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Tao Te King von Lao Tse |
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1
The way that can be told of is hardly aneternal, absolute, unvarying one;
the name that can be coded and given is noabsolute name.
Heaven and earth sprang from something else:the bright nameless;
the named is but the said mother that rearsthe ten thousand creatures of heaven and earth, each after its kind.
He that rids himself of base desire can seethe secret essences;
he that didn't and reached high being, hecan see outcomes.
Still the two are the same; the secret andits manifestations came from the same ground, the same mould, but anywaysound different -
they're given different names where theyappear.
They can both be called the cosmic mystery,awesome deep
or rather more secret than so-called mystery.
There's the deeper mystery: the gate and doorwayfrom which issued all secret essences, yes, all subleties,
and the subtle mysterial opening homewards.
Call it the door mystery or golden secretof all life.
2
When the people of the world see beauty asbeauty,
the notion of ugliness pops up along withthat
And equally if every one recognize virtueas virtue, if they all know the good as good, the recognition of adjacentevil is wont to rise.
So: Being and not-yet-being interdepend ingrowth; grow out of another, they can produce each other.
And hard and easy interdepend in completion;
long and short interdepend. They test eachother in contrast.
High and low determine one another and interdependor distinguish each other in position. So it seems.
Pitch and mode give harmony to one another;tones, sound and voice interdepend in basic, functional harmony;
Front and back give sequence to one another.
The couples follow each other - interdependin company, so to speak.
From this the wise man relies on doing nothingin the open, it's wu-wei. And he spreads doctrines without true or falsewords, by oddly wordless influence.
All things appear, and he hardly turns awayfrom the creatures worked on by him:
Some he gives solid, good life, he hardlydisowns his chosen ones.
He hardly takes possession of anyone underfair conditions.
He rears his sons in earthly ways, but neitherappropriates nor lays blatant claim to any one.
He acts, but doesn't rely on his outer, visiblesmartness or miracle-working ability. He very often claims no credit.
At times he controls them, but hardly leanson any of them.
Because he lays claim to no credit, the handycredit can hardly be taken away from him.
Yes, for the very reason that he hardly callsattention to what he does, he isn't ejected at once.
3
Stop looking for rare, moral persons (hsien)to put in power.
There will be jealousies among people, jealousiesand strife.
If we cease to set store by products thatare hard to get, there will be less outright thieves.
If the people never see such things as excitedesire, their hearts can remain placid and undisturbed.
Therefore the wise one rules by emptyingtheir hearts [like the clown]. He fills their bellies, weakens their brightnessand toughens their bones,
ever striving to make the people withoutknowledge.
He sees to it that if there are any who arebright and clever, they dare not interfere.
Through his non-do actions all [such subjection]runs well [for some time].
4
Dao is like an empty vessel that yet canbe drawn from
without ever needing to be filled.
It's without bottom;
the very breeder of all things in the world.
In it all sharpness is blunted,
all tangles untied,
all glare tempered,
all turmoil smoothed.
It's like a deep pool that never dries.
Was it too the child of something else?
We can hardly tell.
A substanceless image of all things seemedto exist before the progenitor that we hardly know of.
5
The universe seems without mercy, quite ruthless;
in that wider perspective all things arebut as ritual straw dogs.
The wise man too is hard as nail; to himthe people are but as straw dogs to throw.
Yet heaven and earth and all that lies betweenis like a bellows;
empty, yet yielding a supply that hardlyfails.
Work it, and more comes out.
Whereas the force of words is soon spent.
It seems far better to keep what's in theheart.
So hold to the heart core and a regular mean.
6
The valley spirit never dies.
It's named the mystic woman.
And the gate of the profound woman is theroot that heaven and earth sprang from.
It's there within us all the while;
draw upon it as you will,
you can never wear it out.
7
Heaven is always, the earth, too.
How can it be?
Well, they don't live only for themselves;
that's why they live long.
So the wise man puts himself last, and findshimself in the foremost place,
puts himself in the background; yet alwayscomes to the fore.
He keeps well fit; looks on his body almostas accidental, outer, something to be well taken care of;
still it always there, and always remains.He remains in the open by it, too.
He hardly strives for great personal ends;
his main ends seem fulfilled.
8
The highest good is like that of water.
The goodness of water is that it benefitsthe ten thousand creatures; yet itself hardly ever scrambles -
it seems quite content with the places thatall men disdain.
It's this that can make water so near tosome dao.
And if men think the ground the best placefor building a house upon,
if among thoughts they value those that areprofound,
if in friendship they value gentleness;
in words, truth, or sincere faithfulness,
in government, [bugbear] order;
in deeds: competence, ability, effectiveness;
in actions: timeliness and being properlytimed -
In each case it's because they prefer thingsthat hardly lead to strife, and therefore hardly go much astray or amiss.
9
Stretch a bow to the full, and you'll endup wishing you'd stopped in time; to hold and fill to overflowing isn'tquite as able as to stop in time.
Temper a sword-edge to its very sharpest,and you'll find it soon grows dull.
When gold and jade fills your hall, can itbe well guarded any more?
To be proud with things and glory given,could bring ruin. Wealth and place breed insolence and could slowly harmand ruin:
If your work is done, withdraw!
That's heaven's way. It can be opposed tolots of ways of man.
10
Can you keep the unquiet physical-soul fromstraying, hold fast to the unity and middle, and never quit it?
Can you, when concentrating your breath,make it soft like that of an infant?
Strive after less tainted perfection, letit be aided by penetrating insight. So wipe and cleanse your vision ofthe mystery till all is without blur.
Can you love the people and rule the land,yet remain unknown?
Can you in opening and shutting the heavenlygates, ever play the feminine part?
Can your mind penetrate every corner of theland, but you yourself never interfere? Can you renounce the grosser mindfor comprehending all inside knowledge?
Produce things and rear well,
but never lay claims to such things -
control them, never lean upon them.
Rely on some innate ability to act well.
Be a sort of master among others, just refrainfrom mismanaging.
Here is found the essence of dao might, itsdeep, mystic virtue.
11
We put thirty spokes together and call ita wheel; but it's on the space where there's nothing that the usefulnessof the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel; but it's onthe space where there's nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.
We pierce and cut out doors and windows tomake a house;
and it's on these spaces where there's nothingthat the usefulness of the house depends.
Take advantage of what is, turn existinginto a great advantage: just make as much as you can out of it here.
Feel free to recognise the possible usefulnessof whats not yet here. Prosper by clever use of something not yet.
12
The five colours tend to confuse the eye,
the five sounds of music can deafen the ear,
the five tastes all dull or spoil the palate.
Excess of hunting and chasing makes a mindgo mad.
Things hard to get, keeps one on one's guard.Valuable things and products quite hard to get, can impede their owner'sprogress.
So the wise man is concerned with his tummybefore his eyes. He can consider the tummy first, not the eye. That is:He disregards the world outside - "that", and he accepts, goes for andin the end grabs the supernormal powers dormant within - his daoist "this".Therefore he rejects the one but accepts the other.
13
Be glad for favour. Still receive favouror disgrace with regular apprehension.
Be cautious not to lose the winning sortof favour. Lower favour and disgrace can cause one dismay;
We can have fears because we have a self.Yet what we value and what we fear are as if within that inner sanctimoniumself."
What does this mean:
"Favour and disgrace can cause one dismay?
Those who receive favour from above are dismayedwhen they receive it.
And should they lose it they turn distraught.
What does this mean:
"What we value and what we fear are as ifwithin our serious self?"
Regard great trouble as seriously as youregard the body. One reason that we suffer hurt is that we have bodies.
When we don't regard that gross body as [mostimportant aspect of self, what have we to fear? [Lao tse.]
And so, the one who values his experiencedworld as part of his exploring inner self, can then be entrusted with ruleof something.
he who loves the all as an aspect of hissensing self -
The all can then be entrusted to his care.
14
Look at it, it can't be seen,
is called the invisible.
Listen to it, it can't be heard,
is called the inaudible.
Grasp at it, it can't be touched,
is called the fine formless..
These three elude all solid inquiries
And merge and become one.
Its rising brings no light;
its sinking, no darkness.
Unceasing, continuous,
it can't be defined,
on the way back to where there's nothing.
It's called shape free from shapes;
forms without form;
the image of nothingness.
That's why it's called the elusive;
Go towards them, and you can see no physicalfront;
go after them, and you see no rear.
Hold on to the dao of old to master the thingsof the present.
Master what once was, at the start,
It's the essence of rarefied, pearl-stringeddao.
15
The best rulers of old had fine natures,mysterious, too deep, they could not be understood.
And because such men could not be fully graspedat once,
they appeared to be
cautious, like wading a stream in winter;
at a loss, like one fearing and having todeal with danger on every side;
reserved, like one who pays a visit;
pliant and yielding, as ice when it beginsto melt;
genuine, like a piece of raw wood;
open-minded like a valley;
and blending freely like a troubled, muddystream of water.
Find repose in a muddy world by lying still;be gradually clear through tranquillity. You can assume such murkiness,to become in the end still and clear. And maintain your calm long in between.
