Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 58
Chapter 58 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
其政悶悶，其民淳淳；其政察察，其民缺缺。禍兮福之所倚，福兮禍之所伏。孰知其極？其無正。正復為奇，善復為妖。人之迷，其日固久。是以聖人方而不割，廉而不劌，直而不肆，光而不燿。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
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.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
When rule is dim and unintrusive, the people are simple and true;when rule is sharp-eyed and probing, the people grow fractured and discontented.Calamity—fortune leans against it; fortune—calamity crouches beneath it.Who can know its end?There is no fixed standard of right.What is right turns strange again; what is good turns ominous again.People have lost their way in this for ages.So the sage is square without cutting, sharp-edged without wounding, straight without being overbearing, bright without dazzling.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
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.