| 1 | Now arms, however beautiful, are instruments of evil omen, hateful, it may be said, to all creatures. |
| 2 | Therefore they who have the Tao do not like to employ them. |
| 3 | The superior man ordinarily considers the left hand the most honourable place, but in time of war the right hand. |
| 4 | Those sharp weapons are instruments of evil omen, and not the instruments of the superior man;-- |
| 5 | he uses them only on the compulsion of necessity. |
| 6 | Calm and repose are what he prizes; victory (by force of arms) is to him undesirable. |
| 7 | To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men; |
| 8 | and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom. |
| 9 | On occasions of festivity to be on the left hand is the prized position; |
| 10 | on occasions of mourning, the right hand. |
| 11 | The second in command of the army has his place on the left; |
| 12 | the general commanding in chief has his on the right;-- |
| 13 | his place, that is, is assigned to him as in the rites of mourning. |
| 14 | He who has killed multitudes of men should weep for them with the bitterest grief; |
| 15 | and the victor in battle has his place (rightly) according to those rites. |
| 1 | The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name. |
| 2 | Though in its primordial simplicity it may be small, the whole world dares not deal with (one embodying) it as a minister. |
| 3 | If a feudal prince or the king could guard and hold it, all would spontaneously submit themselves to him. |
| 4 | Heaven and Earth (under its guidance) unite together and send down the sweet dew, |
| 5 | which, without the directions of men, reaches equally everywhere as of its own accord. |
| 6 | As soon as it proceeds to action, it has a name. |
| 7 | When it once has that name, (men) can know to rest in it. |
| 8 | When they know to rest in it, they can be free from all risk of failure and error. |
| 9 | The relation of the Tao to all the world is like that of the great rivers and seas to the streams from the valleys. |
| 1 | All-pervading is the Great Tao! It may be found on the left hand and on the right. |
| 2 | All things depend on it for their production, which it gives to them, not one refusing obedience to it. |
| 3 | When its work is accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it. |
| 4 | It clothes all things as with a garment, and makes no assumption of being their lord;-- |
| 5 | it may be named in the smallest things. |
| 6 | All things return (to their root and disappear), |
| 7 | and do not know that it is it which presides over their doing so;-- |
| 8 | it may be named in the greatest things. |
| 9 | Hence the sage is able (in the same way) to accomplish his great achievements. |
| 10 | It is through his not making himself great that he can accomplish them. |
| 1 | To him who holds in his hands the Great Image (of the invisible Tao), the whole world repairs. |
| 2 | Men resort to him, and receive no hurt, but (find) rest, peace, and the feeling of ease. |
| 3 | Music and dainties will make the passing guest stop (for a time). |
| 4 | But though the Tao as it comes from the mouth, seems insipid and has no flavour, |
| 5 | though it seems not worth being looked at or listened to, the use of it is inexhaustible. |
| 1 | When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a (previous) expiration; |
| 2 | when he is going to weaken another, he will first strengthen him; |
| 3 | when he is going to overthrow another, he will first have raised him up; |
| 4 | when he is going to despoil another, he will first have made gifts to him:-- |
| 5 | this is called 'Hiding the light (of his procedure).' |
| 6 | The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong. |
| 7 | Fishes should not be taken from the deep; |
| 8 | instruments for the profit of a state should not be shown to the people. |
| 1 | (Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure). |
| 2 | (Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (sought how) not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them (in fullest measure). |
| 3 | (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything. |
| 4 | (Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing. |
| 5 | (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so. |
| 6 | (Those who) possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had need to be so doing. |
| 7 | (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, |
| 8 | and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them. |
| 9 | Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared; |
| 10 | when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; |
| 11 | when benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared; |
| 12 | and when righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared. |
| 13 | Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; |
| 14 | swift apprehension is (only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity. |
| 15 | Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; |
| 16 | dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. |
| 17 | It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other. |
| 1 | The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are-- |
| 2 | Heaven which by it is bright and pure; |
| 3 | Earth rendered thereby firm and sure; |
| 4 | Spirits with powers by it supplied; |
| 5 | Valleys kept full throughout their void |
| 6 | All creatures which through it do live |
| 7 | Princes and kings who from it get The model which to all they give. |
| 8 | All these are the results of the One (Tao). |
| 9 | If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend; |
| 10 | If earth were not thus sure, 'twould break and bend; |
| 11 | Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail; |
| 12 | If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale; |
