40
Returning is the action of Tao.
Yielding is the function of Tao.
The myriad things arise from what there is.
What there is arises from what there is not.
41
When the best students hear of Tao
They follow it with all their might.
When average students hear of Tao
Sometimes they heed it sometimes they don't.
When the worst students hear of Tao
They laugh at it heartily.
Were it not laughed at,
Tao would not be what it is.
Thus it is said:
A path that is bright seems to be dim.
A path going forward seems to go back.
A path that is smooth seems to be uneven.
The highest virtue seems to be hollow.
The purest white seems to be sullied.
The amplest virtue seems insufficient.
The firmest virtue seems unsteady.
The genuine virtue seems to be fickle.
The greatest realm is without boundaries.
The finest talent matures late.
Harmonious music makes no noise.
The perfect form has no substance.
Tao is hidden and nameless.
Yet it is Tao that sustains all things
And brings them to completion.
42
Tao gave birth to the One.
One gave birth to the Two.
Two gave birth to the Three.
The Three gave birth to the myriad things.
The myriad things have their backs in shadows
Their faces bask in the light.
Through the blending of life forces they achieve harmony.
"orphaned," "lonely" and "worthless"
Are conditions which people detest
Yet the nobles describe themselves with those names.
Thus sometimes by losing we gain.
And sometimes by gaining we lose.
What others teach I also teach:
"The violent have earned their death."
This is the source of my teaching.
43
The soft things of the world can overcome the hard ones.
Those that have no substance can penetrate the solid.
Therefore I know non-action wins success.
Teaching without words,
Succeeding without action -
These are understood by the very few.
44
Your name or your life: which do you hold dearer?
Your life or your wealth: which truly has value?
Victory or loss: which truly gives pain?
If you care to a fault you will certainly suffer.
If you pile up your wealth you're bound to take a loss.
If you are contented you meet with no disgrace.
If you are able to stop you are free from danger.
You can then last through all time.
45
Greatest perfection seems to be flawed
Yet its usefulness is never impaired.
Greatest abundance seems to be void
Yet its usefulness never wears out.
Greatest honesty seems to be dishonest.
Greatest ingenuity seems to be inept.
Greatest eloquence seems like stammering.
Being in motion overcomes the cold.
Keeping calm overcomes the heat.
Those who remain calm and pure
Can set the world right.
46
When the world follows Tao
Carriage horses work on the farm fields.
When the world lacks Tao
War horses are bred outside city walls.
There is no greater fault Than having many desires,
No greater defect Than not knowing when one has enough.
No greater tragedy Than the desire to obtain.
Thus knowing when one has enough
Is to always have enough.
47
You don't need to step through the door
To know the whole world.
You don't need to look from the window
To see the way of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.
Thus the sage knows without traveling,
Understands without seeing,
Achieves without doing.
48
The followers of knowledge gain something each day.
The followers of Tao lose something each day.
They lose and keep losing till they start doing nothing.
Yet though nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
If you would conquer the world, refrain from meddling.
If you meddle you cannot conquer the world.
49
The sage does not have fixed ideas.
He lets the thoughts of the others become his own.
He is good to those who are good
And to those who are not good.
Virtue is good.
He is faithful to those who are faithful
And to those who are not faithful.
Virtue is faithful.
The sage lives united with the world
And he allows his thoughts to embrace all.
The people fix on him their eyes and ears:
He seems to behave like a little child.
50
Seeking life we find death.
There are thirteen passageways of life.
There are thirteen passageways of death.
People take those thirteen passageways of death
And their lives proceed toward death.
Why? People care too much about life.
It has been said:
Those who are good at staying alive
Meet no buffaloes or tigers in the wilderness,
They've no use for armor and weapons on the battleground.
A buffalo can find no place to mark in them.
A tiger can find no place to claw.
A weapon can find no place to cut.
Why? There is no place for death in them.
51
Tao gives life to all things.
Virtue nourishes them.
Material world gives them form.
Circumstances make them complete.
Therefore of the myriad things,
Each one reveres Tao
And each one pays tribute to virtue.
They do so without being ordered.
They do so of themselves.
Tao gives life to them.
Virtue nourishes and matures them.
It teaches them and protects them.
It rests them, supports them and guards them.
Tao gives life to them but it does not possess them.
It toils for them but expects no praise.
It guides them but does not dominate them.
This is the secret virtue.
52
The universe had a beginning.
This beginning is the mother of all.
When you know the mother,
You know her children, too.
When you know the children,
Go back to be with the mother
And throughout your life you will suffer no harm.
Close the passageways,
Lock the entryways
And throughout your life you will not get worn out.
Open the passageways,
Multiply your concerns
And throughout your life you will not be saved.
If you see the insignificant you have discernment.
If you can remain flexible you are strong.
Use the rays and return to the source of light.
Do not be the cause of your own distress.
This is the way of practicing the constant.
53
If my knowledge were really minute
While following great Tao,
I' only fear that I might drift from it.
Tao is easy to follow.
Yet people prefer to stray from it.
They keep the halls of authority in splendor,
But the fields remain untilled
And the granaries stand empty.
Clad in fineries, they carry sharp swords.
They eat too much and possess to excess.
What they do is thievery.
Thievery is not Tao.
