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1.
A dao that may be spoken is not the enduring Dao. A name that may be
named is not an enduring name.
No names – this is the beginning of heaven and earth. Having names – this is
the mother of the things of the world.
Make freedom from desire your constant norm; thereby you will see what is
subtle. Make having desires your constant norm; thereby you will see
what is manifest.
These two arise from the same source but have different names. Together
they may be termed ‘the mysterious’.
Mystery and more mystery: the gate of all that is subtle.
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2.
All in the world deem the beautiful to be beautiful; it is ugly. All deem the good
to be good; it is bad.
What is and what is not give birth to one another,
What is difficult and what is easy complete one another,
Long and short complement one another,
High and low incline towards one another,
Note and noise harmonize with one another,
Before and after follow one another.
Therefore the sage dwells in the midst of non-action (wuwei) and practices
the wordless teaching.
Herein arise the things of the world, it does not turn from them; what it gives
birth to it does not possess; what it does it does not retain. The
achievements complete, it makes no claim to them. Because it makes
no claim to them, they never leave it.
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3.
Do not honor the worthy. This will keep the people from contention. Do not
prize rare things. This will keep the people from becoming thieves. Do not
display the desirable. The hearts of the people will not be turbulent.
Hence the governance of the sage:
Empty their minds and fill their bellies,
Weaken their wills and strengthen their bones.
Always render the people free of knowledge and desire. Ensure that the
clever do not dare to act.
Engage in non-action (wuwei) and nothing will go unruled.
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4.
The Dao is empty yet you may keep drawing from it as though it could never
fill your need.
It is an abyss, like the ancestor of the world of things.
Blunt the point,
Undo the tangle,
Soften the glare,
Join the dust.
Dim, it seems almost to exist. I know not whose child it may be. It seems the
forerunner of the Lord.
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5.
Heaven and earth are not ren: they treat the things of the world as straw
dogs. The sage is not ren: he treats the people as straw dogs.
All between heaven and earth is like a great bellows--
Empty, yet it does not collapse,
The more it is moved the more it issues forth.
Many words are soon exhausted;
Better to preserve the central.
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6.
The spirit of the ravine is undying; it is called the dark vagina. The gateway
of the dark vagina is called the root of the world.
Stretching further and further, as though always there; use it, effortless.
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7.
Heaven endures; earth long abides. Heaven endures and earth long abides
because they do not give birth to themselves. Hence they are long lived.
Hence the sage places his person last, and it comes first; he treats it as
something external to him and it endures.
Does he not employ selflessness? Hence he attains his self-regarding ends.
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8.
Highest good is like water: water benefits the things of the world and does
not contend.
Dwell in places that the masses of men despise.
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9.
It is better to stop pouring than to grasp it until it is full; the blade forged to
full sharpness will not last long.
Halls filled with gold and jade can never be secured; pride in wealth and
rank brings disaster upon itself.
The work being done, step out of view – that is the dao of Tian.
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10.
As you carry your bodily soul embracing oneness, can you never depart from
it?
As you concentrate your qi and extend your suppleness, can you be as a new
born babe?
As you polish the dust from your mysterious mirror, can you render it free of
all blemishes?
As you cherish the people and order the state, can you do so without
awareness?
As heaven’s gate swings open and shut can you keep to the female?
As your brilliant awareness penetrates everywhere can you refrain from
employing it in action?
You give birth to it, you nurture it – yet in giving birth you do not possess it,
in doing it you do not retain it, in leading it you employ no authority:
this is called mysterious power (de).
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11.
Thirty spokes share a single hub; grasp the nothingness at its center to get
the use of the wheel.
Clay is fashioned to make a vessel; grasp the nothingness at the center to get
the use of the vessel.
Bore windows and doors to create a room; grasp the nothingness of the
interior to get the use of the room.
That which is constitutes what is valuable, but that which is not constitutes
what is of use.
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12.
The five colors blind men’s eyes,
The five tones deafen men’s ears,
The five flavors numb men’s mouths,
Racing at a gallop in pursuit of the hunt maddens men’s minds.
Rare objects obstruct men’s conduct.
Therefore the sage is for the belly and not for the eye. Therefore he discards
the one and selects the other.
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13
Great favor and disgrace startle alike. Prize great troubles as you do your
body.
What do I mean by “great favor and disgrace startle alike?” When an
inferior receives a superior’s favor, he is startled when he gets it, and
startled when he loses it. That is the meaning of “great favor and
disgrace startle alike.”
