Serve the unserved;
Savour what lacks savour;
Make bigger smaller, more less;
Repay a wrong with friendly favour.
Forestall trouble when it抯 easy to.
Act on the major when it抯 still minor.
For this world抯 troubles start with simple things,
And major matters rise from little ones.
Thus the wise, not making much of them,
Can always see their great works through.
But 搇ightly granted rarely honoured?
And much too easy means much trouble.
Even the wisest looks for the trouble ahead,
And ends up with the trouble spared.
64
What抯 stable is easy to secure,
The unmanifest to plan against,
The fragile to splinter,
The incipient to dissolve.
Act before events occur:
Decision can prevent disorder.
A tree of girth
Grows from a twig.
A nine-tier tower
From a basket of earth;
And a thousand-mile journey
Begins where one stands.
Those who take the lead shall fail.
Those who cling lose hold.
This is why men of wisdom,
Taking no lead, do not fail,
Not clinging, do not lose hold.
How often do people, assuming a task,
Ruin it at the verge of success?
Hence the saying,
揅areful at the end as at the start,
And your task shall not abort.?br> This is why the worldly wise
Seek what others do not seek,
揚rize not goods hard to find,?br> Learn what others do not learn:
Redeem the wrongs many have done.
In this way support and sustain
The self-becoming of the myriad,
And do not presume to act upon them.
65
Those of old who pursued the Way
Never meant to make their people see;
Their purpose was to keep them unaware.
The people are harder to manage
For knowing things.
To have the learned govern the kingdom
Is a bane to the kingdom.
Not to have them
Is a boon to the kingdom.
Know always that this double dictum
Defines a guide to judgement,
Which when firmly fixed in mind
May be called sublime virtue.
Such virtue, deep and reaching far,
In counter-motion like all things,
Achieves congruence with the Way.
66
Why is it that the rivers and the ocean,
Like kings, can lead the many valley streams?
Knowing how to stay below, they
Draw to them the many higher streams.
For this reason wise and worldly rulers,
Wishing to remain above their people,
Need to stay below by what they say;
Or if they wish to go before their people,
They need to take their place behind.
Beneath such rule the people feel no threat.
All the world rejoices and supports them
And never tries to cast such rulers off.
Is it not because the will not strive
That no one in this world can strive with them?
67
揂ll the world declares me great.?br> Be great but do not seem to be.
For it is seeming not to be
That makes you great.
Otherwise, by seeming so,
You抎 long ago have ceased to matter.
We have always our triple treasure,
Which we rely upon and cherish:
A mother抯 heart, a frugal hand, and
No drive to boldly lead this world.?br> A brave heart takes a mother抯 heart,
A giving hand a frugal hand;
And one who will not lead to serve
As sacred elder of this world.
Forsaking love for bravery,
Frugal hand for giving hand,
Staying back for leading forth
Mean entering the gates of death.
A mother抯 heart holds battle lines
And also makes defenses sure.
The man whom heaven means to keep
It protects with mother-heart.
68
Warriors who excel do not parade;
Commanders who excel do not anger;
Victors who excel don抰 lightly engage;
Skilled managers of men are humble:
This defines the power of no-conflict,
The way to manage men抯 strength,
The union with heaven, the acme of old.
69
Those who wage war often say,
揥e prefer response to invitation,
The span withdrawn to the inch gained.?br> This is formation that does not go forward,
Deflection with hand unraised,
The firm grip that holds no sword,
And the thrust that cannot be countered.
But 揾aving no foe?is the greatest threat.
It leads to the loss of our triple treasure.
Once battle in joined, who gives way wins.
70
What we say is easy to know
And easy to do,
But the world does not know its worth
And does not act upon it.
Though we speak with ancestral sanction
And serve on high authority,
Yet this remains unknown
And so we remain unknown.
And the less that we are known,
More precious our followers.
For this reason men of wisdom
Wear rough garb and the gem in the heart.
71
To recognize ignorance comes first;
Not to know to know this will cause harm:
Harm that the wise are spared
Because they recognize it.
Only by recognizing the harm
Can one be spared.
72
When people dread not the powers that be,
A greater dread is on the way.
Encroach not on their domain;
Do not burden down their lives.
Only of those who bear bearing
Will the people bear the burden.
This is why wise men who govern
Know themselves, show themselves not,
Conserve themselves, esteem themselves not:
Rejecting these, preferring those.
73
Be brave in daring: kill or be killed;
Be brave in not daring: live and let live;
One of these two bring gain, one harm.
But which man knows what heaven condemns,
What precedents it抯 guided by?
The way of heaven masters all:
It prevails though striving not,
It replies though speaking not,
Comes although uncalled,
And gives good counsel though affected not.
Heaven抯 net, cast far and wide,
Seems slack yet nothing slips outside.
74
If the people fear not even death itself,
How can execution frighten them?
If they are in constant fear of death,
And we seize and put to death
Committers of crimes, then who would dare?
But to keep the folk in constant fear,
Keep the master executioner near.
Let no one kill in his stead, for that would be
To wield the knife in the master抯 stead ?br> And no one who would for the master stand
Escapes with an uninjured hand.
75
The people lack for food
When those above them overtax;
That is why they lack.
And the people can抰 be ruled
When those above them serve themselves.
That is why they can抰 be ruled.
And when the people death defy
It is but to make their lives secure ?br> That is why.
Worthier far than living royally
Those who live not for themselves.
76
Man alive is tender, gentle,
Hard and fast in death.
Living plants are tender, fragile,
Dry and frail in death.
