5
Heaven and Earth are not benevolent. They take the myriad creatures tobe straw dogs. The Sage is not benevolent. He takes the common people tobe straw dogs.
The space between Heaven and Earth is like a bellows. It is void andyet does not collapse. The more it moves the more it sends out.
An excess of talk [aimed at fathoming the universe] is fated to becomeimpoverished. It is better to hold [it] inside.
6
The valley spirit does not die. It is called the dark and mysterious female.The portal of the dark and mysterious female is called the root of heavenand earth. It has a kind of wispy continuity as though existing. Use itwithout exertion.
7
The highest good is like water. Water is good at benefitting the myriadcreatures and does not contend. It takes its position in the places peoplehate, and so it approximates to the Dao.
The site makes a residence good. Depth makes a mind good. Benevolencemakes giving good. Trustworthiness makes words good. Being able to putthings in order makes government good. Being able to make actual accomplishmentsmake activities good. Timeliness makes movements good.
Now only by not contending can there be the absence of animosity.
8
Kapitel nicht vorhanden / chapter not available
9
To grasp at things and seek to fulfill them is not as good as letting thembe finished.[The blade] that is tested and sharpened cannot be long protected.If gold and jade fill one's halls no one can guard them successfully. Beingproud because of wealth and noble status calls down its own retribution.The Way of Heaven is that when one's accomplishments have been made one should retire from the scene.
10
Nurture the dark soul and embrace unity. Can you do so without fail? Focusthe lifebreath, making it as supple as possible. Can you in so doing belike an infant? In cleaning up the dark and mysterious vision, can yoube without defect? In loving the people and ordering the kingdom, can yoube without forceful activity. In the opening and closing of the portalof heaven, can you play the female part? Although your awareness reachesto all points, can you yet remain without the use of knowledge?
Give birth to them, nurture them. And yet while giving birth to themdo not possess them and while acting (i.e., nurturing) claim no credit.Though senior to them do not rule over them. This is called the dark andmysterious virtue.
11
Thirty spokes surround one hub. At that point of void lies the utilityof the cart. Mold clay to make pots. In the void lies the functionalityof the vessel. Fashion doors and windows in order to make a dwelling. Inthe void lies the functionality of the house. So what is substantial [ineach case] provides the configuration and what is void provides the functionality.
12
The five colors blind people's eyes. The five notes of the scale deafenpeople's ears. The five flavors make people's palates go stale. Gallopingabout and hunting deranges people's minds. Scarce commodities make peopledo injurious deeds. For this reason the Sage acts for the belly and notfor the eyes. So he gets rid of that and takes this.
13
Favor and disgrace [both] produce alarm. A source of great travail is one'sself. What is meant by saying "Favor and disgrace produce alarm?'' Hewho is favored is someone's inferior. Receiving favor and losing it bothcause alarm. That is what is meant by saying that "Favor and disgraceproduce alarm.'' What is meant by saying "A source of great travail isone's self?'' The reason I [can] have a great travail is that I have aself. Should I no longer have a self then what travail could there be?So those who take their selves as more valuable than ruling the world maybe given custody of the world. Those who love themselves more than rulingthe world may be entrusted with the world.
14
What eludes observation is called yi (level). What escapes hearing is calledxi (silent). What is impalpable is called wei (minute). These three cannotbe further pursued, so I meld them together as One. Its upper part is notbright. Its lower part is not dark. Unending, it cannot be adequately namedand so returns to the status of nothingness. This is called the formlessform, the image without a thing to be imaged. This is called impalpableand intangible. Going out to meet it we do not see its head. Followingit we do not see its end. Grasp the Dao of antiquity to manage what ishere today. Be able to know the ancient beginnings.[The chain from antiquityto the present] is called the Thread running through the Dao.
15
Those of old who were good at being knight-scholars were subtle, were possessedof ineffable efficacy, and were in dark and mysterious confluence, so profoundthat they could not be perceived. Only because they cannot be perceiveddo I give them a forced description. Cautious as though crossing a [frozen]stream in wintertime, apprehensive as though in fear of people on all foursides, deferential like a guest. Riven like ice on the verge of melting.Wholesome like the Uncarved Block. Accepting like a valley. Turbid as thoughhaving been muddled. Who can be muddled in order to gradually become clear?Who can be tranquil in order that activity will gradually stir? Those whoare protected in this Dao will not desire fullness. For only by not beingfull is one able to be tattered and yet newly complete.
