31
Fine weapons are ill-omened tools. They are hated. Therefore the old Tao ignores them.
At home, honour the left. In war, honor the right.
Good omens honour the left. Bad omens honour the right. The lieutenant on the left, The general on the right As in funeral ceremonies.
Weapons are ill-omened, Not proper instruments. When their use can't be avoided, Calm restraint is best. Don't think they are beautiful. Those who think they are beautiful Rejoice in killing people.
Those who rejoice in killing people Cannot achieve their purpose in this world.
When many people are killed We feel sorrow and grief. A great victory Is a funeral ceremony.
32
Tao endures without a name. Though simple and slight, No one under heaven can master it.
If kings and lords could posses it, All beings would become their guests.
Heaven and earth together Would drip sweet dew Equally on all people Without regulation.
Begin to make order and names arise. Names lead to more names - And to knowing when to stop.
Tao's presence in this world Is like valley streams Flowing into rivers and seas.
33
Knowing others is intelligent. Knowing yourself is enlightened.
Conquering others takes force. Conquering yourself is true strength.
Knowing what is enough is wealth. Forging ahead shows inner resolve.
Hold your ground and you will last long. Die without perishing and your life will endure.
34
Great Tao overflows. To the left To the right.
All beings owe their life to it And do not depart from it. It acts without a name. It clothes and nourishes all beings But does not become their master.
Enduring without desires, It may be called slight.
All beings return to it, But it does not become their master. It may be called immense.
By not making itself great, It can do great things.
35
Hold the great elephant - The great image - And the world moves. Moves without danger in safety and peace.
Music and sweets Make passing guests pause.
But the Tao emerges Flavourless and bland. Look - you won't see it. Listen - You won't hear it. Use it - You will never use it up.
36
To collect, first scatter. To Weaken, first strengthen. To abolish, first establish. To conclude, first initiate.
This is called subtle illumination. Soft and weak overcome stiff and strong.
Fish cannot escape the deep pool. A country's sharpest weapons Cannot be displayed.
37
Tao endures without a name, Yet nothing is left undone.
If kings and lords could possess it, All beings would transform themselves. Transformed, they desire to create; I quiet them through nameless simplicity. Then there is no desire.
No desire is serenity, An the world settles of itself.
38
High Te? No Te! That's what Te is. Low Te doesn't lack Te; That's what Te is not.
Those highest in Te take no action And don't need to act. Tose lowest in Te take action And do need to act.
Those highest in benevolence take action But don't need to act. Those highest in righteousness take action And do need to act. Those highest in propriety take action And if people don't reciprocate Roll up their sleeves and throw them out.
Therefore Lose Tao And Te follows. Lose Te and benevolence follows. Lose benevolence And righteousness follows. Lose righteousness and propriety follows.
Propriety dilutes loyalty and sincerity: Confusion begins. Foreknowledge glorifies the Tao: Stupidity sets in.
And so the ideal person dwells In substance, not dilution, In reality, not glory, Accepts one, rejects the other.
39
Of old, these attained the One: Heaven attaining the One Became clear. Earth attaining the One Became stable. Spirits attaining the One Became sacred.
Valleys attaining the One Became bountiful. Myriad beings attaining the One Became fertile. Lords and kings attaining the One Purified the world.
If Heaven were not clear It might split. If Earth were not stable It might erupt. If spirits were not sacred They might fade.
If valleys were not bountiful They might wither. If myriad beings were not fertile, They might perish. If rulers and lords were not noble, They might stumble.
Therefore, Noble has humble as its root, High has low as its foundation.
Rulers and lords call themselves Poor and lonely orphans. Isn't this using humility as a root?
They use many carriages But have no carriage;.
They do not desire to glisten like jade But drop like a stone.
40
Reversal is Tao's movement. Yielding is Tao's practice.
All things originate from being. Being originates from non-being.
41
The great scholar hearing the Tao Tries to practice it. The middling scholar hearing the Tao, Sometimes has it, sometimes not.
