THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

71. 1. To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest

(attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.

2. It is simply by being pained at (the thought of) having this

disease that we are preserved from it. The sage has not the disease.

He knows the pain that would be inseparable from it, and therefore he

does not have it.

72. 1. When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, that which

is their great dread will come on them.

2. Let them not thoughtlessly indulge themselves in their ordinary

life; let them not act as if weary of what that life depends on.

3. It is by avoiding such indulgence that such weariness does not

arise.

4. Therefore the sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not

parade (his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value

on, himself. And thus he puts the latter alternative away and makes

choice of the former.

73. 1. He whose boldness appears in his daring (to do wrong, in

defiance of the laws) is put to death; he whose boldness appears in

his not daring (to do so) lives on. Of these two cases the one

appears to be advantageous, and the other to be injurious. But

When Heaven's anger smites a man,

Who the cause shall truly scan?

On this account the sage feels a difficulty (as to what to do in the

former case).

2. It is the way of Heaven not to strive, and yet it skilfully

overcomes; not to speak, and yet it is skilful in (obtaining a reply;

does not call, and yet men come to it of themselves. Its

demonstrations are quiet, and yet its plans are skilful and effective.

The meshes of the net of Heaven are large; far apart, but letting

nothing escape.

74. 1. The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to)

frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death,

and I could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death,

who would dare to do wrong?

2. There is always One who presides over the infliction death. He

who would inflict death in the room of him who so presides over it may

be described as hewing wood instead of a great carpenter. Seldom

is it that he who undertakes the hewing, instead of the great

carpenter, does not cut his own hands!

75. 1. The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes

consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer

famine.

2. The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive)

agency of their superiors (in governing them). It is through this

that they are difficult to govern.

3. The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their

labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes

them think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of

living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on

it.

76. 1. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and

strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early

growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.

2. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of

death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.

3. Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not

conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms,

(and thereby invites the feller.)

4. Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that

of what is soft and weak is above.

77. 1. May not the Way (or Tao) of Heaven be compared to the

(method of) bending a bow? The (part of the bow) which was high is

brought low, and what was low is raised up. (So Heaven) diminishes

where there is superabundance, and supplements where there is

deficiency.

2. It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to

supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes

away from those who have not enough to add to his own

superabundance.

3. Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all

under heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao!

4. Therefore the (ruling) sage acts without claiming the results as

his; he achieves his merit and does not rest (arrogantly) in it:--he

does not wish to display his superiority.

78. 1. There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water,

and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing

that can take precedence of it;--for there is nothing (so effectual)

for which it can be changed.

2. Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and

the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry it out in practice.

3. Therefore a sage has said,

'He who accepts his state's reproach,

Is hailed therefore its altars' lord;

To him who bears men's direful woes

They all the name of King accord.'

4. Words that are strictly true seem to be paradoxical.

79. 1. When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a

great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind

of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the

other)?

2. Therefore (to guard against this), the sage keeps the left-hand

portion of the record of the engagement, and does not insist on the

(speedy) fulfilment of it by the other party. (So), he who has the

attributes (of the Tao) regards (only) the conditions of the

engagement, while he who has not those attributes regards only the

conditions favourable to himself.

3. In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always

on the side of the good man.

80. 1. In a little state with a small population, I would so order it,

that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a

hundred men, there should be no employment of them; I would make

the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove

elsewhere (to avoid it).

2. Though they had boats and carriages, they should have no

occasion to ride in them; though they had buff coats and sharp

weapons, they should have no occasion to don or use them.

3. I would make the people return to the use of knotted cords (instead

of the written characters).

4. They should think their (coarse) food sweet; their (plain) clothes

beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common

(simple) ways sources of enjoyment.

5. There should be a neighbouring state within sight, and the voices

of the fowls and dogs should be heard all the way from it to us, but I

would make the people to old age, even to death, not have any

intercourse with it.

81. 1. Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those

who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the

disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not

extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.

2. The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that he

expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more

that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.

3. With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with

all the doing in the way of the sage he does not strive.

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

61. 1. What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down-

flowing (stream);--it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small

states) under heaven.

2. (To illustrate from) the case of all females:--the female always

overcomes the male by her stillness. Stillness may be considered (a

sort of) abasement.

3. Thus it is that a great state, by condescending to small states,

gains them for itself; and that small states, by abasing themselves to

a great state, win it over to them. In the one case the abasement

leads to gaining adherents, in the other case to procuring favour.

4. The great state only wishes to unite men together and nourish them;

a small state only wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other.

