35
When holding the Great Image, the world goes on and on without harm, peaceful, even, tranquil.
When there is music and dining, passing travelers stop;
but the issue of the Way is so plain as to be flavorless. When you look at it, it is invisible; when you listen to it, it is inaudible; when you use it, it cannot be exhausted.
36
Should you want to contain something, you must first deliberately let it expand. Should you want to weaken something, you must deliberately let it grow strong. Should you want to eliminate something, you must deliberately allow it to flourish.
This is called subtle illumination. Flexible and yielding overcome adamant coerciveness.
Fish shouldn't be taken from the depths; the effective tools of the nation shouldn't be shown to others.
37
The Way is always uncontrived, yet there's nothing it doesn't do.
If lords and monarchs could keep to it, all beings would evolve spontaneously. When they have evolved and want to act, I would stabilize them with nameless simplicity.
Even nameless simplicity would not be wanted. By not wanting, there is calm, and the world will straighten itself.
38
Higher virtue is not ingratiating; that is why it ha virtue. Lower virtue does not forget about reward; that is why it is virtueless.
Higher virtue is uncontrived; and there is no way to contrive it. Lower virtue is created, and there is a way to do it.
Higher humanity is created, but there is no way to contrive it. Higher duty is done, and there is a way to do it. Higher courtesy is done, but no one responds to it; so there is forced repetition.
Therefore virtue comes after the loss of the Way; humanity comes after the loss of virtue, duty comes after the loss of humanity, courtesy comes after the loss of duty.
Manners mean loyalty and trust are thin, and disarray's beginning. Foresight is a flower of the Way, and the beginning of ignorance too.
Therefore great people dwell in the thick, not the thin. They abide in the substance, not the flower. So they leave the latter and take the former.
39
When unity was attained of old, heaven became clear by attaining unity, earth became steady by attaining unity, spirit was quickened by attaining unity,
valley streams were filled by attaining unity, all beings were born by attaining unity; and by attaining unity lords acted rightly for the sake of the world. What brought this about was unity:
without means of clarity, heaven may burst; without means of steadiness, earth may erupt; without mens of quickening, spirit may be exhausted; without means of filling,
valley streams may dry up; without means of birth, all beings may perish; without means of acting rightly, lords may stumble.
Therefore nobility is rooted in humility, loftiness is based on lowliness.
Thais is why noble people refer to themselves as alone, lacking, and unworthy. Is this not being rooted in humility? So there is no praise in repeated praise; they don't want to be like jewels or like stones.
So there is no praise in repeated praise;
they don't want to be like jewels or like stones.
40
Return is the movement of the Way; yielding is the function of the Way.
All things in the world are born of being; being is born of nonbeing.
41
When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not.
When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.
So there are constructive sayings on this: The Way of illumination seems dark, the Way of advancement seems retiring, the Way of equality seems to categorize; higher virtue seems empty, greater purity seems ignominious, broad virtue seems insufficient,
constructive virtue seems careless. Simple honesty seems changeable, great range has no boundaries, great vessels are finished late; the great sound has a rarefied tone, the great image has no form,
the Way hides in namelessness. Only the Way can enhance and perfect.
42
The Way produces one; one produces two, two produce three, three produce all beings:
all beings bear yin and embrace yang, with a mellowing energy for harmony.
The things people dislike are only to be alone, lacking, and unworthy; yet these are what monarchs call themselves.
Therefore people may gain from loss, and may lose from gain.
What others teach, I also teach. The strong cannot master their death: I take this to be the father of teachings.
43
What is softest in the world drives what is hardest in the world. Nonbeing enters where there is no room; that is how we know noncontrivance enhances.
Unspoken guidance and uncontrived enhancement are reached by few in the world.
44
Which is closer, your name or your body? Which is more, your body or your possessions? Which is more destructive, gain or loss?
Extreme fondness means great expense, and abundant possessions mean much loss.
If you know when you have enough, you will not be disgraced. If you know when to stop, you will not be endangered. It is possible thereby to live long.
45
Great completeness seems incomplete; its use is never exhausted. Great fullness seems empty; its use is never ended. Great directness seems restrained,
great skill seems inept, great eloquence seems inarticulate.
Movement overcomes cold, stillness overcomes heat. Clear stillness is right for the world.
46
When the world has the Way, running horses are retired to till the fields. When the world lacks the Way, war-horses are bred in the countryside.
No crime is greater than discontent, no fault is greater than possessiveness.
So the satisfaction of contentment is always enough.
47
They know the world without even going out the door. They see the sky and its pattern without even looking out the window.
The further out it goes, the less knowledge is; therefore sages know without going, name without seeing, complete without striving.
48
For learning you gain daily; for the Way you lose daily.
Losing and losing, thus you reach noncontrivance; be uncontrived, and nothing is not done. Taking the world is always done by not making anything of it.
For when something is made of it, that is not enough to take the world.
49
Sages have no fixed mind; they make the minds of the people their mind:
they improve the good, and also improve those who are not good; that virtue is good.
They make sure of the true, and they make sure of the untrue too; that virtue is sure.
The relation of sages to the world is one of concern: they cloud their minds for the world; all people pour into their ears and eye, and sages render them innocent.
50
Exiting life, we enter death.
The followers of life are three out of ten, the followers of death are three out of ten; in the lives of the people, the dying grounds on which they are agitated are also three out of ten. What is the reason? Because of the seriousness with which they take life as life.
It has been said that those who maintain life well do not meet rhinos or tigers on land and do not arm themselves in war.
There is no way for rhinos to gore them; there is no way for tigers to claw them; there is no way for weapons to get at them. Why? Because they have no dying ground.
