and so is truly DE.
The lowest DE is always conscious of the DE,
and so is truly without DE.
The highest DE never acts,
yet nothing is not done.
The lowest DE is for ever acting,
yet everything remains undone.
Those of greatest kindliness act without ulterior intent.
Those of greatest rectitude act with ulterior intent.
Those of greatest propriety act, but when no one responds,
they bear their arms and use brute force.
When the DAO is lost, DE remains.
When DE is lost, kindheartedness remains.
When kindheartedness is lost, morality remains.
When morality is lost, only etiquette is left.
Etiquette is the veneer of loyalty and good faith
and the beginning of disaster.
Foresight is a flowery trapping of the DAO
and the beginning of folly.
Great people set their minds upon the substance, not the surface,
on the fruit and not the flower.
They reject the one and accept the other.
39
From ancient times, these things have attained a oneness with the DAO:
heaven attains oneness and becomes clear;
earth attains oneness and becomes serene;
spirits attain oneness and become strong;
valleys attain oneness and become full;
all things attain oneness and become alive;
rulers attain oneness and become just.
It is oneness that makes them what they are.
Without clarity, heaven would split;
without serenity, earth would sink;
without strength, spirits would dissolve;
without fullness, valleys would run dry;
without livingness, all things would be destroyed;
without justice, rulers would be toppled.
So greatness must have humility as its root,
the high must have the low as its foundation.
When rulers call themselves 慳lone?or 慸esolate?or 憌orthless?
do they not make humility their root?
And so the ultimate renown is to be without renown;
do not seek to shine like jade, but to drop down like a stone.
40
The movement of the DAO is to return;
the way of the DAO is to yield.
Everything on earth is born of Being,
but Being is born of the nothingness of DAO.
41
When wise students hear about the DAO,
they follow it with care.
When ordinary students hear about the DAO,
they sometimes believe in it, and sometimes doubt.
When foolish students hear about the DAO,
they laugh at it out loud.
If they did not laugh at it, it would not be the DAO.
There are these age-old sayings:
the brightest way seems dark;
the way forward seems like retreat;
the way that is smooth seems to be rough;
the highest goodness seems quite empty;
the purest whiteness seems to be soiled;
the vastest goodness seems insufficient;
the staunchest goodness seems to be frail;
the most solid reality seems to change.
The greatest square has no corners;
the greatest talents ripen late;
the greatest music has no sound;
the greatest images have no form.
The DAO is hidden, beyond all name;
and yet it is the DAO that nourishes and fulfils all things.
42
The DAO gave birth to One.
One gave birth to Two.
Two gave birth to Three.
Three gave birth to everything there is.
Everything there is carries on its back the shade of yin *
and in its arms the sun of yang;
and blends the vital breath of each
to achieve a harmony.
Nothing is more loathed by people than to be
alone, or desolate, or worthless.
Yet these are the very titles that
kings and princes give themselves.
By losing, one may gain.
By gaining, one may lose.
What others teach, I also teach:
慣he violent and strong will never die a natural death.?br> That is the basis of my teaching.
* fu yin er bao yang: carries on its back the shade of yin / and in its arms the sun of yang
the reference here is, of course, to the fundamental contrast and duality between yin, the negative, female principle, and yang, the active, male principle. A simple translation of the five Chinese characters would be 慶arries yin but enfolds yang? However, such a baldly stated contrast can be effectively developed by drawing in two closely implied antitheses: 憇hade?and 憇un? and 憃n its back?and 慽n its arms? And so the version here reads, 慶arries on its back the shade of yin / and in its arms the sun of yang?
43
The softest things in all the world
can overcome the hardest things in all the world.
Only Nothingness can penetrate spacelessness.
That is why I understand the benefit of not acting.
The teaching that is wordless, the benefit of not acting -
seldom in the world are these things understood.
44
Which is more precious, fame or self?
which is worth more, self or wealth?
which is more harmful, winning or losing?
The stronger your love, the greater the price;
the larger your hoard, the heavier the loss.
Knowing what is enough frees you from shame;
knowing when you should stop frees you from danger.
Only so can you live a long life.
45
The greatest perfection seems imperfect,
yet use will never wear it out.
The greatest fullness seems quite empty,
yet use will never drain it dry.
The greatest straightness looks like crookedness,
the greatest skill like clumsiness,
the greatest eloquence like stammering.
Restlessness defeats the cold,
but stillness overcomes the heat.
Serenity and calmness set the standard for the world.
46
When the world lives in accord with DAO,
galloping horses fertilise the fields.
When the world ignores the DAO,
horses for war breed in the countryside.
There is no greater curse than discontent,
no crueller curse than gaining your desires.
Know when enough is enough,
and you'll always have enough.
47
Without stepping outside your door,
you can know the world.
Without looking out of your window,
you can see heaven.
The further you go, the less you will know.
So those who are enlightened know without going,
understand without seeing,
accomplish without acting.
48
Students of knowledge learn more each day;
students of the DAO do less each day.
Less and less is done until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done,
there is nothing that is left undone.
To win the world, you must not interfere;
if you interfere, you will never win the world.
49
Those who are enlightened have no fixed heart or mind.
The hearts and minds of ordinary people
become their heart and mind.
Those who are good they treat as good;
those who are not good they also treat as good.
This is the true DE.
Those who are sincere they treat as sincere;
those who are not sincere they also treat as sincere.
This is the true DE.
Those who are enlightened live in the world harmoniously,
blending heart and mind into the world.
The people fix their eyes and ears on them.
To those who are enlightened, all are children.
