Daodejing

The Way that can be spoken as a way is not the constant Way.The name that can be named is not the constant name.Nameless, it is the beginning of heaven and earth;Named, it is the mother of the ten thousand things.Therefore, constantly without desire, observe its subtle marvel;Constantly with desire, observe its outer limits.These two issue from the same source but differ in name; together they are called mystery.Mystery upon mystery—the gate of all subtle marvels.

All under heaven know beauty as beauty, and ugliness is already there.All know good as good, and the not-good is already there.Thus being and nonbeing give birth to each other, hard and easy complete each other, long and short measure each other, high and low incline toward each other, tone and voice harmonize with each other, before and after follow each other.Therefore the sage abides in the work of nonaction and practices the teaching without words;The ten thousand things arise, and he does not turn away; he gives them life but does not possess them.He acts but does not rely on what he has done; the work is accomplished, but he does not dwell in it.Only because he does not dwell in it, it does not depart.

Do not exalt the worthy, and the people will not contend;Do not prize goods hard to obtain, and the people will not become thieves;Do not display what can be desired, and their hearts will not be disordered.Therefore, in the sage’s governance, he empties their hearts, fills their bellies, weakens their ambitions, and strengthens their bones.He constantly keeps the people without knowledge and without desire.He keeps those who know from daring to act.Act through nonaction, and nothing will be ungoverned.

The Way is empty, yet in use it may never fill.Abyssal—it seems the ancestor of the ten thousand things.It blunts their sharpness, untangles their knots, softens their glare, and joins their dust.Deep and still—it seems perhaps to exist.I do not know whose child it is; it appears before the Sovereign.

Heaven and earth are not humane; they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs.The sage is not humane; he treats the hundred families as straw dogs.The space between heaven and earth—is it not like a bellows?Empty yet never exhausted; set in motion, it brings forth ever more.Many words soon come to nothing; better to hold to the center.

The valley spirit does not die; this is called the mysterious female.The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth.Fine as an unbroken thread, it seems to endure; draw upon it, and it is never spent.

Heaven is long-lasting; earth endures.Heaven and earth can be long-lasting and enduring because they do not live for themselves; therefore they can long endure.Thus the sage puts himself behind, yet finds himself before;He sets himself outside, yet his self remains.Is it not because he has no private ends?Therefore he can fulfill what is his own.

The highest good is like water.Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things without contending; it dwells where the multitude disdain to be, and so comes near the Way.In dwelling, be good to the ground; in heart, good and deep; in giving, good and humane; in speech, good and true; in governing, good at order; in work, good in ability; in movement, good in season.Only by not contending is there no blame.

To hold and fill to overflowing is not as good as stopping.To hammer and sharpen a blade cannot preserve it for long.When gold and jade fill the hall, no one can guard them.Rich and honored, then arrogant—you bequeath calamity to yourself.When the work is fulfilled, withdraw the self: this is heaven’s Way.

Bearing body and soul, embracing the One, can you keep them from parting?Concentrating breath and reaching softness, can you be an infant?Cleansing the mysterious mirror, can you leave it without blemish?Loving the people and governing the state, can you be without knowing?As heaven’s gates open and close, can you be the female?In lucid understanding reaching everywhere, can you be without knowing?Give them life and nurture them; give them life without possessing them, act without relying on what you have done, raise them without ruling them: this is called mysterious virtue.

Thirty spokes converge in a single hub; in its emptiness lies the use of the cart.Clay is worked to make a vessel; in its emptiness lies the use of the vessel.Doors and windows are cut to make a room; in their emptiness lies the use of the room.Thus what is brings benefit; what is not brings use.

The five colors make the eyes blind;The five tones make the ears deaf;The five flavors make the mouth lose its taste;Racing and galloping in the hunt make the heart run wild;Goods hard to obtain obstruct a person’s conduct.Therefore the sage serves the belly, not the eye; so he leaves that and takes this.