What do I mean by “prize great troubles as you do your body?” The only
reason I have great troubles is because I have a body; if I had no body,
what trouble would I have?
Therefore, he who prizes his body as if it were the world can be given charge
of the world. He who loves his body as if it were the world can be
entrusted with the world.
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14.
What you look at but cannot see is called ‘transparent’; what you listen to but
cannot hear is called ‘rarified’; what you grab at but cannot grasp
is called ‘minute’. These three cannot be probed through, thus they
are conflated to one.
Its top is unshining, its bottom not darkened – endless, it cannot be named.
Returned to a state without things, it is called the form of no form, the
image of no things; it is called the indistinct.
Encountering it you do not see its head; pursuing it you do not see its back.
Grasp the dao of the past to steer what there is today.
To be able to know the beginning of the past is called the guideline of the Dao.
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15.
In the past, those who were good at being gentlemen were subtle, marvelous,
mysterious, penetrating – so deep they could not be fathomed. Just
because they cannot be fathomed, I strain to describe their
appearance:
Hesitant, as though crossing a winter stream;
Timid, as though fearing all nearby;
Reverent, like a guest;
Rent, like river ice soon to melt;
Solid, like an uncarved block;
Vacant, like a valley;
Turbid, like muddied water.
Who can be turbid, yet settling slowly clear?
Who can be at rest, yet moving slowly come to life?
One who protects this dao does not wish to become full. It is precisely because he
is not full that he can be tattered yet new made.
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16.
Reaching the ultimate of emptiness, deeply guarding stillness, the things of
the world arise together; thereby do I watch their return.
The things of the world burst out everywhere, and each returns to its own
root.
Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called returning to destiny;
returning to destiny is called constant; knowing the constant is called
enlightenment.
Not knowing the constant one acts blindly and ill-omened.
Knowing the constant one can accommodate; accommodation leads to impartiality;
impartiality leads to kingliness; kingliness leads to Tian;
Tian leads to the Dao.
With the Dao one may endure, and to the end of life one will not be in danger.
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17.
The best: those below are aware that he is there. Next best: they love and
praise him. Next best, they fear him. Next best: they insult him.
Insufficient faith above, unfaithfulness below.
Far off, he speaks but rarely. When the work is accomplished and the task is
complete, the people all say, “We did it of ourselves.”
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18.
When the Great Dao was discarded, only then came ren and right. When
wisdom and insight emerged, only then came the Great Artifice.
When the six kinship classes fell out of harmony, only then came
filiality and parental kindness. When the state is darkened with chaos,
only then do the loyal ministers appear.
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19.
Cut off sagehood! Cast out wisdom! The people will benefit a hundredfold.
Cut off ren! Cast out right! The people will return to filiality and parental
kindness.
Cut off cleverness! Cast out profit! Brigands and thieves will nowhere be
found.
As patterns, these three are insufficient and only make the people seek to add
to them.
Exhibit the plainness of undyed cloth; embrace the uncarved block.
Be little self-regarding and make your desires few.
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20.
To assent and to object – how different are they? Beauty and ugliness – what
is the distinction between them?
What others fear, one must fear too – how baseless! Far off the mark!
How joyous the mass of people are, as if banqueting on the sacrificed ox, as if
mounting a tower in spring –
I alone am still, without visible sign, like a new born baby yet to smile,
all listless, like one with no home.
The mass of people have more than enough –
I alone appear bereft; I, with the mind of a dolt, so slow.
Ordinary men are brilliant –
I am dim.
Ordinary men are perceptive –
I am closed.
Sudden, like the sea, like a tempest, as though endless, the mass of
people all have their means –
I alone am obstinate, uncouth.
I alone wish to be different from others, and value feeding from the
mother.
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21.
The bearing of abundant virtue is to follow the Dao alone.
As a thing the Dao is shadowed, obscure.
Shadowed, obscured,
A thing lies within;
Obscured, shadowed,
An image lies within.
Dark, dim,
An essence lies within.
So sound is the essence,
Full concord lies within.
From the past to the present, its name has never left it, and hence it has
pleased the multitude of elders. How do I know this of the multitude
of elders? By means of this.
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22.
“A fragment, thus whole”: bent, thus straight; hollow, thus full; worn, thus
new.
Few, thus gaining; many, thus confused – therefore the sage embraces One
and is a standard for the world.