50
Between their birth and death,
a third of people will be followers of life,
a third will be followers of death,
and a third will be just passing from life to death.
Why? Because they cling to life too much.
It is said that whoever excels in preserving their life
can wander through the land
and not meet tiger or wild buffalo,
can cross a battlefield
and not wear armour.
In them, a buffalo will find no place to thrust its horn,
a tiger no place to sink its claws,
a weapon no place to lodge its blade.
Why is this so? Because for them, there is no realm of death.
51
The DAO gives life to everything;
DE nurtures it;
the world of matter gives it shape;
circumstances make it complete.
So everything that is reveres the DAO
and honours DE.
But the DAO is revered and DE honoured,
not because of a command, but naturally.
So the DAO gives life to everything,
and DE nurtures it,
raises it, and brings it up,
matures and completes it,
feeds and shelters it.
To give life without possessing,
to act without expecting gratitude,
to foster growth without controlling it -
this is called the secret DE.
52
The world has a beginning,
which can be called the mother of the world.
Know the mother,
and you will know the child.
Know the child,
then go back and hold fast to the mother;
and until the end of life, you will not meet with harm.
Block up all the openings, *
bolt firm all the doors,
and throughout your life, you will never be exhausted.Unblock the openings,
be busy with your affairs,
and throughout your life, you will never be redeemed.
To see the small is called enlightenment.
To hold to gentleness is called strength.
Use the light to go home to enlightenment,
and you will be saved from harm.
This is known as following the changeless.
* se qui dui: block up all the openings
dui has the meaning of 憁outh/opening/passage/aperture/hole? and in this context refers to the physical and metaphorical openings through which the senses operate. Dui is paralleled in the next line by men (gate/door), a similar image of the passage-way of the senses.
53
Had I the smallest grain of understanding,
I would follow the great DAO;
my only fear would be to stray from it.
The great DAO is very smooth and straight,
and yet some people prefer the by-roads.
The royal court is kept immaculate,
and yet the fields are overgrown with weeds
and the granaries are empty.
They're dressed in finery,
with fine swords at their side;
they gorge themselves on food and drink,
and have more wealth by far than they can use.
This is the arrogance of thieves. *
What could be further from the DAO?
* shi wei dao yu: this is the arrogance of thieves
there is a pun here on the word dao (or tao), which can mean 憆obber?or 憈hief? as well as the unnameable 慦ay? The play on words occurs on three other occasions in the text (sections 3, 19 and 57), though arguably with a lesser emphasis than here.
54
What is firmly planted cannot be uprooted;
what is firmly held cannot slip loose.
Your children and your grand-children
will worship it for generations without end.
Cultivate the DE within yourself
and the DE will be genuine.
Cultivate it in your family
and the DE will overflow.
Cultivate it in your village
and the DE will long endure.
Cultivate it in your country
and the DE will then spread wide.
Cultivate it in the world
and the DE will be everywhere.
Look at yourself as a self,
your family as a family,
your village as a village,
your country as a country,
your world as a world.
How do I know the world is like this?
By means of it. *
* yi ci: by means of it
see section 21 above.
55
Whoever is filled with DE
is like a new-born child.
Wasps and scorpions will not sting it;
snakes and serpents will not bite it;
wild animals will not attack it;
birds of prey will not swoop down on it.
Its bones are soft, its muscles weak,
and yet its grip is firm.
It does not know of male and female union
and yet its organ stirs;
its vital energy is at its height.
It cries throughout the day
and yet is never hoarse;
its harmony is at its height.
To know harmony is to know the eternal.
To know the eternal is to know enlightenment.
To speed the growth of life is an omen of disaster; *
to control the breath by will-power is to overstrain it;
to grow too much is to decay.
All this is against the DAO
and whatever is against the DAO soon dies.
* xiang: an omen of disaster
xiang is particularly ambiguous character, since it can also mean the exact opposite of 慸isaster? 慴lessing/good omen/propitious/beneficial? All depends upon how the three characters immediately preceding (yi sheng yue) are translated. If positively (for example, 憈o increase life? 憈hat which is beneficial to life? 慽mprovement in health?, the obvious choice of apposition is 慽s a blessing? But if the characters are rendered negatively (憈o force the growth of things? 憈o hasten life抯 growth unnaturally? 憈o benefit one抯 own life?, then 慸isaster?is the equally obvious conclusion. I view xiang in this latter light, since the immediately following lines focus upon different kinds of excess, which are viewed negatively, and which are explicitly said to be 慳gainst the DAO?
56
Those who know do not speak of it;
those who speak do not know of it.
Those who know
keep their mouths closed,
t all the doors, *
blunt every sharpness,
untangle the knots,
soften the glare,
become one with the dust,
and enter the mystery of oneness.
They can be neither courted nor nned;
they can be neither helped nor harmed;
they can be neither honoured nor disgraced.
They are the most treasured people upon the earth.
* men: doors
as in section 51 above, men has metaphorical rather than literal force, indicating the doors or gates through which the senses operate.
57
Be straightforward in governing the nation;
be cunning in waging a war.
Conquer the world by not interfering.
How do I know that this should be so?
Because
the more taboos and restrictions,
the poorer the people become;
the sharper the weapons,
the more fear in the land;
the more cunningness,
the more abnormal the events;
the more laws,
the greater the number of thieves.
Those who are enlightened say:
I do not act,
and people are transformed naturally;
I welcome stillness,
and people do what is right naturally;
I do not interfere,
and people prosper naturally;
I am without desire,
and people return to what is simple naturally.
58
