The world on the basis of the world.
How do I know the situation of the world? By this.
55
The abundant virtue of a person,
May be compared to that of an infant:
Poisonous insects do not sting him,
Wild beats do not grab him,
Birds of prey do not claw him.
Though he has weak bones and soft sinews, his grip is firm.
Despite his ignorance of union of male and female, his organ is often erect.
This demonstrates his highest essence.
He cries all day without becoming hoarse.
This shows his utmost harmony with Nature.
To know the harmony with Nature is to know the truth;
To know the truth is enlightenment.
Over indulging in life produces ill consequences,
Ceding control of vital energy to emotion leads to violence.
Everything decays after its prime.
These (over indulging, ceding control to emotion) would be counter to Tao,
Whoever acts counter to Tao spells his early demise.
56
He who knows the truth does not brag,
He who brags does not know the truth.
Closing the apertures, tting the doors,
Blunting the sharpness, Resolving inner conflicts,
Softening brightness, and
Harmonizing with the dusty world,
He is then in profound harmony with Tao.
Thus he is no longer:
Affected by being close to, or
Bothered by being distant from others;
Touched by gains, or
Influenced by losses
Tempted by nobleness, or
Shamed by lowliness.
Therefore he is respected by the world.
57
Govern a state by fair rules.
Conduct military operations by surprise strategies.
Take over an empire as a nonevent.
How do I know these should be so?
Because:
The more prohibitions proliferate, the poorer the people;
The more sharp weapons people possess, the more chaotic the state;
The more cunning people become, the more abnormal the society;
The more laws promulgate, the more robbers and thieves appear.
Thus a wise ruler says:
I take no action, the people are naturally peaceful;
I love tranquility, the people naturally become orderly;
I plan no wasteful event, the people naturally grow prosperous;
I entertain no desire, the people naturally remain simple and honest.
58
When a ruler is tolerant and understanding,
The people will be loyal and obedient;
When a ruler is intolerant and overbearing,
The people will be resentful and resistant.
There are misfortunes wherein clues of blessings lie;
There are blessings wherein seeds of misfortunes hide.
Who would know the final outcome?
There is no rule to go by!
Normalcy reverts to chaos;
Good reverts to evil.
People have puzzled over these for a long time!
Therefore a wise ruler is:
Square but not cutting,
Sharp but not piercing,
Straight but not stretching and
Illustrious but not dazzling.
59
Governing the people or interacting with Nature,
Nothing is more important than being frugal.
Only being frugal can one be prepared for the future.
Early preparation emphasizes heavy conservation of resources.
Emphasizing conservation assures no obstacles in the future.
No future obstacle, then the prospect knows no limit.
Knowing of no limit, a state is well prepared.
Govern the state with this principle,
It will long endure.
60
Governing a large state is like cooking a small fish.
Let Tao prevail in the world,
Even the spiritual beings lose their divine appeal.
Not only they lose their appeal,
Their appeal harms no people.
Not only their appeal harms no people,
Neither the ruler harms people.
Since both inflict no harm,
Then all the benefits accrue jointly to the people.
61
A big state is like the downstream of a river, where the world converges, and which functions as the female
of the world.
The female always overcomes the male through stillness.
Stillness means lying low.
Therefore,
When a big state places itself below a small state,
It gains the trust of the small state;
When a small state places itself below a big state,
It gains the confidence of the big state.
Thus:
Sometimes a state lies low in order to gain,
Sometimes a state lying low results in gain.
A big state wishes only to dominate and lead,
A small state desires only to join and follow.
Now that each of the two gets what is wants,
It would still be better for the big state to lie low.
62
Tao holds secrets of all things.
It is the treasure for good people, and
The protector for bad people.
Fine talks can earn one respect,
Good deeds can elevate one抯 status.
Then for those who have behaved badly, why abandon them?
Thus:
When crowning a king or installing three ministers,
In spite of their beautiful jade offerings preceded by fast horses,
It would be better to offer them Tao.
What made the ancients value Tao?
Did they not believe that:
You would get what you seek and be forgiven of your sins?
Therefore, it is valued by the world.
63
Take no willful action,
Diffuse contentious even to nonevent,
Transform the tasteless tasteful.
Big or small, numerous or few,
Repay enmities with virtue.
Anticipate difficulties while it is still easy,
Prepare for being big while it is still small.
Difficult problems in the world must have grown from what used to be easy,
Great events in the world must have started from what used to be small.\
So the sage does not aim to be great,
Thus he can achieve greatness.
Light promises often result in loss of credibility,
Easy encounters often are followed by difficulties.
So even the sage anticipates difficulty,
Thus he encounters no difficulty.
64
In an orderly state, it is easy to maintain status quo;
Before the appearance of trouble, it is easy to diffuse it.
What is fragile is easy to break;
What is small is easy to scatter.
Prevent problems before they become problems;
Establish rules of order before there is disorder.
A tree of huge proportions is grown from a tiny sapling;
A nine story tower is built from the ground up;
A journey of a thousand li begins under the feet (with the first step).
He who takes willful actions fails;
He who exerts willful control loses it.
So a wise ruler:
Takes no willful action, thus suffers no failure;
Exerts no willful control, thus suffers no loss of it.
People often fail at the sight of success,
Be deft and cautious at the end as at the beginning,
Then there will be no failure.
So a wise ruler:
Desires no selfish desire,
Values no rare commodity,
Learns to unlearn, and
Repairs wrongs done to the multitude.
He thus fosters the natural state of all things, and
He dares no interfere with it.