| 13 | Without that life, creatures would pass away; |
| 14 | Princes and kings, without that moral sway, |
| 15 | However grand and high, would all decay. |
| 16 | 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). |
| 17 | Hence princes and kings call themselves 'Orphans,' 'Men of small virtue,' and as 'Carriages without a nave.' |
| 18 | Is not this an acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they see the foundation of their dignity? |
| 19 | 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. |
| 20 | They do not wish to show themselves elegant-looking as jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an (ordinary) stone. |
| 1 | Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice. |
| 2 | Scholars of the middle class, when they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it. |
| 3 | Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh greatly at it. |
| 4 | If it were not (thus) laughed at, it would not be fit to be the Tao. |
| 5 | Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:-- |
| 6 | 'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack; |
| 7 | Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back; |
| 8 | Its even way is like a rugged track. |
| 9 | Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise; |
| 10 | Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes; |
| 11 | And he has most whose lot the least supplies. |
| 12 | Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low; |
| 13 | Its solid truth seems change to undergo; |
| 14 | Its largest square doth yet no corner show |
| 15 | A vessel great, it is the slowest made; |
| 16 | Loud is its sound, but never word it said; |
| 17 | A semblance great, the shadow of a shade.' |
| 18 | The Tao is hidden, and has no name; |
| 19 | but it is the Tao which is skilful at imparting (to all things what they need) and making them complete. |
| 1 | The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. |
| 2 | All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), |
| 3 | and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), |
| 4 | while they are harmonized by the Breath of Vacancy. |
| 5 | What men dislike is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as carriages without naves; |
| 6 | and yet these are the designations which kings and princes use for themselves. |
| 7 | So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased. |
| 8 | What other men (thus) teach, I also teach. |
| 9 | The violent and strong do not die their natural death. |
| 10 | I will make this the basis of my teaching. |
| 1 | Or fame or life, Which do you hold more dear? |
| 2 | Or life or wealth, To which would you adhere? |
| 3 | Keep life and lose those other things; |
| 4 | Keep them and lose your life:-- |
| 5 | which brings Sorrow and pain more near? |
| 6 | Thus we may see, Who cleaves to fame Rejects what is more great; |
| 7 | Who loves large stores Gives up the richer state. |
| 8 | Who is content Needs fear no shame. |
| 9 | Who knows to stop Incurs no blame. |
| 10 | From danger free Long live shall he. |
| 1 | He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); |
| 2 | he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing). |
| 3 | He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose). |
| 4 | Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is nothing which he does not do. |
| 5 | He who gets as his own all under heaven does so by giving himself no trouble (with that end). |
| 6 | If one take trouble (with that end), he is not equal to getting as his own all under heaven. |
| 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; |
| 3 | and to those who are not good (to me), I am also good;-- |
| 4 | and thus (all) get to be good. |
| 5 | To those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; |
| 6 | and to those who are not sincere (with me), I am also sincere;-- |
| 7 | and thus (all) get to be sincere. |
| 8 | The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all. |
| 9 | The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children. |
| 1 | Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die. |
| 2 | Of every ten three are ministers of life (to themselves); |
| 3 | and three are ministers of death. |
| 4 | There are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose movements tend to the land (or place) of death. |
| 5 | And for what reason? |
| 6 | Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate life. |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | The rhinoceros finds no place in him into which to thrust its horn, |
| 9 | nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws, |
| 10 | nor the weapon a place to admit its point. |
| 11 | And for what reason? |
| 12 | Because there is in him no place of death. |
| 1 | All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing operation. |
| 2 | They receive their forms according to the nature of each, and are completed according to the circumstances of their condition. |
| 3 | Therefore all things without exception honour the Tao, and exalt its outflowing operation. |
| 4 | This honouring of the Tao and exalting of its operation is not the result of any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute. |
| 5 | 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. |
| 6 | It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them; |
| 7 | It carries them through their processes and does not vaunt its ability |
| 8 | In doing so; it brings them to maturity and exercises no control over them;--this is called its mysterious operation. |
| 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. |
| 3 | When one knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to him, |
| 4 | to the end of his life he will be free from all peril. |
| 5 | 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. |
