This is called absolute equality.
Therefore it cannot be made intimate;
Nor can it be alienated.
It cannot be benefited;
Nor can it be harmed.
It cannot be exalted;
Nor can it be debased.
Therefore it is the most valuable thing in the world.
57
Albeit one governs the country by rectitude,
And carries on wars by strategems,
Yet one must rule the empire by meddling with no business.
The empire can always be ruled by meddling with no business.
Otherwise, it can never be done.
How do I know this is so?
By this:
The more restrictions and avoidances are in the empire,
The poorer become the people;
The more sharp implements the people keep,
The more confusions are in the country;
The more arts and crafts men have,
The more are fantastic things produced;
The more laws and regulations are given,
The more robbers and thieves there are.
Therefore the Sage says;
Inasmuch as I betake myself to non-action, the people of themselves become developed.
Inasmuch as I love quietude, the people of themselves become righteous.
Inasmuch as I make no fuss, the people of themselves become wealthy.
Inasmuch as I am free from desire, the people of themselves remain simple.
58
When the government is blunt and inactive the people will be happy and prosperous;
When the government is discriminative, the people will be dissatisfied and restless.
It is upon misery that happiness rests;
It is under happiness that misery lies.
Who then can know the supremacy (good government)?
Only when the government does no rectifying.
Otherwise the rectitude will again become stratagem,
And good beome evil.
Men have been ignorant of this, since long ago.
Therefore the Sage is square but does not cut others;
He is angled but does not chip others;
He is straight but does not stretch others;
His is bright but does not dazzle others.
59
In ruling men and in serving heaven, the Sage uses only moderation.
By moderation alone he is able to have conformed early (to Tao).
This early conformity is called intensive accumulation of virtue.
With this intensive accumulation of virtue, there is nothing that he cannot overcome.
Because there is nothing that he cannot overcome, no one will be able to know his supremacy.
Because no one knows his supremacy he can take possession of a country.
Because what he does is identified with the Mother in taking possession of a country, he can long endure.
This means that he is deep rooted and firmly based, and knows the way of longevity and immortality.
60
Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish (do it gently).
Let Tao reign over the world, and no spirits will show their ghostly powers.
Not that the spirits have no more powers,
But their powers will not harm men.
Nor will the Sage harm the people.
Inasmuch as none of them harms anybody,
Therefore virtue belongs to them both.
61
A great state is the worlds low-stream (to which all the river flows [sic] down), the world's field and the world's female. The female always conquers the male by quietude, which is employed as a means to lower oneself. Thus a great state lowers itself towards a small state before it takes over the small state. A small state lowers itself towards a great state before it takes over the great state. Therefore some lower themselves to take, while some lower themselves to gather. A great state wishes nothing more than to have and keep many people, and a small state wishes nothing more than to get more things to do. When the two both mean to obtain their wishes, the greater one should lower itself.
62
Tao is the source of all things, the treasure of good men, and the sustainer of bad men.
Therefore at the enthronement of an emperor and the appointment of the three ministers, better still than those who present jewels followed by horses, is the one who sitting presents (propounds) this Tao. Why did the ancients prize this Tao? Was it not because it could be attained by seeking and thus the sinners could be freed? For this reason, it has become the most valuable thing in the world.
Good words will procure one honour; good deeds will get one credit.
63
Act non-action; undertake no undertaking; taste the tasteless.
The Sage desires the desireless, and prizes no articles that are difficult to get.
He learns no learning, but reviews what others have passed through.
Thus he lets all things develop in their own natural way, and does not venture to act.
Regard the small as the great; regard the few as many.
Manage the difficult while they are easy;
Manage the great while they are small.
All difficult things in the world start from the easy.
All the great things in the world start from the small.
The tree that fills a man's arms arises from a tender shoot.
The nine-storied tower is raised from a heap of earth;
A thousand miles' journey begins from the spot under one's feet.
Therefore the Sage never attempts great things, and thus he can achieve what is great.
He who makes easy promises will seldom keep his word;
He who regards many things as easy will find many difficulties.
Therefore the Sage regards things as difficult, and consequently never has difficulties.
64
What is motionless is easy to hold;
What is not yet foreshadowed is easy to form plans for;
What is fragile is easy to break;
What is minute is easy to disperse.
Deal with a thing before it comes into existence;
Regulate a thing before it gets into confusion.
The common people in their business often fail on the verge of succeeding.
Take care with the end as you do with the beginning,
And you will have no failure.
65
In olden times the best practitioners of Tao did not use it to awaken people to knowledge,
But used it to restore them to simplicity.
People are difficult to govern because they have much knowledge.
Therefore to govern the country by increasing the people's knowledge is to be the destroyer of the country;
To govern the country by decreasing knowledge is to be the blesser of the country.
To be acquainted with these two ways is to know the standard;
To keep the standard always in mind is to have sublime virtue.
Sublime virtue is infinitely deep and wide.
It goes to reverse all things;
And so it attains perfect peace.
66
As Tao is to the world, so are streams and valleys to the rivers and seas.
Rivers and seas can be kings to all valleys because the former can well lower themselves to the latter.
Thus they become kings to all valleys.
Therefore the Sage, in order to be above the people, must in words keep below them;
In order to be ahead of the people, he must in person keep behind them.
Thus when he is above, the people do not feel his burden;
When he is ahead, the people do not feel his hinderance.
Therefore all the world is pleased to hold him in high esteem and never get tired of him.