Each gets what it desires, but the great state must learn to abase

itself.

62. 1. Tao has of all things the most honoured place.

No treasures give good men so rich a grace;

Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.

2. (Its) admirable words can purchase honour; (its) admirable deeds

can raise their performer above others. Even men who are not good

are not abandoned by it.

3. Therefore when the sovereign occupies his place as the Son of

Heaven, and he has appointed his three ducal ministers, though (a

prince) were to send in a round symbol-of-rank large enough to fill

both the hands, and that as the precursor of the team of horses (in

the court-yard), such an offering would not be equal to (a lesson of)

this Tao, which one might present on his knees.

4. Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Was it not

because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could escape

(from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all

under heaven consider it the most valuable thing.

63. 1. (It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting;

to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste

without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great,

and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.

2. (The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they

are easy, and does things that would become great while they are

small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a

previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one

in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while he never does

what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest

things.

3. He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is

continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.

Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so

never has any difficulties.

64. 1. That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing

has given indications of its presence, it is easy to take measures

against it; that which is brittle is easily broken; that which is very

small is easily dispersed. Action should be taken before a thing has

made its appearance; order should be secured before disorder has

begun.

2. The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the

tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey

of a thousand li commenced with a single step.

3. He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes

hold of a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not

act (so), and therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and

therefore does not lose his bold. (But) people in their conduct of

affairs are constantly ruining them when they are on the eve of

success. If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the

beginning, they would not so ruin them.

4. Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and

does not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not

learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by.

Thus he helps the natural development of all things, and does not dare

to act (with an ulterior purpose of his own).

65. 1. The ancients who showed their skill in practising the Tao did

so, not to enlighten the people, but rather to make them simple and

ignorant.

2. The difficulty in governing the people arises from their having

much knowledge. He who (tries to) govern a state by his wisdom is a

scourge to it; while he who does not (try to) do so is a blessing.

3. He who knows these two things finds in them also his model and

rule. Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call

the mysterious excellence (of a governor). Deep and far-reaching is

such mysterious excellence, showing indeed its possessor as

opposite to others, but leading them to a great conformity to him.

66. 1. That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the

homage and tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being

lower than they;--it is thus that they are the kings of them all. So it is

that the sage (ruler), wishing to be above men, puts himself by his

words below them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person

behind them.

2. In this way though he has his place above them, men do not feel his

weight, nor though he has his place before them, do they feel it an

injury to them.

3. Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of

him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive

with him.

67. 1. All the world says that, while my Tao is great, it yet appears

to be inferior (to other systems of teaching). Now it is just its

greatness that makes it seem to be inferior. If it were like any

other (system), for long would its smallness have been known!

2. But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The

first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking

from taking precedence of others.

3. With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be

liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a

vessel of the highest honour. Now-a-days they give up gentleness

and are all for being bold; economy, and are all for being liberal; the

hindmost place, and seek only to be foremost;--(of all which the end

is) death.

4. Gentleness is sure to be victorious even in battle, and firmly to

maintain its ground. Heaven will save its possessor, by his (very)

gentleness protecting him.

68. He who in (Tao's) wars has skill

Assumes no martial port;

He who fights with most good will

To rage makes no resort.

He who vanquishes yet still

Keeps from his foes apart;

He whose hests men most fulfil

Yet humbly plies his art.

Thus we say, 'He ne'er contends,

And therein is his might.'

Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends,

That they with him unite.'

Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends,

No sage of old more bright.'

69. 1. A master of the art of war has said, 'I do not dare to be the

host (to commence the war); I prefer to be the guest (to act on the

defensive). I do not dare to advance an inch; I prefer to retire a

foot.' This is called marshalling the ranks where there are no ranks;

baring the arms (to fight) where there are no arms to bare; grasping

the weapon where there is no weapon to grasp; advancing against

the enemy where there is no enemy.

2. There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war. To do

that is near losing (the gentleness) which is so precious. Thus it is

that when opposing weapons are (actually) crossed, he who deplores

(the situation) conquers.

70. 1. My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but

there is no one in the world who is able to know and able to practise

them.

2. There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my

words, and an authoritative law for the things (which I enforce). It

is because they do not know these, that men do not know me.

3. They who know me are few, and I am on that account (the more) to

be prized. It is thus that the sage wears (a poor garb of) hair cloth,

while he carries his (signet of) jade in his bosom.

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).

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS

CHARACTERISTICS

PART II.

38. 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). (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).

2. (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did

nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything. (Those

who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and

had need to be so doing.