So make yourself inert, to get in the endfull of life and stir.
By such activity come back to life.
Who hugs this dao doesn't want to fill himselfto overflowing.
It's just because he guards against beingover-full, there's no overflowing, and next
he is like a garment that endures all, beyondwearing out and renewal.
16
Attain complete humility towards the void;
hold firm to the basis of quietude.
The myriad things take shape and rise toactivity,
Now, I watch them fall, worked on,
back to their repose and roots
like plants that flourish
but return to the soil and root they grewfrom.
To return to the root is basic repose;
it's quiet and returning to some destiny.
To submit to a destiny is to find the eternalshelter, the always-so, or the eternal dao.
To know the eternal always-so is to be somewhatillumined.
not to know it courts disaster.
He who knows the eternal shelter has roomin him for nearly everything - he is wide as tolerant.
Being much including, there's little prejudice;
to be without blunt prejudice is kingly;
to be kingly is to be well in accord withnature; it's to be of heaven.
To be of heaven in unison with an undauntednature is to be in dao;
This dao is forever, and he that owns it,is hardly destroyed, even though his body ceases.
17
Of the best the people hardly ever know theyexist;
The next best they flock to and praise fornothing.
The next they shrink from;
the next get reviled.
"Not believing people you turn them intoliars" -
such bosses don't command the people's faith.
They lose faith in them and take to oaths!
The wise man is a clever ruler; he valueshis words highly.
It's so hard to get a single word from atany price that when his task is finished, a work well done, everyone says,
"It happened by itself, and we did it."
18
When the great dao declined,
jen and i arose, humanity and righteousness."
Next, when brightness and know-how came invogue,
the great pretence fully started.
When the six family relationships are notin harmony
There's open talk of kind parents" dutifulsons" and deep love to children.
A confused country enmeshed in disorder praisesministers in chaos and misrule.
19
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge,
Then the people will benefit a hundred times.
Banish human love, just dump righteous, moraljustice,
and then the people will be dutiful and recoverdeep love of their kin.
Banish cunning and skill, dispel profit;dismiss utility,"
then thieves and robbers will disappear.
These three things are not enough; externalsare somehow
decorations, purpose's not enough; they tendto rob life and make it too little complicated.
Therefore let people hold well on to keepingaccessories;
keeping simplicity to look at.
Go on and shield their internal soul's nature
as some ritual, raw block to hold,
their private, secret means and foster lessardent desires.
20
Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow.
Between Yes, sir," and Of course not", howmuch difference is there?
Between good" and bad", how much differenceis there?
That which men fear is indeed to be feared;
alas confused, and the end isn't yet.
All men are wreathed in smiles, ever merry-making,
as if feasting after the great sacrifice,like ascending a tower in spring.
I alone am inert, like a child that has notyet given sign;
Like a new-born child that can't smile yet.
I seem to be without a home, droop and drift,as though I belonged nowhere, completely unattached.
All men have enough and to spare;
I alone seem to have lost everything; I amlike one left out.
Mine is indeed the mind of a very idiot,my heart must be that of a fool,
dull as I seem - muddled, nebulous!
The world is full of knowing people that shine;
I alone am dull, confused.
I seem to be in the dark.
They look lively and clear-cut self-assured;
I appear alone, depressed, or patient asthe sea,
blown adrift, seemingly aimless, never broughtto a stop.
All men can be put to some use; as worldlingshave a purpose.
I alone am intractable and boorish, appearingrustic, stubborn and uncouth, differing from most people,
But I differ most from others in that I prizeno sustenance that doesn't come from the breast of mama mia.
21
The marks of great virtue follow alone fromthe (one) dao.
What's called one dao seems impalpable andvague, not to be measured at all.
Dao is an elusive, virtually incommensurableform, but eluding, elusive it contains sub-forms.
Within it lie idea-images of coming things,within it are some shadowy entities or some dormant, vibrant life forceof the firstborn, dim essence - even of objects, somehow, but much rarefied- latent in the essence is the life-force.
The life-force is real and to be trusted.
It's true, and can be set to operate.
and latent in it are evidences.
From the days of old till now
its chunks havent departed or ceased,
By its chunks we can view some origin ofall descended units.
How do I know a father of a thing? How toknow how some origin of a manifestation is formed?
By much developed intuition, possibly.
22
"To remain whole, yield somewhat or seemcurved and bent if you may."
To become straight, let yourself look bent.
To become full, seem hollow.
Seem tattered now, that you can be renewed.
Those that have little, can get more,
To have plenty is to be confused..
Therefore the wise man clasps the primalunity, testing by it everything under heaven by himself - it.
He doesn't show himself much, he is thereforeluminous and clear.
He doesn't define himself, therefore he isdistinct.
He doesn't boast, therefore people give himcredit: he succeeds by that.
He's never outright proud of his work, andtherefore it endures.
Because he doesn't contend, none in the worldcan contend with him.
So the old saying To remain whole, seem twisted!"was no idle word;
for true wholeness can only be won by returnto dao.
23
To be always talking goes against nature.
For the same reason a good whirlwind neverlasts the whole morning, nor a swell rainstorm the whole day.
The wind and rain emerge from nature. Andif even nature can't blow, last or pour for long, how much less shouldman-given tenets?
So, he who takes to or follows (one) dao,becomes merged with (this) dao. Or if one uses dao as one's instrument,the results will be like dao.
Who follows virtue, is soaked by it. If oneuses the power" as one's instrument, the results will be like the power.
If one uses whats the reverse of the power",
the results will be the reverse of the power".
Who is dao identified, could be glad as well.For to those who have conformed themselves to dao, dao readily lends itspower.
To those who have conformed themselves tothe power, the power readily lends more power.
While to those who conform themselves toinefficacy, inefficacy readily lends its ineffectiveness.
Who has not enough faith will not be ableto get faith. Or:
"By not believing in people you turn theminto liars."
24
Who stands on tiptoe, doesn't stand steady;
He who takes the longest strides, doesn'twalk.."
He who does his own looking sees little,and he who shows or reveals himself is hardly luminous
He who justifies and defines himself isn'tsubsequently distinct.
He who boasts of what he will do succeedsin nothing;
Who brags doesn't endure for long. Who isproud of his work, achieves nothing well lasting.
Such people are like remnants of food andtumours of action from the dao point of view. Good braggarts could be dregs.So it's said
"Pass round superfluous dishes to those thathave already had enough,
Such things of disgust all are likely todetest and reject in disgust."
So the man of dao spurns them. The man thathas dao doesn't stay to bray and show off.
25
Before heaven and earth here was somethingnebulous, formless yet complete;
without sound, without substance, isolated,free from all form;
standing alone and depending on nothing,unchanging, operating everywhere, all pervading, revolving and withoutfail.
One can think of it as the mother of all
I don't know its true name. I call it dao.
"Way" is the by-name.
If forced to give it a name I can call itgreat (ta) .
Now such greatness implies reaching out inspace, and also means functioning everywhere, or passing on;
Space-yielding or functioning everywheresignifies far-reaching. And passing on means going far away,
To go really far is to return to the originalpoint. To reach far is a return. To go far away means to return.
So dao is great and far-reaching, and sois heaven, earth and the king.
For just as dao, earth and heaven each hasits subtle greatness, so does the ruler.
There are four great things in the universe,and the king is one of them. So within the realm there are four portionsof greatness", and one belongs to the king.
The ways of men are conditioned by thoseof earth.
The ways of earth, by those of heaven.
The ways of heaven by those of dao,
and the ways of dao by the Self-so's
Dao in turn models itself after Nature.
26
The solid is the platform of the light, andthe heavy is the root of the light.
(Maybe firm integrity has to be the basisof light frivolity).
Quiet strength rules over activity, the not-so-activecould be the big boss of the hasty.
So the wise man travels all day and neverleaves his baggage;
he who travels all day hardly likes to beseparated from his provision-chart:
However great and glorious the view, he sitsquiet and dispassionate".
So the lord with ten thousand chariots canseldom allow himself to be light-spirited and lighter than those he rules.The ruler of a great country should never make light of his body - anywhere.In light frivolity, the controller's centre is lost; in hasty action, suchself-mastery. If the ruler is light-hearted, the minister will be destroyed.If he is light, the foundation is lost;
If he is active, the lord is lost.[Maybefor ever.]
27
A good traveller leaves no track or tracebehind, nor does fit activity. So a good runner leaves no track.
Perfect speech is like a jade-worker whosetool leaves no mark. Good speech leaves no flaws.
The perfect reckoner needs no counting-slips;the good reckoner uses no counters.
The perfect, shut door is without bolt norbar and can't be opened.
The perfect knot needs neither rope nor twine,yet can't be untied. No one can untie it.
So the wise man is good at helping men, alwaysgood in saving men: the wise man is all the time helping men in the mostperfect way - he certainly doesn't turn his back on men; is all the timein the most perfect way helping creatures. He certainly doesn't turn hisback on creatures, and consequently no man is rejected. For that reasonthere's no useless person.
