Forever and aye Reason remains unnamable, and again and again it returns home to non-existence.
This is called the form of the formless, the image of the imageless. This is called the transcendentally abstruse.
In front its beginning is not seen. In the rear its end is not seen.
By holding fast to the Reason of the ancients, the present is mastered and the origin of the past understood. This is called Reason's clue.
15
The Revealers of Virtue
Those of yore who have succeeded in becoming masters are subtile, spiritual, profound, and penetrating. On account of their profundity they can not be understood. Because they can not be understood, therefore I endeavor to make them intelligible.
How cautious they are! Like men in winter crossing a river. How reluctant! Like men fearing in the four quarters their neighbors. How reserved! They behave like guests. How elusive! They resemble ice when melting. How simple! They resemble rough wood. How empty! They resemble the valley. How obscure! They resemble troubled waters.
Who by quieting can gradually render muddy waters clear? Who by stirring can gradually quicken the still?
He who cherishes this Reason is not anxious to be filled. Since he is not filled, therefore he may grow old; without renewal he is complete.
16
Returning to the Root
By attaining the height of abstraction we gain fulness of rest.
All the ten thousand things arise, and I see them return. Now they bloom in bloom but each one homeward returneth to its root.
Returning to the root means rest. It signifies the return according to destiny. Return according to destiny means the eternal. Knowing the eternal means enlightenment. Not knowing the eternal causes passions to rise; and that is evil.
Knowing the eternal renders comprehensive. Comprehensiveness renders broad. Breadth renders royal. Royalty renders heavenly. Heaven renders Reason-like. Reason renders lasting. Thus the decay of the body implies no danger.
17
Simplicity In Habits
Of great rulers the subjects do not notice the existence. To lesser ones people are attached; they praise them. Still lesser ones people fear, and the meanest ones people despise.
For it is said:
"If your faith be insufficient, verily, you will receive no faith."
How reluctantly they [the great rulers] considered their words! Merit they accomplished; deeds they performed; and the hundred families thought: "We are independent."
18
The Palliation of Vulgarity
When the great Reason is obliterated, we have benevolence and justice. Prudence and circumspection appear, and we have much hypocrisy.
When family relations no longer harmonize, we have filial piety and paternal devotion. When the country and the clans decay through disorder, we have loyalty and allegiance.
19
Returning to Simplicity
Abandon your saintliness; put away your prudence; and the people will gain a hundredfold!
Abandon your benevolence; put away your justice; and the people will return to filial piety and paternal devotion.
Abandon smartness; give up greed; and thieves and robbers will no longer exist.
These are three things for which culture is insufficient. Therefore it is said:
"Hold fast to that which will endure,
Show thyself simple, preserve thee pure,
And lessen self with desires fewer."
20
Different from the Vulgar
Abandon learnedness, and you have no vexation. The "yes" compared with the "yea," how little do they differ! But the good compared with the bad, how much do they differ!
If what the people dread cannot be made dreadless, there will be desolation, alas! and verily, there will be no end of it.
The multitudes of men are happy, so happy, as though celebrating a great feast. They are as though in springtime ascending a tower. I alone remain quiet, alas! like one that has not yet received an omen. I am like unto a babe that does not yet smile.
Forlorn am I, O so forlorn! It appears that I have no place whither I may return home.
The multitude of men all have plenty and I alone appear empty. Alas! I am a man whose heart is foolish.
Ignorant am I, O, so ignorant! Common people are bright, so bright, I alone am dull.
Common people are smart, so smart, I alone am confused, so confused.
Desolate am I, alas! like the sea. Adrift, alas! like one who has no place where to stay.
The multitude of men all possess usefulness. I alone am awkward and a rustic too. I alone differ from others, but I prize seeking sustenance from our mother.
21
Emptying the Heart
"Vast virtue's form
Follows Reason's norm.
"And Reason's nature
Is vague and eluding.
