As to foreknowledge,
It is a blossomy path
And the beginning of folly.
Therefore,
The fulfilled man holds to
The solid rather than the shell,
The fruit rather than the blossom.
He avoids the outward, accepts the inward.
39
From of old, there are those who reached oneness:
Heaven reached oneness and became clear;
Earth reached oneness and became tranquil;
The spirits reached oneness and became mystic;
The valleys reached oneness and became full;
The ten thousand things reached oneness and became potent;
Barons and kings reached oneness and became sovereign.
Did they not all become so through oneness?
If heaven were not clear,
It probably would crack,
If earth were not tranquil,
It probably would quake.
If spirits were not mystic,
They would probably desist.
If the valleys were not full,
They probably would die out.
If the thousand things were not potent,
They probably would die off.
If barons and kings were not sovereign,
They probably would fall.
Indeed,
The great has its roots in the humble;
The high has its foundations upon the low.
Barons and kings call themselves
The orphaned, the lonely, the unworthy:
Do they not have their roots in the humble?
Truly, the parts of a cart are not the cart.
Do not shine like jade
Or sound like stone chimes.
40
Returning is the motion of Tao;
Softness is the utility of Tao.
All things in heaven and earth
Are born of being;
Being is born of non-being.
41
When a superior man hears about Tao,
He goes after it diligently.
When an average man hears about Tao,
He both gets it and loses it.
When an inferior man hears about Tao,
He laughs loudly at it.
If he did not laugh,
It would not be Tao.
There is an old saying:
The bright way looks dark;
The forward way looks backward;
The smooth way looks rough;
High virtue looks low;
Great whiteness looks defiled.
Broad virtue looks deficient;
Solid virtue looks illicit;
Simple virtue looks decayed.
Great space has no corners.
Great talent ripens late.
Great music is out of key.
The great symbol is out of shape.
Tao is without name and hidden.
Hence Tao helps and completes.
42
Tao bore one, one bore two, two bore three;
Three bore the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang,
Whose blending breaths makes them harmonize.
Men hate to be
Orphaned, lowly, unworthy,
Yet barons and kings
Use these names as titles.
Indeed,
You may gain by losing,
And you may lose by gaining.
What others have taught, I also teach:
Men of violence come to death by violence.
Whoever said this is my teacher.
43
The softest things beneath heaven
Overcome the hardest.
Nothingness alone penetrates no-space.
Hence I know the use
Of nothing-doing.
The lessons of nothing-speaking,
The use of nothing-doing:
Rare attainments beneath heaven!
44
Name and self,
Which is dearer?
Self and wealth,
Which is nearer?
Gain and loss,
Which brings more fear?
For:
Attachment comes at wasteful cost;
Hoarding leads to certain loss;
Knowing what is enough avoids disgrace;
Knowing when to stop secures from peril.
Only thus can you last long.
45
What is most perfect seems imperfect,
But using it doesn't use it up.
What is most full seems empty,
But using it doesn't wear it down.
Great straightness seems crooked;
Great skill seems clumsy;
Great eloquence seems hesitant.
Movement conquers cold,
But stillness conquers heat.
Clearness and serenity
Are beneath-heaven's norm.
46
When beneath-heaven has Tao,
Race horses are used to haul dung.
When beneath-heaven has no Tao,
War horses breed in the countryside.
No calamity is greater
Than not knowing what is enough.
No fault worse than wanting too much.
Whoever knows what is enough
Has enough.
47
Without going out of the door
You can know beneath-heaven.
Without looking out of the window
You can see heaven's way.
The farther you go,
The less you know.
Thus the sage
Knows without walking,
Sees without looking,
And does without doing.
48
To get learning, add to it daily.
To get Tao, subtract daily.
Subtract and subtract
Until you achieve nothing-doing.
Do nothing-doing
And everything will get done.
To win beneath-heaven
Always avoid fussing.
If fussing is not avoided,
Beneath heaven is not won.
49
The sage has no fixed heart.
He finds his heart
In the hundred families' heart.
He is good to the good;
He is also good to the not-good,
For virtue is good.
He is faithful to the faithful;
He is also faithful to the unfaithful,
For virtue is faithful.
Living beneath heaven,
The sage deals shyly with beneath-heaven
And simplifies his heart.
The hundred families strain eyes and ears;
The sage acts the child to all of them.
50
Going out is life;
Coming back is death.
The companions of life are thirteen.
The companions of death are thirteen.
For people moving toward the place of death
There are also thirteen.
How is that?
Because they live intently.
It is said that
He who preserves his life
Meets no tigers or wild buffaloes on the road,
Remains untouched by weapons in the wars.
In him, the wild buffalo
Finds no space for his horns,
The tiger no space for his claws,
The soldier no space for his blade.
How is this?
Because there is no place for death in him.
51
Tao gives them life;
Virtue shapes them;
Reality rears them;
Circumstance completes them.
Thus the ten thousand things
All worship Tao and esteem virtue.
No one commands them
To worship Tao and esteem virtue.
They do so of themselves.
For Tao gives them life.
Virtue nurses them, raises them,
Nurtures them, shelters them,
Comforts them, feeds them,
And protects them.
Rear but don't own!
Work but don't claim!
Raise but don't butcher!
This is called inward virtue.
52
Beneath-heaven has a beginning:
The mother of beneath-heaven.
Knowing the mother.
We may know the children.
Knowing the children,
We may keep to the mother.
Death of body? No risk!
Block the passages,
t the doors:
End of life? No fuss!
Open the passages,
Meddle with things:
End of life? No help!
See the small: that is insight.
