It as non-existent (and not named).?br>
41
Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestlycarry it into practice. Scholars of the middle class, when they have heardabout it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it. Scholars of the lowestclass, when they have heard about it, laugh greatly at it. If it were not(thus) laughed at, it would not be fit to be the Tao. Therefore the sentencemakers have thus expressed themselves:-
'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack: Who progress init makes, seems drawing back; Its even way is like a rugged track. Itshighest virtue from the vale doth rise; Its greatest beauty seems to offendthe eyes; And he has most whose lot the least supplies. Its firmest virtueseems but poor and low; Its solid truth seems change to undergo; Its largestsquare doth yet no corner show; A vessel great, it is the slowest made;Loud is its sound, but never word it said; A semblance great, the shadowof a shade.'
The tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is skilfulat imparting (to all things what they need) and making them complete.?br>
42
The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three producedall things. All things leave behind them the obscurity (out of which theyhave come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they haveemerged), while they are harmonised by the Breath of Vacancy. What mendislike is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as carriages withoutnaves; and yet these are the designations which kings and princes use forthemselves. So it is that some things are increased by being diminished,and others are diminished by being increased. What other men (thus) teach,I also teach. The violent and strong do not die their natural death. Iwill make this the basis of my teaching.?br>
43
The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest;that which has no (substantial) existence enters where there is no crevice.I know hereby what advantage belongs to doing nothing (with a purpose).There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without words, andthe advantage arising from non-action.?br>
44
Or fame of life, Which do you hold more dear? Or life or wealth, Towhich would you adhere? Keep life and lose those other things; Keep themand lose your life:-which brings Sorrow and pain more near? Thus we maysee, Who cleaves to fame Rejects what is more great; Who loves large storesGives up the richer state. Who is content Needs fear no shame. Who knowsto stop Incurs no blame. From danger free Long live shall he.?br>
45
Who thinks his great achievements poor Shall find his vigour long endure.Of greatest fullness, deemed a void, Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.Do thou what's straight still crooked deem; Thy greatest art still stupidseem, And eloquence a stammering scream.
Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purityand stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.?br>
46
When the Tao prevails in the world, they send back their swift horsesto (draw) the dung-carts. When the Tao is disregarded in the world, thewarhorses breed in the border lands. There is no guilt greater than tosanction ambition; no calamity greater than to be discontented with one'slot; no fault greater than the wish to be getting. Therefore the sufficiencyof contentment is an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.?br>
47
Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place)under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao ofHeaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows.Therefore the sages got their knowledge without traveling; gave their (right)names to things without seeing them; and accomplished their ends withoutany purpose of doing so.?br>
48
He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase(his knowledge): he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day today to diminish (his doings). He diminishes it and again diminishes it,till he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose). Having arrived at this pointof non- action, there is nothing which he does not do. He who gets as hisown all under heaven does so by giving himself no trouble (with that end).If one take trouble (with that end), he is not equal to getting as hisall under heaven.?br>
49
The sage has no invariable smind of his own; he makes the mind of thepeople his mind. To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to thosewho are not (to me), I am also good,-and thus (all) get to be good. Tothose who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are notsincere (with me), i am also sincere;-and thus (all) get to be sincere.The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his mindin a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their eyes and earsdirected to him, and he deals with them all as his children.
50
Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die. Of every ten threeare ministers of life (to themselves); and three are ministers of death.there are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose movementstend to the land (or place) of death. And for what reason? Because of theirexcessive endeavours to perpetuate life. But I have heard that he who isskilful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on theland without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinocerosfinds no place in him into which to thrust its horn, not the tiger a placein which to fix its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. Andfor what reason? Because there is in him no place of death.
51
All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowingoperation. They receive their forms according to the nature of each, andare completed according to the circumstances of their condition. Thereforeall things without exception honour the Tao, and exalt its outflowing operation.This honouring of the Tao and exalting of its operation is not the resultof any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute. Thus it is that theTao produces (all things), nourishes them, brings them to their full growth,nurses them, completes them, matures them, maintains them and overspreadsthem. It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them; itcarries them though their processes and does not vaunt its ability in doingso; it brings them to maturity and exercises no control over them;-thisis called mysterious operation.
52
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(The Tao) which originated all under the sky is to be considered asthe mother of them all. When the mother is founded, we know what her childrenshould be. When one knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds toguard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to him, to the end of hislife he will be free from all peril. Let him keep his mouth closed, andt up the portals (of his nostrils), and all his life he will be exemptfrom laborious exertion. Let him keep his mouth open, and (spend his breath)in the promotion of his affairs, and all his life there will be no safetyfor him. The perception of what is small is (the secret of) clear-sightedness;the guarding of what is soft and tender is (the secret of) strength.