"How eluding and vague
All types including!
How vague and eluding,
All beings including!
How deep and how obscure.
It harbors the spirit pure,
Whose truth is ever sure,
Whose faith abides for aye
From of yore until to-day.
"Its name is never vanishing,
It heeds the good of everything."
Through what do I know that "it heeds the good of everything"? In this way, verily: Through IT.
22
Humility's Increase
"The crooked shall be straight,
Crushed ones recuperate,
The empty find their fill.
The worn with strength shall thrill;
Who little have receive,
And who have much will grieve."
Therefore
The holy man embraces unity and becomes for all the world a model.
Not self-displaying he is enlightened;
Not self -approving he is distinguished;
Not self-asserting he acquires merit;
Not self-seeking he gaineth life.
Since he does not quarrel, therefore no one in the world can quarrel with him.
The saying of the ancients: "The crooked shall be straight," is it in any way vainly spoken? Verily, they will be straightened and return home.
23
Emptiness and Non-Existence
To be taciturn is the natural way. A hurricane: does not outlast the morning. A cloudburst does not outlast the day.
Who causes these events but heaven and earth? If even heaven and earth cannot be unremitting, will not man be much less so?
Those who pursue their business in Reason, men of Reason, associate in Reason. Those who pursue their business in virtue associate in virtue. Those who pursue their business in ill luck associate in ill luck. When men associate in Reason, Reason makes them glad to find companions. When men associate in virtue, virtue makes them glad to find companions. When men associate in ill luck, ill luck makes them glad to find companions.
"If your faith is insufficient, verily shall ye receive no faith."
24
Trouble From Indulgence
One on tiptoe is not steady;
One astride makes no advance.
Seff-displayers are not enlightened,
Self-asserters lack distinction,
Self-approvers have no merit,
And self-seekers stunt their lives.
Before Reason this is like surfeit of food; it is like a wen on the body with which people are apt to be disgusted.
Therefore the man of reason will not indulge in it.
25
Imaging the Mysterious
There is a Being wondrous and complete. Before heaven and earth, it was. How calm it is! How spiritual!
Alone it standeth, and it changeth not; around it moveth, and it suffereth not; yet therefore can it be the world's mother.
Its name I know not, but its nature I call Reason.
Constrained to give a name, I call it the great. The great I call the departing, and the departing I call the beyond. The beyond I call home.
The saying goes: "Reason is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and royalty also is great.[There are four things in the world that are great, and royalty is one of them.]
Man's standard is the earth. The earth's standard is heaven. Heaven's standard is Reason. Reason's standard is intrinsic.
26
The Virtue of Gravity
The heavy is of the light the root, and rest is motion's master.
Therefore the holy man in his daily walk does not depart from gravity. Although he may have magnificent sights, he calmly sits with liberated mind.
But how is it when the master of the ten thousand chariots in his personal conduct is too light for the empire? If he is too light he will lose his vassals. If he is too passionate he will lose the throne.
27
The Function of Skill
"Good travelers leave no trace nor track,
Good speakers, in logic show no lack,
Good counters need no counting rack.
"Good lockers bolting bars need not,
Yet none their locks can loose.
Good binders need no string nor knot,
Yet none unties their noose."
Therefore the holy man is always a good saviour of men, for there are no outcast people. He is always a good saviour of things, for there are no outcast things. This is called applied enlightenment.
Thus the good man does not respect multitudes of men. The bad man respects the people's wealth. Who does not esteem multitudes nor is charmed by their wealth, though his knowledge be greatly confused, he must be recognized as profoundly spiritual.
28
Returning to Simplicity
"Who his manhood shows
And his womanhood knows
Becomes the empire's river.
Is he the empire's river,
He will from virtue never deviate,
And home he turneth to a child's estate.
"Who his brightness shows
And his blackness knows
Becomes the empire's model.