The lesser scholar hearing the Tao Has a good laugh. Without that laughter It wouldn't be Tao.
Therefore these sayings: The bright road seems dark, The road forward sees to retreat, The level road seems rough.
Great Te seems hollow. Great purity seems sullied. Pervasive Te sees deficient. Established Te seems furtive. Simple truths seem to change. The great square has no corners. The great vessel is finished late. The great sound is scarcely voiced. The great image has no form.
Tao hides, no name. Yet Tao alone gets things done.
42
Tao engenders One, One engenders Two, Two engenders Three, Three engenders the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things carry shade And embrace sunlight. Shade and sunlight, yin and yang, Breath blending into harmony.
Humans hate To be alone, poor, and hungry. Yet kings and princes Use these words as titles.
We gain by losing, Lose by gaining.
What others teach, I also teach: "A violent man does not die a natural death. This is the basis of my teaching.
43
The softest thing in the world rides roughshod over the strongest. No-thing enters no-space. This teaches me the benefits of no-action.
Teaching without words Benefit without action - Few in this world can attain this.
44
Name or body: which is closer? Body or possessions: which means more? Gain or loss: Which one hurts?
Extreme love exacts a great price. Many possessions entail a heavy loss.
Know what is enough - Abuse nothing. Know when to stop - Harm nothing. This is how to last for a long time.
45
Great accomplishment seems unfinished But its use is continuous. Great fullness seems empty But in use is inexhaustible.
Great straightness seems bent, Great skill seems clumsy, Great eloquence seems mute.
Exertion overcomes cold. Calm overcomes heat. Pure calm is the norm under heaven.
46
With Tao under heaven Stray horses fertilize the fields. Without Tao under heaven Warhorses are bred at the frontier.
There is no greater calamity Than not knowing what is enough. There is no greater fault Than desire for success.
Therefore, Knowing that enough is enough Is always Enough.
47
Without going out the door, Know the world. Without peeping through the window, See heaven's Tao. The further you travel, The less you know.
This is why the Sage Knows without budging, Identifies without looking, Does without trying.
48
Pursue knowledge, gain daily. Pursue Tao, lose daily. Lose and again lose, Arrive at non-doing.
Non-doing - and nothing not done.
Take the entire world as nothing. Make the least effort, And the world escapes you.
49
The Sage has no set heart. Ordinary people's hearts Become the Sage's heart.
People who are good I treat well. People who are not good I also treat well: Te as goodness.
Trustworthy people I trust. Untrustworthy people I also trust. Te as trust.
Sages create harmony under heaven Blending their hearts with the world. Ordinary people fix their eyes and ears upon them, But Sages become the world's children.
50
Emerge into life, enter death,
Life is only the thirteen body parts. Death is only the thirteen body parts. Human life, moving towards death, Is the same thirteen. Why is this? Because life gives life to substance.
You have heard of people Good at holding on to life. Walking overland they don't avoid Rhinos and tigers. In battle they don't arm themselves.
The rhino's horn find nothing to gore; The tiger's claws find nothing to flay, Weapons find nothing to pierce. Why is this? They have no mortal spot.
51
Tao bears them Te nurses them Events form them Energy completes them. Therefore the ten thousand beings Honour Tao and respect Te. Tao is honoured Te is respected Because they do not give orders But endure in their own nature. Therefore, Tao bears them and Te nurses them, Rears them, Raises them, Shelters them, Nurtures them, Supports them, Protects them.
Bears them without owning them, Helps them without coddling them, Rears them without ruling them. This is called original Te.
52
The world has a source: the world's mother. Once you have the mother, You know the children.
Once you know the children, Return to the mother. Your body dies. There is no danger.
Block the passage, Bolt the gate: No strain Until your life ends.
Open the passage, Take charge of things No relief Until your life ends.
Seeing the small is called brightness Maintaining gentleness is called strength.
Use this brightness to return to brightness. Don't cling to your body's woes. Then you can learn endurance.
53
Having some knowledge When walking on the Great Tao Only brings fear.
The great Tao is very smooth, But people like rough trails.
