Map difficult with easy Approach great through narrow.
The most difficult things in the world Must be accomplished through the easiest. The greatest things in the world Must be accomplished through the smallest.
Therefore the Sage Never attempts great things and so accomplishes them.
Quick promises Mean little trust. Everything easy Means great difficulty.
Thus for the Sage everything is difficult, And so in the end Nothing is difficult.
64
At rest is easy to hold. Not yet impossible is easy to plan. Brittle is easy to break. Fine is easy to scatter.
Create before it exists. Lead before it goes astray.
A tree too big to embrace Is born from a slender shoot. A nine-story rises from a pile of earth. A thousand-mile journey Begins with a single step.
Act and you ruin it. Grasp and you lose it. Therefore the Sage Does not act And so does not ruin Does not grasp And so does not lose.
People commonly ruin their work When they are near success. Proceed at the end as at the beginning And your work won't be ruined.
Therefore the Sage Desires no desires Prizes no prizes Studies no studies And returns To what others pass by. The Sage Helps all beings find their nature, But does not presume to act.
65
Taoist rulers of old Did not enlighten people But left them dull.
People are difficult to govern Because they are very clever. Therefore, Ruling through cleverness leads to rebellion. Not leading through cleverness Brings good fortune.
Know these two things And understanding the enduring pattern. Understand the enduring pattern: This is called original Te.
Original Te goes deep and far. All things reverse Return And reach the great headwaters.
66
Rivers and seas Can rule the hundred valleys Because they are good at lying low They are lords of the valleys.
Therefore those who would be above Must speak as if they are below Those who would lead Must speak as if they are behind.
In this way the Sage dwells above And the people are not burdened. Dwells in front And they are not hindered. Therefore the whole world Is delighted and unwearied.
Since the Sage does not contend No one can contend with the Sage.
67
Everyone under heaven calls my Tao great, and unlike anything else. It is great only because It is unlike anything else. If it were like anything else It would stretch and become thin.
I have three treasures to maintain and conserve: the first is compassion. The second is frugality. The third is not presuming To be first under heaven.
Compassion leads to courage. Frugality allows generosity. Not presuming to be first Creates a lasting instrument.
Nowadays, People reject compassion But want to be brave, Reject frugality But want to be generous, Reject humility And want to come first. This is death.
Compassion: Attack with it and win. Defend with it and stand firm. Heaven aids and protects Through compassion.
68
The accomplished person is not aggressive. The good soldier is not hot tempered.
The best conqueror does not engage the enemy. The most effective leader takes the lowest place.
This is called the Te of not contending. This is called the power of the leader. This is called matching Heaven's ancient ideal.
69
There is a saying in the army: I do not presume to be the master, But become the guest. I do not dare advance an inch, but retreat a foot.
This is called moving without moving, rolling up sleeves without showing your arms, Repelling without opposing, Wielding without a weapon.
There is no disaster greater than Contempt for the enemy.
Contempt for the enemy - what a treasure is lost! Therefore, When the fighting gets hot, Those who grieve will conquer.
70
My words are very easy to understand, Very easy to practice. No one under heaven can understand them, No one can practice them.
Words have ancestors, Deeds have masters. If people don't understand this, They don't understand me. Few understand me, And that is my value.
Therefore the Sage wears rough clothing And carries Jade inside.
71
Know not-knowing: supreme. Not know knowing: faulty
Only faulting faults is faultless.
The Sage is faultless
By faulting faults,
And so is without fault.
72
When people are not in awe of power, Power becomes great.
Do not intrude into their homes, Do not make their lives weary. If you do not weary them, They will not becoem weary of you.
Therefore the Sage Has self-knowledge without self-display, Self-love without personal pride, Rejects one, accepts the other.
73
Courage to dare kills, Courage not to dare saves. One brings profit, one brings harm.
Of these two, one is good, and one is harmful. Some are not favored by heaven. Who knows why? Even the wise consider it a difficult question.
Heaven hates what it hates - Who knows why! Even the Sage finds it difficult. Heaven's Tao does not contend But prevails, Does not speak, But responds, Is not summoned, But arrives, Is utterly still, But plans all actions.
