Those who are not sincere, I am also sincere to them.
[This is] virtue [as] sincerity.
The sages living in the world thereupon take everything in
Acting in the world, merging their minds.
The hundred clans梕ach one梡ays attention with its ears and eyes.
The sages all treat them as children.
50
Produced by birth, entering into death:
The disciples of life are three out of ten.
The disciples of death are three out of ten.
The lives of people
That move them toward a death on the earth:
[Of these] are there also three out of ten.
Why?
Because of their living the thickness of life.
But hear of those [one in ten] who are good at negotiating life:
Traveling by land, they do not encounter the cruel or the fierce.
Entering into an army, they are not covered with armor or weapons.
The cruel have no place to thrust their spear-tips
The fierce have no place to use their claws
Soldiers find no place to receive their blades.
Why?
Because of their having no death on the earth.
51
The Tao gives birth to them
Virtue rears them
Nature forms them
Conditions complete them.
Therefore, of the ten-thousand things
There are none that do not honor the Tao
And value Virtue.
The honoring of the Tao
The valuing of Virtue:
Man does not command them [to do so]
And they are always genuinely themselves
Because the Tao gives birth to them
And Virtue raises them
Leads them, nourishes them
Erects them, poisons them
Supports them, destroys them.
Giving birth but not possessing
Acting but not presuming
Leading but not oppressively ruling?br>
This is called 揗ystic Virtue.?br>
52
The world had a beginning.
It抯 regarded as being a mother to the world.
Having attained its mother
Thereby know its offspring.
Having known its offspring
Return, hold to its mother.
Not having a body, there is no danger.
Stop the exchange
Close the openings
Throughout, the body does not strive.
Open the exchange
Abet the affairs
Throughout, the body is not helped.
Seeing the lowly is called illumination.
Maintaining flexibility is called strength.
Use the light.
Return, go back to the illumination.
Not losing the body is a disaster.
Indeed, be practicing always.
53
Making myself pure, having understanding
I travel on the great Tao.
It gives only this fear:
The great Tao is exceedingly level
But people are pleased with byways.
The imperial court taxes to the extreme.
The fields are altogether overgrown with weeds.
The granaries are completely empty.
Clothed in elegant silk
Girded with sharp swords
Glutted with food and drink
Having a surplus of property and money?br>
This is called robbing and boasting [about it].
Besides, it抯 not the Tao!
54
That which is well established is not rooted up.
That which is well embraced does not slip away.
Children and grandchildren, using honorary rites
Offer sacrifices unceasingly.
Cultivate it in the body梚t抯 virtue shall be Genuineness.
Cultivate it in the family梚t抯 virtue shall be [Having] Surplus.
Cultivate it in the village梚t抯 virtue shall be Endurance.
Cultivate it in the nation梚t抯 virtue shall be Abundance.
Cultivate it in the world梚t抯 virtue shall be Universality.
Therefore:
By means of the body, watch the body.
By means of the family, watch the family.
By means of the village, watch the village.
By means of the nation, watch the nation.
By means of the world, watch the world.
By what means do I know the world aright?
By this.
55
Containing the substantiality of virtue
Is comparable to [being like] a bare child:
Poisonous insects do not sting [you].
Savage beasts do not seize [you].
Snatching birds do not take [you].
[The child抯] bones are tender
Its muscles are soft.
But its grip is firm.
It does not yet know the union of female and male
And yet it抯 completely made:
The utmost of vitality indeed!
Throughout the day crying and not becoming hoarse:
The utmost of harmony indeed!
Knowing harmony is called the Constant.
Knowing the Constant is called clarity.
Promoting life is said to be auspicious.
The mind ordering ch抜 is said to be violent.
A strong thing ruling over what is Old?br> This is called 搉on-Tao.?br>
The non-Tao soon ends.
56
Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
Blunt the sharpness
Untie the knots
Harmonize the lights
Equate the dust?br> This is called 揗ystic Similitude.?br>
Therefore:
It is not able to be obtained, yet it is near.
It is not able to be obtained, and it is distant.
It is not able to be obtained, yet it benefits.
It is not able to be obtained, yet it harms.
It is not able to be obtained, yet it is valuable.
It is not able to be obtained, yet it is worthless.
Therefore, [it] become[s] for the world what is precious.
57
By uprightness, govern the kingdom.
By rarely using soldiers
[And] by means of non-administration
Take the world.
By what means do I know this to be so?
By this:
The world greatly ns and avoids [the poor]
And the people [remain] completely impoverished.
The people greatly sharpen weapons
[And] the kingdom and households grow dark.
The people [become] excessively crafty and clever
[And] strange things start [to happen].
Laws and directives are increasingly promulgated
[And thus] more robbers and thieves exist.
Therefore do the sages say:
揑 do not administer, and the people change themselves.
I am pleased with stillness, and the people correct themselves.
I do not [meddle in their] affairs, and the people grow rich by themselves.
I do not desire, and the people simplify themselves.?br>
58
[When] the government is toned down and uninterested
The people are honest and unsophisticated.
[When] the government is scrutinizing and clinical:
The people lack and run short.
Misfortune still depends on that which is of good fortune.
Good fortune still conceals that which is of misfortune.
Who knows the final end [of this]?
[Even] this is not correct.
Correctness reverts to being strange.
Goodness reverts to being evil.
Peoples?bewilderment?br> Its days certainly have lasted a long time.
Therefore, the sages
Square but do not cut.
Inspect but do not stab.
Are straightforward but not unrestrained.
Luminous but not dazzling.
59
[In] governing the people and serving Heaven
There is nothing like thriftiness.
Only thriftiness is rightly called 搚ielding beforehand.?br> Yielding beforehand
Entails [one抯] arrival at a hard-won accumulation of virtue.