Favor and disgrace are both startling; prize great affliction as you prize the self.What does it mean that favor and disgrace are both startling?Favor is a lowering thing: gain it and be startled; lose it and be startled. This is called “favor and disgrace are both startling.”What does it mean to prize great affliction as you prize the self?The reason I have great affliction is that I have a self; if I had no self, what affliction would I have?Therefore, one who prizes giving his self to all under heaven may be entrusted with all under heaven;One who loves giving his self to all under heaven may be charged with all under heaven.

Look for it but do not see it: name it the imperceptible;Listen for it but do not hear it: name it the inaudible;Reach for it but do not grasp it: name it the infinitesimal.These three cannot be pursued by questioning, and so they mingle into one.Above, it is not bright; below, it is not dark.Unbroken, unnameable, it returns again to no-thing.This is called the form without form, the image of no-thing; this is called the dim and wavering.Meet it, and you do not see its head; follow it, and you do not see its rear.Hold to the Way of antiquity to guide the beings of the present.To know the ancient beginning—this is called the thread of the Way.

The ancients who excelled as masters were subtle, wondrous, darkly penetrating, deep beyond knowing.Only because they were beyond knowing, I must strain to describe their bearing.Wary, as if crossing a river in winter;Watchful, as if fearing neighbors on every side;Grave, as if receiving a guest;Melting, like ice about to thaw;Solid, like uncarved wood;Open, like a valley;Blended, like turbid water.Who can, through stillness, let the turbid slowly clear?Who can, through lasting movement, let the still slowly come alive?Those who keep to this Way do not desire fullness.Only because they are not full can they remain veiled, never newly completed.

Reach utmost emptiness; hold fast to deep stillness.The myriad things arise together; through them I watch the return.Things flourish in profusion, each returning again to its root.Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called returning to destiny.Returning to destiny is called the constant; knowing the constant is called illumination.Not knowing the constant, one acts blindly and meets disaster.Knowing the constant brings all-embracing openness; openness brings impartiality; impartiality brings sovereignty; sovereignty accords with Heaven; Heaven accords with the Way; the Way endures; to the end of the body, there is no peril.

The highest ruler: those below merely know that he exists;The next, they cherish and praise;The next, they fear;The next, they despise.Where trust is insufficient, distrust arises.How unhurried—he prizes his words.The work accomplished, the undertaking fulfilled, the hundred families all say: We are so of ourselves.

When the great Way is cast aside, benevolence and righteousness arise;When wisdom and discernment emerge, great falsity arises;When the six kin are not in harmony, filial devotion and parental care arise;When state and house are dark with disorder, loyal ministers arise.

Cut off sageliness, cast away wisdom, and the people benefit a hundredfold;Cut off benevolence, cast away righteousness, and the people return to filial devotion and parental care;Cut off cunning, cast away profit, and thieves and robbers cease to be.Yet these three, taken as doctrine, are not enough.Therefore let there be something to belong to: reveal the plain, embrace the uncarved wood, lessen self-interest, diminish desire.

Cut off learning, and be free of care: between yes and yea, how much distance is there?Between good and evil, how great is the difference?What others fear, one cannot but fear.How desolate—and still it has no end!The multitude are radiant and merry, as at a feast of the great sacrifice, as climbing a terrace in spring.I alone am quiet, showing no sign;Like an infant that has not yet learned to smile;Drifting, as though with nowhere to return.The multitude all have more than enough, while I alone seem to have lost everything.Mine is truly the heart of a fool!Dazed and dim—the common people shine brightly; I alone seem dark.The common people see sharply; I alone am dull and obscure.Calm, like the sea; windblown, as though never coming to rest—the multitude all have their uses, while I alone am stubborn and seem uncouth.I alone differ from others, and treasure feeding from the Mother.

The bearing of profound virtue follows the Way alone.As a thing, the Way is only elusive, only indistinct.Indistinct, elusive—within it are images;Elusive, indistinct—within it are things.Deep, dark—within it is essence;That essence is utterly real; within it is sure testimony.From antiquity to this day, its name has never departed, and through it we behold the beginnings of all.How do I know the form of all beginnings?By this.