Heaven's net is wide, wide, Loose - But nothing slips through.
74
If people do not fear death, How dare you threaten them with death?
But if people with a normal fear of death Are about to do something vicious, And I could seize and execute them, Who would dare?
There is always an official executioner. Trying to take the executioner's place, Is like trying to replace a master woodworker - Few would not slice their own hands.
75
People are hungry. When rulers tax grain People are hungry.
People are rebellious. When rulers are active People are rebellious.
People ignore death. When searching only for life's bounty People ignore death. Only those who do not strive after life Truly respect life.
76
Humans are born soft and weak. They die stiff and strong.
The ten thousand plants and trees Are born soft tender, And die withered and sere.
The stiff and strong Are Death's companions The soft and weak Are Life's companions.
Therefore the strongest armies do not conquer, The greatest trees are cut down.
The strong and great sink down. The soft and weak rise up.
77
Heaven's Tao Is a stretched bow, Pulling down on the top Pulling up on the bottom.
If it's too much, cut. If it's not enough, Add on to it: Heaven's Tao.
The Human Route Is not like this, Depriving the poor, Offering to the rich. Who has a surplus And still offers it to the world? Only those with Tao.
Therefore the Sage Acts and expects nothing, Accomplishes and does not linger, Has no desire to seem worthy.
78
Nothing in the world is soft and weak as water. But when attacking the hard and strong Nothing can conquer so easily.
Weak overcomes strong, soft overcomes hard. Everyone knows this, no one attains it.
Therefore the Sage says: Accept a country's filth And become master of its sacred soil. Accepts country's ill fortune And become king under heaven. True words resemble their opposites.
79
Appears great hatred sand hatred will remain. How can this be good?
Therefore the Sage Holds the tally But does not judge people.
Those who have Te Control the tally. Those who lack Te Collect their due.
Heaven has no favourites But endures in good people.
80
Small country, few people - Hundreds of devices, But none are used. People ponder on death And don't travel far.
They have carriages and boats, But no one goes on board; Weapons and armour, But no one brandishes them.
They use knotted cords for counting. Sweet is their food, Beautiful their clothes, Peaceful their homes, Delightful their customs.
Neighboring countries are so close You can hear their chickens and dogs. But people grow old and die Without needing to come and go.
81
Sincere words and not pretty. Pretty words are not sincere.
Good people do not quarrel. Quarrelsome people are not good.
The wise are not learned. The learned are not wise.
The Sage is not acquisitive - Has enough By doing for others, Has even more By giving to others.
Heaven's Tao Benefits and does not harm. The Sage's Tao Acts and does not contend.
English_Allchin_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
English interpretation by
Douglas Allchin, 2002
Vorwort/Foreword
Who would follow the Way
must go beyond words.
With such bold words, who would dare to introduce yet another version of the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing, or The Classics of Integrity and the Way)? If words are inadequate, how can one regard favorably yet one more set of an already much translated text? Many things make this version unique.
First, while many translations of this Chinese classic exist, none (to my mind) capture the cadence and sound of poetry. While I regard many translations as faithful in meaning, their convoluted rhythm bears witness to an effort to transcend languages. The Classics originated in an oral tradition. It used rhyme throughout. In that spirit, this version is meant to be spoken, as much as read. Meter is central. Sound is a touchstone.
Second, the ancient Chinese text is filled with references to ancient China. We should expect no less. Yet the old sayings, assumptions about rituals and feudal society, and jabs at the Confucians lose their potency in a dramatically different culture. Any student of the dao will readily acknowledge, however, the text's enduring relevance. Thus, I have rendered the Classics for a western audience in the 21st century, while still respecting its ancient Chinese origin. It aims to evoke a daoist sense of the perpetual.