65
Ancient rulers who were good at practicing Tao,
Did not aim to enlighten the people, but to keep them ignorant.
The difficulty in governing the people is due to their excessive knowledge.
Therefore:
He who governs a state through knowledge is the robber of the state;
He who governs a state not through knowledge is the blessing of the state.
He who knows these two alternatives also values the model of Tao.
Always valuing the model of Tao constitutes a profound virtue.
The virtue is so profound and so far-reaching,
Until the model becomes contrary to the reality!
Only then the great harmony would prevail.
66
Why the large river or sea is able to be the king of hundred valley streams?
Because it lies well below them.
Therefore it becomes their king.
It follow that: He who governs the people must declare that he is to serve them;
He who lead the people must place himself behind them.
So a wise ruler:
Stays above, the people feel no burden;
Leads ahead, the people feel no threat.
Thus the world is not tired of happily supporting him.
Since he contends against no one,
Therefore no one in the world can contend against him.
67
The entire world says that my Tao is great, but
It resembles not what is expected.
Just because of its greatness, it resembles to what is expected.
Otherwise, it would have become insignificant long ago.
I have three treasures, keep and treasure them:
The first is to love,
The second is to conserve, and
The third is dare not be the first in the world.
Be able to conserve, then you can be courageous.
Be able to conserve, then you can be generous.
Dare not to be the first in the world, then you can be the leader.
Now:
To abandon love and be courageous,
To abandon conservation and be generous,
To abandon no be the first in the world and rush ahead.
This is fatal!
Because of love, you will be victorious in battle, and invincible in Defense!
When Heaven is about to save you, it protects you with love.
68
A good statesman does not rely on his military strength;
A good fighter does not lose his temper;
A good winner does not argue with his adversary;
A good employer of talents places himself below them.
This is the virtue of no contention;
This is the strength of managing talents;
This is the adaptation to Heaven,
The ultimate standard of old.
69
The military strategist says:
I dare not be an aggressor, but a defender;
I dare not advance an inch, but to retreat a foot.
This implies that we:
March without formation;
Raise no arms;
Face enemies undetected; and
Hold hidden weapons.
There is no greater danger than underestimating the enemy,
Underestimating the enemy nearly destroys my treasures.
Therefore:
When to armies of equal strength go to battle,
The aggrieved side wins.
70
My teachings are very easy to understand and very easy to practice.
But the world cannot understand them, nor practice them.
There are:
Principles in my teachings, and
Philosophy governing my undertakings.
Simply because of ignorance, people do not understand me.
Those who do are few, those who practice my teachings are rare.
Thus the sage is clothed in rags but hides a precious jade inside.
71
Knowing what you do not know is the best,
Pretending to know what you do not know is a disease.
Only be treating the disease as a disease,
Can one be free from it.
The sage is free from the disease
Because he treats the disease as a disease,
Therefore he is free from it.
72
When the people are no longer afraid of the power of authority,
Then the awesome power of authority descends with a vengeance.
Do not disturb the people in their habitats,
Do not choke off their means of livelihood.
Only by not being oppressive, will people feel not oppressed.
Therefore a wise ruler:
Knows his authority, but does not show of his power,
Values self-respect, but does not exalt his position.
Thus he chooses this and rejects the other.
73
To be brave in daring results in a killing;
To be brave in not daring results in life.
Of the two, one is beneficial, the other harmful.
Whatever Heaven disfavours,
Who knows the reason?
(Thus even the sage considers this a difficult question.)
The way of heaven is good at:
Winning without striving;
Responding without announcing;
Forthcoming without prompting; and
Planing without haste.
The net of Heaven is extremely vast,
It is coarse but not leaking.
74
When the people are not afraid to die
Why then threaten them with death?
Even if they normally are fearful of death,
For worst offenders, we may seize and kill them.
But who dares to execute?
There is always an expert executioner who kills.
Substituting for an expert executioner,
Is like hacking wood in place of a master carpenter.
Whoever substitutes for the master carpenter,
He seldom escapes injury of his own hand.
75
The people are hungry, because
Their ruler consumes too much of their tax grains.
That is why they are hungry.
The people become difficult to govern, because
Their ruler takes willful actions,
That is why they are difficult to govern.
The people take death lightly, because
Their ruler demands too much for his luxurious life.
That is why they take death lightly.
Only he who does not overvalue his own life excels in valuing life.
76
A human body is weak and pliable at birth, and is stiff and hard at death.
Grass and trees are tender and soft at birth, and are dry and brittle at death.
Therefore,
The hard and strong belong to the company of death;
The soft and weak belong to the company of life.
It follows then:
A strong army is destined to be destroyed;
A hard wood tree is doomed to be broken.
The hard and strong are in an inferior position,
The soft and weak are in a superior position.
77
Is Heaven抯 way like aiming an extended bow?
If aiming too high, lower it;
If aiming too high, raise it.
Thus,
The surplus is reduced and the needy supplemented.
The way of Heaven is to reduce the surplus so as to supplement the needy.
The way of Mankind is just the opposite:
It takes away from the needy so as to enrich the surplus.
Who would offer their surpluses to the world?
Only followers of Tao.
So the sage it to:
Care for but not to master;
Complete the work without claiming credit; and
Avoid recognition of his achievements.
78
Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water.
Yet there is nothing better for conquering the hard and strong, and there is no substitute for it.
That the weak overcomes the strong and
The soft overcomes the hard,
Is understood by the entire world,
But non can practice it.