And he is always good in saving. So nothingis rejected.
This is called following the light (of nature)- is called resorting to the light, nay, stealing some divine light.
Truly, the good man is the teacher of thebad, as they say. But the bad man is the lesson of the good, in part somematerial from which the good can learn. And so the imperfect is the equipmentof the perfect man".
He who hardly respects or values his teacher,hardly cares for the material or loves his lesson, is gone far astray evenif well versed.
That's the fine secret.
28
"He who knows the male (active force), yetkeeps to the female (the passive force or receptive element), becomes likea ravine, receiving all sort of things.
Being the all-encompassing ravine he knowsa power that he never calls upon in vain. This is returning to the stateof infancy.
He who knows the white, yet keeps and cleavesto the black becomes the standard by which all things are tested, he becomesthe model for the world.
As such he has all the time the eternal powerthat never errs; and he returns to the limitless, a primordial nothingness.
He who knows glory, yet keeps to obscurityor even cleaves to ignominy,
turns into the valley that receives intoit all kind of things. And being such a valley he has all the time a powerthat suffices. So he returns again to some pristine simplicity, returnsto the state of simplicity: its the raw, uncarved block.
Break up simple awareness and it becomesshaped. Next it becomes someones tool in the hands of the wise man. Forwhen a block is sawed up it's made into subordinates or implements.
When the wise man uses it, it becomes chief.
So the greatest carver does the least cutting,as they say. The great ruler doesn't cut up.
29
Those that would gain what's under heavenby tampering with it - Ive seen that they don't succeed.
For that which is under heaven is like aholy vessel, dangerous to tamper with. Those that tamper with it, harmit. Human go-between is likely to fail. Those that grab at it lose it.Who makes can spoil well; who holds can lose.
Among creatures of this world some lead andsome follow. Some things go forward among creatures: some go in front,some follow behind -
Some blow out, some blow in; some blow outwhile others would blow in.
Some are feeling vigorous just when othersare worn out. Some are strong, some are weak.
Some are loading just when others would betilting out. Some can break, some can fall.
So the wise man discards excess, extravagance,and ridiculous pride: He discards even the absolute, the all-inclusive,the extreme.
30
He who by dao purposes to help a ruler ofmen, will oppose most conquest by force of arms:
such things are wont to rebound.
Where armies are, thorns and brambles cangrow.
The raising of a great host could be followedby a year of dearth.
Therefore a good general effects his purposeand next stops; for he dares not rely upon the strength of arms: he doesn'ttake further advantage of a victory. He fulfils his purpose and does hardlyglory in things he has done; effects his purpose and doesnt boast of athing he accomplished;
fulfils an ignoble purpose, but takes nopride in something he did well; fulfils his purpose as some perhaps regrettablenecessity - does it as a step that could hardly be averted and avoided.So he effects his purpose, but hardly loves violence. Why?
Things age after reaching their prime. Whathas a time of vigour (and conquest) also has its time of decay. After thingsreach their prime, they begin to grow old, which means being contrary todao. Furthermore, morbid violence and violence in excess could be againstdao. He who is against the dao perishes young. Whatever is contrary todao will soon perish. Whats against dao will hardly survive.
31
Fine weapons are instruments of evil as soldierscan be: quite ill-omened things, often hated.
Those with fine dao turn away from weaponsthat are most often hated.
The gentleman favours the left hand sideamong people in peace; peace people are of good birth. In a fair peacethe symbolic left is the place of honour. Yes, a good ruler honours theleft and its good omens when at home, but in war this is reversed: On militaryoccasions he favours the right side as the place of war honour. And sohe honours the right of bad omens.
The durable, even when he conquers, doeshardly regard weapons as lovely things. Weapons and soldiers can be badand evil-doing tools. They're not often the tools of the gentleman andgood ruler.
To hold them dear means to delight in them,and so to delight in slaughter of men.
And he who delights in the slaughter of menwill never get what he looks for out of those that live and function underheaven. In ugly victory there's no beauty,
and who calls it handsome perhaps preachesslaughter.
Use of soldiers [and police] can't be helped,best policy is calm restraint.
Who delights in the slaughter of men wontsucceed, wont succeed in ruling the world; and slaying of multitudes shouldbe mourned.
A host that has slain men had better be receivedwith grief and mourning rites; he that has conquered in battle had betterbe received and celebrated with some mournful funeral custom.. A victoryis the grand occasion for funerals.
32
Best dao is absolute and eternal. As suchit has neither name nor fame.
Its uncunning, cute naiveté, the fabledraw block of wood, and it cant be used by anybody. None in the whole worldcan master and make use of such basic simplicity. Yet, though seeminglyof small value, it could be greater than anything in the universe.
Good kings and barons can keep such unspoiled,inborn nature. If kings and barons would but hold on to it, all beingsand things would submit to them well of their own accord. Yes, the bestlet heaven and earth join, so that the mystic sweet rain falls, all thetime beyond the command of men, yet evenly upon all. Let heaven and earthunite to drip sweet dew. And the ten thousand creatures would flock tohonour you; for the world would conspire much for sweet dew: Without lawor compulsion, men would take up regulations and institutions, sort outnames and [try to] live in harmony.
A human civilisation can rise once there arenames [principles].
Once the block is carved, there will be suchnames; they're wide differentiations of things. But as soon as there are[principles and neatly differentiated] names, know that it's time to stop.Its well to know where to stop for calm and poise. As soon as there arenames [and study] it's time to stop.
By knowing when it's time to stop, much dangercould be avoided.
In the world dao can be likened to riversthat turn into wider rivers and eventually course into some sea. All willcome to and be clasped by one and more such dao rivers -and to [some] daoall under heaven will come, as streams and torrents flow into a great riveror sea [of universal dao].
33
He who knows others is learned;
but he who knows himself is wise, nay, inthe end it could be illumined.
He who conquers others has strength of muscles;
To conquer oneself is hard. So he who conquershimself is strong.
To be content with what one has is to feelrich; so let the contented feel rich.
Next: He who works, may eventually succeed.And he one who acts with vigour has will. Even he who works through sordidviolence can get his way - The determined one has strength of will.
What stays in its place can endure. He whodoesn't lose his centre can last quite long, he who hardly loses his place(with such as dao).
The one ho dies but doesn't really perishenjoys long life. He who dies yet (his power) remains has long life. Whensuch a one dies he should hardly be thought of as [too] lost; there's noother longevity [than long life].
34
Some great dao can flow everywhere. Likea flood it can go left or right. Like a drifting boat it can go this wayor that.
All things [eventually] derive their lifefrom it. It hardly denies or disowns them.
It accomplishes its task, but seem to claimno credit for it. It hardly takes possession of anyone, either.
So though it covers all there is like somegarment, it hardly takes possession. It can clothe and feed all beingsbut hardly claims to be guru over them.
Therefore it can perhaps be called low andquite free from insignificant desires.
To turn into the home of all things, dontmake any outer claims. (Implied; cf. Y)
See into how dao is by non-desiring emptymind. (Cf. Y)
Ten thousand [hungry] creatures obey a daomaster and his ways, though they hardly understand it or how. Dao is calledgreat. And the man who lives it or a dao repertoire is called great aswell.
The wise man never strives [verbally] forthe great. To the end the wise dao man doesn't claim any outer greatness.Thus [some degree of subtle Vossa-] greatness is installed.
And the wise man never at any time hardlyever makes a show of greatness. By such a dogged, keen strategy some [clowns]achieves greatness.
35
Hold the great symbol and great form of daoknow-how. He who visualises or holds the great symbol form at its bestcan go about his work (in such as his empire), yet without doing harm.An then all the world follows. At last a lot of people will come and meetno harm. All in peace, quietness and security, commonwealth. All can enjoycomfort and health.
Sound of music, smell of good dishes willmake the passing stranger pause. Yes, offer music and dainties, very goodthings to eat and the [odd], passing and wayfaring stranger will stays.
How different the words that dao gives forth!So thin, insipid, so flavour- or tasteless! Still dao is mild to the taste.
Looked at, it can't be seen. So look at dao;it's quite imperceptible. If one looks for dao, there's hardly anythingsolid to see.
If one listens for it, there's nothing loudto hear. We listen to this inaudible [thing].
If one uses it, its supply never fails. Souse it; it's inexhaustible.
36
What's in the end to be shrunk can firstbe stretched. The one who is to be made to dwindle (in power) can firstbe caused to expand; and then it's necessary first to expand.
Whatever is to be weakened must begin bybeing made strong [enough for it first of all].
He who is to be laid low can first be exaltedto power. So: first promote, next destroy. Or: To destroy, first promote.
What's to be overthrown must begin by beingset up. He who would be a taker must begin as a giver.
And this is the fine art. of dimming" one'slight.
According to this [set-up] the soft overcomesthe hard; and the weak, the strong.[Such things can happens, but mostoften not, or what?]
Fish should be left in the deep pool, nottaken away from water. And sharp weapons of the state should not be displayed,but left where nobody can see them.
37
The dao never does; it takes no action. Throughit everything is done, yet there's nothing left undone.