Not revealing himself, thus bright; not asserting himself, thus shining; not
praising himself, thus meritorious; not boasting of himself, thus
enduring.
He does not contend, thus none can content with him.
The old saying, “A fragment, thus whole,” how could it be empty
words? Truly, it will return whole in the end.
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23.
To be sparse in speech is to be spontaneous.
Thus wind squalls do not outlast the morning and teeming rain does not
outlast the day. Who causes these? Heaven and earth. Even heaven
and earth cannot long persist thus, how much less can man.
Those who follow the Dao are alike in Dao with others who follow the Dao,
are alike in virtue with others who have virtue, are alike is loss with
others who have loss.
Alike in Dao with others who follow the Dao - he delights indeed in grasping
the Dao; alike in virtue with others who have virtue - he delights
indeed in having virtue; alike in loss others who have loss - he delights
indeed in having loss.
Where faithfulness is insufficient there is unfaithfulness.
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24.
One on tiptoe cannot stand; one whose legs are spread cannot walk.
One who shows himself cannot be bright; one who asserts himself cannot
shone; one who praises himself can be meritorious; one who boasts of
himself cannot endure.
For the Dao, these are called “excess store and superfluous acts.” Things
detest them; therefore, the man of the Dao does not abide in them.
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25.
There is a thing formed from confusion and born before heaven and earth.
Silent, solitary, alone and unchanging. It revolves everywhere and is
never in danger. It can be the mother of all under heaven. I do not
know its name, but I style it ‘the Dao’.
If forced to give it a name, I call if ‘the Great’. The Great I call ‘Receding’.
Receding I call ‘Distant’. Distant I call ‘Reversing’.
Thus the Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is great as well.
Within the realm there are four great ones, and the king sits as
one among them.
Men emulate earth; earth emulates heaven (tian); heaven emulates the Dao;
the Dao emulates spontaneity.
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26.
Heaviness is the root of lightness; tranquility is the lord of haste.
Therefore, to the day’s end the traveling sage never leaves his laden carts.
Though beside lavish towers, he stays by them all aloof.
How could the ruler of a thousand chariot state take his own body as of lesser
weight than the world?
To be light is to lose the root; to be hasty is to lose one’s lord.
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27.
Good traveling leaves no wheel ruts; good talking makes no slips; good
counting uses no counters.
Good shutting uses no bolts, yet cannot be opened; good tying uses no cords,
yet cannot be undone.
Therefore, the sage is always good at rescuing people, thus he never
abandons any person; he is always good at rescuing affairs, thus he
never abandons any affair.
This is called stretching enlightenment.
Thus the good person is the teacher of those who are not good, and those who
are not good are grist to the good person.
Not to honor one’s teacher, not to cherish one’s grist – though one may be
clever, this is to be lost adrift.
This is called the pivotal mystery.
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28.
One who knows the male but preserves the female becomes a ravine to the
world. Such a one never swerves from constant virtue and returns
again to be a new born baby.
One who knows white but preserves black becomes a standard for the world.
Such a one never deviates from constant virtue and returns again to
being limitless.
One who knows glory but preserves shame becomes a valley to the world.
Such a one is always supplied with constant virtue and returns again
to be an uncarved block.
When the uncarved block is dispersed, vessels are made from it. The sage
uses these to become the leader of the officers of state. Thus the
greatest carving never cuts.
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29.
The wish to grasp the world and control it – I see its futility. The world is a
spiritlike vessel; it cannot be controlled. One who would control it
would ruin it; one who would grasp it would lose it.
Thus things may lead or follow, blow hot or cold, be strong or weak, sustain
or destroy.
Therefore the sage discards the excessive, the extravagant, the overbearing.
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30.
He who assists a ruler by means of the Dao does not coerce the world by
means of arms. Consequences come back around like a ring.
Where troops encamp, brambles grow;
After great armies, crops always fail.
The good man is simply resolute; he never employs coercion. Be resolute without boast, resolute
without threat, resolute without pride.
Resolute from necessity, be resolute without coercion.
When things in their prime grow old, they are called ‘contrary to the Dao’.
What is contrary to the Dao comes to an early end.
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31.
Weapons are ill fortuned tools. Things may detest them, hence the man of the
Dao does not rely on them.
When a junzi is at leisure he honors what is at his left; use of weapons honors
the right. Thus weapons are not tools of a junzi.
