The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics-2
6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good
faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension is
(only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.
7. Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what
is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It is thus that
he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.
39. 1. The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are—
Heaven which by it is bright and pure;
Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;
Spirits with powers by it supplied;
Valleys kept full throughout their void
All creatures which through it do live
Princes and kings who from it get
The model which to all they give.
All these are the results of the One (Tao).
2.
If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;
If earth were not thus sure, 'twould break and bend;
Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail;
If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale;
Without that life, creatures would pass away;
Princes and kings, without that moral sway,
However grand and high, would all decay.
3. Thus it is that dignity finds its (firm) root in its (previous)
meanness, and what is lofty finds its stability in the lowness (from which
it rises). Hence princes and kings call themselves 'Orphans,' 'Men of
small virtue,' and as 'Carriages without a nave.' Is not this an
acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they see the
foundation of their dignity? So it is that in the enumeration of the
different parts of a carriage we do not come on what makes it answer the
ends of a carriage. They do not wish to show themselves elegant-looking as
jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an (ordinary) stone.
40.
1.
The movement of the Tao
By contraries proceeds;
And weakness marks the course
Of Tao's mighty deeds.
2. All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named); that
existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).
41. 1. Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao,
earnestly carry it into practice. Scholars of the middle class, when they
have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it. Scholars of
the lowest class, 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.
2. Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:—
'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack;
Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back;
Its even way is like a rugged track.
Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise;
Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes;
And he has most whose lot the least supplies.
Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;
Its solid truth seems change to undergo;
Its largest square 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 shadow of a shade.'
3. The Tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is skilful
at imparting (to all things what they need) and making them complete.
42. 1. The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three
produced All things. All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of
which they have come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into
which they have emerged), while they are harmonised by the Breath of
Vacancy.
2. What men dislike is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as
carriages without naves; and yet these are the designations which kings
and princes use for themselves. So it is that some things are increased by
being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased.
3. What other men (thus) teach, I also teach. The violent and strong do
not die their natural death. I will make this the basis of my teaching.
43. 1. 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).
2. There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without words,
and the advantage arising from non-action.
44.
1.
Or fame or life,
Which do you hold more dear?
Or life or wealth,
To which would you adhere?
Keep life and lose those other things;
Keep them and lose your life:—which brings
Sorrow and pain more near?
2.
Thus we may see,
Who cleaves to fame
Rejects what is more great;
Who loves large stores
Gives up the richer state.
3.
Who is content
Needs fear no shame.
Who knows to stop
Incurs no blame.
From danger free
Long live shall he.
45.
1.
Who thinks his great achievements poor
Shall find his vigour long endure.
Of greatest fulness, deemed a void,
Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.
Do thou what's straight still crooked deem;
Thy greatest art still stupid seem,
And eloquence a stammering scream.
2. Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity and
stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.
46. 1. When the Tao prevails in the world, they send back their swift
horses to (draw) the dung-carts. When the Tao is disregarded in the world,
the war-horses breed in the border lands.
2. There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition; no calamity
greater than to be discontented with one's lot; no fault greater than the
wish to be getting. Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is an
enduring and unchanging sufficiency.
47. 1. Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes
place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the
Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he
knows.
2. Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling; gave their
(right) names to things without seeing them; and accomplished their ends
without any purpose of doing so.
48. 1. 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 to day to diminish (his doing).
2. He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing
nothing (on purpose). Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is
nothing which he does not do.
3. He who gets as his own 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 his own all under heaven.
49. 1. The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of
the people his mind.
2. To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not good
(to me), I am also good;—and thus (all) get to be good. To those who
are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are not sincere
(with me), I am also sincere;—and thus (all) get to be sincere.
3. The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his
mind in a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their eyes and
ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children.
50. 1. Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die.
2. Of every ten three are ministers of life (to themselves); and three are
ministers of death.
3. There are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose
movements tend to the land (or place) of death. And for what reason?
Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate life.
4. But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted
to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or
tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp
weapon. The rhinoceros finds no place in him into which to thrust its
horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws, nor the weapon a
place to admit its point. And for what reason? Because there is in him no
place of death.
51. 1. All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing
operation. They receive their forms according to the nature of each, and
are completed according to the circumstances of their condition. Therefore
all things without exception honour the Tao, and exalt its outflowing
operation.
2. This honouring of the Tao and exalting of its operation is not the
result of any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute.
3. Thus it is that the Tao produces (all things), nourishes them, brings
them to their full growth, nurses them, completes them, matures them,
maintains them, and overspreads them.
4. It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them; it
carries them through their processes and does not vaunt its ability in
doing so; it brings them to maturity and exercises no control over them;—this
is called its mysterious operation.
52. 1. (The Tao) which originated all under the sky is to be considered as
the mother of them all.
2. When the mother is found, we know what her children should be. When one
knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities
of) the mother that belong to him, to the end of his life he will be free
from all peril.
3. Let him keep his mouth closed, and shut up the portals (of his
nostrils), and all his life he will be exempt from 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 safety for him.
4. 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.
5.
Who uses well his light,
Reverting to its (source so) bright,
Will from his body ward all blight,
And hides the unchanging from men's sight.
