THE TAO TEH KING(道德经)

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THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

THE TAO TEH KING,

OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

by Lao-Tse

translated by James Legge

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

PART 1.

Ch. 1. 1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and

unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and

unchanging name.

2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and

earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.

3. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we

would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is

all that we shall see.

4. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development

takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the

Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle

and wonderful.

2. 1. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing

this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the

skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.

2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the

idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the

other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other;

that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one

with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious

through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind

give the idea of one following another.

3. Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and

conveys his instructions without the use of speech.

4. All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show

itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership; they go

through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the

results). The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an

achievement).

The work is done, but how no one can see; 'Tis this that makes

the power not cease to be.

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

3. 1. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to

keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which

are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves;

not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep

their minds from disorder.

2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their

minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.

3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without

desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from

presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good

order is universal.

4. 1. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our

employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep

and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!

2. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of

things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into

agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, as

if it would ever so continue!

3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before

God.

5. 1. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to

be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with.

The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the

people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.

2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a

bellows?

'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power; 'Tis moved again, and

sends forth air the more. Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;

Your inner being guard, and keep it free.

6. The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mystery

thus do we name. Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, Is

called the root from which grew heaven and earth. Long and unbroken

does its power remain, Used gently, and without the touch of pain.

7. 1. Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because

they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to

continue and endure.

2. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in

the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet

that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private

ends, that therefore such ends are realised?

8. 1. The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence

of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without

striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its

way) is near to (that of) the Tao.

2. The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place; that

of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is in their being

with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing good order; that of

(the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and that of (the initiation of) any

movement is in its timeliness.

3. And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about

his low position), no one finds fault with him.

9. 1. It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it

when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the

point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

2. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them

safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on

itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished,

to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

10. 1. When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one

embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided

attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy,

he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the most

mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.

2. In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed without

any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his gates of

heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his intelligence reaches

in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be without knowledge?

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

3. (The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces

them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not

boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them. This is what

is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).

11. The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty

space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned

into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.

The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment;

but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends. Therefore,

what has a (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation, and what

has not that for (actual) usefulness.

12. 1. Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;

Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five

deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting

waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange, Sought

for, men's conduct will to evil change.

2. Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not

the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, and

prefers to seek the former.

13. 1. Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour

and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same

kind).

2. What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace

is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour). The getting

that (favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leads

to the fear of (still greater calamity):--this is what is meant by saying that

favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared.

And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are to be

(similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to

great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the

body, what great calamity could come to me?

3. Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as he

honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would

administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

entrusted with it.

14. 1. We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the

Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the

Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it

'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of

description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.

2. Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.

Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returns

and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless, and the

Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.

3. We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see its

Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of the

present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this

is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.

15. 1. The skilful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle and

exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were deep (also) so

as to elude men's knowledge. As they were thus beyond men's

knowledge, I will make an effort to describe of what sort they appeared to

be.

2. Shrinking looked they like those who wade through a stream in

winter; irresolute like those who are afraid of all around them; grave like a

guest (in awe of his host); evanescent like ice that is melting away;

unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything; vacant

like a valley, and dull like muddy water.

3. Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it

will gradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest? Let

movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.

4. They who preserve this method of the Tao do not wish to be full (of

themselves). It is through their not being full of themselves that they can

afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.

16. 1. The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree,

and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike go

through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their

original state). When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their

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THETAOTEHKING,ORTHETAOANDITSCHARACTERISTICS1THETAOTEHKING,ORTHETAOANDITSCHARACTERISTICSbyLao-TsetranslatedbyJamesLeggeTHETAOTEHKING,ORTHETAOANDITSCHARACTERISTICS2PART1.Ch.1.1.TheTaothatcanbetroddenisnottheenduringandunchangingTao.Thenamethatcanbenamedisnottheenduringandunchangingname.2.(Conceivedofa...

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