Weapons are ill fortuned tools; they must be used only from necessity. It is
best to use them without gusto, to prevail without relish. To relish
victory is to take joy in killing men. The man who takes joy in killing
men will never attain his ambition in the world.
Affairs of good fortune honor the left; affairs of ill fortune honor the right.
The lieutenant’s place is to the left, the commander’s place is to the
right. This means that mourning rites are the model. When the masses
of another lord are killed, one should mourn them with wailing – for
victory in battle, mourning rites are the model.
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32.
The Dao is ever nameless. Though the uncarved block be small, it cannot be
made the subordinate of any in the world. If a king or lord could
preserve it, the things of the world would come to him of themselves.
As heaven and earth conjoin to send down sweet dew, the people will
settle themselves, though none so decrees.
As soon as it is cut, then there are names. Once there are names one must
know it’s time to stop. Knowing to stop is the way to avoid danger.
The Dao is to the world as the Yangzi and sea ae to streams and brooks.
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33.
He who knows men is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.
He who conquers men has strength; he who conquers himself is strong.
He who knows when he has enough is wealthy; he who perseveres has strong
will.
He who does not lose his place is lasting; he who lasts beyond his death is
long lived.
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34.
The Great Dao flows everywhere, at our every right and left. Relying upon it,
the things of the world are born, yet it remains wordless; its work
done it takes no name as the doer.
Clothing and nourishing the things of the world, it never acts as their lord –
constant without desire, it may be termed small. The things of the
world return to it but it never acts as their lord – it may be termed
great.
Because it never takes itself to be great it is able to complete its greatness.
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35.
Grasp the great image and the world will come; coming and encountering no
harm, it will settle in great peace.
Where there is music and food, travelers stop.
When the Dao is spoken as words, how thin it is, without taste. Look at it and
it cannot be seen; listen to it and it cannot be heard. But use it, and it
cannot be exhausted.
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36.
To shrink it you must stretch it; to weaken it you must strengthen it; to
discard it you must raise it up; to seize it you must bestow it – this is
called subtle discernment.
The weak and supple overcomes the strong and hard.
Fish must not emerge from the deeps; the vital tools of a state must not be revealed.
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37.
The Dao is ever non-acting (wuwei), yet nothing is undone. If a lord or king
can preserve this the things of the world will of themselves be
transformed.
Transformed, should desire arise, I will press it down with the uncarved
block of namelessness. The uncarved block of namelessness--surely
then they shall be without desire. Without desire and thus still, so will
the world be settled of itself.
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38.
The highest virtue (de) is without virtue, hence it has virtue. The lowest
virtue never deviates from virtue, hence it lacks virtue. The highest
virtue does not act (wuwei) and has no reason to act; the lowest virtue
acts and has reason to act. The highest ren acts without any reason to
act. The highest right (yi) acts and has reason to act. The highest li
acts, and if no persons respond, rolls up its sleeves and twists their
arms.
Hence, only after the Dao is lost is there virtue; only after virtue is lost is
there ren; only after ren is lost is there right; only after right is lost is
there li.
Li is the thinning of loyalty and faithfulness, when chaos first raises its head.
Foreknowledge is the blossom of the Dao, when ignorance first begins.
Therefore, the great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin; abides in the
fruit, not in the blossom. Thus he discards the one and grasps the
other.
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39.
Those of old that gained the One:
The sky (tian) gained the One and was thus clear;
Earth gained the One and was thus calm;
The spirits gained the One and were thus potent;
The valley gained the One and was this full;
The things of the world gained the One and were thus born;
Kings and lords gained the One and were models to the world –
This is what the One brought about.
Without what makes it clear, the sky would likely split;
Without what makes it calm, the earth would likely collapse;
Without what makes them potent, the spirits would likely dissipate;
Without what makes it full, the valley would likely run dry;
Without what gives them birth, the world of things would likely be
extinguished;
Without what makes them honored, kings and lords will likely topple.
Therefore, the honored takes the lowly as root; high takes low as foundation.
For this reason, kings and lords refer to themselves as ‘the orphan’,
‘the widow’, ‘the unemployed’ – does this take the lowly as the root or
does it not?
Hence the utmost renown is to be unknown. Have no wish be glossy like jades,
rather be hard like stones.
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40.
Reversal is the motion of the Dao. Weakness is the method of the Dao.
The things of the world are born from being, and being is born of nothing.