If good kings and barons would master somefit dao and keep it, all things in the world should transform spontaneously.
When reformed and rising to action, let allinfluenced be restrained by the blankness of the unnamed, the namelesspristine simplicity. Yes, if after being transformed they should desireto act, someone has to restrain them with simplicity that has no name.
Its an unnamed blankness; it could bring dispassion;As such nameless pristine simplicity is stripped of desire. So to be truly,artfully dispassionate, be free of desires and still. Simple wit and senseis free of desires.
By stripping of desire true [yoga] rest isachieved almost of itself, the whole [body or] empire will be at rest ofits own accord. And next the world [perhaps of somebody] could get at peaceof its own accord.
38
The man of superior [scholar] virtue is hardly(conscious of his) virtue, and so he is virtuous.
Superior virtue is hardly (conscious of)its virtue.[Or could it be that superior virtue is hardly virtue at all?]
The high-standing man hardly ever shows offthe has some supreme powers or prowess deep inside himself. He keeps suchpowers, and in this way he really owns virtue.
The man of low virtue is hardly losing virtue,and so he is devoid of virtue. The man of low virtue can lose sight ofsome virtue by never losing sight of it. Rather low or indecent power"can't get rid of the appearance of being some power'; [There's no scoffed,angrily sulking Messiah power'].
No one thinks a man of highest calibre acts.No one thinks he ever acts with ulterior motives.
The man of low virtue acts from himself,and very often with an ulterior motive - and is so regarded -
The man of super-kindness also acts, butwith no irksome, ulterior motives. But all folks never think the supermanacts.
The man of superior justice acts but hasno ulterior motive to do so, and maybe with an ulterior motive, as he whois best in ritual acts not merely acts. (Yes, when) the man of superiormorality acts and finds no response, he rolls up his sleeves and stretcheshis arms or advances upon them to force it on others.
So:
Only when dao is lost does [said] virtuearise. When [spoken-of] virtue is lost, only then does [a parade of] kindhumanity rise. Such good kindness is lost, then (comes some sort of orendorsement of) just moral: When humanist riches deep inside are lost,only then comes [conform, outer-directed] normal righteousness. When righteousnessis lost, only then propriety pops up.
[And now it stands up: Boss-given, endorsed]morality can be the thinning out of loyalty and honesty of heart and thestart of chaos.[Inner, hearty] morality lost, then propriety or semi-ritual.So [much] ritual endorsement could be the mere husk of loyalty and promise-keeping.[And so, all in all,] good, seemly propriety is a superficial expressionof loyalty and faithfulness, and the start of chaos or disorder.
Those who are the first to know, let wordsof dao flower, and in the end it's an origin of folly. From this the greator noble man dwells in the solid, heavy and thick (base), and not in thesuperficial or thinned (end). Yes, he dwells in reality, which is a fruit,and not in the show of appearances, or flowering (expression).
Therefore he rejects the one and acceptsthe other.
39
There were those in old times who graspedand were possessed of the one:
The heaven was much clarified by attainingit.
Likewise, the earth got stable or calm bythe same [rotating] measure; and demon spirits or gods were spiritualised,became divine.
The valley likewise became full, the abyssreplenished.
By staying in the one, all creatures livedand grew.
By staying in some basic unity, [Russian]princes and dukes became the ennobled of the people - That was how eachbecame so.
Barons and princes direct their people [insome ways]. It's some inner fabric of unified wholeness that sees to it.
[Man-felt] heaven could soon split open withoutfundamental clarity. Without basic clarity, heavens might become torn.
Without resting, steady stability, the earthmight quake and tip over.
Without spiritual power, the gods might witherand crumble,
Without being filled, the valleys might crackand run dry.
If the myriad things had not thus lived andgrown all would end without the life-giving sustenance of power. Withoutthe ennobling power, the honourable kings and barons in high places, eventhe directors of their people, might stumble, some overthrown.
So the humble is the stem upon which the mightygrows. Yes, humble oneness is the basis for all honour. So even the exaltedones depend upon the lowly for their base. That could be [one reason] why[Russian] princes and dukes call themselves the orphaned," the lonely one,"the unworthy," or the truly ill-provided. Is it not true then that they[to some extent] depend upon common man for support, or on hard ruler mightrooting itself upon humility?
Just enumerate all the parts of a chariot.and you still have no [unified construct, no] chariot
So [learn to] rumble like rocks rather thanjingle like jade.
40
Reversion is the action of dao. In dao theonly motion is a return;
and the one useful quality is named soft[or polite] gentleness, So polite or weak gentleness [or humility] is thefunction of dao.
The creatures and things of this world comefrom being. And being from not-yet-being. though all
41
When the highest of men hear of dao and truththey put it into practice quite diligently.
When the common types hear of dao, they seemto be in two minds about it, half believing, aware and unaware of some.
When the lowest types hear of dao, they ridiculeor laugh loudly - but if they did not laugh, it would be no dao.
The proverb has it:
The way out into the light often looks dark;one who understands dao seems dull, as dao which is bright appears to bedark.
The dao which goes forward appears to fallbackward; the one who is advanced (in dao) seems to slip backwards; theway that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.
He who works and moves on the even dao [co-path]seems to go up and down; the least hilly way often looks as if it wentthus, as level dao appears uneven.
Great virtue seems hollow and empty. Thetruly loftiest might looks like an abyss; superior virtue appears likea valley (hollow). Great capability is [granted to be] hollow. Yes, theloftiest is something abysmal.
Sheerest white seems blurred, sheer whiteis like tarnished; (most) purity seems like disgrace.
The most sufficing might looks inadequate;far-reaching virtue hardly seems to be enough; and great [and rustic] characterappears to be not enough [but it's all the same].
The [organising] might that stands most firmseems flimsy. Solid character looks infirm; and solid virtue unsteady.
Whats in its natural, pure state looks faded:True substance looks changeable, and pure worth seems dirtied.
The largest square has no corners: greatspace has no corners.
The greatest capacities develop latest, andgreat talent could be slow to mature; as they say: The greatest vesseltakes the longest to finish. The great tool and talent is slow to finish(or mature). Great tools do slow work. Great inside talent takes long toripen.
Great music is far from course; [at times]rare, it could be hard to get, or hardly heard.
Great, hidden form has neither shape norcontour; as great here means of dao, [which is thought up as] hidden andwithout (overtly sounded) name.
Now, dao backs all things financially; daoalone skilfully provides for all - it supports all things and advances[some] to perfection. Well dao-lent power could bring us (some degree of)fulfilment. Skilled, able dao-lending (of some majesty and power) couldbring [Christian] fulfilment.
42
Dao gave birth to the one; the one gave birthsuccessively to two things, three things, up the everything, everybodyand the whole world we know.
The ten thousand things carry the yin assome back or behind, and hug the yang in front. Through the blending ofthe pervading principles as some abstract union, and by a further blending[designing] the material force (ki) they can gain [sound] harmony. Andso the union in harmony gets strong [and defences].
In other words, living beings can't turntheir backs to the shade [such as cooling yin] without having the sun ontheir bellies [it could be invigorating yang], and it's on such (yin-yang)blending of so-called breaths that [most] harmony depends.
Most people hate to be diagnosed as lonely,unworthy, orphaned, needy, ill-provided. Yet princes and dukes style themselvesso, and call themselves by these names.
Truly, things are often increased by seekingto diminish them and diminished by seeking to increase them." And sometimesthings are benefited by being taken away from and suffer by being addedto. And so it often happens that things can gain by losing and lose bygaining.
What others have taught, I teach also:
"Violent and fierce people hardly die a natural[elegant] death."
Yet, show me a man of violence that cameto a good end, and I will take him for my teacher. I shall make all thisthe father (basis) of my teaching.[Uha.]
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The softest things in the world overcomethe hardest things in the world. The softest substance radiates throughthe hardest. Also, what's most yielding can eventually overwhelm the hardest.
Formless penetrates no-crevice; substancelessit can enter where there's no space; all this could be not-yet-being enteringand jostling non-space. That's how I know the value of action that's actionless.Through this I [also] know the benefit or advantage of taking no action.
There can be [sad] teaching without words.To teach without words can be best. Still few can understand such stuff.And there can be solid value in action that's actionless, or the advantageof taking no action. Yes, the [said] benefit of taking no action is withoutcompare. Few can understand it.
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Fame or one's own self, which matters most?Nay, which does one love more? Which should one love more, fame or one'sown life?
Which is more valuable, one's own life orwealth? One's own self or things bought, the solid goods, which shouldreally count most?
Which is worse, gain or loss? Could it beloss (of self) or possession which is the greater evil? [Which gain isthe greater evil here?]
Therefore: he who loves most spends most.He who has lavish desires could spend extravagantly.
He who hoards much could lose much. Who hoardsmuch is in for losing heavily if who has hoarded most could suffer theheaviest loss.