53. 1. 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
afraid of would be a boastful display.
2. The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the
by-ways.
3. Their court(-yards and buildings) shall be well kept, but their fields
shall be ill-cultivated, and their granaries very empty. They shall wear
elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper
themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property
and wealth;—such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. This
is contrary to the Tao surely!
54.
1.
What (Tao's) skilful planter plants
Can never be uptorn;
What his skilful arms enfold,
From him can ne'er be borne.
Sons shall bring in lengthening line,
Sacrifices to his shrine.
2.
Tao when nursed within one's self,
His vigour will make true;
And where the family it rules
What riches will accrue!
The neighbourhood where it prevails
In thriving will abound;
And when 'tis seen throughout the state,
Good fortune will be found.
Employ it the kingdom o'er,
And men thrive all around.
3. In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observation
of different cases; in the family; in the neighbourhood; in the state; and
in the kingdom.
4. How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the sky?
By this (method of observation).
55. 1. He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is
like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will
not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him.
2. (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its grasp is
firm. It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet its virile
member may be excited;—showing the perfection of its physical
essence. All day long it will cry without its throat becoming hoarse;—showing
the harmony (in its constitution).
3.
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-increasing arts to evil turn;
Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn,
(False) is the strength, (and o'er it we should mourn.)
4. When things have become strong, they (then) become old, which may be
said to be contrary to the Tao. Whatever is contrary to the Tao soon ends.
56. 1. He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who
is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.
2. He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of
his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the
complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring
himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). This is called 'the
Mysterious Agreement.'
3. (Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is beyond
all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:—he
is the noblest man under heaven.
57. 1. A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war
may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one's own
(only) by freedom from action and purpose.
2. How do I know that it is so? By these facts:—In the kingdom the
multiplication of prohibitive enactments increases the poverty of the
people; the more implements to add to their profit that the people have,
the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; the more acts of
crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances
appear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and
robbers there are.
3. Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the
people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still,
and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble
about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest
no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive
simplicity.'
58.
1.
The government that seems the most unwise,
Oft goodness to the people best supplies;
That which is meddling, touching everything,
Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.
Misery!—happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!—misery
lurks beneath it! Who knows what either will come to in the end?
2. Shall we then dispense with correction? The (method of) correction
shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn
become evil. The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed
subsisted for a long time.
3. Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its
angles); (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). He is
straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not
dazzle.
59. 1. For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the
(proper) service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation.
2. It is only by this moderation that there is effected an early return
(to man's normal state). That early return is what I call the repeated
accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao). With that repeated
accumulation of those attributes, there comes the subjugation (of every
obstacle to such return). Of this subjugation we know not what shall be
the limit; and when one knows not what the limit shall be, he may be the
ruler of a state.
3. He who possesses the mother of the state may continue long. His case is
like that (of the plant) of which we say that its roots are deep and its
flower stalks firm:—this is the way to secure that its enduring life
shall long be seen.
60. 1. Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.
2. Let the kingdom be governed according to the Tao, and the manes of the
departed will not manifest their spiritual energy. It is not that those
manes have not that spiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt
men. It is not that it could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling
sage hurt them.
3. When these two do not injuriously affect each other, their good
influences converge in the virtue (of the Tao).
61. 1. 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) under heaven.
2. (To illustrate from) the case of all females:—the female always
overcomes the male by her stillness. Stillness may be considered (a sort
of) abasement.
3. Thus it is that a great state, by condescending to small states, gains
them for itself; and that small states, by abasing themselves to a great
state, win it over to them. In the one case the abasement leads to gaining
adherents, in the other case to procuring favour.
4. The great state only wishes to unite men together and nourish them; a
small state only wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other. Each
gets what it desires, but the great state must learn to abase itself.
62.
1.
Tao has of all things the most honoured place.
No treasures give good men so rich a grace;
Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.
2. (Its) admirable words can purchase honour; (its) admirable deeds can
raise their performer above others. Even men who are not good are not
abandoned by it.
3. Therefore when the sovereign occupies his place as the Son of Heaven,
and he has appointed his three ducal ministers, though (a prince) were to
send in a round symbol-of-rank large enough to fill both the hands, and
that as the precursor of the team of horses (in the court-yard), such an
offering would not be equal to (a lesson of) this Tao, which one might
present on his knees.
4. 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 could escape
(from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all under
heaven consider it the most valuable thing.
63. 1. (It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to
conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste without
discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great, and a few as
many; and to recompense injury with kindness.
2. (The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they are
easy, and does things that would become great while they are small. All
difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in
which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were
small. Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on
that account to accomplish the greatest things.
3. He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is
continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult. Therefore
the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any
difficulties.
64. 1. That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing has
given indications of its presence, it is easy to take measures against it;
that which is brittle is easily broken; that which is very small is easily
dispersed. Action should be taken before a thing has made its appearance;
order should be secured before disorder has begun.
2. The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the tower
of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey of a
thousand li commenced with a single step.
3. He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes hold of
a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not act (so), and
therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and therefore does not
lose his hold. (But) people in their conduct of affairs are constantly
ruining them when they are on the eve of success. If they were careful at
the end, as (they should be) at the beginning, they would not so ruin
them.
4. Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does not
prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not learn,
and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by. Thus he helps
the natural development of all things, and does not dare to act (with an
ulterior purpose of his own).
65. 1. The ancients who showed their skill in practising the Tao did so,
not to enlighten the people, but rather to make them simple and ignorant.
2. The difficulty in governing the people arises from their having much
knowledge. He who (tries to) govern a state by his wisdom is a scourge to
it; while he who does not (try to) do so is a blessing.
3. He who knows these two things finds in them also his model and rule.
Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call the
mysterious excellence (of a governor). Deep and far-reaching is such
mysterious excellence, showing indeed its possessor as opposite to others,
but leading them to a great conformity to him.
66. 1. That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and
tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being lower than
they;—it is thus that they are the kings of them all. So it is that
the sage (ruler), wishing to be above men, puts himself by his words below
them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person behind them.
2. In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his
weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an injury
to them.
3. Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of
him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive with
him.
67. 1. All the world says that, while my Tao is great, it yet appears to
be inferior (to other systems of teaching). Now it is just its greatness
that makes it seem to be inferior. If it were like any other (system), for
long would its smallness have been known!
2. But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first
is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from
taking precedence of others.
3. With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be liberal;
shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a vessel of the
highest honour. Now-a-days they give up gentleness and are all for being
bold; economy, and are all for being liberal; the hindmost place, and seek
only to be foremost;—(of all which the end is) death.
4. Gentleness is sure to be victorious even in battle, and firmly to
maintain its ground. Heaven will save its possessor, by his (very)
gentleness protecting him.
68.
He who in (Tao's) wars has skill
Assumes no martial port;
He who fights with most good will
To rage makes no resort.
He who vanquishes yet still
Keeps from his foes apart;
He whose hests men most fulfil
Yet humbly plies his art.
Thus we say, 'He ne'er contends,
And therein is his might.'
Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends,
That they with him unite.'
Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends,
No sage of old more bright.'
69. 1. A master of the art of war has said, 'I do not dare to be the host
(to commence the war); I prefer to be the guest (to act on the defensive).
I do not dare to advance an inch; I prefer to retire a foot.' This is
called marshalling the ranks where there are no ranks; baring the arms (to
fight) where there are no arms to bare; grasping the weapon where there is
no weapon to grasp; advancing against the enemy where there is no enemy.
2. There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war. To do that
is near losing (the gentleness) which is so precious. Thus it is that when
opposing weapons are (actually) crossed, he who deplores (the situation)
conquers.
70. 1. My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but
there is no one in the world who is able to know and able to practise
them.
2. There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my words,
and an authoritative law for the things (which I enforce). It is because
they do not know these, that men do not know me.
3. They who know me are few, and I am on that account (the more) to be
prized. It is thus that the sage wears (a poor garb of) hair cloth, while
he carries his (signet of) jade in his bosom.
71. 1. To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment);
not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.
2. It is simply by being pained at (the thought of) having this disease
that we are preserved from it. The sage has not the disease. He knows the
pain that would be inseparable from it, and therefore he does not have it.
72. 1. When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, that which is
their great dread will come on them.
2. Let them not thoughtlessly indulge themselves in their ordinary life;
let them not act as if weary of what that life depends on.
3. It is by avoiding such indulgence that such weariness does not arise.
4. Therefore the sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not parade
(his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value on, himself.
And thus he puts the latter alternative away and makes choice of the
former.
73. 1. He whose boldness appears in his daring (to do wrong, in defiance
of the laws) is put to death; he whose boldness appears in his not daring
(to do so) lives on. Of these two cases the one appears to be
advantageous, and the other to be injurious. But
When Heaven's anger smites a man,
Who the cause shall truly scan?
On this account the sage feels a difficulty (as to what to do in the
former case).
2. It is the way of Heaven not to strive, and yet it skilfully overcomes;
not to speak, and yet it is skilful in obtaining a reply; does not call,
and yet men come to it of themselves. Its demonstrations are quiet, and
yet its plans are skilful and effective. The meshes of the net of Heaven
are large; far apart, but letting nothing escape.
74. 1. The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to)
frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death, and I
could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death, who would
dare to do wrong?
2. There is always One who presides over the infliction of death. He who
would inflict death in the room of him who so presides over it may be
described as hewing wood instead of a great carpenter. Seldom is it that
he who undertakes the hewing, instead of the great carpenter, does not cut
his own hands!
75. 1. The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes
consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine.
2. The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive) agency of
their superiors (in governing them). It is through this that they are
difficult to govern.
3. The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their
labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes them
think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of living
altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.
76. 1. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong.
(So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are
soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.
2. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death;
softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.
3. Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not conquer;
and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, (and thereby
invites the feller.)
4. Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of
what is soft and weak is above.
77. 1. May not the Way (or Tao) of Heaven be compared to the (method of)
bending a bow? The (part of the bow) which was high is brought low, and
what was low is raised up. (So Heaven) diminishes where there is
superabundance, and supplements where there is deficiency.
2. It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to supplement
deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes away from those who
have not enough to add to his own superabundance.
