When things come to the summit of their vigour, they begin to grow old. This is against Tao. What is against Tao will soon come to an end.
31
So far as arms are concerned, they are implements of ill-omen. They are not implements for the man of Tao.
The man of Tao when dwelling at home makes the left as the place of honour; and when using arms makes the right as the place of honour.
He uses them only when he cannot avoid it.
In his conquests he takes no delight. If he take delight in them, it would mean that he enjoys in the slaughter of men. He who takes delight in the slaughter of men cannot have his will done in the world.
32
When for the first time applied to function, it was named. In as much as names are given, one should also know where to stop. Knowing where to stop one can become imperishable.
Tao was always nameless.
33
He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened.
He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.
He who knows contentment is rich. He who keeps on his course with energy has will.
He who does not deviate from his proper place will long endure. He who may die but not perish has longevity.
34
The great Tao pervades everywhere, both on the left and on the right.
By it all things came into being, and it does not reject them. Merits accomplished, it does not possess them. It loves and nourishes all things but does not dominate over them.
It is always non-existent; therefore it can be named as small.
All things return home to it, and it does not claim mastery over them; therefore it can be named as great.
Because it never assumes greatness, therefore it can accomplish greatness.
35
To him who holds to the Great Form all the world will go. It will go and see no danger, but tranquillity, equality and community.
Music and dainties will make the passing stranger stop.
But Tao when uttered in words is so pure and void of flavour When one looks at it, one cannot see it; When one listens to it, one cannot hear it. However, when one uses it, it is inexhaustible. But we use it without end.
36
In order to contract a thing, one should surely expand it first. In order to weaken, one will surely strengthen first. In order to overthrow, one will surely exalt first. 'In order to take, one will surely give first'!
This is called subtle wisdom. The soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong.
As the fish should not leave the deep So should the sharp implements of a nation not be shown to anyone!
37
Tao is ever inactive, and yet there is nothing that it does not do.
If princes and kings could keep to it, all things would of themselves become developed. When they are developed, desire would stir in them; I would restrain them by the nameless Simplicity, In order to make them free from desire.
Free from desire, they would be at rest; And the world would of itself become rectified. However insignificant Simplicity seems, the whole world cannot make it submissive. If princes and kings could keep to it, All things in the world would of themselves pay homage. Heaven and earth would unite to send down sweet dew. The people with no one to command them would of themselves become harmonious. When merits are accomplished and affairs completed, The people would speak of themselves as following nature.
38
The superior virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue; Therefore it has virtue. The inferior virtue never lets off virtue; Therefore it has no virtue.
The superior virtue seems inactive, and yet there is nothing that it does not do. The inferior virtue acts and yet in the end leaves things undone.
The superior benevolence acts without a motive. The superior righteousness acts with a motive. The superior ritual acts, but at first no one responds to it; Gradually people raise their arms and follow it.
Therefore when Tao is lost, virtue follows. When virtue is lost, benevolence follows. When benevolence is lost, righteousness follows. When righteousness is lost, ritual follows.
Ritual, therefore, is the attenuation of loyalty and faith and the outset of confusion. Fore-knowledge is the flower of Tao and the beginning of folly.
Therefore the truly great man keeps to the solid and not to the tenuous; Keeps to the fruit and not to the flower. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.
39
From of old the things that have acquired Unity are these:
Heaven by Unity has become clear;
Earth by Unity has become steady;
The Spirit by Unity has become spiritual;
The Valley by Unity has become full;
All things by Unity have come into existence;
Princes and kings by Unity have become rulers of the world.
If heaven were not clear, it would be rent.
If earth were not steady it would be tumbled down.
If the Spirit were not active, it would pass away.
If the Valley were not full, it would be dried up.
If all things were not existing, they would be extinct.
If princes and kings were not rulers, they would be overthrown.
The noble must be styled in terms of the humble;
The high must take the low as their foundation.
Therefore princes and kings must call themselves 'the ignorant', 'the virtueless' and 'the unworthy'.
Does this not mean that they take the humble as their root? What men hate most are 'the ignorant', 'the virtueless' and 'the unworthy'.
And yet princes and kings chose them as their titles.
Therefore the higest fame is to have no fame.
Thus kings are increased by being diminished;
They are diminished by being increased.
It is undesirable to be as prominent as a single gem,
Or as monotonously numerous as stones.
40
Returning is the motion of Tao.
Weakness is the appliance of Tao.
All things in the Universe come from existence.
And existence from non-existence.
41
When the superiour scholar is told of Tao,
He works hard to practise it.
When the middling scholar is told of Tao,
It seems that sometimes he keeps it and sometimes he loses it.
When the inferiour scholar is told of Tao,
He laughs aloud at it.
If it were not laughed at, it would not be sufficient to be Tao.
Therefore the proverb says:
'Tao in enlightenment seems obscure;
Tao in progress seems regressive;
The highest virtue seems like a valley;
The purest white seems discoloured;
The most magnificent virtue seems insufficient;
The solidest virtue seems frail;
The simplest nature seems changable;
The greatest square has no angles;
The largest vessel is never complete;
The loudest sound can never be heard;
The biggest form cannot be visualised.
Tao, while hidden, is nameless.'
Yet it is Tao alone that is good at imparting and completing.
42
Tao begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets all things. All things are backed by the Shade, (yin) and faced by the light (yang), and harmonised by the immaterial Breath (ch'i).
What others teach, I also teach: 'The daring and violent do not die a natural death.' This (maxim) I shall regard as my instructor.