Bent, then whole; crooked, then straight; hollow, then filled; worn, then renewed; having little, then gaining; having much, then bewildered.Therefore the sage embraces the One and becomes the pattern under Heaven.Not displaying himself, he is luminous;Not asserting himself, he shines forth;Not vaunting himself, he has achievement;Not exalting himself, he endures.Only because he does not contend can none under Heaven contend with him.The ancient saying, Bent, then whole—could these be empty words?Truly, wholeness returns to him.

Sparse speech is so of itself; thus a whirlwind does not last the whole morning, nor a driving rain the whole day.Who makes them so?Heaven and earth.Even heaven and earth cannot make them last—how much less can human beings?Therefore, one who gives himself to the Way: as a person of the Way, he becomes one with the Way;As a person of virtue, he becomes one with virtue;As a person of loss, he becomes one with loss.One with the Way, he too is gladly received by the Way;One with virtue, he too is gladly received by virtue;One with loss, he too is gladly received by loss.Where trust is insufficient, distrust arises.

One who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm;One who strides cannot travel far;One who displays himself is not luminous;One who asserts himself does not shine forth;One who vaunts himself has no achievement;One who exalts himself does not endure.In the Way, these are called leftover food and excrescent acts.Things may well detest them; therefore one who has the Way does not dwell in them.

There is a thing formed in mystery, born before heaven and earth.Silent, empty—standing alone, unchanging; moving all around, never imperiled; it may be deemed the Mother under Heaven.I do not know its name; I style it the Way, and, compelled to name it, call it Great.Great means passing on; passing on means far-reaching; far-reaching means returning.Thus the Way is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the king too is great.Within the realm are four great ones, and the king dwells as one among them.Humanity models itself on Earth, Earth on Heaven, Heaven on the Way, and the Way on what is so of itself.

The heavy is the root of the light; stillness is the lord of restlessness.Therefore the sage, traveling all day, never leaves the laden wagon.Though glorious vistas appear, he rests at ease, aloof beyond them.How could the lord of ten thousand chariots treat his own person lightly before all under Heaven?Lightness loses the root; restlessness loses the lord.

One skilled in traveling leaves no wheel track; one skilled in speaking leaves no flaw for blame;One skilled in counting uses no tally rods;One skilled in closing uses neither bar nor bolt, yet none can open; one skilled in binding uses neither cord nor knot, yet none can loosen.Therefore the sage is always skilled at rescuing people, and so abandons no one;Always skilled at rescuing things, and so abandons nothing.This is called inheriting illumination.Thus the good person is the teacher of the person not good;The person not good is the material of the good person.Not honoring the teacher, not cherishing the material—however wise one may be, this is great delusion; it is called the essential mystery.

Know the male, hold to the female, and become the streambed under Heaven.Being the streambed under Heaven, constant virtue never leaves you, and you return again to the infant.Know the white, hold to the black, and become the pattern under Heaven.Being the pattern under Heaven, constant virtue never strays, and you return again to the limitless.Know honor, hold to disgrace, and become the valley under Heaven.Being the valley under Heaven, constant virtue is then sufficient, and you return again to uncarved wood.When uncarved wood is divided, it becomes vessels; when the sage employs them, he becomes chief among officials; thus the great shaping does not cut apart.

Those who would take all under heaven and work upon it—I see that they will not succeed.All under heaven is a sacred vessel: it cannot be worked upon; those who work upon it ruin it, those who grasp it lose it.Thus, among things some lead and some follow;some breathe softly and some blow hard;some are strong and some frail;some are cut down and some fall.Therefore the sage casts off excess, casts off extravagance, casts off arrogance.

One who aids a ruler by the Way does not use arms to force all under heaven.Such deeds are apt to return.Where armies have encamped, thorns and brambles grow.In the wake of a great army, a dire year is sure to come.One who is good achieves the result and stops, not daring to seize strength through it.Achieve the result without vaunting it, achieve the result without boasting, achieve the result without pride.Achieve the result only from necessity; achieve the result without force.When things grow strong, they age: this is called being against the Way; what is against the Way soon ends.