Is he the empire's model,
Of virtue ne'er shall he be destitute,
And home he turneth to the absolute.
"Who knows his fame
And guards his shame
Becomes the empire's valley.
Is he the empire's valley,
For e'er his virtue will sufficient be,
And home he turneth to simplicity."
Simplicity, when scattered, becomes a vessel of usefulness. The holy man, by using it, becomes the chief leader; and truly, a great principle will never do harm.
29
Non-Assertion
When one desires to take in hand the empire and make it, I see him not succeed. The empire is a divine vessel which cannot be made. One who makes it, mars it. One who takes it, loses it.
And it is said of beings:
"Some are obsequious, others move boldly,
Some breathe warmly, others coldly,
Some are strong and others weak,
Some rise proudly, others sneak."
Therefore the holy man abandons excess, he abandons extravagance, he abandons indulgence.
30
Be Chary of War
He who with Reason assists the master of mankind will not with arms strengthen the empire. His methods invite requital.
Where armies are quartered briars and thorns grow. Great wars unfailingly are followed by famines. A good man acts resolutely and then stops. He ventures not to take by force.
Be resolute but not boastful; resolute but not haughty; resolute but not arrogant; resolute because you cannot avoid it; resolute but not violent.
Things thrive and then grow old. This is called un-Reason. Un-Reason soon ceases.
31
Quelling War
Even victorious arms are unblest among tools, and people had better n them. Therefore he who has Reason does not rely on them.
The superior man when residing at home honors the left. When using arms, he honors the right.
Arms are unblest among tools and not the superior man's tools. Only when it is unavoidable he uses them. Peace and quietude he holdeth high.
He conquers but rejoices not. Rejoicing at a conquest means to enjoy the slaughter of men. He who enjoys the slaughter of men will most assuredly not obtain his will in the empire.
32
The Virtue of Holiness
Reason, in its eternal aspect, is unnamable.
Although its simplicity seems insignificant, the whole world does not dare to suppress it. If princes and kings could keep it, the ten thousand things would of themselves pay homage. Heaven and earth would unite in dripping sweet dew, and the people with no one to command them would of themselves be righteous.
As soon as Reason creates order, it becomes namable. Whenever the namable in its turn acquires existence, one learns to know when to stop. By knowing when to stop, one avoids danger.
To illustrate Reason's relation to the world we compare it to streams and creeks in their course towards rivers and the ocean.
33
The Virtue of Discrimination
One who knows others is clever, but one who knows himself is enlightened.
One who conquers others is powerful, but one who conquers himself is mighty.
One who knows contentment is rich and one who pushes with vigor has will.
One who loses not his place endures.
One who may die but will not perish, has life everlasting.
34
Trust in its Perfection
How all-pervading is the great Reason! It can be on the left and it can be on the right.
The ten thousand things depend upon it for their life, and it refuses them not. When its merit is accomplished it assumes not the name. Lovingly it nourishes the ten thousand things and plays not the lord. Ever desireless it can be classed with the small. The ten thousand things return home to it. It plays not the lord. It can be classed with the great.
Therefore
The holy man unto death does not make himself great and can thus accomplish his greatness.
35
The Virtue of Benevolence
"Who holdeth fast to the great Form,
Of him the world will come in quest:
For there we never meet with harm,
There we find shelter, comfort, rest."
Music with dainties makes the passing stranger stop. But Reason, when coming from the mouth, how tasteless is it! It has no flavor. When looked at, there is not enough to be seen; when listened to, there is not enough to be heard. However, when used, it is inexhaustible.
36
The Secret's Explanation
That which is about to contract has surely been expanded. That which is about to weaken has surely been strengthened. That which is about to fall has surely been raised. That which is about to be despoiled has surely been endowed.
This is an explanation of the secret that the tender and the weak conquer the hard and the strong.
As the fish should not escape from the deep, so with the country's sharp tools the people should not become acquainted.
37
Administration of Government