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41.
When the best gentlemen hear the Dao they practice it assiduously. When
middling gentlemen hear the Dao, sometimes they seem to have it,
sometimes they seem to have lost it. When the least of gentlemen hear
the Dao they laugh out loud. If they did not laugh out loud, it would
not be the Dao.
Thus the ‘Standard Sayings’ says:
The bright dao seems dark,
The advancing dao seems to retreat,
The level dao seems steep.
Highest virtue (de) seems a valley,
Greatest white seems sullied,
Broad virtue seems inadequate,
Vigorous virtue seems to shirk,
Plain virtue seems soiled.
The great square is cornerless
The great vessel is last complete,
The great note is rarified sound,
The great image has no form.
The Dao hides in wordlessness. Only the Dao is well begun and well completed.
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42.
The Dao gives birth to one; one gives birth to two; two gives birth to three;
three gives birth to the ten thousand things.
The things of the world bear Yin on their backs and embrace the Yang. They
exhaust their qi in harmony.
People detest being orphaned or widowed or unemployed, yet these are the
terms kings and lords use to refer to themselves.
One may detract from a thing and it is enhanced thereby, or enhance it and
so detract from it.
What others teach I teach as well: ‘Bullies do not die natural deaths.’ But I
shall make this the wellspring of my teaching.
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43.
The most pliant thing in the world will ride roughshod over the hardest.
What comes out from where nothing is enters into what has no
apertures.
Hence I know the advantage of non-action (wuwei). The wordless
teaching and the advantage of non-action – few in the world attain to these.
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44.
One’s reputation or one’s body: which is dearer?
One’s body or one’s goods: which is worth more?
Gaining or losing: which is worse?
Therefore, miserliness leads to great expense, hoarding leads to deep loss.
Know what is enough and escape shame; know when to stop and escape
danger – thus can one long endure.
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45.
Great perfection appears defective, so use can never make it worn; great
fullness seems vacant, so use can never make it empty. Great straightness
seems bent; great skill seems clumsy; great eloquence seems inarticulate.
Haste overcomes cold, tranquility overcomes heat.
Clear and tranquil, be a standard to the world.
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46.
When the Dao prevails in the world, fast horses are corralled for manure;
when the Dao does not prevail in the world, steeds of war are born in
the city pastures.
There is no calamity greater than not knowing what is sufficient; there is no
fault greater than wishing to acquire. Thus the sufficiency of knowing
what is sufficient is eternal sufficiency.
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47.
Without going out your door, know the world; without looking out the
window, know the Dao of Tian.
The further you travel, the less you know.
Hence the sage knows without going to it, names it without seeing, does
nothing and it is achieved.
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48.
He who studies is daily enlarged; he who follows the Dao is daily diminished.
Diminished and then diminished yet more, at last attaining non-action
(wuwei). Never acting, nothing is undone.
To control the world, undertake nothing. Once you undertake to do anything you are unfit to control the world.
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49.
The sage has no constant mind: he takes the mind of the people as his mind.
When I treat the good as good and I also treat those who are not good as
good, my virtue is good.
When I treat the faithful as faithful and I also treat the unfaithful as faithful,
my virtue is faithful.
The sage appears shut to the world, and towards the world he blanks his
mind in a daze. The people all entrust their eyes and ears to him; he
treats them as children.
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50.
Coming we are born, going we die.
Three in ten are followers of life; three in ten are followers of death – at birth
begun to move towards the death, these too are three in ten. Why is
this? Because they treat life as life.
I have heard that one good at protecting his life walks in the hills but never
encounters rhinoceros or tiger, charges against armies and is never
touched by weapon or armor. The rhinoceros finds no place to thrust
its horn; the tiger finds no place to grip its claws; weapons find no
place to drive their blades. Why is this? Because he has no death place
in him.
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51.
The Dao gives birth to them, virtue (de) rears them, things give them form,
circumstances complete them.
Thus all things in the world revere Dao and honor virtue. That the Dao is
revered and virtue honored is ordained by no one; it is ever so of itself.
Thus the Dao gives birth to them and virtue rears them – fosters them,
nurtures them, settles them, completes them, nourishes them, covers
them.
To live but not possess, to act but depend on nothing, to lead without
directing, this is called mysterious virtue.
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52.
The world has a beginning – take it to be the mother of the world.