Fine weapons are instruments of ill omen; all creatures may abhor them, so one who has the Way does not dwell with them.In ordinary life, the noble one honors the left; in war, the right.Weapons are instruments of ill omen, not instruments for the noble one; when compelled to use them, calm restraint is best.Win, but find no beauty in it; whoever finds beauty in it delights in killing people.Whoever delights in killing people cannot fulfill an ambition under heaven.In fortunate affairs, the left is honored; in baleful affairs, the right.The lieutenant general stands on the left, the commanding general on the right: this says to conduct war as a funeral rite.When multitudes are killed, mourn them with grief and tears; when battle is won, conduct it as a funeral rite.

The Way is forever nameless.Though the uncarved block is small, nothing under heaven can make it a subject.If lords and kings could hold to it, the ten thousand things would come of themselves as guests.Heaven and earth would join and send down sweet dew; no one commanding them, the people would share it evenly of themselves.Once division begins, there are names; as names already exist, one must also know where to stop—knowing where to stop is how to avoid peril.The Way’s presence under heaven may be likened to the streams of the valleys flowing into rivers and seas.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is illumination.Mastering others takes power; mastering yourself is strength.Knowing contentment is wealth.Pressing onward with strength is resolve.Not losing your place is endurance.To die yet not perish is longevity.

The great Way flows everywhere—it may go left or right.The ten thousand things rely on it to live, and it turns none away; its work accomplished, it does not claim possession.It clothes and nourishes the ten thousand things yet does not act as their master; forever without desire, it may be named small.The ten thousand things return to it, yet it does not act as their master; it may be named great.Because to the end it never makes itself great, it can fulfill its greatness.

Hold fast to the great Image, and all under heaven will come.They come and suffer no harm, finding profound peace and ease.Music and savory food make a passing traveler stop.But when the Way comes from the mouth, how bland and flavorless it is: looked at, it is not enough to be seen; listened to, not enough to be heard; put to use, not enough to be exhausted.

If you would contract something, you must first let it expand;if you would weaken something, you must first let it grow strong;if you would abolish something, you must first let it flourish;if you would take something away, you must first give to it.This is called subtle illumination.The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.Fish must not leave the depths; a state’s sharp instruments of advantage must not be shown to the people.

The Way forever acts without acting, yet nothing is left undone.If lords and kings could hold to it, the ten thousand things would transform of themselves.If, in transforming, desire arose, I would settle it with the nameless uncarved block.The nameless uncarved block would in turn bring freedom from desire.Without desire, through stillness, all under heaven would settle of itself.

Highest virtue does not make a virtue of itself; therefore it has virtue.Lower virtue never lets go of virtue; therefore it has no virtue.Highest virtue acts without acting and has no purpose in acting;lower virtue acts and has a purpose in acting.Highest benevolence acts but has no purpose in acting;highest righteousness acts and has a purpose in acting.Highest ritual acts, and when no one responds, it bares its arms and pulls them into line.Thus, when the Way is lost, virtue follows; when virtue is lost, benevolence follows; when benevolence is lost, righteousness follows; when righteousness is lost, ritual follows.Ritual is the thinning of loyalty and trust, and the beginning of disorder.Foreknowledge is the blossom of the Way, and the beginning of folly.Therefore the great person dwells in what is thick, not in what is thin;dwells in the fruit, not in the blossom.Thus, that is cast off and this is taken.

Those who of old attained the One: heaven attained the One and became clear;earth attained the One and became still;spirits attained the One and became numinous;valleys attained the One and became full;the ten thousand things attained the One and came alive;lords and kings attained the One and became the true standard for all under heaven.Taken to the limit: if heaven had nothing by which to be clear, it would, I fear, split;if earth had nothing by which to be still, it would, I fear, burst;if spirits had nothing by which to be numinous, they would, I fear, fade;if valleys had nothing by which to be full, they would, I fear, run dry;if the ten thousand things had nothing by which to live, they would, I fear, perish;if lords and kings had nothing by which to be honored and exalted, they would, I fear, topple.Thus, the honored takes the lowly as its root; the high takes the below as its foundation.Therefore lords and kings call themselves orphaned, bereft, and unworthy.Is this not taking the lowly as their root?Is it not so?Thus, multiplied honors amount to no honor.Do not desire to gleam like jade; be rough and solid like stone.

