If you make people constantly fear death, and seize the dishonest ones and kill them, who would dare to do the killing?
An official would do the killing.
The one who kills is like the person who takes the place of the great artisan who created the universe.
Whomever takes the place of this great artisan rarely escapes injuring their own hand!
75
The people are starving because those who come from above are consuming their tax grain.
Their consumption is the reason for starvation.
The people find this way of ruling difficult because it comes from above.
It is radiance around death that enables you to pursue coming forth.
Generosity is the basis for your radiance around death.
For the reason of not having a reason, the master comes forth in life.
The act of becoming is worthy through the exalted act of coming forth.
76
When people are born, they are soft and yielding.
When people die, they are stiff and unyielding.
Ten-thousand things (everything) like grass and trees, when they are born, they are soft and supple.
When they die, they are rigid and dry.
Stiffness and unyielding are death抯 companions.
Softness and yielding are life抯 companions.
Unyielding armies will not win.
Unyielding trees become weapons.
Great strength dwells below.
Weakness dwells above.
77
Heaven's Tao is similar to drawing a bow.
A bow joins the high that is brought down, with the low that is lifted up.
Surplus decreases.
Deficiency is supplemented.
Heaven抯 Tao reduces a surplus and replenishes a deficiency.
Humanity's Tao is not like the following: There is not enough, therefore give to those who have a lot.
Who is able to have abundance and serve Heaven below (the sacred body)?
Only those who have the Tao.
The sage does their work and does not expect a reward.
They complete their work and do not stop.
They do not have deep-seated desires to show that their actions exceed others'.
78
Heaven below (the sacred body) is not as soft and yielding as water, yet can take on the rigid and violent.
Without its (the sacred body's) ability to overcome the rigid and the violent, it is nothing.
It replaces violence with gentleness.
It overcomes violence.
Tenderly it overcomes the unyielding.
Without knowing this, no one in Heaven below can progress.
The sages speak of guarding the community:
Dishonor comes from making sacrifices to the gods.
Preserve the community, not its omens.
It is correct to speak of Heaven below as what connects Heaven,
Humanity and Earth.
The words of the person who sacrifices backfire.
79
If you agree with great hatred surely there will be a surplus of hatred.
How are you then able to act with virtue?
The sage holds the left side of the contract* and does not make claims on the people.
They have the action of the soul which takes charge of their contract.
Without the action of the soul the contract would be unfulfilled.
The heaven抯 Tao is not personal.
It is eternally on the side of the person's goodness.
* The left side was the position below or the position of debtor.
80
A petty country diminishes the people.
They possess ten times a hundred workers and yet do not use them.
They control the people by giving weight to death and the people do not move away.
Rather than owning boats and carriages, be free of a reason to ride in them.
Rather than being in armies and displaying weapons, be free without a reason for them.
Thus the people return to being continuously united and employed.
They will enjoy their food.
They will delight in their clothes.
They will be content with their homes.
They will enjoy their everyday lives.
Neighboring communities visit and help each other.
Both will listen together to the calls of each others' dogs and roosters.
At its height the people grow old and die without a reason to inspect each other.
81
Believing in words is not good.
Good words are not believed.
Skillful people do not dispute.
Those who dispute are not skillful.
Knowing it is not the same as wide learning.*
Wide learning is not the same as knowing.
The sage does not hoard.
Because they work for others, they have more.
Having shared with people, they have abundance.
Heaven抯 Tao is sharp, and does not injure.
The sage's Tao becomes, and does not compete.
* Wide learning=Metabolizing experiences in the body
English_Solska_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Chinese (WB, MWD) - English by
Agnieszka Solska, 2005
1
The Tao you can tell is not the true Tao.
The names you can name are not the true names.
The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of the myriad things.
Always desireless you see its very essence.
Always desiring you see its outer edge.
The source of these two is the same
Yet they are differently named.
They are called the mystery,
Mystery upon mystery,
The gateway to the essence of all.
2
To everyone in the world
Beauty seems beautiful because there is ugliness.
Goodness seems good because there is wickedness
Thus having and not having beget one another.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
The long and the short give rise to each other.
The high and the low support each other.
The voice and the sound harmonize each other.
Front and back follow one another.
Thus the sage manages affairs without taking action
And spreads his teaching without using words.
The myriad things flourish where he is
And he does not forsake them.
The sage creates but he does not possess.
He toils but expects no praise.
He does his work but does not dwell on his achievements.
It's because he does not dwell on them
That his achievements lasts.
3
Do not glorify the skilled
And people won't wrangle.
Do not treasure rarities
And people won't steal.
Don't flaunt objects of desire
And people's hearts will not be disturbed.
When the sage rules,
He keeps people's minds blank and their stomachs full.
He weakens their ambitions but strengthens their bones.
He keeps people free from knowledge and desires
So the ones who do have knowledge are afraid to act.
If he acts without taking action
There is nothing that is not right.
4
Tao is empty yet when used, it is never used up.
The unbounded source of the myriad things!
It blunts the sharp edges.
Untangles the knots.
Dims the bright light.
Unites wordly dust.
Perfectly hidden, yet ever present.
I do not know its origin.
It seems to have existed before the creator himself.
5
Heaven and earth are impartial.
The myriad things have no lasting value for them.
The sage, too, is impartial.
The people have no lasting value for him.
The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows.
Though empty, it does not collapse.