Having grasped the mother, you can know the child. Having grasped the child,
return to preserve the mother and you will live out your life without
danger.
Block the portals and shut the gate, you will live out your days and never be
troubled. Open the portals and turn to the tasks, you will live out your
days and never be rescued.
To see the small is called enlightenment; to preserve the pliant is called
strength.
Use the gleam to return to enlightenment without bringing calamity upon
oneself.
This is to make the constant your habit.
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53.
Had I the least wisdom I would walk the great Dao. I would fear only side
paths. The great Dao is so level, yet people prefer shortcuts.
The court is so tainted, the fields so overgrown, the granaries so empty.
Robes gleaming with patterns, belts hung with swords, sated with
food and drink, goods in excess – such is to rob the destitute. Robbing
the destitute is not the Dao.
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54.
What is firmly planted cannot be uprooted; what is tightly embraced cannot
be stripped away. Descendants will thereby sacrifice without cease.
Cultivate it in yourself and your virtue (de) will be authentic; cultivate it in
the family and it will have virtue in abundance; cultivate it in the
village and its virtue will endure; cultivate it in the state and its virtue
will be rich; cultivate it through the world and it virtue will spread
everywhere.
Hence see people through oneself; see families through your family; see villages
through your village; see states through your state; see the
world through the world.
How do I know the world is thus? By means of this.
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55.
One who possesses virtue in abundance may be compared to a new born
babe. Wasps and scorpions, poisonous snakes: none will bite him.
Fierce beasts will not maul him, predatory birds will not swoop down
upon him.
His bones are weak, his muscles pliable, and his grasp is firm. He knows
nothing of the female and the male, yet his male organ stirs. His
essence is at its most pure. He can scream all day and not become
hoarse. This is harmony at its height.
Knowing harmony is called constant; knowing the constant is called enlightened.
To increase one’s nature is called inauspicious; when the mind directs the qi it is called self-coercion.
When things in their prime grow old, they are called ‘contrary to the Dao’. What is contrary to the Dao comes to an early end.
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56.
Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
Blunt the point,
Undo the tangle,
Soften the glare,
Join the dust.
This is called the dark joining.
Hence one cannot become close to it, one cannot become distant from it, one
cannot profit it, one cannot harm it, one cannot honor it, one cannot
disdain it.
Thus it is honored by the world.
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57.
To order a state use uprightness; to lead troops use stratagems; to control the
world undertake nothing.
How do I know it is so? By means of this.
As the world is filled with more taboos the people grow poorer; as the people
possess more sharp weapons the state grows benighted; as men use
more crafty skills strange goods increasingly appear; as laws are
proclaimed with increasing clarity bandits become more common.
Hence the sage says: If I take no action the people will transform of
themselves; if I love tranquility the people will be upright of
themselves; if I undertake nothing the people will create wealth of
themselves; if I have no desires the people will of themselves become
uncarved blocks.
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58.
When the government is narrow and dull the people are simple and pure;
when the government is clear and acute the people are sharp and
crafty.
Disaster – good fortune adheres therein; good fortune – disaster lurks
therein.
Who knows its limit? It possesses no settled norm. The norm turns into the
anomaly, the good turns into the monstrous.
It has been long indeed that men have lost their way.
Hence the sage is like a square that does not cut, a corner that is not sharp, a
straight line that cannot align, a light that does not shine.
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59.
In governing people and serving Tian, there is nothing like parsimony.
Parsimony may be called ‘submitting in advance’. Submitting in
advance may be called piling up virtue (de). If you pile up virtue there
is nothing you cannot overcome, and if there is nothing you cannot
overcome, the limit of it cannot be known. When the limit cannot be
known, you may possess the state. If you possess the mother of the
state, you may long endure.
This is called the deep root and the solid trunk; it is the dao of long gazing
upon enduring life.
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60.
Governing a large state is like cooking a small fish.
When one approaches governing the world by means of the Dao, ghosts will
have no potency. It is not that they have no potency, but that their
potency will not harm people, It is not that their potency will not
harm people, but that the sage too will not harm people. These two
will do no mutual harm, and therein will virtue (de) commingle and
return.
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61.
A large state lies downstream; it is the female of the world. In intercourse,
the female overcomes the male by means of stillness, because stillness
lies below. Thus when the large state takes the lower position it
controls the small state. When a small state takes the lower position, it
places itself under the control of the large state. In the one case the
state takes the lower position to control, in the other it takes the lower
position to place itself under control.