Returning is the movement of the Way;weakness is the Way’s use.The ten thousand things under heaven are born from being; being is born from nonbeing.

When the highest scholar hears the Way, he diligently practices it;when the middling scholar hears the Way, it seems now present, now gone;when the lowest scholar hears the Way, he laughs aloud at it.Were it not laughed at, it would not be sufficient to be the Way.Thus established sayings have it: the luminous Way seems dark;the advancing Way seems to retreat;the level Way seems uneven;highest virtue seems a valley;great purity seems sullied;wide virtue seems insufficient;steadfast virtue seems feeble;substantial truth seems changeable;the great square has no corners;the great vessel is late in completion;the great sound has rarefied voice;the great Image has no form;the Way lies hidden and nameless.Only the Way is good at giving and bringing to completion.

The Way gives birth to one; one gives birth to two; two gives birth to three; three gives birth to the ten thousand things.The ten thousand things bear yin on their backs and embrace yang, blending their vital breaths into harmony.What people despise are only “orphaned,” “bereft,” and “unworthy,” yet kings and lords use these as titles.Thus, some things are diminished and thereby increased; others are increased and thereby diminished.What others teach, I too teach:“The forceful and violent do not meet their natural death.” I shall take this as the father of my teaching.

The softest thing under heaven gallops through the hardest thing under heaven.What has no being enters where there is no space; by this I know the benefit of non-action.Teaching without words, the benefit of non-action—few under heaven attain them.

Name or body—which is dearer?Body or goods—which is worth more?Gain or loss—which is more afflicting?Therefore, excessive attachment must cost greatly;Amassing much must suffer heavy loss.Know enough and meet no disgrace; know when to stop and meet no danger: thus you may long endure.

Great completion seems incomplete, yet its use never wears out.Great fullness seems empty, yet its use never runs dry.Great straightness seems bent, great skill seems clumsy, great eloquence seems halting.Movement overcomes cold; stillness overcomes heat.Clarity and stillness set all under heaven right.

When the Way prevails under heaven, galloping horses are turned back to manure the fields.When the Way is absent under heaven, warhorses breed at the borders.No calamity is greater than not knowing enough;No fault is greater than desiring to gain.Therefore, know the enoughness of enough, and you will always have enough.

Without going out the door, know all under heaven;Without peering through the window, see the Way of heaven.The farther one goes out, the less one knows.Thus the sage knows without traveling, names without seeing, accomplishes without acting.

In pursuing learning, daily increase; in pursuing the Way, daily decrease.Decrease and decrease again, until you reach non-action.Do nothing, and nothing goes undone.Take all under heaven always by undertaking nothing; once you undertake things, you are unfit to take all under heaven.

The sage has no fixed heart, but takes the people's hearts as his heart.Those who are good, I treat with goodness;Those who are not good, I also treat with goodness;Thus Virtue becomes good.Those who are trustworthy, I trust;Those who are not trustworthy, I also trust;Thus Virtue becomes trustworthy.The sage, amid all under heaven, draws inward and mingles his heart with all under heaven; the people all fix their ears and eyes upon him, and the sage treats them all as children.

We come forth into life and enter into death.Companions of life are three in ten;Companions of death are three in ten;And those whose living motions carry them into the ground of death are also three in ten.Why is this?Because their hold on life is too heavy.I have heard that one who is skilled in guarding life meets neither rhinoceros nor tiger while traveling on land, and enters an army untouched by armor or weapons;The rhinoceros finds nowhere to thrust its horn, the tiger nowhere to set its claws, the weapon nowhere to admit its blade.Why is this?Because in him there is no ground for death.

The Way gives them life, Virtue nurtures them, things give them form, and circumstances bring them to maturity.Therefore, of the ten thousand things, none fails to honor the Way and cherish Virtue.The Way is honored and Virtue cherished because no one commands them, and they are forever so of themselves.Thus the Way gives them life, and Virtue nurtures them;Grows them and raises them;Settles them and ripens them;Sustains them and shelters them.Give life without possessing, act without relying on it, lead without ruling: this is called mysterious Virtue.