The contented man could meet no disgrace;
Who stops in time knows when to stop. Whostops in time nothing can harm if free from danger he can long endure andfeel forever safe and secure. He can long endure who stays forever safeand secure -
45
What's most perfect [ambivalence] seems tobe incomplete; [its] highest perfection is never impaired. The perfectseems to have something missing; [so have something missing]. Highest perfectionis like imperfection, but its use is never impaired, nor its utility [attimes].
What's most full [opening] seems empty; itsuse will never fail.
The greatest abundance seems meagre indeed,but its use will never fail.
What's most straight seems devious, maybecrooked.
The greatest skills seems to be [rustic,]clumsy. The greatest cleverness appears like stupidity, [(Demon skill seemslike clumsiness. Apt skill seems clumsy, true cleverness seems clumsy.]
The greatest [harlequin] eloquence seemsto stutter or seems like stuttering.
Hasty movement overcomes cold.
Keeping still can overcome heat. Tranquillityand staying still can overcome heat.
By being greatly still you'll next be fitto rule the world. Who is calm and quiet becomes the universe deceit. Byhis limpid calm he all the time puts right everything [as universal deceit].
46
When dao reigns in the kingdom, gallopinghorses are turned back to fertilise certain fields with their manure. Ifthe world in accord with dao, racing horses are turned back to pull refusecarts.
When the world hardly lives in accord withdao, dao doesn't prevail or win. Next war horses will be reared even ona sacred hill below the city walls, and blatant cavalry will frolic inthe countryside, driving and riding pestering war horses in suburbs inbetween. Dao does hardly prevail if war is on in city suburbs.
No lure is greater than to possess what otherswant.
There's no greater guilt than [sudden] discontent.There's (...) greater disaster than greed.[Eventually] there's hardlya greater sin than desire for possession.
No disaster could be greater than [...] tobe content with what one has [in dire need and disabling poverty]. No presageof [airy] evil is greater than men wanting to get more.
He who has once known the pure [orgasm] contentmentthat comes simply through being content [at its peak], gets rather content-centreda long time after.
47
One can know whats happening all over theworld without going out of doors.
One can see the dao of the big wide beyondhere without looking out of ones windows, and see all the ways of thatbeyond-here.
Then, the further one travels the less oneknows.
So the wise man can [at times] arrive withoutgoing and know without going about; he can understand much without seeing-
or achieve much without [visible] action.
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The student of knowledge goes into learninga little day by day;
The student of dao reduces his assets bydwindling or losing a bit each day.
Learning consists in adding daily to one'sstock, and the practice of dao consists in loose dwindling day by day.It could be subtracting till one has reached inactivity. By steady reductions[of certain sorts] you reach certain sorts of laissez-faire. So decreaseand further decrease until you reach the point of taking no action.
[This is clowning.] By artful inactivityeverything [bad] can be set in motion.
He who conquers the [inside] domain doesso [mostly] by doing nothing. Those who once won the adherence of all wholive here, did so by not interfering much.
Had they interfered, they would never havewon this adherence.
One who likes to do, may not be able to rulea kingdom [inside or outside].
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The wise man makes no judgements of his own.He has no rigid and plump ideas alone. Maybe no certain, opinionated feelings.
He uses the heart of the people as his owninner side and heart. People's opinions and feeling are then as his own.
He says:
Good ones I declare good; and I [often] treatthose who are good with goodness, as I approve of the good man.
I also treat those who are not so good withgoodness.
I often approve of the [said] bad; he getsgoodness.
So bad ones I also declare good. That's thegoodness on how goodness can be attained [by demagogy.]
The honest ones I believe; and [some] liarsI also believe;
I am honest to those who are honest, andI am also honest to those who are not [so] honest. By such means greathonesty, the faith of virtue, can be attained and the honest gets [closerto rueful] truthfulness.
In dealing with the world a wise man seemslike one dazed with a felt fear, and while governing his [little] empirehe has no subjective viewpoint.
So a wise man lives in the world in peace,and his bright mind forms a sound whole with that of his [dear] people.
Then they all lend their sense perceptions- eyes and ears - and he treats them all - infants as well. But sometimesagain a wise man, dealings with some world, for the world's sake dullshis wits.
Where a hundred families all the time straintheir eyes and ears, the wise man all-sees a people are brought into afold of one heart. Next the wise man regards them as his own dear children.
At times the wise man sees and hears no morethan an infant.[thats not much.]
50
He who aims at life could achieve his death.Out of living, death pops up. Who comes to life can go to death.
If three out of ten are life companions,then the same number are death companions as well. As such the latter arelabelled death-spots: some take life, through activity, to death.
How is it?
Its much due to men's intensive strivingafter life; in part the intense activity of multiplying life. Some do feedlife too grossly.
It's said that he who is a good preserverof his life can meet no tigers or wild buffaloes on land. Such a one couldhave a true hold on life,
If so, in battle or fighting he should hardlytry to escape from weapons. He should neither get very much touched norvulnerable to weapons in battle.[Cf. dont be there]
The wild buffalo cannot butt its powerlesshorns against him,
The tiger cannot fasten its then uselessclaws in him and tear him apart,
And much absent weapons of war should findno place to enter - cannot thrust their blades into him.[The absent partis always to blame. Demagogy]
And why? (Demagogy, thats why]
In him there's no room for death becausehe is beyond death. Others find no Achilles heel in him then and there.
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One dao gives them birth, next hidden virtueand glory fosters them.
Matter gives them physical form. some getshaped according to intrinsic designs, perfected by first being allottedits primal strength.
Sets of circumstances and tendencies completethem.
So all things of the universe worship theirintrinsic ways (dao forms) and honour virtue.
There's hardly one who doesn't honour inbornmodes of living and standard accommodations, so in one way or other allwho accommodate likeably do homage to set dao structure, and concomitantnative, later, possibly unfolded growth power. Conclusion: all things ofthe universe honour dao and exalt good te without being ordered by anybody.
From this: the right praise always come spontaneously.And this is so of its own accord.
Proficient dao hardly needs any right tobe worshipped, Hardly does its best fit, proper unfoldment prowess or powerclaim the right to be honoured. Its just like this: Some dao produces themand concomitant, abundant virtue fosters them. Said in other words:
The right dao gives them birth,
a proper te fosters them, Dao [deep structure]and might enough can rear and develop, can feed, nurture and shelter. Inother words: grant some harbour of security, protect and give deep, strongpeace in a place fit for that end.
Just the right dao could be a prolongationof some deft was always and of itself so.
Yes, the right dao gives birth, shields fromstorms, and seems hardly possessive. The right shields hardly lay claimto you.
Good dao bore you and the power" of dao evolvedor reared you (a bit), made you grow [naturally, according to innate designs]brewed for you personally, sort of.
A man must rear others, control some, butnever lean upon them.
By such natural designs just dao can actand also help, but it hardly appropriates.
Just be chief among them, but hardly managethem. This can be called the superior power. See: The superior power hardlycontrols anybody!
And this is the [program of developing fit]mystic might.
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There was a [bang] start of the universe,call it the mother of the world.
Who has found that mother dao, also understands[some of] her sons (things) by it. From the mother, we can know her sons.
Having understood some sons, yet keep tothe inner, subtle mother.
Who has known the sons will hold to the mother,for one's whole life can be protected from danger by it.[So they say.]
Shut down life's various openings. Close itsdoors, and till the end your strength may remain. Next, your whole lifecan seem without toil.
On the other hand; open the mouth busy aboutaffairs, and to the end of life there will be no help or salvation comingto you [from the outer realm].
Good sight implies seeing what's very small.Seeing what's small is called [Zen] enlightenment.
Who stays by some good conduct is strong.So use the light and return to clear sight through the bright light ofthe subtle, shining inner realm [debated in Buddhism]
By this art, never cause yourself futuredistress, [but see well in advance by the inner realm's sight and brightlight; or just psyche such things out,] thereby preserved from most harm.
This is called resorting to the always-so,or practising the eternal.
That act is also called to steal the absolute.
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Once started on the great [lax] highway,if I had but little [Vossing] knowledge I should, in walking on a broadway, fear getting off the road. On the main path (dao), I would avoid theby-paths.
Some dao main path is easy to walk [or drift]on, but safe and easy.
All the same people are fond, men love by-paths,love even small by-paths:
The by-path courts are spick-and-span. Andthe fields go untilled, nay, exceedingly weedy. They're content to lettheir fields run to weed.
All the while granaries stand quite emptyand some exceedingly empty.
They have elegant, in clothes and gown towear, some furnished with patterns and embroideries,
Some carry sharp weapons, glut themselveswith drink and
foods enjoyed beyond limit,
And wealth and treasures are accumulatedin excess, owning far more than they can handle and use.
This is to [molest] the world towards brigandage,it's robbery as extravagance. In the end they're splitting with wealthand possessions. Wealth splits, tends to.
This cannot be a highway of dao (the way).
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Well planted can hardly be plucked. Who iswell established (in dao) can hardly be pulled away. The firmly groundedis hardly easily shaken.
Who has a firm grasp doesn't easily let go.Who has a firm grasp of dao can't be separated from it. A really firm graspcan't be relaxed.