For fast and hard are marks of dying,
And gentle, tender marks of life.
Strength in arms bring destruction,
And the strong branch will be broken.
Let strength and might be put below,
And tender, gentle in control.
77
Heaven抯 Way, like unto a bow full-drawn ?br> Low end raised, top bent down ?br> Subtracts from the have-mores
And supplies those in want.
Heaven抯 Way ?to supply who wants
By taking from the have-mores ?br> Is not the Way of men,
Who take from those in need
To serve those who have more.
Who will use the surplus to serve this world below?
None but men of the Way.
Wise rulers for this reason
Act without self-satisfaction,
For their deeds n recognition
To conceal their contribution.
78
What more gentle in this world than water?
Yet nothing better conquers hard and strong.
What else could take its place?
Gentle conquers strong, and tender hard.
Well-known as this is to all the world,
Who has proven able to apply it?
Wiser men accordingly have said,
揌e who for the kingdom抯 sake bears shame
Earns the name ?master of the shrine.
He who for the kingdom bears ill-fortune
Earns the name of king of all the world.?br> How untrue words of truth appear to be.
79
When great wrongs resolved
Leave further wrongs behind ?br> What good will come of that?
When wise men hold the left half-tally pledge,
They do not press their debtors for their debts.
Men of virtue hold the tally pledge;
Men lacking virtue work pursuing claims.
Heaven抯 way does not show kinship favour
But rather joins with good and decent men.
80
Keep the kingdom small, its people few;
Make sure they have no use for tools
That do the work of tens or hundreds.
Nor let the people travel far
And leave their homes and risk their lives.
Boat or cart, if kept at all, best not to ride;
Shield and blade best not to show.
Guide them back to early times
When knotted cords served for signs,
And they took relish in their food
And delight in their dress,
Secure in their dwellings,
Content in their customs,
Although a neighbour kingdom stood in view
And the barnyard cries of cocks and dogs
Echoed from village to village,
Their folk would never traffic to and fro ?br> Never, to the last of their days.
81
Words to trust and not refine.
Words refined are not to trust.
Good men are not gifted speakers.
Gifted speakers are not good.
Experts are not widely learned;
The widely learned not expert.
Wise rulers for themselves keep naught,
Yet gain by having done for all,
Have more for having freely shared;
Do good not harm is heaven抯 Way;
The wise act for and not against.
English_Rosenthal_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Chinese - English by
Stan Rosenthal, 1984
1
THE EMBODIMENT OF TAO
Even the finest teaching is not the Tao itself.
Even the finest name is insufficient to define it.
Without words, the Tao can be experienced,
and without a name, it can be known.
To conduct one's life according to the Tao,
is to conduct one's life without regrets;
to realize that potential within oneself
which is of benefit to all.
Though words or names are not required
to live one's life this way,
to describe it, words and names are used,
that we might better clarify
the way of which we speak,
without confusing it with other ways
in which an individual might choose to live.
Through knowledge, intellectual thought and words,
the manifestations of the Tao are known,
but without such intellectual intent
we might experience the Tao itself.
Both knowledge and experience are real,
but reality has many forms,
which seem to cause complexity.
By using the means appropriate,
we extend ourselves beyond
the barriers of such complexity,
and so experience the Tao.
2
LETTING GO OF COMPARISONS
We cannot know the Tao itself,
nor see its qualities direct,
but only see by differentiation,
that which it manifests.
Thus, that which is seen as beautiful
is beautiful compared with that
which is seen as lacking beauty;
an action considered skilled
is so considered in comparison
with another, which seems unskilled.
That which a person knows he has
is known to him by that which he does not have,
and that which he considers difficult
seems so because of that which he can do with ease.
One thing seems long by comparison with that
which is, comparatively, short.
One thing is high because another thing is low;
only when sound ceases is quietness known,
and that which leads
is seen to lead only by being followed.
In comparison, the sage,
in harmony with the Tao,
needs no comparisons,
and when he makes them, knows
that comparisons are judgements,
and just as relative to he who makes them,
and to the situation,
as they are to that on which
the judgement has been made.
Through his experience,
the sage becomes aware that all things change,
and that he who seems to lead,
might also, in another situation, follow.
So he does nothing; he neither leads nor follows.
That which he does is neither big nor small;
without intent, it is neither difficult,
nor done with ease.
His task completed, he then lets go of it;
seeking no credit, he cannot be discredited.
Thus, his teaching lasts for ever,
and he is held in high esteem.
3
WITHOUT SEEKING ACCLAIM
By retaining his humility,
the talented person who is also wise,
reduces rivalry.
The person who possesses many things,
but does not boast of his possessions,
reduces temptation, and reduces stealing.
Those who are jealous of the skills or things
possessed by others,
most easily themselves become possessed by envy.
Satisfied with his possessions,
the sage eliminates the need to steal;
at one with the Tao,
he remains free of envy,
and has no need of titles.
By being supple, he retains his energy.
He minimizes his desires,
and does not train himself in guile,
nor subtle words of praise.
By not contriving, he retains
the harmony of his inner world,
and so remains at peace within himself.
It is for reasons such as these,
that an administration
which is concerned
with the welfare of those it serves,
does not encourage status
and titles to be sought,
nor encourage rivalry.
Ensuring a sufficiency for all,
helps in reducing discontent.
Administrators who are wise
do not seek honours for themselves,
nor act with guile
towards the ones they serve.
4
THE UNFATHOMABLE TAO
It is the nature of the Tao,
that even though used continuously,
it is replenished naturally,