All under heaven has a beginning; take it as the mother of all under heaven.Once you have found the mother, thereby know her children; once you know her children, return and hold to the mother, and to the end of your body you will not be in danger.Stop its openings, close its doors, and all your life you will not be worn out.Open its openings, meddle in its affairs, and all your life you will be beyond saving.Seeing the small is called illumination; holding to the soft is called strength.Use its light, then return to its illumination, leaving no calamity to the body;This is called practicing the constant.

If I had the least grain of knowledge, I would walk the great Way and fear only straying from it.The great Way is very level, yet the people delight in bypaths.The court is richly cleared, while the fields are deeply overgrown and the granaries utterly empty;They wear embroidered finery, carry sharp swords, glut themselves with food and drink, and possess wealth and goods in excess;This is called a robber's pomp.Surely it is not the Way!

What is well planted cannot be uprooted; what is well embraced cannot slip away; descendants will thereby continue the ancestral offerings without cease.Cultivate it in the self, and its Virtue will be genuine;Cultivate it in the family, and its Virtue will overflow;Cultivate it in the village, and its Virtue will endure;Cultivate it in the state, and its Virtue will flourish;Cultivate it in all under heaven, and its Virtue will be universal.Therefore, observe the self through the self, the family through the family, the village through the village, the state through the state, and all under heaven through all under heaven.How do I know that all under heaven is so?By this.

One who holds Virtue in fullness may be compared to a newborn child.Wasps, scorpions, vipers, and snakes do not sting it; fierce beasts do not seize it; birds of prey do not strike it.Its bones are weak and sinews soft, yet its grip is firm.Knowing nothing of the union of female and male, its member rises whole: the utmost of vital essence.It cries all day without growing hoarse: the utmost of harmony.To know harmony is called constancy; to know constancy is called illumination; forcing life is called ominous.When the heart drives the vital breath, this is called force.Things grown strong then age: this is called not the Way; what is not the Way soon ends.

Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.Stop the openings, close the doors, blunt the sharpness, untie the tangles, soften the glare, become one with the dust: this is called mysterious sameness.Therefore, it cannot be gained through intimacy, nor can it be gained through estrangement;It cannot be gained through benefit, nor can it be gained through harm;It cannot be gained through honor, nor can it be gained through contempt.Therefore, it is cherished by all under heaven.

Govern the state with what is straight, use arms with what is strange, take all under Heaven by having no affairs.How do I know this is so?By this: the more prohibitions there are under Heaven, the poorer the people become;The more keen instruments the people have, the more benighted the state and its houses become;The more cunning skill people have, the more strange contrivances arise;The more laws and commands are displayed, the more thieves and brigands abound.Therefore the sage says: I do nothing, and the people transform themselves;I cherish stillness, and the people set themselves right;I have no affairs, and the people enrich themselves;I have no desire, and the people become simple of themselves.

When government is dim and unobtrusive, its people are whole and sincere;When government is searching and exacting, its people are fractured and wanting.Misfortune—blessing leans upon it; blessing—misfortune lies hidden beneath it.Who knows where either ends?There is no fixed right.The right turns strange again; the good turns uncanny again.The bewilderment of humankind has indeed endured long.Thus the sage is square but does not cut, edged but does not wound, straight but does not overreach, radiant but does not dazzle.

In governing people and serving Heaven, nothing compares with husbanding.Only husbanding is called early accord;Early accord is called redoubling the store of virtue;With virtue stored redoubled, nothing cannot be overcome;When nothing cannot be overcome, no one knows its limit;When no one knows its limit, one can possess the state;Possessing the mother of the state, one can long endure;This is called the Way of deep roots and a firm base, of long life and enduring vision.

Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish.When the Way presides over all under Heaven, its ghosts have no spectral power;Not that its ghosts have no spectral power, but their power does not harm people;Not only does their power not harm people—the sage does not harm people either.Since neither harms the other, their virtues meet and return together.