Work it and it will always yield more.
Waste your breath and your strength is soon gone.
It is better to hold firm to the core.
6
The valley spirit never dies.
She's called a mystery, a woman.
The mystery, the gate of a woman
Is called the source of heaven and earth.
Enduring forever, she does not cease.
Drawn upon, she does not wear out.
7
Heaven endures, earth lasts forever.
How are they able to do so?
They do not live for themselves so they live on.
Thus the sage stays at the back
Yet finds himself at the front.
Unconcerned about himself, he survives.
Unconcerned about his goals, does he not attain them?
8
The highest good is like water.
Water benefits the myriad things and does not contend.
It flows to the low places that people disdain.
Therefore it becomes like Tao.
The value of a house is in its location.
The value of a mind - in the clarity of thought.
The value of companionship - in kindness.
The value of words - in truthfulness.
The value of governing - in justice.
The value of a doing a job - in effectiveness.
The value of taking an action - in timeliness.
If there's no contention, there is no blame.
9
Fill a pot to overflowing
And you you'll wish you had stopped in time.
Hone a sword to the very sharpest
And it won't stay sharp for long.
Fill your halls with gemstones
And you won't be able to guard them.
Be proud with wealth and status
And you will cause your own fall.
Withdraw when your work is done.
This is the way of heaven.
10
Keeping your heart and your spirit together
Can you maintain their unity?
Controlling your breath and making it soft
Can you become like a newborn child?
Washing and cleansing your inner vision
Can you make it perfectly clear?
Tending the people and ruling the state
Can you refrain from interfering?
As the gates of destiny open and close
Can you play the role of the woman?
A your mind probes and explores the whole universe
Can you remain ignorant?
To give life and to nourish,
To make yet not possess,
To toil yet expect no praise,
To guide yet not dominate:
This is called the secret virtue.
11
Thirty spokes join together in a wheel's hub,
It is the center hole that makes the wheel useful.
We shape clay to fashion jugs;
It is the hollowness within that makes a jug useful.
We cut doors and windows in a house wall;
It is these empty spaces that make the house useful.
Thus things are valuable because of what they have
And they are useful because of what they lack.
12
Too much color dazzles the eye.
Too much noise deafens the ear.
Too much flavor deadens the taste.
Excessive hunting disturbs the mind.
Excessive wealth disquiets the heart.
Therefore the sage trusts his instincts, not his eyes.
He heeds the former, ignores the latter.
13
Praise and condemnation both cause dismay.
Honor and great pain are bound up together.
Why do praise and condemnation both cause dismay?
Praise makes us low.
We're dismayed when we get it.
And we're dismayed when it's taken away.
That's why praise and condemnation both cause dismay.
Why are honor and great pain bound up together?
I'm bound to be in pain because I care about myself.
If I did not care about myself, what pain could I suffer?
If you respect the world as you respect yourself
You're ready to tend the world.
If you care about the world as you care about yourself
You're ready to rule the world.
14
Look! It cannot be seen;
It's called the obscure.
Listen! It cannot be heard;
It's called the soundless.
Feel it! It cannot be grasped:
It's called the bodiless.
These three defy scrutiny.
Intermingled, they blend into one.
Above it is not bright.
Below it is not dark.
Continuous,
Unceasing,
Unnamable,
Reverting to nothingness.
It's an occurrence of no occurrence.
It is a form that takes no form.
Elusive like a shadow.
Intangible like haze.
Confront it! It has no face.
Follow it! It has no back.
If you grasp the ancient Tao
You can rule the realm of today.
If you know the ancient beginnings
You know the essence of Tao.
15
The ancient followers of Tao were shrewd and discerning.
Their knowledge was arcane, beyond comprehension.
There are no words that describe them well.
Cautious, as if fording a frozen river.
Watchful, as if dreading foes on all sides.
Courteous, like a guest.
Yielding, like ice on the thaw.
Simple, like uncut wood.
Wide open, like a valley.
Obscure, like murky water.
Who can keep murky water still and cause it to clear?
Who can make what's inert active and bring it to life?
Those who follow Tao have no wish to become full.
Thus they can wear out with no need to be renewed.
16
Empty yourself to the utmost.
Remain perfectly calm.
The myriad things arise together
I watch their return.
They flourish, then each goes back to its root.
To go back to the root is to find tranquility.
To find tranquility is to come back to life.
Coming back to life is what is constant.
To know what is constant is to be enlightened.
Not to know what is constant is to court disaster.
When you know what is constant you embrace everything.
When you embrace everything you are just.
When you are just you are kingly.
When you are kingly you follow nature.
Following nature you follow Tao.
Following Tao you last through all time.
Till the end of life, you will suffer no harm.
17
Of the best leaders people barely know they exist.
Next come the ones people love and praise.
Then the ones they fear.
Then the ones they disdain.
Those who don't trust receive no trust.
The best leader is sparing in his use of words.
When his task is accomplished, when his work done.
Everyone says: "We did it ourselves."
18
When Tao is forgotten
There is kindness and justice.
When cleverness and learning arise
There is great duplicity.
When conflict breaks out in the house
There are loving parents and children.
When the country falls into chaos
There are loyal ministers.
19
Give up being great, forget being clever
And people will benefit enormously.
Give up being kind, forget being just
And love will return to the family.
Give up being sly, forget being greedy
And there'll be no more thefts or robberies.