Who uses well his light. Reverting to its (source so) bright, Will fromhis body ward all blight, And hides the unchanging from men's sight.?br>
53
If I were suddenly to become known, and (put into a position to) conduct(a government) according to the Great Tao, what I should be most afraidof would be a boastful display. The great Tao (or way) is very level andeasy; but people love the by-ways. Their court(-yards and buildings) shallbe well kept, but their fields shall be ill-cultivated, and their granariesvery empty. They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharpsword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and havea superabundance of property and wealth;-such (princes) may be called robbersand boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!?br>
54
What (Tao's) skilful planter plants can never be uptorn; What his skilfularms enfold, From him can ne'er be borne. Sons shall bring in lengtheningline, Sacrifices to his shrine. Tao when nursed within one's self, Hisvigour will make true; And where the family it rules What riches will accrue!The neighbourhood where it prevails In thriving will abound; And when 'tisseen throughout the state. Good fortune will be found. Employ it the kingdomo'er, And men thrive all around.
In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observationof different cases; in the family; in the neighbourhood; in the state;and in the kingdom. How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thusall under the sky? By this (method of observation).?br>
55
He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is likean infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will notseize him; birds of prey will not strike him. (The infant's) bones areweak and its sinews soft, ut yet its grasp is firm. It knows not yet theunion of male and female, and yet its virile member may be excited;-showingthe perfection of its physical essence. All day long it will cry withoutits throat becoming hoarse;-showing the harmony (in its constitution).
To him by whom this harmony is known, (The secret of) the unchanging(Tao) is shown, And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne. All life-increasingarts to evil turn; Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, (False)is the strength, (and o'er it we should mourn.)
When things have become strong, they (then) become old, which may besaid to be contrary to the Tao. Whatever is contrary to the Tao soon ends.?br>
56
He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he whois (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it. He (who knows it) willkeep his mouth t and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunthis sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will temperhis brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (ofothers). This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.' (Such an one) cannotbe treated familiarly of distantly; he is beyond all consideration of profitor injury; of nobility or meanness:-he is the noblest man under heaven.?br>
57
A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war maybe used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one's own (only)by freedom from action and purpose. How do I know that it is so? By thesefacts:-In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments increasesthe poverty of the people; the more implements to add to their profit thatthe people have, the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; themore acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivancesappear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves androbbers there are. Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose),and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keepingstill, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take notrouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I willmanifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitivesimplicity.'?br>
58
The government that seems the most unwise, Oft goodness to the peoplebest supplies; That which is meddling, touching everything, Will work butill, and disappointment bring.
Misery! -happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness! - miserylurks beneath it! Who knows what either will come in the end? Shall wethen dispense with correction? The (method of) correction shall by a turnbecome distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil. Thedelusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a longtime. Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with itsangles): (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). Heis straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but doesnot dazzle.?br>
59
For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper)service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation. It is only bythis moderation that there is effected and early return (to man's normalstate). That early return is what I call the repeated accumulation of theattributes (of the Tao). With that repeated accumulation of those attributes,there comes the subjugation we know not what shall be the limit; and whenone knows not what the limit shall be, he may be the ruler of a state.He who possesses the mother of the state may continue long. His case islike that (of the plant) of which we say that its roots are deep and itsflower stalks firm; -this is the way to secure that its enduring life shalllong be seen.
60
Governing a great state is like cooking small fish. Let the kingdombe governed according to the Tao, and the manes of the departed will notmanifest their spiritual energy. It is not that those manes have not thatspiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men. It is not thatit could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling sage hurt them. Whenthese two do not injuriously affect each other, their good influences convergein the virtue (of the Tao).?br>
61
What makes a great state is its being (like) a low- lying, down-flowing(stream);-it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small states) underheaven. (To illustrate from) the case of all females:-the female alwaysovercomes the male by her stillness. Stillness may be considered (a sortof) abasement. Thus it is that a great state, by condescending to smallstates, gains them for itself; and that small states, by abasing themselvesto a great state, win it over to them. In the one case the abasement leadsto gaining adherents, in the other case to procuring favour. The greatstate only wishes to unite men together and nourish them; a small stateonly wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other. Each gets whatis desires, but the great state must learn to abase itself.?br>
62
Tao has of all things the most honoured place. No treasures give goodmen so rich a grace; Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.
(Its) admirable words can purchase honour; (its) admirable deeds canraise their performer above others. Even men who are not good are not abandonedby it. Therefore when the sovereign occupies his place as the Son of Heaven,and he has appointed his three ducal ministers though (a prince) were tosend in a round symbol-of-rank large enough to fill both the hands, andthat as the precursor of the team of horses (in the court-yard), such anoffering would not be equal to (a lesson of) this Tao, which one mightpresent on his knees. Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much?Was it not because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty couldescape (from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why allunder heaven consider it the most valuable thing.?br>