Next, the ancestor's dao ways and means andtheir powers unite to carry the modern family on. From generation to generationfirmly gripped dao [gyrations] shall be continued without fail. Such ancestralsacrifice is not to be suspended.
When one cultivates firm grasp or well modifiedancestor disciplines in one's own life, things tend to go markedly well:If you cultivate, elevate and apply well blended, ad hoc modified ancestorways and means, jobs, routines, accomplishments, such formerly seen, halfway"inherited" cardinal dao know-how at its best should be rewarding for yourselfas an individual or person at its peak, and if so, your lifestyle couldbecome suitable, even genuine, and its prowess likewise.
This spells such as: Apply the firm manasgrasp to yourself according to "like father, like son" and you'll incurno manas problem, no such deep, unseen trouble -
From this:
Apply such inherited "firmly rooted strategy"and its various grasps to yourself, and by its id outlets and preciousroutines you'll be freed from much unsuitable dross.
Also apply best, united ancestor dao (orsakti) to your family or household and your household should flourish andthrive by this syncretic way of ways.[Honour your best father(s) at theirbest by doing in best footsteps under his wings, in his shadows - by suchas halfway inherited or taken-op proclivities.]
Apply it to the village on a wider, socialscale, and the village will be strengthened or more secure.
Apply it to the kingdom, and the kingdomcould prosper.
Apply it to an kingdom, and it will grow.
Cultivated in the world, sour id-based handlingsets could become all-embracing.
Therefore: Delve into how "well structured,planted or formed" some things that are instituted seem to be.
By delving back through own conscious stagesas parts of yourself, you can in the end contemplate and ridicule yourselfa little.
The person should be some family-and-ancestorsembedded "thing" in its own right.
Next you can control your household by theunited dao controls involved in it [allied to yin-yang structured cosmology].
According to (such well-planted, relations-structuredschooled and trained virtue of) the individual, evaluate the individual;
According to (the same virtues of) the family,judge the family;
According to (similar blends of virtue of)the village, judge the village;
According to (the virtue of the statutes) the state, judge the state;
According to (the crossed virtues of) theworld, evaluate the world.
How do I know the world? It's from the cultivationof root-strong virtue from the level of the individual to that of the sourworld - I know just by what's inside me and this, all brought together.
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He who has a lot of mystic might also shouldbe strong in secret able influence-might - quite free from getting harmed,at times like a tender child: full of childlike virtue at its best.
Then no poisonous insects should sting him.Fierce beasts should not seize him and wild beasts hardly attack him, clawingbirds of prey should not pounce on and harass him.
The bones of this dear little one are softand tender, his sinews tender, but his grip is quite firm.
He hardly yet knows about the union of maleand female, yet his organs are fully formed and well, at times aroused.This means that his essence is at its height there and then, or means thatthe vital force is at its height.[It could be both.]
Such a one can cry all day without gettinghoarse if his [libido as natural balance] is whole and healthy [for it].If so it's well in accord with something eternal.
Now, to know eternity full well can be adiscerning matter. To know bland harmony likewise implies to be in eternity,or if missed, it is to understand some [principle of] always-so by somedegree of mental illumination. But to be well in accord with the eternalmeans to be free as a bird.
To fill life to the brim is to invite uglyportents, bad omens. To force the growth of life likewise spells ills.Some ready at hand or to come later on, maybe. Now, if the heart makescalls upon the life-breath, laziness or [yogic] rigidity can follow suit.
After things reach their prime, they beginto grow old, Whatever has a time of vigour also has a time of decay. Certainthings age after reaching their prime.
Much is contrary to dao. Whatever is contraryto dao will soon perish. He who is against dao can perish rather young.Whats against dao could soon be destroyed.
56
He who knows doesn't speak (artfully). Hewho speaks hardly knows.
Fill your openings, shut the doors,
Dull all nasty edges. Untie all tangles.
Temper or soften all glaring light.
Submerge its turmoil as unified with theworld: Let all chaotic hustle and bustle be smoothed down.
This is the called the mysterious [Vossing]levelling for bland unity or deep insider identification.
Love and hatred can barely affect the godsand supermen who are said to have achieved it.
Certain forms of loss can hardly reach upto this.
It can be hard to repel and shoo such anaccomplished god-being, as it's impossible to be distant and indifferentto him.
He can't be raised, can't be much humbled,and disgrace can hardly affect him deep inside.
So he is already highest of all humbled creatures.He is to be so honoured by the world.
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Kingdoms can only be governed if rules arekept; rule a kingdom by some normal standards and with utmost discretion.
Battles, on the other hand, can be won ifrules are aptly broken. Operate the army and fight some battles by (unusual)tactics of surprise and attack.
Yet administer the kingdom by engaging inno activity. Win the world by doing next to nothing, for major adherencecan only be won by letting well alone.
How do I know this will be so? By this:
The more prohibitions, ritual avoidances,and taboos there are, the poorer the people will end.
The more 'sharp weapons' there are, the moretroubled and chaotic the state will be, and the more benighted the wholeland will grow.
The more cunning craftsmen there are, themore skills of technique, the more vicious things will appear: the morepernicious contrivances will be invented.
The more laws are promulgated, the more thievesand bandits there will be. So: The greater the number of statutes, thegreater the number of thieves in the end.
So a wise man decreed:
So long as I "do nothing" the people gettransformed of themselves.
So long as I love quietude, the people willof themselves go straight.
So long as I act only by proper inactivitythe people will of themselves grow rich.
I have no desires, and the people of themselvesbecome simple as the mythological raw block'.
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When the government is non-discriminative,lazy and dull, the people are contented and not spoiled, but quite generous.When the ruler looks sullen or depressed, the people will be happy andsatisfied;
When the government is efficient and smart,searching and discriminative, the people are discontented, disappointedand contentious. Even if the ruler looks lively and self-assured the peoplewill be carping and discontented.
Good fortune leans on bad fortune and badfortune could rest on good fortune. Latent calamity is happiness, and soundhappiness depends on some calamity. Fortune's route is a disaster; fortuneis hidden disaster.
Who knows when the limit will be reached?Who would be able to know the ultimate results of good fortune?
They may be:
The normal will (in time) revert to deceitful.
There will hardly be any correctness (usedto govern the world) any more.
The old correct will become the perverseagain.
Some of the good we know of will again turnevil.
Few know it, but the people have been deludedfor a long time.
Anyhow, there's a bourn where there's neitherright nor wrong. It's in a realm where every straight is doubled by a crookedand every good by an ill. Surely mankind has gone long enough astray?
Therefore the wise man has firm, square principles.He is at times as pointed as a square, but hardly cuts or pierces.
His integrity is as acute as a knife buthardly cuts, hardly hurts (innocent others), so "he shapes the cornerswithout lopping",
He is indeed straight, but doesn't extendhis sway. He reaches his [most cherished] ends.
He is far from high-handed, he can be bright,but refrains from dazzling.
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In managing human affairs, there's no betterrule than to be sparing, which is to forestall. You can't rule men norserve heaven unless you have laid up a store; Be [simply artistic] frugal,there's nothing better for serving heaven and ruling people.
To forestall is to be prepared and strengthened;and by being frugal in such ways one may recover quickly. To recover quicklymeans to accumulate [intense moral] rather much. This "laying up a store"means quickly absorbing, And "quickly absorbing" in the end means doublingone's garnered "power". Double your garnered power and it acquires a strengththat nothing can overcome. By the heavy accumulation of virtue one canovercome everything. Be prepared and strengthened to be always victorious:to have infinite capacity;
If there's nothing it can't overcome, itknows no bounds, then he will acquire a capacity with limits well beyondanyone's knowledge. One can next overcome nearly everything. And only whatknows no bounds is huge enough to keep a whole kingdom in its grasp. Ifhis capacity is beyond anyone's knowledge, he is fit to rule a kingdom.Who has infinite capacity is fit to rule, but only he who having the kingdomgoes to the mother, can keep it long. He who possesses he mother (dao)of the state will last long. The mother (principle) of a ruling countrycan long endure.
This is called the art of making the rootsstrike deep by fencing the trunk, It signifies to be firmly rooted, tohave deep strength, for the roots are deep and the stalks are firm, roadto immortality and enduring vision, the way of long life and everlastingexistence is won by making life long by fixed staring.
60
Ruling a big kingdom is like frying a smallfish.
They who by dao ruled all that's under heavendid not let an evil spirit within them display its powers. Such evil spiritsdid not display their supernatural powers; the spirits of wise men werehardly used to hurt other men. So when dao is employed to rule the kingdom,spiritual beings will lose their supernatural grip and cease to harm commonpeople. And their supernatural power will far from harm people, and thewise man also will refrain from harming people. When both don't do eachother harm, virtue (power) flows towards them. If the sage's good spiritis nowhere mobilised to harm other men, he himself can be saved from [deterioration]harm.
And so, if evil spirits and supermen don'tharm each other, each can be quite saved from harm. Furthermore, some oftheir "tall abilities" could converge. If so, virtue can be accumulatedin both for ulterior benefit or towards some common [soap opera] end.