Keep to weakness: that is strength.
Use the light: go back to insight,
Keeping away from calamity
And practicing the changeless.
53
If I have a grain of wisdom,
I walk along the great Tao
And fear only to stray.
The great Tao is easy indeed,
But the people choose by-paths.
The court is very resplendent;
Very weedy are the fields,
And the granaries very empty.
They wear gaudy clothes,
Carry sharp swords,
Exceed in eating and drinking,
Have riches more than they can use.
Call them robber-braggarts:
They are anti-Tao indeed!
54
What is well planted won't be uprooted;
What is well grasped won't slip away.
Sons and grandsons will keep the sacrifices.
Practice virtue in yourself:
Virtue becomes real.
Practice it in the family;
It becomes abundant.
Practice it in the county,
It becomes increased.
Practice it in the country,
It becomes prolific.
Practice it beneath heaven,
It becomes universal.
Thus persons are to be looked at as a person,
Families as a family,
Counties as a county,
Countries as a country,
Beneath-heaven as beneath-heaven.
How do I know about beneath-heaven?
Inward light!
55
One who is weighty in virtue
Resembles an infant child.
Poisonous insects don't sting him;
Wild beasts don't seize him;
Birds of prey don't strike him.
His bones are soft,
His sinews tender,
Yet his grip is strong.
He does not know
The union of male and female,
Yet his vitality is evident,
His vitality perfect.
He cries and howls all day,
But does not get hoarse.
His harmony is perfect indeed!
To know harmony
Is to know the changeless.
To now the changeless
Is to have insight.
It is ominous to improve on life,
Injurious to control breathing by the mind:
Things overgrown fall into decay.
That is not-Tao,
And what is not-Tao soon ends.
56
He who speaks does not know.
He who knows does not speak.
Block the passages!
t the doors,
Blunt edges,
Untie tangles,
Harmonize lights,
Unite all dust.
Call this the original oneness.
It can't be had by courting,
Can't be had by nning;
Can't be had by helping;
Can't be had by harming;
Can't be had by praising,
Can't be had by blaming:
For it is beneath-heaven's highest.
57
Govern the country by regular rules;
Direct the army by cunning moves;
But win the world by avoiding fuss.
How do I know that this is so?
Inward light!
Beneath heaven,
The more rules and prohibitions there are,
The poorer the people become.
The sharper the weapons there are,
The greater the country's confusion.
The cleverer the people become,
The more cunning acts take place.
The more laws and orders there are,
The more thieves and robbers appear.
Therefore the sage says:
I do nothing,
And the people of themselves reform.
I love stillness,
And the people of themselves grow straight.
I don't fuss,
And the people of themselves get rich.
I don't want,
And the people of themselves grow simple.
58
When the law is dumb dumb,
The people are simple simple.
When the law is smart smart,
The people are broke broke.
Good fortune rests on bad fortune;
Bad fortune hides in good fortune.
Who knows the end of this?
It does not stop:
The normal turns into the odd;
The good turns into the weird.
Long have the people been in a stew!
Therefore the sage is
Severe, but he doesn't cut;
Exact, but he doesn't hurt;
Straight, but he doesn't strain;
Bright, but he doesn't dazzle.
59
In ruling people and serving heaven,
It is best to be sparing.
To be sparing is to yield quickly.
To yield quickly is to double-store virtue.
If virtue is double-stored
Nothing can't be overcome.
When nothing can't be overcome,
No one can know his limits.
When no one knows his limits,
That one can take on the country.
When that one takes on
The mother of the country,
He can last and endure.
Call this having deep roots
And a strong stem:
Living, lasting,
And seeing into Tao.
60
Rule a big country
As you would cook a small fish.
When beneath-heaven is ruled with Tao,
Demons don't go spiriting.
Not only do the demons not spirit,
But spirits don't harm people.
Not only do the spirits do no harm,
But the sage also does no harm.
Since both do no harm,
Virtue is restored intact.
61
A great country is one that downward flows
To be the confluence of all beneath heaven
And beneath-heaven's female.
For the feminine overcomes the masculine
By quietude and lowliness.
Hence,
By lowering itself before a small country,
A great country wins over a small country.
By lowering itself before a large country,
A small country wins over a large country.
The one wins by lowering itself,
The other by keeping itself lowered.
Great countries wish nothing more
Than to shelter others:
Small countries with nothing more
Than to be sheltered.
Since each gets its wish,
The great country ought to make itself lower.
62
Tao is the refuge of the ten thousand tings:
The treasure of the good man,
The backstop of the not-good man.
Fine words can be sold,
Noble deeds gain respect.
If a man is not good,
Why throw him away?
When an emperor is crowned
Or the three ministers appointed,
Discs of jade and teams of horses
Are not as gifts the equal
Of siting still and offering Tao.
Why did the ancients prize Tao?
Because if it is sought, it is found;
Because the guilty are forgiven.
That is why it is beneath-heaven's treasure.
63
Do nothing-doing;
Manage nothing-managing;
Taste nothing-tasting.
Exalt the low;
Multiply the few;
Requite hatred with virtue.
Tackle the difficult when it is easy.
Handle the big when it is small.
Difficult things beneath heaven
Are made up of easy things.
Big things beneath heaven
Are made up of small things.
Thus the sage
Never deals with the great,
But accomplishes greatness.
Light promises indeed lack trust,
Much easiness leads to much difficulty.
Thus the sage
Holds everything difficult,
But meets no difficulty in the end.
64
What is at rest is easy to hold.
What hasn't happened is easy to forestall.
What is brittle is easy to break.