Finally, I was dissatisfied with the balance of image, poetry and meaning in existing versions. Multiple meanings, word play and implicit connotations challenge any translator. At the same time, for poetry, one must evoke images and create music. Many translations of the Dao De Jing succeed by focusing only along some of these dimensions. Thus, one may respect the erudition of such translators as D.C. Lau or James Legge. Likewise, one may admire the elegant simplicity, echoed in photographic images, of Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. One may be equally impressed, for yet other reasons, with the free and often playful interpretations of Witter Bynner or Ron Hogan (aka Jesse Garon). None, however梩o my mind梤enders the meaning both fully and poetically.
In addition, I have paralleled the text with images. They are aesthetic and meditative complements. Photographs are special images. Ostensibly they reproduce visual reality. Yet each frames the world uniquely. They focus one's perception. Photographs are ultimately about ways of seeing. These images are, in the daoist spirit, about oneness with nature.
Those interested in my "method" and guiding themes may read further here.
A primary aim of my work has been to recapture rhythm. I have relied substantially on the standard two beat iamb, which lends a sense of simple regular rhythm. Students of the dao might imagine the alternating of yin and yang as one breathes and as the heart beats.
Much of the original was rhymed. The pairing of lines, often with contrasting or coupled thoughts, is evident in many translations. It would have been a powerful mnemonic in an oral tradition. Yet sound has strong emotional resonance, as well. I can lay no claim to mastering the rhymed couplet (would that Alexander Pope had set himself to this verse!). Still, I have tried to capture parallel verses in parallel rhythms, and to underscore their pairings. I have sought rhyme without straining the fundamental structure and meaning. Assonance and alliteration have also been important tools.
Economy has also been a benchmark. Indeed, through its own economy of language, the original text evokes appreciation of economy in living, as well. Many translations seem to sacrifice this feature in order to articulate meaning more fully. I hope to restore freshness and vividness through streamlined text. To convey meaning I rely on appropriate words, although some are themselves not so simple. The original was allegedly 5,000 characters. I weigh in at just under 5800 words.
Another vital element of the original was word play. Commentators frequently note the puns and subtle meanings implied by the homophonic Chinese characters. I have aimed for the same effect without bulky footnotes.
Interpretation is essential. A modern reader can be lost (or even alienated) by references to feudal lords and ancient Chinese customs, which would have been familiar long ago. These I often generalize. Similarly, for "old sayings," I frequently draw on maxims from western culture to evoke a sense of the familiar. At the same time, this is not a free interpretation. I endeavor to remain faithful to the original meaning, images and metaphors.
Accordingly, I call this a rendition, not a translation. As much as I am a student of the dao, I am not a scholar of ancient Chinese language. Thus, I am indebted to all the scholars who have translated the Chinese into English and interpreted the antiquated Chinese characters. Still, this is how the text comes to us. No one living has read the original. The earliest known copies are themselves centuries old. They, in turn, likely derive from of an oral tradition. Every version of the text reflects an act of recreating. I do not intend to provide a definitive translation. It is a rendition, aiming to evoke the sense of wonder that is central to following the dao. I have sought to balance music and meaning. I invite the reader to immerse himself or herself in the sound and the images梐nd in meditative reflection.
In agreeing that the Classics is a compilation of fragmented sayings from an oral heritage, I do not treat each "chapter" as a unified whole.
Many translators have commented on key words and concepts: tao (the Way), te (integrity), p'u (the unhewn block), wu-wei (non-action), sheng-jen (the wise man) and wan-wu (the myriad creatures). I invite the reader to note, as well, the "three treasures" cited in chapter 67 and echoed in parallel phrases in verses 2, 10, 34 and 51 (and other lines elsewhere). One may well find that the concepts of empathy (non-self), economy (non-property) and humility (non-power over others) are also profitably viewed as central.
I am indebted to two translators, in particular, for different and particular inspirational reasons. First, Witter Bynner's delightful verse inspired me. Although it abandons a literal (character-by-character) translation, I was often struck with Brynner's ability to generate powerful images and to evoke mood with rhyme and rhythm. It opened me to the possibilities. Second, Victor Mair's recent translation of and commentaries on the early Ma-Wang-Tui manuscripts have been invaluable benchmarks. Mair vividly conveys the historical context and the mosaic structure.