51
The Way gives birth, virtue nurtures, things form, momentum completes. Therefore all beings honor the Way and value its Virtue.
The honor of the Way and the value of Virtue are not granted by anyone, but are always naturally so. So the Way gives birth and nurtures, makes grow and develops, completes and matures, builds up and breaks down.
It produces but does not possess; it acts without presumption, it fosters growth without ruling. This is called hidden Virtue.
52
The world has a beginning that is the mother of the world.
Once you have found the mother, thereby you know the child. Once you know the child, you return to keep the mother, not perishing though the body may die.
Close your eyes, t your doors, and you do not toil all your life.
Open your eyes, carry out your affair, and you re not saved all your life.
Seeing the small is called clarity; keeping flexible is called strength.
Using the shining radiance, you return again to the light, not leaving anything to harm yourself. This is called entering the eternal.
53
Causing one flashes of knowledge to travel the Great Way, only its application demands care.
The Great Way is quite even, yet people prefer byways.
When courts are extremely fastidious, the fields are seriously neglected, and the granaries are very empty;
They wear colorful clothing and carry sharp swords, eat and drink their fill and possess more than enough. This is called the vanity of thieves; it is not the Way.
54
Good construction does not fall down, a good embrace does not let go; their heirs honor them unceasingly.
Cultivate it in yourself, and that virtue is real; cultivate it in the home, and that virtue is abundant; cultivate it in the locality, and that virtue lasts; cultivate it in the nation, and that virtue is rich; cultivate it in the world, and that virtue is universal.
So observe yourself by yourself, observe the home by the home, observe the locality by the locality, observe the nation by the nation, observe the world by the world.
How do I know the world is as it is? By this.
55
The richness of subliminal virtue is comparable to an infant: poisonous creatures do not sting it, wild beasts do not claw it, predatory birds do not grab it. Its tendons are flexible, yet its grip is firm.
Even while it knows not of the mating of male and female, its genitals get aroused; this is the epitome of vitality.
It can cry all day without choking or getting hoarse; this is the epitome of harmony. Knowing harmony is called constancy; knowing constancy is called clarity;
enhancing life is called propitious, the mind mastering energy is called strong.
When beings climax in power, they wane; this is called being unguided. The unguided die early.
56
Those who know do not say; those who say do not know.
Close the senses, t the doors; blunt the sharpness, resolve the complications; harmonize the light, assimilate to the world. This is called the mysterious sameness.
It cannot be made familiar, yet cannot be estranged; it cannot be profited, yet cannot be harmed; it cannot be valued, yet cannot be demeaned. Therefore it is precious for the world.
57
Use straightforwardness for civil government, use surprise for military operations; use noninvolvement to take the world. How do I know this?
The more taboos there are in the world, the poorer the populace is;
The more crafts the people have, the more exotic things are produced; the more laws are promulgated, the greater the number of thieves.
Therefore the sage says, I contrive nothing, and the people are naturally civilized; I am fond of tranquility, and the people are naturally upright.
I have nothing to do, and the people are naturally enriched.; I have no desire, and the people are naturally simple.
58
When the government is unobtrusive, the people are pure. When the government is invasive, the people are wanting.
Calamity is what fortune depends upon; fortune is what calamity subdues.
Who knows how it will all end? Is there no right and wrong? The orthodox also becomes the unorthodox, the good also becomes ill; people's confusion is indeed long-standing.
Therefore sages are upright without causing injury, honest without hurting, direct but not tactless, illuminated but not flashy.
59
To govern the human and serve the divine, nothing compares to frugality.
Only frugality brings early recovery; only recovery means buildup of power. Build up virtue, and you master all. When you master all, no one knows your limit. When no one knows your limit, you can maintain a nation.
When you maintain the matrix of a nation, you can last long.
This is called making the root deep and the basis firm, the Way of long life and eternal vision.
60
Governing a large nation is like cooking a little fish.
When the world is ruled by the Way, the ghosts are powerless.
It is not that the ghosts are powerless; their spirits do not harm the people. Not only do the spirits not harm the people; sages do not harm the people either.
Because the two do not harm each other, their virtues ultimately combine.
61
A great nation flows downward into intercourse with the world. The female of the world always prevails over the male by stillness.
Because stillness is considered lower, by lowering itself to a small nation a great nation takes a small nation; by being lower than a great nation a small nation takesa gret nation.
So one takes by lowering itself, another takes place by being lower.
A great nation wants no more than to include and nurture people; a small nation ants no more than to admit and serve people.
Both get what they want, so the great should be below.
62
The Way is the pivot of all things: the treasure of good people, the safeguard of those who are not good.
Fine words can be sold, honored acts can oppress people; why should people who are not good abandon them.
Therefore to establish an emperor and set up high officials, one may have a great jewel and drive a team of horses, but that is not as good as advancing callmly on this Way.
Why did the ancients value this Way? By it one can attain without long seeking and escape from the faults oe has; therefore it is valued by the world.
63
By nondoing, strive for nonstriving, savor the flavorless,
regard the small as important, make much of little, repay enmity with virtue;
plan for difficulty when it is still easy, do the great while it is still small.
The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are easy; the greatest things in the world must be done whenthey are small.
Because of this sages never do greeat things; that is why they can fulfill their greatness.
If you agree too easily, you'll be little trusted; if you take it easy a lot, you'll have a lot of problems.
Therefore it is through difficulty that sages end up without problems.
64
What is at rest is easy to hold. What has not shown up is easy to take into account. What is frail is easy to break. What is vague is easy to dispel.
Do it before it exists; govern it before there's disorder.