A great state is the lower reach, the confluence of all under Heaven, the female of all under Heaven.The female always overcomes the male through stillness; through stillness she takes the lower place.Thus when a great state lowers itself to a small state, it takes in the small state;When a small state lowers itself to a great state, it is taken in by the great state.Thus one lowers itself in order to take in, and the other lowers itself and is taken in.A great state desires no more than to gather and nurture people; a small state desires no more than to enter and serve people.For both to gain what each desires, the greater should take the lower place.

The Way is the hidden sanctuary of the ten thousand things.It is the good person’s treasure, and the shelter of the person who is not good.Fine words may be traded; honored conduct may raise one above others.If a person is not good, why should that person be cast away?Thus, when the Son of Heaven is enthroned and the three ministers installed, though a jade disk clasped in two hands is presented before a team of four horses, it is not as good as presenting this Way while seated.Why did the ancients prize this Way?Was it not said: by seeking, you receive; having guilt, you escape?Therefore it is prized by all under Heaven.

Do without doing, attend to having no affairs, taste what has no flavor.Regard the great as small and the many as few; repay resentment with virtue.Plan for the difficult while it is easy; undertake the great while it is minute;The difficult affairs under Heaven must arise from what is easy; the great affairs under Heaven must arise from what is minute.Thus the sage never acts as great, and therefore can accomplish greatness.Light promises must be scant in trust; finding much easy must bring much difficulty.Thus the sage treats things as difficult, and therefore in the end has no difficulty.

What is settled is easy to hold; what has not yet shown a sign is easy to plan for.What is brittle is easy to break; what is minute is easy to scatter.Act on it before it exists; order it before it falls into disorder.A tree that fills the embrace is born from the finest shoot;A terrace nine levels high rises from heaps of earth;A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet.Those who contrive it ruin it; those who grasp it lose it.Thus the sage does nothing, and therefore ruins nothing;Grasps nothing, and therefore loses nothing.In pursuing their affairs, people always ruin them when they are nearly complete.Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and no affair will be ruined; thus the sage desires not to desire, and does not prize goods difficult to obtain;Learns not to learn, and returns to what the multitude has passed by, so as to assist the ten thousand things in being so of themselves, not daring to contrive.

Those of old who were good at practicing the Way did not use it to make the people clever, but meant to keep them simple.The people are difficult to govern because they have too much cunning.Thus to govern the state through cunning is the state’s bane;Not to govern the state through cunning is the state’s blessing.To know these two is also the enduring model.Always to know the enduring model is called dark virtue.Dark virtue is deep indeed, far-reaching indeed; it turns back with things, and only then arrives at great accord.

Rivers and seas can be kings of the hundred valleys because they are skilled at staying below them; therefore they can be kings of the hundred valleys.Thus, if the sage desires to stand above the people, he must place his words below them;If he desires to stand before the people, he must place himself behind them.Thus the sage dwells above, yet the people do not feel burdened; dwells before, yet the people do not feel harmed.Therefore all under Heaven gladly raise him up and do not tire of him.Because he does not contend, no one under Heaven can contend with him.

All under Heaven say my Way is great, yet resembles nothing.Only because it is great does it resemble nothing.If it resembled anything, long agoHow small it would have become!I have three treasures, which I hold and preserve.The first is compassion, the second is frugality, the third is not daring to be first under Heaven.Through compassion, one can be brave;Through frugality, one can be generous;By not daring to be first under Heaven, one can become chief among vessels.Now, abandon compassion and yet be brave;Abandon frugality and yet be generous;Abandon the rear and yet go first—Death!With compassion, one wins when waging war and stands firm when defending.When Heaven would save someone, it guards that person with compassion.

One skilled as a warrior is not martial;One skilled in battle is not enraged;One skilled in overcoming an enemy does not engage;One skilled in employing people places himself below them.This is called the virtue of not contending; this is called the strength of employing people; this is called matching Heaven, the ancient summit.

In the use of arms there is a saying: I dare not act as host, but act as guest;I dare not advance an inch, but retreat a foot.This is called marching without a march;Baring arms without arms;Grasping without an enemy;Wielding without a weapon.No calamity is greater than taking the enemy lightly; taking the enemy lightly nearly costs me my treasures.Thus when evenly matched armies meet in combat, the one that grieves will win.