54
What is firmly set up cannot be unsettled.
What is firmly embraced cannot slip away.
The ancestor worship continues without cease.
Practice virtue in your self
And your virtue will become genuine.
Practice virtue in your family
And your virtue will overflow.
Practice virtue in your district
And your virtue will last long.
Practice virtue in your country
And your virtue will abound.
Practice virtue throughout the world
And your virtue will spread wide.
So use the individual to judge the individual.
Use the family to judge the family.
Use the district to judge the district.
Use the state to judge the state.
Use the world to judge the world.
How do I know the way of the world?
I do because of what's within me.
55
The one who has virtue in its fullness
Is like a newborn babe.
Hornets and snakes do not sting him.
Savage beasts don't attack him.
Birds of prey don't pounce on him.
His bones are soft and his muscles weak
But his grasp is firm.
He knows nothing yet of mating
But his organ stirs
For his vigor is at its height.
He will cry all day
But his voice will remain loud.
For his harmony is at its height.
If you know harmony you know what is constant.
If you know what is constant you are enlightened.
If your mind forces your breath you misuse your strength.
You misuse your strength.
What expands too much is bound to collapse.
This is not the way of Tao.
What goes against Tao soon declines.
56
Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
Close the passageways,
Lock the entryways,
Blunt the sharp edges,
Untangle the knots,
Dim the bright light,
Unite earthly dust.
This is called
The secret unity.
Then there will be no way to like you
And no way to dislike you.
There'll be no way to assist you
And no way to harm you.
There'll be no way to honor you
And no way to shame you.
You'll then obtain the highest prize in the world.
57
To govern the state resort to what's regular.
To win a war resort to what's unusual.
But to conquer the world refrain from meddling.
How do I know of these methods?
I do because of what's within me.
The fewer the people's freedoms
the poorer the people become.
The more sharp weapons the people possess,
The greater disorder there is in the state.
The more diverse the people's skills,
The more unusual things they produce.
The more numerous the laws,
The more criminals there are.
Therefore, the sage says:
I take no action,
Yet people transform by themselves.
I prefer to remain calm,
Yet people by themselves become correct.
I refrain from meddling,
Yet people by themselves begin to prosper.
I have no desires,
Yet people by themselves become simple
Like uncut wood.
58
When the government is dull and not meddlesome
The people are pure and honest.
When the government is shrewd and meddlesome
The people are restless and poor.
Good fortune leans on disaster.
Disaster lurks in good fate.
Is there a way to end this?
Is there a norm of what's right?
What's normal becomes abnormal.
What's good becomes evil.
With each passing day people grow more confused.
That is why the sage is sharp but he does not cut.
He burnishes but he does not harm.
He straightens but he does not break.
He shines but he does not dazzle.
59
While ruling the people
And serving heaven
Build up a store.
If you've built up a store
You can adhere to Tao early.
If you've adhered to Tao early
You can amass virtue.
When you've amassed virtue
There is nothing you cannot do.
When there is nothing you cannot do
Your capacity has no bounds.
Having boundless capacity
You're ready to rule the realm.
Leaning on the mother of the realm
You can last through all time.
You've been firmly established.
You have a strong support.
This is the Tao of long life.
This is the Tao of farsightedness.
60
Rule a big country
The way you'd cook a small fish.
If Tao is used to govern the world
Evil spirits have no power.
Their power is not gone
But it does not harm the people.
Their power does not harm the people
And it does not harm the sage.
As they suffer no harm
Their virtues unite and return to them.
61
A big country is like a low-lying land.
It's like the meeting ground of the world.
It's like the female of the world.
The female always defeats the male with calmness.
Because she is calm, she remains low.
Thus if the big country is below the small country
It conquers the small country.
And if the small country is below the big country
It conquers the big country.
Thus some win by becoming low
And some win by remaining low.
What the big country wants
Is to unite people and nourish them.
What the small country wants
Is to serve people and find shelter for them.
Both can get what they want
If it's the big country that becomes low.
62
Tao is the source of the myriad things.
It is the treasure of those who are good.
It is the refuge of those who are bad.
Fine words can buy honor.
Fine deeds can serve as a gift.
Why reject those who are bad?
So when the emperor is installed,
And his ministers appointed,
Do not offer them precious stones and horses
But remain calm, offer the Tao.
Why did the ancients pay tribute to Tao?
Did they not use to say:
"Those who seek get what they seek thanks to Tao.
Thanks to Tao the offenders are saved"?
That is why Tao is the treasure to the world.
63
Act without taking action.
Be busy without busy-ness.
Taste what cannot be tasted.
Magnify the small
Multiply the few.
Repay injury with kindness.
Prepare for the difficult while it is still easy.
Work on the big thing while it is still small.
The difficult things of the world are initially easy.
The big things of the world are initially small.
The sage does not strive to achieve great things
So he is able achieve greatness.
Those who are quick to make promises
Are bound not to be trusted.
What may seem easy
Is bound to become hard.
The sage accepts his tasks as difficult.
Therefore they all become easy for him.
64
What is at rest is easy to hold.
What has not yet begun is easy to stop.
That which is flimsy is easy to shatter.
That which is tiny is easy to scatter.
Confront the events before they begin.
Set things in order before there is trouble.
A tree bigger than a grown man's embrace