[With this] hard-won accumulation of virtue
[There is] necessarily nothing not overcome.
[When] nothing is not overcome
[There is] necessarily no one who knows your limits.
[When] there are none who know your limits
[You] can therefore have a kingdom.
[When you] have the mother of the kingdom
[You] can thereby endure for a long time.
This is called 揹eeply rooted?br> 揂 solid foundation.?br>
The way of long life and lasting vision.
60
Governing a great kingdom is like quick-frying small delicacies.
[When] using the Tao to manage the world
Its demons are powerless.
[It抯] not [exactly] that its demons are powerless
[But that] their powers do not harm people.
Not [only is it] that their powers do not harm people
[But] the sages also do not harm people.
Both do not reciprocate harm.
This is the reason [their] virtues mix and thereupon return.
61
That kingdom that is great
Is modest and flowing:
The intersection of the world.
The female of the world.
The female, always by means of gentleness, overcomes the male.
Therefore, [being] gentle is being modest.
Therefore:
The great kingdom, by means of modesty [toward] the small kingdom
Receives the small kingdom.
The small kingdom, by means of modesty [toward] the great kingdom
Receives the great kingdom.
Therefore:
Some are modest in order to receive.
Some are modest and are received.
The great kingdom does not inordinately desire
To annex livestock and people.
The small kingdom does not inordinately desire
To come into the service of people.
[So that] they both get what each one desires
That which is the great [kingdom] should become modest.
62
That which the Tao is:
A deep obscurity among the ten-thousand things.
The treasure of kind people.
The sanctuary of unkind people.
Flattering speech can be used to buy and sell honor.
Flattering deeds can be used to increase [the position of] people.
The unkind among people?br> Why abandon them to Existence?
Therefore, [when] establishing the emperor
And placing the three high officials
Even though there are salutations [made]
And [so many] jade-wares [that it takes]
An advancing team of four horses [to present them]
[Even this is] not as good as sitting down
And offering this Tao.
Those from of old who considered this Tao to be valuable?br> Why [did they do so]?
[Is it] not said:
揟he seeking thereby attain;
The guilty are thereby delivered from evil?
Therefore, [it] become[s] to the world what is precious.
63
Do [things] without 揹oing?[them].
Work without working.
Taste without tasting.
[Make] the great small
[And] the many few.
Respond to adversity with [this] virtue.
Seek the difficult through the easy.
Manage the great through the minute.
Difficult matters in the world must be done through the easy ones.
Great matters must be done through the minute ones.
Thus, the sages at no time do great [things].
This is the reason they can achieve the great [things].
Those who make frivolous promises are certainly bereft of sincerity.
Too much ease most certainly [results in] too much difficulty.
Therefore do the sages
[Treat things] as though they [were] difficult
And so they are, throughout [their lives], without difficulties!
64
The stabilized is easy to grasp.
The not-yet-begun is easy to plan for.
The brittle is easy to break.
The tiny is easy to scatter.
Act upon it while it does not yet exist.
Govern it while it is not yet chaotic.
The tree [as thick as] joined arms embraced
Comes into existence at an insignificant height.
The platform of nine stories is built by piling up dirt.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a [single] step.
Those who contrive, ruin them.
Those who grasp, lose them.
Therefore, the sages
Do not contrive and therefore do not ruin.
Do not grasp and therefore do not lose.
The undertakings of the people:
[They see] matters frequently [through] to near-completion
But ruin them [toward the end].
Act with care in the end just as in the beginning
[And you] will not ruin the matter.
Therefore, the sages
Desire not to desire
And do not value goods that are hard to get.
Learning 搖n-learning?br> They return to the place the masses of people have [all] passed by.
Therefore, they assist the true natures of the ten-thousand things
And do not dare to contrive.
65
Those of old who were good at governing [with] the Tao
Did not thereby enlighten the people.
[That] would thereby cheat them.
The difficulty of people to govern
Is because of their excessive cleverness.
Therefore, to use cleverness to govern the kingdom
Is [to be] a thief to the kingdom.
Not to use cleverness to govern the kingdom
Is [to be] a blessing to the kingdom.
Those who understand these both
Also examine the System.
Always understanding and examining the System
Is called Mystic Virtue.
Mystic Virtue is mysterious!
Profound!
It grants counter-intuitive things!
Then [you] are truly indeed
The utmost and greatest comfort [to your people].
66
Those who are [in] the position where the large rivers [meet] the sea
Can thereby become the king of the hundred mountain streams.
Because they are skilled at humbling themselves
Is the reason they can become the king of the hundred mountain streams.
Therefore, the sages
Wishing to be above people
Must [do so] by means of speaking humbly to them.
Wishing to be first [among] people
Must [do so] by means of [placing] themselves behind them.
Therefore, the sages
Are placed on top, and the people are not burdened.
Placed in front, and the people are not harmed.
Therefore, the world is glad to push [them] forward
And does not get tired [of them].
Because they do not contend
Is the reason no one in the world
Is able to contend with them.
67
Everyone in the world calls my Tao 揼reat?br> As if nothing resembled it.
Precisely because it is great
Is the reason it seems that nothing resembles it.
Supposing it resembled [something]?br> Long-standing indeed its pettiness would be [for] man!
I have three treasures.
Keep and protect them.
The first is called 搈otherly love?br> The second is called 搈eagerness?br> The third is called 搉ot daring to be foremost in the world.?br>
Motherly love is the reason I can be brave.
Meagerness is the reason I can be expansive.
Not daring to be foremost in the world
Is the reason I can achieve magnanimous leadership.
To desist today from motherly love and so also bravery
From meagerness and so also expansiveness
From being behind and so also being in front?br>