The government is divided, Fields are overgrown, Granaries are empty,.
But the nobles clothes are gorgeous, Their belts show off swords, And they are glutted with food and drink. Personal wealth is excessive. This is called thieves' endowment, But it is not Tao.
54
Well planted, not uprooted. Well embraced, never lost. Descendants will continue The ancestral rituals.
Maintain oneself: Te becomes real. Maintain the family: Te becomes abundant. Maintain the community: Te becomes extensive. Maintain the country: Te becomes public. Maintain the world: Te becomes omnipresent.
Therefore, Through self contemplate self, Through family contemplate family, Through community contemplate community, Through country contemplate country, Through world contemplate world.
How do I know the world? Like this!
55
Be filled with Te, Like a baby: Wasps, scorpions and vipers Do not sting it. Fierce tigers do not stalk it. Birds of prey do not attack it. Bones weak, muscles soft, But its grasp is tight.
It does not yet know Union of male and female, But its sex is formed, Its vital essence complete.
It can scream all day and not get hoarse, Its harmony is complete. Knowing harmony is called endurance. Knowing endurance is called illumination.
Increasing life is called fortune. Mind controlling energy is called power.
When beings prosper and grow old, Call them not-Tao. Not-Tao soon ends.
56
Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.
Block the passage Bolt the gate Blunt the sharp Untie the knot Blend with the light Become one with the dust - This is called original unity.
It can't be embraced It can't be escaped, It can't be helped It can't be harmed, It can't be exalted It can't be despised, Therefore it is revered under Heaven.
57
Use the unexpected to govern the country, Use surprise to wage war, Use non-action to win the world. How do I know? Like this!
The more prohibitions and rules, The poorer people become. The sharper people's weapons, The more they riot.
The more skilled their techniques, The more grotesque their works. The more elaborate the laws, The more they commit crimes.
Therefore the Sage says, I do nothing And people transform themselves. I enjoy serenity And people govern themselves.
I cultivate emptiness And people become prosperous. I have no desires And people simplify themselves.
58
If government is muted and muffled People are cool and refreshed. If government investigates and intrudes, People are worn down and hopeless.
Bad fortune rests upon good fortune. Good luck hides within bad luck.
Who knows how it will end? If there is no principle Principle reverts to disorder, Good reverts to calamity, People's confusion hardens and lingers on.
Therefore the Sage squares without cutting, Corners without dividing, Straightens without extending, Shines without dazzling.
59
Governing people and serving heaven Is like living off the land.
Living sparingly and responding quickly Means accumulating Te. There is nothing that cannot be overcome. There is no limit.
You can become the country And the country's mother, and nourish and extend it.
This is called deep roots, firm base. This is the Tao of living long and seeing far.
60
Govern big countries Like you cook a little fish.
When Tao harmonizes the world, Demons lose their power.
Not that demons lose their power, but their power does not harm people. Not that their power does not harm people, but the Sage does not harm people.
If neither does harm, Then Te flows and returns.
61
A great nation flows down To be the world's pool, The female under heaven In stillness The female constantly overcomes the male, In stillness Takes the low place.
Therefore a great nation Lowers itself And wins over a small one. A small nation keeps itself low And wins over a great one.
Sometimes becoming low wins, Sometimes staying low wins.
A great nation desires nothing more Than to unite and protect people. A small nation desires nothing more Than to enter the service of people.
When both get what they wish The great one should be low.
62
Tao is the mysterious center of all things, a treasure for those who are good, A refuge for those who are not.
Beautiful words can be traded, Noble deeds can enhance reputations, But if people lack them, Why should they be rejected?
When the Son of Heaven is enthroned And the Three Ministers installed, Presenting jade discs And four-horse chariots Cannot compare to sitting still And offering the Tao.
The ancients honoured this Tao. Didn't they say: Through it seekers find, Through it the guilty escape? This is why Tao is honoured under Heaven.
63
Act without acting. Serve without serving. Taste without tasting.
Big, little, Many, few, Repay hatred with Te.