Large states wish no more than to annex and nurture people; small states
wish no more than to enter into service. Both gain what they wish.
It is appropriate that the large dwell below.
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62.
The Dao is the altar of the things of the world. It is the treasure of the good
person and the protection of the bad person.
Fine words can be marketed; honorable conduct can add to one’s rank. As
for the bad person, how can they be abandoned?
Hence when the Son of Tian assumes the throne, in appointing the three high
ministers, he who bears the jade disk of court and presents a team of
horses is not esteemed so much as he who sits in place and offers this
dao.
Why was this dao so esteemed in the past? Is it not said that by means of it
one will get what one seeks, and transgressors will evade punishment?
Hence it was esteemed by the world.
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63.
Engage in non-action, undertake having no undertakings, taste the tasteless.
Enlarge the small, increase the few, requite hostility with virtue (de).
Plan for the difficult on the basis of the simple, do great things on the basis of
details – the difficult undertakings of the world are all arise from
simple situations, and the greatest undertakings in the world all arise
from small details.
Hence the sage never does a great act, and is thus able to complete his
greatness.
Thoughtless assent always brings little trust; many easy acts always lead to
many difficulties. Therefore the sage seems to treat them as difficult,
and thus never has difficulties.
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64.
When things are at rest they are easy to maintain; when situations have not
yet emerged they are easy to plan for. When brittle, things are easy to
split; when minute things are easy to disperse.
Deal with things before they occur; order things before they are disordered.
A tree trunk several arm spans round was born of the tiniest seed. Towers
nine stories high rise from foundations of piled earth. A journey of a
thousand li begins with the first footfall.
He who acts, fails; he who grasps, loses.
Therefore the sage takes no action (wuwei) and hence has no failure, does no
grasping and hence takes no loss.
When people pursue an undertaking, it is always at the point of success that
they ruin it. Attend at the end as you did at the start and you will have
no failures.
Therefore, the sage desires not to desire and does not value goods hard to
come by; he learns not to learn and redeems the errors of the masses.
Assisting the things of the world to be as they are in themselves, he dares not
act.
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65.
Men of the past who were good at following the Dao did not use it to
enlighten the people, they used it to make them ignorant. People are
difficult to govern is when they have much knowledge.
Hence one who governs by means of knowledge plunders the state; one who
does not govern by means of knowledge brings fortune to the state.
Indeed, these two constitute the standard – to be always aware of the
standard is called dark virtue (de).
Dark virtue is profound, far reaching; it revolves together with things. Only
then does it attain great compliance.
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66.
The reason that the Yangzi and the sea rule as kings over hundreds of river
valleys is because they know well to take the lower position;
that is why they rule as kings over hundreds of river valleys.
Hence if you wish to rule above the people you must employ words to take
the lower position; if you wish to lead people you must place
yourself behind them.
Therefore, the sage dwells above and the people don’t consider him heavy, he
stands ahead of them and they do not consider it an injury to
them. Hence the world delights in supporting him untiringly.
Because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him.
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67.
All in the world say my dao is huge, but appears to be worthless. It is indeed
because it is huge that it appears worthless. If it were worthy would it
not long since have become small?
I possess three treasures; I protect them in my grasp. One is compassion, the
second is frugality, and third, I dare not take the lead in the world.
Compassionate, thus I can have valor; frugal, thus I can extend my
territory; unwilling to take the lead in the world, thus my works
endure.
Now were I to discard compassion in favor of valor, frugality in favor of
territory, taking my place behind in favor of leading, I would die.
He who goes to battle with compassion prevails; who defends his state with
compassion will be impregnable. He whom Tian wishes to save it
protects by means of compassion.
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68.
A good warrior does not act fearsome; one good at battle does not become
angry; one good at defeating the enemy does not contest; one good at
directing people takes the lower position.
This is the virtue of not contending; this is called directing the strength of
others; this is called companion to Tian – the utmost limit of the past.
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69.
Military strategists have a saying: I dare not act as the host, but rather the
guest; I dare not advance an inch, but rather retreat a foot.
This is called walking where there is no road, rolling up the sleeve where
there is no arm, grasping where there is no weapon, struggling where
there is no enemy.
There is no calamity greater than having no enemy, without an enemy, I have
almost lost my treasure. Thus when two matched armies contest, it is
the victor that mourns.
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70.