Because he does not compete; therefore no one competes with him.
67
All the world says to me: 'Great as Tao is, it resembles no description (form).' Because it is great, therefore it resembles no description. If it resembled any description it would have long since become small.
I have three treasures, which I hold and keep safe:
The first is called love;
The second is called moderation;
The third is called not venturing to go ahead of the world.
Being loving, one can be brave;
Being moderate, one can be ample;
Not venturing to go ahead of the world, one can become the chief of all officials.
Instead of love, one has only bravery;
Instead of moderation, one has only amplitude;
Instead of keeping behind, one goes ahead:
These lead to nothing but death.
For he who fights with love will win the battle;
He who defends with love will be secure.
Heaven will save him, and protect him with love.
68
The best soldier is not soldierly;
The best fighter is not ferocious;
The best conqueror does not take part in war;
The best employer of men keeps himself below them.
This is called the virtue of not contending;
This is the ability of using men;
This is called the supremacy of consorting with heaven.
69
An ancient tactician has said:
'I dare not act as a host, but would rather act as a guest;
I dare not advance an inch, but would rather retreat a foot.'
This implies that he does not marshal the ranks as if there were no ranks;
He does not roll up his sleeves as if he had no arms;
He does not seize as if he had no weapons;
He does not fight as if there were no enemies.
No calamity is greater than under-estimating the enemy.
To under-estimate the enemy is to be on the point of losing our treasure (love).
Threfore when opposing armies meet in the field the ruthful will win.
70
Words have an ancestor; deeds have a governor.
My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise,
Yet all men in the world do not know them nor practise them.
It is because they have knowledge that they do not know me.
When those who know me are few, eventually I am beyond all praise.
Therefore the Sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom;
He knows himself but does not display himself;
He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.
Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.
71
Not knowing that one knows is best;
Thinking that one knows when one does not know is sickness.
Only when one becomes sick of the sickness can one be free from sickness.
The sage is never sick; because he is sick of this sickness, therefore he is not sick.
72
If the people have no fear of their ruling authority, still greater fear will come.
Be sure not to give them too narrow a dwelling;
Nor make their living scanty.
Only when their dwelling place is no longer narrow will their dissatisfaction come to an end.
73
He who shows courage in daring will perish;
He who shows courage in not-daring will live.
To know these two is to distinguish the one, benefit, from the other, harm.
Who can tell that one of them should be loathed by Heaven?
The Tao of heaven does not contend yet it surely wins the victory.
It does not speak; yet it surely responds.
It does not call; yet all things come of their own accord. The net of heaven is vast, and its meshes are wide; yet from it, nothing escapes.
74
When the people are not afraid of death, what use is it to frighten them with the punishment of death? If the people were constantly afraid of death and we could arrest and kill those who commit treacheries, who then would commit such? Only the Supreme Executioner kills. To kill in place of the Supreme Executioner is to hack instead of a great carpenter. Now if one hacks in place of a great carpenter one can scarcely avoid cutting one's own hand.
75
The people starve. Because their officials take heavy taxes from them, therefore they starve. The people are hard to rule. Because their officials meddle with affairs, therefore they are hard to rule. The people pay no heed to death. Because they endevour to seek life; therefore they pay no heed to death.
76
Man when living is soft and tender; when dead he is hard and tough. All animals and plants when living are tender and fragile; when dead they become withered and dry. Therefore it is said: the hard and the tough are parts of death, the soft and the tender are parts of life. This is the reason why soldiers when they are too tough cannot carry the day; the tree when it is too tough will break. The Position of the strong and great is low, and the position of the weak and tender is high.
77
Is not the Tao of heaven like the drawing of a bow? It brings down the part which is high; it raises the part which is low; it lessens the part which is redundant (convex); it fills up the part which is insufficient (concave). The Tao of heaven is to lessen the redundant and fill up the insufficient. The Tao of man, on the contrary, is to take from the insufficient and give to the redundant. Who can take from the redundant and give to the insufficient? Only he who has Tao can. Therefore the Sage does not horde. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself the more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Tao of heaven does one good but never does one harm; the Tao of the Sage acts but never contends.
78
The weakest things in the world can overmatch the strongest things in the world.
Nothing in the world can be compared to water for its weak and yielding nature; yet in attacking the hard and the strong, nothing proves better than it. For there is no other alternative to it.
The weak can overcome the strong and the yielding can overcome the hard: This all the world knows but does not practise.
Therefore the Sage says:
He who sustains all the reproaches of the country can be master of the land;
He who sustains all the calamities of the country can be king of the world.
These are words of truth,
Though they seem paradoxical.
79
Return love for great hatred.
Otherwise, when a great hatred is reconciled, some of it will surely remain.
How can this end in goodness?
Therefore the Sage holds to the left half of an agreement, but does not exact what the other holder ought to do.
The virtuous resort to agreement.
The virtueless resort to exaction.
The Tao of heaven shows no partiality;
It abides always with good men.
80
Supposing here is a small state with few people.
Though there are various vessels I will not have them put in use.
I will make the people regard death as a grave matter and not go far away.
Though they have boats and carraiges they will not travel in them.
Though they have armour and weapons they will not show them.
I will let them restore the use of knotted cords (instead of writing).
They will be satisfied with their food.
Delighted in their dress;
Comfortable in their dwellings;
Happy with their customs.
Though the neighbouring states are within sight