61
A big kingdom can be compared to the lowerpart of a river, like the low ground which all streams flow down towards.
Here is a point towards which all thingsunder heaven converge. Its part must be that of the woman
who overcomes man by simple quietude. By[such as] quiescence she gets underneath, and by tranquillity she is downunder.
A big kingdom can take over [a soul of] asmall one if it succeeds in getting itself below the small kingdom; Ifso it absorbs some from the small country, or wins some adherence of thesmall kingdom in the open.
If a small country on the other hand placesitself below a big country, it can absorbs or take over some of the bigcountry [assets]. Therefore some place themselves low so as to take overor absorb (others). Some are (naturally) low and absorb (others). Becausesmall kingdoms are by nature in this way underneath large kingdoms, they[sometimes] win the adherence of large kingdoms [or end].
What a big kingdom is after is but to annexand herd others. So what large countries really need is a lot of inhabitants.What small countries need is some place where their surplus inhabitantscan go and get employment. What they want can be little more that to join,be somewhat sheltered and perhaps serve for it all.
Both can have what they want; I say the largekingdom must "get underneath".
62
Dao is thought up as the mysterious secretof the universe, it could be the storehouse of "all things", like the pivotalworship centre in the south-west corner in the [old Chinese] house. It'sthe good man's treasure and the bad man's support and resort.
Fine words can buy honour, fine sayings canbe sold. Fine deeds can win respect from others. The best conduct is agift. Persons of noble, grave demeanour are accepted as gifts.
Even if a man is bad, when has (dao) rejectedhim? Why reject bad people [the winners of tomorrow if all goes fine]?Even the bad let slip no opportunity to acquire gifts that fit them wellenough.
Therefore on the crowning of an emperor andappointing his three ministers of the state, rather than send ta disc ofjade and teams of four horses, sit down and deliver this dao. It can bedone without moving from one's seat.
What did the old ones say of this dao, howdid they prize it? Why did they treasure such dao?
Did they not say of those that have it "Pursuing,they shall catch; pursued, they shall escape?" Or, "Search for the guiltyones and pardon them?" Or, "Those who seek shall have it, those who sinshall be freed"?
They thought [common] dao to be the mostprecious, the treasure of the world.
63
Succeed in the magician's wu-wei: Accomplishseemingly do-nothing.
Attend seemingly to no-affairs. And do completelywithout ado. What runs, acts without action, does without doing,
So let's taste without tasting. Taste theflavourless. Taste the flavourless without tasting. Find flavourless flavour.
Whether it's big or small, many or few, requitehatred with virtue.
Dao can make the small great and the fewmany, can requite injuries with some decent deeds. But prepare for thehard while it's still easy. Deal with it while it's still easy. Deal withthe great or big while it's still small.
In governing your kingdom everything hardmust be dealt with while it's still easy. The hard has to be dealt withwhile still very easy. All the great (ones and great problems) of the worldare to be dealt with while they're yet small. Everything great must bedealt with while it's still small.
Therefore the wise man never has to deal withthe great; and so gets greatness. He never strives for the great, by thisthe great is had.
So great undertakings shall start with what'ssmall.
But again "Who makes rash promises surelylacks. Who lightly makes a promise, can find it too hard to keep his faith.And light assent inspires little confidence. Who takes things very easilyis surely in for dealing with more difficulty in the end. So "many easies"means many a hard. In other words, who makes light of many things shouldfind many difficulties.
From all this even the wise man regards thingsas hard, but he also knows how to make the easy difficult. For that reasonhe very seldom meets with difficulties.[Uha.]
64
What remains placid is quite easy to hold.
Not determined happenings can be preparedfor well in advance. Before there has been an omen it's easy to lay plans.It's easy to forestall some things that don't are or not yet occur. It'squite easy to plan for and prepare well in advance.
[But such forestalling is had by thoughts,and thoughts are airy and can be tender and brittle, to say the least.]And what's brittle is easy to crack. What's tender is easily torn. What'sbrittle like ice is easy to melt. And what's tiny is easy to scatter.
[All the same, reach up to] deal with thingsin their state of not-yet-being; deal with things well before they appear.Just put things well in shape before disorder and confusion. Put all verywell in order before disorder, and next go on to check loss or disorderwell. A tree as big as a man's hug grows from a tiny sprout. A tower ninestoreys high begins with a clod of earth. Further, the journey of threehundred miles began with ... the feet. A journey of a thousand li beginsright where one stands, even with the very first step.
Still, he who takes a [visible forestalling]action fails. Who acts, harms; he who grabs, lets slip. And therefore thewise man doesn't act in the open, and so doesn't spoil or harm; yes, hetakes seemingly no action and therefore hardly fails.
And why is this? It's due to: He who graspsthings [often] loses them. He doesn't grasp a lot, he doesn't let slipa lot. Does hardly grab in the open, and so doesn't let slip a lot. Hegrasps nothing visibly to others, and therefore he doesn't lose much. Whereaspeople in their handling of affairs often fail when they're about to succeedat their tasks. Such people constantly spoil things when within an aceof completing them.
Be as careful at the end as at the start toavert failures at hand. Then there will be no such failures. Heed the endno less than the start, so that your valuable work will not be spoiledand ruined.
Therefore the wise man learns to seem unlearned,wants only things that are unwanted. Yes, the wise man publicly desiresto have no desire. Therefore the wise man desires no desire - and desiresall the same.
He doesn't often value rare treasures publicly.He hardly values objects hard to get or find - in public. He says he learnsthat which is unlearned. He claims he sets no store by products difficultto get, and so teaches things untaught.[It's a trap.]
But he also turns all beings back to thevery thing they have left behind, so that he can assist in the course ofnature somehow. And if so, "the ten thousand creatures" can be restoredto their self-sameness, the self-so which is of [some] dao. Yes, he supportsall things in some of their natural states.
This he does; but hardly presume to interfereall right. He hardly dares to act in the open. So he denies to take anyvisible action.
65
In old times those who practised a dao well,did hardly aim to enlighten people, but to make them ignorant and holdthem that way. It seems that the more knowledge people have, the harderthey are to rule. Maybe it's hard for people to live in peace due to verymuch knowledge.
So he who rules the state through knowledgeis robber of the state; and who seek to rule by giving knowledge couldbe like [coming] bandits preying on the land. Maybe all who seek to ruleby knowledge form the nation's curse, eventually.
He who rules a state not through knowledgeis a blessing. Those who seek not to rule by knowledge, are the nation'sblessing. To rule without giving knowledge could bring a stock of goodfortune to the land.[And maybe not.]
One who knows these two things also (sets)the standard.
Always to know such an old standard is calledto of the deep, secret calibre.
When such secret virtue becomes clear, outgoing,far-reaching, and lets things revert back to some guessed at source, allrelated things could return to some natural state. It could go all theway back to [brutal] concord and harmony.
66
How did the great rivers and seas becomethe kings of the ravines? By being experts at keeping low.
Therefore to be above the people you haveto speak as though you're lower than the people in some ways.
So to be ahead of the people, you have tofollow them in your own person. To be foremost or guide well, walk behind.
The wise man keeps himself on top, and thepeople hardly feels his weight or get crushed by it in time. He guidesin this way, and the people don't harm him the least.
He can even walk in front [as an example],and people don't wish him harm.[Let's hope that.]
In this dynamic [guru] way everything underheaven will be glad to be pushed by him and will not find his guidanceirksome. Then the people of the world are glad, the world rejoices andpraises him without getting tired of it, in order to uphold him forever.
He accomplishes his aims by overt non-striving.Because he doesn't compete in the open, no one can compete well with him.
67
Every one says my dao is greatly like folly.Just because it's great, it looks like folly. Great ways don't look likethe ordinary anyhow.
If it did not look like folly, it could haveturned small and petty long ago! Then it would have been small. As forthings that don't look foolish to common men, there can be no questionabout their smallness.
I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is a deep, deep concern; call itmystic pity, if you like.
The second is never too much, which may meanfrugality.
And the third is refusal to be ahead, foremostor first, for I hardly dare to be ahead.
Deep, concerned love brings guts [or fall].
Through not doing too much, one has amplitude(of reserve power): Who has spared, may then give and seem generous.
Through not presuming to be the first andbest there is, one can develop one's talent and strength; let it matureto dominate a world.
On the other hand,
to be bold by forsaking deep love;
to be generous by forsaking frugality-wonreserves and clever, artful restraint;
and to be ahead and rushing in front by forsakingfollowing behind;
all this could prove fatal in the end.
Ardent, loving concern can't fight well withoutconquering a lot. It shall help in the case of attack, and likewise tobe firm in the case of defence.
When heaven is to save a person, heaven willprotect him through deep love. Heaven arms those it would not see beaten,with all right concern.[Let's hope that.]
68
A skilful leader of troops is never oppressivewith his military strength. The brave soldier is hardly very violent;
The best fighter doesn't become visibly angry;he hardly loses his temper.
A skilful conqueror doesn't compete withpeople. The great conqueror doesn't fight for small issues alone.
