And some to blow cold,
Some to grow in strength
And some to decay;
Some to be up
And some to be down.
Therefore the sage
Eschews excesses, extremes, and extravagances.
30
He who uses Tao to guide rulers
Does not force beneath-heaven with arms.
Such things recoil on their users.
Where armies are
Briars and brambles grow.
Bad harvests follow big wars.
Be firm and that is all:
Dare not rely on force
Be firm but not haughty,
Firm but not boastful,
Firm but not proud:
Firm when necessary,
Firm but non-violent.
Things that flourish
Fall into decay.
This is not-Tao,
And what is not-Tao soon ends.
31
Fine weapons are tools of ill fortune;
All things seem to hate them.
Whoever has Tao does not depend on them.
At home a gentleman favors the left;
In war he favors the right.
Since weapons are tools of ill fortune,
They are not the tools for a gentleman,
Who uses them only from necessity.
Peace and quiet he upholds;
Victory he does not enjoy.
To enjoy victory is to like slaughter.
Whoever likes it
Cannot thrive beneath heaven.
Things of good omen favor the left;
Things of ill omen favor the right.
The under-general stands to the left;
The top-general stands to the right:
The way to stand at a burial rite.
Killing multitudes brings weeping and sorrow;
Treat victory like a funeral.
32
Tao is always without a name,
Simple and small.
Beneath-heaven dares no subject it.
If kings and barons can hold to it,
The ten thousand things will pay homage.
Heaven and earth will mutually join
And sweet dew will fall.
Not by law but of themselves
The people will stay in balance.
When law and order arose,
Names appeared.
Aren't there enough already?
Is it not time to stop?
To know when to stop
Is to be free from danger.
Tao is to all beneath heaven
As rivers and seas are to rivulets and streams.
33
Whoever knows others has wisdom;
Whoever knows himself has insight.
Whoever conquers others has force;
Whoever conquers himself has strength.
Whoever knows he has enough has wealth.
Whoever perseveres has purpose. Whoever keeps to one place endures.
Whoever dies without perishing lives long.
34
The great Tao flow everywhere:
It can go to the right or the left.
The ten thousand things draw life from it,
And it does not deny them.
It completes its work
But takes no title.
It clothes and feeds the ten thousand things,
But does not own them.
You can call it small.
The ten thousand things return to it,
But it does not own them.
You can call it great.
Because it does not seek to be great,
Its greatness is accomplished.
35
Hold to the great symbol:
All beneath heaven will follow,
Follow without harm,
Quiet, even, secure.
Music and dainties
Make passing guests pause.
But Tao is bland and without taste.
Looked at, it can't be seen;
Listened to, it can't be heard;
Used, it can't be used up.
36
What is going to shrink has first been stretched.
What is going to weaken has first been made strong.
What is going to be ruined has first been raised up.
What is going to be taken away has first been given.
Call this the subtle truth:
The soft and weak conquer the hard and strong.
Fish should not leave the depths;
Neither should weapons of state ever be aired.
37
Tao never does anything,
And everything gets done.
If rulers can keep to it,
The ten thousand things will changes of themselves.
Changed, things may start to stir.
Quiet them with the namelessly simple,
Which alone will bring no-desire.
No-desire: then there is peace,
And beneath-heaven will settle down of itself.
38
High virtue is not virtuous;
Therefore it has virtue.
Low virtue is always virtuous;
Therefore it has no virtue.
High virtue does nothing
And has no ulterior ends.
Low virtue does something,
Also has ulterior ends.
High ceremony does something,
And when it gets no response
It rolls up its sleeves and takes to force.
When Tao is lost, there is virtue.
When virtue is lost, there is humaneness.
When humaneness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost there is ceremony.
Now ceremony is the shell
Of loyalty and trust
And the beginning of befuddlement.