My words are so easy to understand and so easy to put in practice; none in
the world can understand or practice them.
Words have a governing meaning, affairs have a ruling actor.
It is because they are have no knowledge that they do not understand me.
Those who understand me are few; those who emulate me are
esteemed.
Therefore, the sage wears coarse clothes and conceals in them a precious jade.
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71.
To know you do not know is best; not to know that one does not know is to be
flawed.
One who sees his flaws as flaws is therefore not flawed.
The sage is flawless. He sees his flaws as flaws, therefore he is flawless.
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72.
When the people do not hold the awesome in awe, awful events occur.
Do not narrow their living space nor crush their means of livelihood. Because
you do not crush them, they will not view you as a crushing burden.
Therefore the sage knows himself but does not display himself, cherishes
himself but does not honor himself.
Thus he discards the one and takes the other
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73.
One who is valiant in being daring will be killed. One who is valiant in being
timid will live. Of these two, one is profitable and one is harmful.
Who knows why Tian hates what it hates? Even the sage takes this to be
difficult.
The dao of Tian excels at prevailing though it does not contend; it excels at
responding, though it does not speak; things come of themselves
though it does not summon; it excels at planning though it is flexible.
The net of Tian is vast; though the mesh is broadly spaced, nothing gets
through.
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74.
If the people do not fear death, what good is threatening them with death? If
you make the people ever fearful of death and threaten to execute any
who innovate new things, who will dare to do so?
Always have an executioner whose charge it is to kill. One who takes the
place of an executioner is like one who takes the carpenter’s place in
hewing wood. Few who take the carpenter’s place fail to wound their
hands.
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75.
When the people starve it is because their ruler extracts too much in taxes,
that is why they starve. When the people are hard to govern it is
because their ruler takes action, that is why they are hard to govern.
When the people regard death as unimportant it is because they seek
life too assiduously, that is why they regard death as unimportant.
It is precisely doing nothing for the sake of life that makes one worthier than
those who value life.
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76.
When born, people are pliant and weak; when they die they are stiff and
strong. The things of the world, such as trees and grasses, are born pliant
and fragile; they die shriveled and dry.
Thus the hard and strong are followers of death; the pliant and weak are
followers of life.
Therefore, when a weapon is strong it cannot conquer; when a tree is strong
it is put to the axe. The strong and great dwell below; the pliant and weak
dwell above.
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77.
The dao of Tian is like the stretching of a bow: the high is brought down and
the low is raised up; it takes from what has abundance and supplies
what is wanting. The dao of Tian takes from what has abundance and
supplies what is wanting, but the dao of man is not thus. It takes from
what is wanting in order to supply what has abundance.
Who can serve Heaven by means of abundance? Only one who possesses the
Dao.
Hence the sage acts but relies on nothing. His task accomplished, he does not
take the credit: he does not wish to manifest his worth.
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78.
Nothing in the world is more weak and soft than water, yet nothing surpasses
it in conquering the hard and strong – there is nothing that can
compare.
All know that the weak conquers the strong and the soft conquers the hard.
But none are able to act on this.
Thus the sage says that he who receives the derision of the state is the lord of
the state altars; he who receives the misfortune of the state is the king
of the world.
Straight words seem to reverse themselves.
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79.
When making peace between disputants, there is always some remaining
sense of dispute – how can this constitute a good act?
Therefore, the sage keeps hold of the creditor’s tally but never calls in the
debts others owe him.
One with virtue (de) oversees the tally, one without virtue oversees the
payment.
The dao of Tian has no favorites; it always shifts to the good person.
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80.
Make the state small and the people few. Let there be arms for troops in tens
and hundreds, but unused. Make the people treat death seriously and
not move to distant places.
Though there be boats and carriages, they shall not be ridden. Though there
be armor and weaponry, they shall not be deployed.
Let the people return to keeping records by knotted rope.
Their food sweet to them, their clothes beautiful to them, their homes
comfortable to them, their customs joyful to them.
Though neighboring states be in sight of one another and the sounds of the
cocks and dogs heard from one to the other, the people of one will
never visit the other, even as they grow old and die.
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81.
Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy.
Good words are not eloquent; eloquent words are not good.
The wise are not broadly learned; the broadly learned are not wise.
The sage does not hoard. Having used what he has for others, his possessions
increase; having given what he has to others, he has more and more.
The dao of Tian benefits and does not harm. The dao of the sage is for others
and does not contend.
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