Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
三十輻，共一轂，當其無，有車之用。埏埴以為器，當其無，有器之用。鑿戶牖以為室，當其無，有室之用。故有之以為利，無之以為用。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
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.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Thirty spokes converge on one hub; the cart’s use lies in the emptiness at its center.Clay is shaped into a vessel; its use lies in the hollow within.Doors and windows are cut to make a room; its use lies in the empty space within.So what is there brings benefit; what is not there is what we use.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
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.