3. (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always

seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so. (Those who)

possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry

it out, and had need to be so doing.

4. (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were

(always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they

bared the arm and marched up to them.

5. Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared;

when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when

benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared; and when

righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.

6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good

faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension

is (only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.

7. Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews

what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It is

thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.

39. 1. The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are--

Heaven which by it is bright and pure;

Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;

Spirits with powers by it supplied;

Valleys kept full throughout their void

All creatures which through it do live

Princes and kings who from it get

The model which to all they give.

All these are the results of the One (Tao).

2. If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;

If earth were not thus sure, 'twould break and bend;

Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail;

If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale;

Without that life, creatures would pass away;

Princes and kings, without that moral sway,

However grand and high, would all decay.

3. 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). Hence princes and kings call themselves 'Orphans,'

'Men of small virtue,' and as 'Carriages without a nave.' Is not this

an acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they

see the foundation of their dignity? 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. They do not wish to show themselves

elegant-looking as jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an

(ordinary) stone.

40. 1. The movement of the Tao

By contraries proceeds;

And weakness marks the course

Of Tao's mighty deeds.

2. All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named);

that existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).

41. 1. Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao,

earnestly carry it into practice. Scholars of the middle class, when

they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it.

Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh

greatly at it. If it were not (thus) laughed at, it would not be fit

to be the Tao.

2. Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:--

'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack;

Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back;

Its even way is like a rugged track.

Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise;

Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes;

And he has most whose lot the least supplies.

Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;

Its solid truth seems change to undergo;

Its largest square doth yet no corner show

A vessel great, it is the slowest made;

Loud is its sound, but never word it said;

A semblance great, the shadow of a shade.'

3. The Tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is

skilful at imparting (to all things what they need) and making them

complete.

42. 1. The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced

Three; Three produced All things. All things leave behind them the

Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace

the Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are

harmonised by the Breath of Vacancy.

2. What men dislike is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as

carriages without naves; and yet these are the designations which

kings and princes use for themselves. So it is that some things are

increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being

increased.

3. What other men (thus) teach, I also teach. The violent and strong

do not die their natural death. I will make this the basis of my

teaching.

43. 1. The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes

the hardest; that which has no (substantial) existence enters where

there is no crevice. I know hereby what advantage belongs to doing

nothing (with a purpose).

2. There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without

words, and the advantage arising from non-action.

44. 1. Or fame or life,

Which do you hold more dear?

Or life or wealth,

To which would you adhere?

Keep life and lose those other things;

Keep them and lose your life:--which brings

Sorrow and pain more near?

2. Thus we may see,

Who cleaves to fame

Rejects what is more great;

Who loves large stores

Gives up the richer state.

3. Who is content

Needs fear no shame.

Who knows to stop

Incurs no blame.

From danger free

Long live shall he.

45. 1. Who thinks his great achievements poor

Shall find his vigour long endure.

Of greatest fulness, deemed a void,

Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.

Do thou what's straight still crooked deem;

Thy greatest art still stupid seem,

And eloquence a stammering scream.

2. Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity

and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.

46. 1. When the Tao prevails in the world, they send back their swift

horses to (draw) the dung-carts. When the Tao is disregarded in the

world, the war-horses breed in the border lands.

2. There is no guilt greater than to sanction ambition; no calamity

greater than to be discontented with one's lot; no fault greater than

the wish to be getting. Therefore the sufficiency of contentment is

an enduring and unchanging sufficiency.

47. 1. Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes

place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees

the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the

less he knows.

2. Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling; gave

their (right) names to things without seeing them; and accomplished

their ends without any purpose of doing so.

48. 1. He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to

increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks)

from day to day to diminish (his doing).

2. He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing

nothing (on purpose). Having arrived at this point of non-action,

there is nothing which he does not do.

3. He who gets as his own all under heaven does so by giving himself

no trouble (with that end). If one take trouble (with that end), he

is not equal to getting as his own all under heaven.

49. 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; and to those who are

not good (to me), I am also good;--and thus (all) get to be good. To

those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are

not sincere (with me), I am also sincere;--and thus (all) get to be

sincere.

3. The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps

his mind in a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their

eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his

children.

50. 1. Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die.

2. Of every ten three are ministers of life (to themselves); and three

are ministers of death.

3. There are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose

movements tend to the land (or place) of death. And for what reason?

Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate life.

4. 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. The rhinoceros finds no place in him into

which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws,

nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for what reason?

Because there is in him no place of death.