THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

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).