My words are very easy to understand, very easy to practice.No one under Heaven can understand them; no one can practice them.Words have an ancestor; affairs have a sovereign.Only because this is not understood am I not understood.Those who understand me are few; those who take me as their measure are precious.Thus the sage wears coarse cloth and carries jade within.

Knowing not-knowing is highest;Not knowing, yet thinking one knows, is sickness.Only by knowing sickness as sickness does one cease to be sick.The sage is not sick because he knows sickness as sickness, and so is not sick.

When the people no longer fear dread power, great dread descends.Do not crowd the place where they dwell; do not oppress the life they live.Only by not oppressing them do you remain beyond their disgust.Thus the sage knows himself but does not display himself;Loves himself but does not exalt himself.Therefore he leaves that and takes this.

Courage in daring leads to death; courage in not daring leads to life.Of these two, one may bring benefit, the other harm.What Heaven detests—who knows the reason?Therefore even the sage finds this difficult.The Way of Heaven does not contend, yet excels in victory; does not speak, yet excels in answering; summons no one, yet all comes of itself; unhurried, yet excels in design.Heaven’s net is vast, vast; its mesh is wide, yet nothing slips through.

When the people do not fear death, how can death be used to frighten them?If the people were always made to fear death, and I could seize and kill those who act perversely, who would dare?There is always an executioner who carries out the killing.To kill in place of the executioner is to hew in place of the master carpenter;Whoever hews in place of the master carpenter seldom escapes wounding his own hand.

The people are hungry because those above consume too much in taxes; therefore they are hungry.The people are hard to govern because those above meddle in affairs; therefore they are hard to govern.The people make light of death because their pursuit of life is too lavish; therefore they make light of death.Only those who do not make life their business are wiser than those who prize life.

At birth, a person is soft and weak; at death, hard and stiff.At birth, the myriad things, grasses, and trees are soft and tender; at death, withered and dry.Thus the hard and strong are companions of death; the soft and weak are companions of life.Therefore a strong army does not prevail; a rigid tree is brought down.The strong and great take the lower place; the soft and weak take the higher.

Is not the Way of Heaven like the drawing of a bow?What is high it presses down; what is low it raises up;What has excess it reduces; what lacks it replenishes.The Way of Heaven reduces excess and replenishes lack.The way of humankind is otherwise: it reduces what is lacking to offer more to what has excess.Who can offer what is in excess to all under Heaven? Only one who has the Way.Thus the sage acts but does not rely on what he has done, completes the work but does not dwell upon it, and has no desire to display his worth.

Nothing under Heaven is softer or weaker than water, yet in attacking the hard and strong nothing can surpass it, for nothing can take its place.That the weak overcomes the strong and the soft overcomes the hard, no one under Heaven fails to know, yet no one can put it into practice.Thus the sage says: One who receives the nation’s disgrace is called lord of the altars of soil and grain;One who receives the nation’s misfortune is called king of all under Heaven.True words seem contrary.

Reconcile a great grievance, and some grievance is sure to remain;How can this be called good?Thus the sage holds the left half of the tally but makes no demand upon others.One with Virtue attends to the tally; one without Virtue attends to collection.The Way of Heaven has no favorites; it always stands with the good.

Let the state be small and the people few.Let there be tools in tens and hundreds, yet leave them unused;Let the people take death seriously and not migrate far.Though there are boats and carriages, let there be nowhere to ride them; though there are armor and weapons, let there be nowhere to deploy them.Let the people return to tying knots and using them, savor their food, delight in their clothing, rest secure in their homes, and rejoice in their customs.Neighboring states gaze upon one another, the calls of cocks and dogs are heard across them, yet the people grow old and die without traveling back and forth.

Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy.Those who are good do not argue; those who argue are not good.Those who know are not broadly learned; those broadly learned do not know.The sage does not hoard: the more he does for others, the more he has; the more he gives to others, the more abundant he becomes.The Way of Heaven benefits and does not harm;The way of the sage acts and does not contend.