The best user of men acts as though he weretheir inferior and puts himself below them by the virtue of not-competing.
This is called the ability or capacity touse men, or matching heaven, or being suited to the highest found principle,[maybe of old]
69
The strategists say:
"If I dare not be the guest, then let mebe the host. When I dare not take the offensive, then I'll take the defensive.If you doubt your ability to advance, then retreat." Also: "When you doubtyour ability to meet the enemy's attack, take the offensive yourself."
Much of this his implies to march withoutvisible formations; its in part like rolling up the sleeve, and yet presentingno bare arm. Or it could be like stretching your arm without showing thesleeves.
Confront well, present no battle-front yourself.Refrain from charging in frontal attacks, and seem to be armed withoutweapons.[Let that come as a surprise.] Hold a thousand weapons withoutseeming to have them.
Now, great calamity comes from making lightof an enemy. There's no greater catastrophe than if a foolishly underestimatedenemy robs and destroys your most cherished treasures. It could even destroyyour topmost treasure, your old, dear body. Refrain from having an enemyat the price of losing your body and life. Remember: He whose enemy presentsno front, could lose his booty.
Therefore when armies meet, the kind-lookingman of sorrows could win [by such as surprise tactics. But often it's theopposite that happens.] Who doesn't delight in warfare in the open, hewins.[And most often not?]
70
My words are very easy to understand andvery easy to put into practice. Yet no one understands them; no one putsthem into practice.
But some of my teaching could have natureas a source, and also there's a principle-ruled ancestry in some of mywords.
Yes, [some of] my deeds have a lord; my deedscould have [right] dao as sovereign.
Most men don't understand this, they're unableto understand me.
Few people understand me, and on this my realvalue depends. I am highly valued, for few understand me.
The wise man wears a coarse cloth on topand carries jade underneath his dress, within his bosom.
71
To know that you do not know is best. Whoknows that he doesn't know is the highest. To know when one doesn't knowis best.
Who pretends to know what he doesn't knowis sick-minded; To think one knows when one doesn't know is a sort of malady.Pretend to know when you don't know - that's a disease. He who recognisesthis disease as a disease can also cure himself of it [and maybe not].[One may eventually get free from a disease by recognising it for whatit is.]
Who recognises sick-mindedness as sick-mindednesscan't be wholly sick-minded, after all.
The wise man is hardly sick-minded if herecognises sick mind as sick and also cures some diseases. He's hardlya sick mind.
72
If the people hardly fear what's dreadful,something greatly dreadful could descend. If people have no fear of force,then great force descends. So never mind if people are not intimidatedby your authority. Some mightier authority could deal with them in thelong run.
Neither despise their dwellings nor narrowthe living space of their dwellings. They could cease to turn away if youdon't put them in jail. Don't dislike their offspring, harass or oppresstheir lives. Don't harass them, and they could cease to turn from you.Drop heavy taxes, and the people won't be fed up. If you don't persecuteall, you'll hardly be so much disliked. They're not oppressed if you refrainfrom gross oppressive measures.
So the wise man knows himself but hardly showsoff. Knows his own value, but doesn't exalt himself
Truly, "he rejects the one (brute force orenemicy) but accepts or takes the other (being some kind, sturdy neighbour)."
73
Who is brave in daring can kill or get killed[on a bus].
On the other hand, one who is brave in notdaring, can survive or give life. Either approach can be profitable orunprofitable, still one of them is harmful.
Who is brave in non-daring without ado letslive. There can be some advantage and some disadvantage in each approach-
Now, "Dao-heaven hates the one it hates, hateswhat it hates; and none can know the reason why." Who knows why and whatit dislikes? Heaven dislikes certain people; but the wise man considersit a tricky question. Yes, why heaven seems to hate - even a wise man regardsit as a tricky question.
Well, it's in the fixed dao sets of heavennot to strive in the open, but none the less to conquer. Not to compete,but all the same win expertly. Be good at conquest without strife.
Dao hardly speaks, it skilfully responds.It comes without skilful invitation, it can appear without a call. It doesn'tseem anxious about things and yet it shows up it plans very well. It getsable results without obvious design, as from hidden, laid, [broad] plansand schemes.[Say little, foster well laid schemes and designs.]
Dao-heaven's net is wide, with big, coarsemeshes. Still it misses nothing. Nothing slips through.
74
When the people are not afraid of death,why threaten them with death sentences?
Even supposing the people are constantlyafraid of death and we can seize and kill those who are unruly or vicious,who would dare to slay them? There's always the master executioner (Heaven).To kill in his stead is like thrusting oneself into he master-carpenter'splace and doing his chipping for him. "He who tries it is lucky if he doesn'tcut his hand," they say. To undertake executions for the master executioneris like hewing wood for him. It rarely happens you escape injuring yourown hands. Now, often it happens as well that the executioner is killed-
And to take the place of the executioneris in part like handling the hatchet for the master carpenter. He who handlesthe hatchet for the master carpenter seldom escapes injury to his hands.
75
People are hungry because rulers eat toomuch income, too much tax-grain. Therefore they starve, but also becauseof bad interference from those above. Some turn hard to rule as their rulersdo too many things. That's why they're hard to keep in order.
If so, the people are not very afraid ofdeath, as they're anxious to make a living. That's why they take deathlightly in such cases.
So: Those who interfere not with their livingthat are wise in exalting life. Maybe he who seeks only little after lifecan excel in making life valuable. But all that have hearts set only littleon life could be superior to those who set store by life.
76
When man is born, he is tender and weak.In death he becomes stiff and hard.
All things, the grass as well as trees, aresupple and soft while alive. When dead they become brittle and dried.
So hardness and stiffness very often accompanydeath, the soft and gentle could be companions of life.
The headstrong army will lose in battle.They say "the weapon that's too hard will be broken, the tree that hasthe hardest wood will be cut down". Yes, a hard tree will be cut down.
So the hard and mighty eventually shouldbe cast down; and the soft and weak may be set on high.
77
Heaven's way is like the bending of a bow.When a bow is bent the top comes down and the bottom-end comes up.
So too could heaven take away from thosewho have too much, and give to those that have not enough. Take away fromthose that have too much and give to those that have not enough.
But this is far from man's way. He takesaway from those that have not enough to offer those who already have toomuch.
The man of dao can fool enough and spare,and next give to the whole world.
So the wise man acts, but doesn't possess,accomplishes but lays claim to no credit.
If he accomplishes a task, achieves an aim,he doesn't wish to reveal himself as better than others. So he seems toclaim no credit. He seems to have no wish to appear superior, no desireto display excellence.
78
There's hardly anything more yielding than[gas, air, and] water, but almost none is better in attacking the resistantand hard,
There are few substitutes for it.
Thus the yielding may conquer the resistantand the soft the hard. This was utilised by none I knew.
Wise sayings,
"Only he who has accepted the dirt of a countrycan be lord of its soil-shrines: can become heaven-accepted there. Whobears evils of the country can become a king. Who takes into himself thecalumny of the world serves to preserve the state."
Straight words seem crooked.
79
To allay the main discontent, but in a waythat begets further discontents, can hardly be top successful. And to patchup great hatred is sure to leave some hatred behind; how can this be regardedas satisfactory?
So the wise man keeps the obligation of acontract
and refrains from blaming the other party.He stays where he is and does not go round making claims on people.
Therefore good people attend to their obligations,while those without virtue attend to other people's mistakes.
The way of heaven is impartial. It's alwayswith the good man, without distinction of persons, to keep the good firmlysupplied.''
80
Let there be a small country with few people.Let there be ten times and a hundred times as many utensils and let themnot be used.
Let there be contrivances requiring ten times,a hundred times less labour; they should not use them.
Let the people value their lives highly andnot travel far. Bring it about that the people are quite ready to lay downtheir lives at times to defend their homes rather than emigrate.
As for ships and carriages, let there benone to ride.
There can still be weapons, but no one todrill seriously with them and none to display them often.
People should have no use for any form ofwriting save knotted ropes: Let the people again knot cords for reckoning.
Let them be very pleased with their food,beautify their clothing, be content with their homes, take pleasure inrustic tasks, and delight in such customs [just like Negroes].
The neighbouring place can be overlooked,can be so near that one may hear the cocks crowing in it, the dogs barking;but the people would grow old and die without ever having been there.
and never outside their country.
81
True words hardly sound fine. Nice wordsare far from always true.
A good man seldom proves by argument; hehardly argues. He who argues or proves by argument is hardly so good (asnon-argumentative good men). Who argues [blatantly] is hardly (ever) agood man.
[All this is "Lao" arguing, debating or clowning.]
Brilliant wisdom is different from sordidlearning. Much bookish learning can mean too little wisdom. Who has extensiveknowledge is hardly a wise man.
The wise man has no need to hoard for himself.He lives for other people, seemingly, and grows richer himself if the morehe uses for others, the more he has for himself - He gives to other peopleto get greater abundance.
Heaven's way is to sharpen and bless, allfree from harm of cutting,
And the wise man's way is to act and accomplishwithout contending or striving.