THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

21. The grandest forms of active force

From Tao come, their only source.

Who can of Tao the nature tell?

Our sight it flies, our touch as well.

Eluding sight, eluding touch,

The forms of things all in it crouch;

Eluding touch, eluding sight,

There are their semblances, all right.

Profound it is, dark and obscure;

Things' essences all there endure.

Those essences the truth enfold

Of what, when seen, shall then be told.

Now it is so; 'twas so of old.

Its name--what passes not away;

So, in their beautiful array,

Things form and never know decay.

How know I that it is so with all the beauties of existing things? By

this (nature of the Tao).

22. 1. The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the

empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them;

he whose (desires) are many goes astray.

2. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of

humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-

display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore

he is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is

acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires

superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that

therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

3. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was

not vainly spoken:--all real completion is comprehended under it.

23. 1. Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the

spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole

morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it

that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and Earth. If Heaven

and Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how

much less can man!

2. Therefore when one is making the Tao his business, those who are

also pursuing it, agree with him in it, and those who are making the

manifestation of its course their object agree with him in that; while

even those who are failing in both these things agree with him where

they fail.

3. Hence, those with whom he agrees as to the Tao have the

happiness of attaining to it; those with whom he agrees as to its

manifestation have the happiness of attaining to it; and those with

whom he agrees in their failure have also the happiness of attaining

(to the Tao). (But) when there is not faith sufficient (on his part), a want

of faith (in him) ensues (on the part of the others).

24. He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who

stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays

himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not

distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit

acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to

him. Such conditions, viewed from the standpoint of the Tao, are like

remnants of food, or a tumour on the body, which all dislike. Hence

those who pursue (the course) of the Tao do not adopt and allow

them.

25. 1. There was something undefined and complete, coming into

existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless,

standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and

in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother

of all things.

2. I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao

(the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I

call it The Great.

3. Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes

remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao is

great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king is also

great. In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage)

king is one of them.

4. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from

Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its

being what it is.

26. 1. Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of

movement.

2. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far

from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects

to look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to

them. How should the lord of a myriad chariots carry himself lightly

before the kingdom? If he do act lightly, he has lost his root (of

gravity); if he proceed to active movement, he will lose his throne.

27. 1. The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or

footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault

with or blamed; the skilful reckoner uses no tallies; the skilful

closer needs no bolts or bars, while to open what he has shut will be

impossible; the skilful binder uses no strings or knots, while to

unloose what he has bound will be impossible. In the same way the

sage is always skilful at saving men, and so he does not cast away

any man; he is always skilful at saving things, and so he does not cast

away anything. This is called 'Hiding the light of his procedure.'

2. Therefore the man of skill is a master (to be looked up to) by him

who has not the skill; and he who has not the skill is the helper of

(the reputation of) him who has the skill. If the one did not honour

his master, and the other did not rejoice in his helper, an

(observer), though intelligent, might greatly err about them. This is

called 'The utmost degree of mystery.'

28. 1. Who knows his manhood's strength,

Yet still his female feebleness maintains;

As to one channel flow the many drains,

All come to him, yea, all beneath the sky.

Thus he the constant excellence retains;

The simple child again, free from all stains.

Who knows how white attracts,

Yet always keeps himself within black's shade,

The pattern of humility displayed,

Displayed in view of all beneath the sky;

He in the unchanging excellence arrayed,

Endless return to man's first state has made.

Who knows how glory shines,

Yet loves disgrace, nor e'er for it is pale;

Behold his presence in a spacious vale,

To which men come from all beneath the sky.

The unchanging excellence completes its tale;

The simple infant man in him we hail.

2. The unwrought material, when divided and distributed, forms

vessels. The sage, when employed, becomes the Head of all the

Officers (of government); and in his greatest regulations he employs

no violent measures.

29. 1. If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to

effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed. The

kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing. He

who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp

loses it.

2. The course and nature of things is such that

What was in front is now behind;

What warmed anon we freezing find.

Strength is of weakness oft the spoil;

The store in ruins mocks our toil.

Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy

indulgence.

30. 1. He who would assist a lord of men in harmony with the Tao will

not assert his mastery in the kingdom by force of arms. Such a

course is sure to meet with its proper return.

2. Wherever a host is stationed, briars and thorns spring up. In the

sequence of great armies there are sure to be bad years.

3. A skilful (commander) strikes a decisive blow, and stops. He does

not dare (by continuing his operations) to assert and complete his

mastery. He will strike the blow, but will be on his guard against

being vain or boastful or arrogant in consequence of it. He strikes

it as a matter of necessity; he strikes it, but not from a wish for

mastery.

4. When things have attained their strong maturity they become old.

This may be said to be not in accordance with the Tao: and what is

not in accordance with it soon comes to an end.