16
Promote the heights of vacuity. Preserve the wholesomeness of tranquility.The myriad creatures arise side by side and [prepared by having maintainedvacuity and tranquility] I observe their recapitulations. For these creaturesin profusion each return once more to their root. To return to the rootis called tranquility, which in turn is called submitting again to Heaven'smandate. Returning to Heaven's mandate is called being constant. Knowingthe constant is called enlightenment. Should one not know the constant,one would wantonly commit evil deeds. By knowing the constant one can accept.By accepting one is impartial. By being impartial one is kingly. By beingkingly one is in concord with Heaven. By being in concord with Heaven oneis on the Dao. By being on the Dao one is long-lasting, and even thoughone should lose one's body one would not be endangered.
17
The people do not know that the Highest exists. They praise and seek toget close to those on the next level. They fear those on the next level,and despise those on the level below that.
"When trust is inadequate there will be untrustworthiness.''
How remote they appear in their [valuing words =] unwillingness to speaklightly. When their accomplishments come to fruition and events followtherefrom in their natural course, then the common people all say: "Wedid it of our own accord.''
18
When the great Dao is abandoned there then appear benevolence and righteousness.When intelligence and knowledge come into being there then appears greatartifice. When the six kinds of kin are no longer in harmony then filialpiety and parental compassion appear. When the realm is in disorder thenthere come to be loyal ministers.
19
Extirpate sageliness, discard wisdom, and the people will be benefitteda hundredfold. Extirpate benevolence, discard righteousness, then the peoplewill return to filial piety and parental compassion. Extirpate cleverness,discard profit, then robbers and thieves will be no more. The [foregoing]three [principles] are inadequately ornamented, and so I cause them tohave [provisional maxims] under which they are subsumed: Display the UnbleachedFabric and embrace the Uncarved Block. Lessen selfish interests and decreasedesires.[Extirpate study and have no worries.]
20
Extirpate study and there will no longer be worries. What difference isthere between a sound of compliance and an angry rebuff? How far is goodfrom evil? "What people fear one cannot fail to fear.'' How wild and faroff the mark! The multitudes are joyous as though partaking in the tai-laosacrifice, or as though ascending the terraces in springtime. I alone amplacid like something before there is even an inkling of it, like an infantbefore it has learned to smile. Dispirited, as though having no place towhich to return. The multitudes all have an excess, and I alone seem tohave a deficit. I have the mind of a stupid person, so chaotic. The ordinarypeople scintillate; I alone am muddled. The ordinary people are very prying,I alone am closed off.[They are] agitated like the sea, blown like [they]would never stop. The multitudes of people all have their goals. I aloneam an obstinate fool and seem uncouth. I alone am different from othersand value taking sustenance from the Mother.
21
The greatest virtue's ability to accept follows only from the Dao. TheDao takes its guise as a creature only impalpably and intangibly. Intangibleand impalpable there are foreshadowings within it. Impalpable and intangiblethere are creatures within it. Secluded and obscure, there is vitalitywithin it. Its vitality is exceedingly genuine. Within it there is regularity.From antiquity down to the present its true name has never been cast aside,and so by means of that true name the progenitor of the multitudes is tobe inspected. How do I know the guises of the progenitor of the multitudes?By this.
22
"Crumpled then whole, twisted then straight, sunken-in then full, tatteredthen new, having little then acquiring much, having much then being madedeluded''---for these reasons, the Sage embraces the One to become thestandard for the world. He does not show himself off and so is luminous.He does not justify himself and so is illustrious. He does not boast ofhimself and so has merit. He does not brag on himself and so is seniorto the rest. For only by his not being contentious does it happen thatnone in the world can contend with him. How could it have been empty wordswhen the ancients said: "Crumpled then whole?'' Verily such a one shallreturn whole to his source.