| 6 | 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. |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | Who uses well his light, Reverting to its (source so) bright, |
| 9 | Will from his body ward all blight, And hides the unchanging from men's sight. |
| 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. |
| 4 | 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;-- |
| 5 | such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. |
| 6 | This is contrary to the Tao surely! |
| 1 | What (Tao's) skilful planter plants Can never be uptorn; |
| 2 | What his skilful arms enfold, From him can ne'er be borne. |
| 3 | Sons shall bring in lengthening line, Sacrifices to his shrine. |
| 4 | Tao when nursed within one's self, His vigour will make true; |
| 5 | And where the family it rules What riches will accrue! |
| 6 | The neighbourhood where it prevails In thriving will abound; |
| 7 | And when 'tis seen throughout the state, Good fortune will be found. |
| 8 | Employ it the kingdom o'er, And men thrive all around. |
| 9 | In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observation of different cases; |
| 10 | in the family; |
| 11 | in the neighbourhood; |
| 12 | in the state; and in the kingdom. |
| 13 | How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the sky? |
| 14 | By this (method of observation). |
| 1 | He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant. |
| 2 | Poisonous insects will not sting him; |
| 3 | fierce beasts will not seize him; |
| 4 | birds of prey will not strike him. |
| 5 | (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its grasp is firm. |
| 6 | It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet its virile member may be excited;- |
| 7 | -showing the perfection of its physical essence. |
| 8 | All day long it will cry without its throat becoming hoarse;-- |
| 9 | showing the harmony (in its constitution). |
| 10 | To him by whom this harmony is known, (The secret of) the unchanging (Tao) is shown, |
| 11 | And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne. |
| 12 | All life-increasing arts to evil turn; |
| 13 | Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, |
| 14 | (False) is the strength, (and o'er it we should mourn.) |
| 15 | When things have become strong, they (then) become old, which may be said to be contrary to the Tao. |
| 16 | Whatever is contrary to the Tao soon ends. |
| 1 | He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); |
| 2 | He who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it. |
| 3 | He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). |
| 4 | He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; |
| 5 | he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). |
| 6 | This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.' |
| 7 | (Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; |
| 8 | he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:- |
| 9 | he is the noblest man under heaven. |
| 1 | A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; |
| 2 | weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; |
| 3 | (but) the kingdom is made one's own (only) by freedom from action and purpose. |
| 4 | How do I know that it is so? |
| 5 | By these facts:-- |
| 6 | In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments increases the poverty of the people; |
| 7 | the more implements to add to their profit that the people have, the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; |
| 8 | the more acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances appear; |
| 9 | the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and robbers there are. |
| 10 | Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; |
| 11 | I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. |
| 12 | I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; |
| 13 | I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.' |
| 1 | The government that seems the most unwise, Oft goodness to the people best supplies; |
| 2 | That which is meddling, touching everything, Will work but ill, and disappointment bring. |
| 3 | Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! |
| 4 | Happiness!—misery lurks beneath it! |
| 5 | Who knows what either will come to in the end? |
| 6 | Shall we then dispense with correction? |
| 7 | The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil. |
| 8 | The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time. |
| 9 | Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its angles); |
| 10 | (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). |
| 11 | He is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle. |
| 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). |
| 3 | That early return is what I call the repeated accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao). |
| 4 | With that repeated accumulation of those attributes, there comes the subjugation (of every obstacle to such return). |
| 5 | Of this subjugation we know not what shall be the limit; |
| 6 | and when one knows not what the limit shall be, he may be the ruler of a state. |
| 7 | He who possesses the mother of the state may continue long. |
| 8 | His case is like that (of the plant) of which we say that its roots are deep and its flower stalks firm:-- |
| 9 | this is the way to secure that its enduring life shall long be seen. |
| 1 | Governing a great state is like cooking small fish. |
| 2 | Let the kingdom be governed according to the Tao, |
| 3 | and the manes of the departed will not manifest their spiritual energy. |
| 4 | It is not that those manes have not that spiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men. |
| 5 | It is not that it could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling sage hurt them. |
| 6 | When these two do not injuriously affect each other, their good influences converge in the virtue (of the Tao). |
Search Texts
Download book as a pdf
Chapter - 2