Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 50
Chapter 50 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
出生入死。生之徒，十有三；死之徒，十有三；人之生，動之死地，十有三。夫何故？以其生，生之厚。蓋聞善攝生者，陸行不遇兕虎，入軍不被甲兵；兕無所投其角，虎無所措其爪，兵無所容其刃。夫何故？以其無死地。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
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.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
We come forth into life and pass back into death.Three in ten follow life;three in ten follow death;and three in ten, though alive, move toward death-ground.Why is this?Because they lavish too much care on preserving their lives.I have heard that those skilled in shepherding life cross the land without meeting rhinoceros or tiger, and enter battle without suffering a blow from any weapon;the rhinoceros finds no place to thrust its horn, the tiger no place to set its claws, and a weapon’s edge no place to enter.Why is this?Because death has no ground in them.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
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.