23
To be taciturn is the way of nature. For a gale cannot last the whole morning.A torrential rain cannot last the entire day. What makes them? Heaven andEarth. How can humans make things endure for long when not even Heavenand Earth can do so? So in engaging in activities, those who act in accordwith the Dao are akin to the Dao, those who act in accord with Virtue areakin to Virtue, and those who act in accord with Loss are akin to Loss.Those who act in accord with the Dao are welcomed by the Dao. Those whoact in accord with Virtue are welcomed by Virtue. Those who act in accordwith Loss are welcomed by Loss.
"When trust is inadequate, there will be untrustworthiness.''
24
Those who rise on tiptoe do not stand firm. Those who straddle as wideas possible cannot move. Those who show themselves off are not luminous.Those who justify themselves are not illustrious. Those who boast of themselveshave no merit. Those who brag on themselves do not stand senior to others.In respect of the Dao, these [behaviors] are said to be leftovers and excrescences.Creatures always loath them, and so those who have the Dao do not involvethemselves therewith.
25
There is a thing that was turbidly formed, born before Heaven and Earth.Solitary and vacant, it stands alone and unchanging. It reaches everywherewithout falling into any danger. It can be the mother of the world. I knownot its taboo name. To serve as a name-for-outsiders I call it Dao, andif forced to provide a taboo name will call it the Great. Being great meansgoing forward. Going forward means being far. Being far means turning backon itself. So the Dao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and theking is also great. Within the domain there are four greats, and the theking is one of them. Humans model themselves on Earth, Earth models itselfon Heaven, Heaven models itself on the Dao, and the Dao models itself onwhat is as it is in itself.
26
Heaviness is the root of lightness. Tranquility is the ruler of agitation.For this reason, the Sage travels all day without departing from his heavy-framedvehicle. Only when there are encircling way stations does he reside athis ease in seclusion.
How can a ruler of a myriad chariots treat himself with levity comparedto the [things of the] world?
If one [abandons oneself to] levity then one loses one's roots, andif one becomes agitated then one will lose one's autonomy.
27
Good traveling leaves no ruts. Good speech gives rise to no reproach. Goodreckoning does not depend on counting slips. Good closures need no barsand yet cannot be opened. Good bonds employ no rope and yet cannot be undone.For this reason the Sage is always good at saving people and so none isabandoned. He is always good at saving creatures and so none is abandoned.[This condition] is called practicing brightness. So the good person isthe teacher of those who are not good, and people who are not good arethe raw materials for those who are good. Should one fail to value histeacher or fail to love his raw materials, then although he might be knowledgeable,he would be yet greatly deluded. This is spoken of as the cardinal mystery.
28
Know the male, but keep to the female and be thus a valley to the world.When one is a valley to the world, the constant virtue will not desertone and one will return to the state of being an infant. Know the whitebut keep to the black and be thus a model to the world. If one is a modelto the world, then the constant virtue will not decline and you will returnto the limitless. Know glory but keep to disgrace and so be a valley tothe world. If one is a valley to the world then constant virtue will besufficient and you will return to the Uncarved Block. When the UncarvedBlock is cut asunder it then becomes utensils.[But] should a Sage usesuch a man, that person would become a senior official. Truly great fabricationdoes not involve cutting.
29
Should one desire to take the world and control it, I see that there wouldbe no end [to one's involvement]. The world is a holy vessel and cannotbe controlled. Those who try to control it harm it. Those who clutch atit lose it. For some things go before and some things follow. Some thingssnort and some things blow. Some things are strong and some things arepuny. Some things are nurtured and others are destroyed. For that reasonthe Sage gets rid of extremes, extravagances, and excesses.
30
Those who use the Dao to aid the masters of men do not employ weapons totake the world by force. That tactic is good at recoiling upon its origin:Where armies have trodden thorns and brambles spring up. After the greatarmies there must follow bad years. In the case of the good use of armies,they are employed only until results are obtained and nobody dares usethem to grab power. When results are obtained they dare not brag. Whenresults are obtained they dare not boast. When results are obtained theydare not be arrogant. When results are obtained it is solely because therewas no other way out. When results are obtained they do not try to dominate.When creatures come to their prime they begin to age. That is spoken ofas the Dao (course) of retrograde action. What is on the retrograde Daois soon finished.