43
The non-existent can enter into the impenetrable.
By this I know that non-action is useful.
Teaching without words, utility without action-
Few in the world have come to this.
44
Fame or your person, which is nearer to you?
Your person or wealth, which is dearer to you?
Gain or loss, which brings more evil to you?
Over-love of anything will lead to wasteful spending;
Amassed riches will be followd by heavy plundering.
Therefore, he who knows contentment can never be humiliated;
He who knows where to stop can never be perishable;
He will long endure.
45
The greatest perfection seems imperfect;
Yet its use will last without decay.
The greatest fullness seems empty;
Yet its use cannot be exhausted.
The greatest straightness seems crooked.
The greatest dexterity seems awkward;
The greatest eloquence seems stammering.
Activity overcomes cold;
Quietness overcomes heat.
Only through purity and quietude can the world be ruled.
46
Swift horses are curbed for hauling dung-carts (in the field).
When Tao does not reign in the world,
War horses are bred on the commons (outside the cities)
There is no greater crime than seeking what men desire;
There is no greater misery than knowing no content;
There is no greater calamity than indulging in greed.
Therefore the contentment of knowing content will ever be contented.
47
Without going out of the door
One can know the whole world;
Without peeping out of the window
One can see the Tao of heaven.
The further one travels
The less one knows.
Therefore the Sage knows everything without travelling;
He names everything without seeing it;
He accomplishes everything without doing it.
48
He who pursues learning will increase every day;
He who pursues Tao will decrease every day.
He will decrease and continue to decrease,
Till he comes to non-action;
By non-action everything can be done.
49
The Sage has no self to call his own.
He makes the self of the people his self.
To the good I act with goodness;
To the bad I also act with godness:
Thus goodness is attained.
To the faithful I act with faith;
To the faithless I also act with faith:
Thus faith is attained.
The Sage lives in the world in concord, and rules ovet the world in simplicity.
Yet what all the people turn their eyes and ears to,
The Sage looks after as a mother does her children.
50
Men go out of life and enter into death.
The parts (proportions) of life are three in ten, the parts of death are also three in ten. Men that from birth move towards the region of death are also three in ten. Why is it so? Because of their redundant effort in seeking to live. But only those who do nothing for the purpose of living are better than those who prize their lives. For I have heard that he who knows well how to conserve life, when travelling on land, does not meet the rhinoceros or the tiger; when going to a battle, he is not attacked by arms and weapons. The rhinoceros can find nowhere to drive his horn; the tiger can find nowhere to put his claws; the weapons can find nowhere to thrust their blades. Why is it so? Because he is far beyond the region of death.
51
Tao produces them (all things);
Virtue feeds them;
All of them appear in different forms;
Each is perfect by being given power.
Therefore none of the numerous things does not honour Tao and esteem virtue.
The honouring of Tao and the esteem of virtue are done, not by command, but always of their own accord. Therefore Tao produces them, makes them grow, nourishes them, shelters them, brings them up and protects them.
When all things come into being, Tao does not reject them.
It produces them without holding possession of them.
It acts without depending upon them, and raises them without lording it over them.
When merits are accomplished, it does not lay claim to them.
Because it does not lay claim to them, therefore it does not lose them.
52
The beginning of the Universe, when manifested, may be regarded as its Mother.
When a man has found the Mother, he will know the children accordingly;
Though he has known the children, he still keeps to the Mother:
Thus, however his body may decay, he will never perish.
If he ts his mouth and closes his doors,
He can never be exhausted.
If he opens his mouth and increases his affairs,
He can never be saved.
To see the minuteness of things is called clarity of sight.
To keep to what is weak is called power.
Use your light, but dim your brightness;
Thus you will cause no harm to yourself.
This is called following the eternal (Tao).
53
Let me have sound knowledge and walk on the great way (Tao);
Only I am in fear of deviating.
The great way is very plain and easy,
But the people prefer by-paths.
While the royal palaces are very well kept,
The fields are left weedy
And the granaries empty.
To wear embroidered clothes,
To carry sharp swords,
To be satiated in drink and food,
To be posessed of redundant riches -
This is called encouragement to robbery.
Is it not deviating from Tao?
54
What is planted by the best planter can never be removed;
What is embraced by the best embracer can never be loosened.
Thus his children and grandchildren will be able to continue their ancestral sacrifice for endless generations.
If he applies Tao to himself his virtue will be genuine;
If he applies it to his family his virtue will be abundant;
If he applies it to his villiage his virtue will be lasting;
If he applies it to his country his virtue will be full;
If he applies it to the world his virtue will be universal.
Therefore by one's person one may observe persons;
By one's family one may observe families;
By one's village one may observe villages;
By one's country one may observe countries;
By one's world, one may observe worlds.
How do I know that the world may be so (governed by Tao)?
By this (observation).
55
He who is endowed with ample virtue may be comapred to an infant.
No venemous insects sting him;
Nor fierce beasts sieze him;
Nor birds of prey strike him;
His bones are frail, his sinews tender, but his grasp is strong.
He does not know the conjugation of male and female, and yet he has sexual development;
It means he is in the best vitality.
He may cry all day without growing hoarse;
It means that he is in the perfect harmony.
To know this harmony is to approach eternity.
To know eternity is to attain enlightenment.
To increase life is to lead to calamity.
To let the heart exert the breath is to become stark.
56
Blunt all that is sharp;
Cut all that is divisible;
Blur all that which is brilliant;
Mix with all that is humble as dust;
