With a double accumulation of De,Then everything can be overcome.When everything can be overcome,Then no one knows your limits.When no one knows your limits,You can possess the nation.Possessing the mother of the nation,You can forever endure.This is called having a deep source and a firmfoundation,The Way of long life and enduring sight.SixtyGoverning a great nation is like cooking a small fish.Because Dao is present in the world,Its ghosts do not have spirit.Not that its ghosts do not have any spirit,But their spirit does not injure people.Not only does their spirit not injure people,The sage also does not injure people.Now : since these two do not injure each other,Therefore their De merges and returns!Sixty oneA great nation is like the lowest places water can flow –The merging place of the world,The female of the world.The female always uses stillness to conquer the male.By using stillness, she becomes lower-than.Therefore : if a great nation is lower-than a small nation,Then it takes hold of the small nation.If a small nation is lower-than a great nation,Then it is taken hold of by the great nation.Therefore : sometimes one nation is lower-than in orderto take hold of,Sometimes one nation is lower-than and then it is takenhold of.A great nation merely desires to combine livestock andpeople,A small nation merely desires to get work for its people.Now : for both nations to each get that which is theirdesire,It is proper for the great nation to be lower-than.Sixty twoThat which Daos is the obscure mystery of the tenthousand creatures.This is the treasure of a virtuous person,And that which is the protection of a person who is notvirtuous.Beautiful speech can be used in the market,Respectful behavior can benefit people.People who are not virtuous,Why abandon them?Therefore : when inaugurating the son of heaven,Or installing the three nobles –Even if you possessed jade disks drawn by a team offour horses,That is not as good as sitting and offering this Way.What was the ancients’ reason that they valued this Way?Did they not say :Seek in order to obtain,Have faults in order to be forgiven?Therefore Dao becomes valuable to the world.Sixty threeAct with non-action.Handle duties with non-interference.Taste that which is without-flavor.Greatness is insignificant, too much is less.Repay animosity with De.Plan for the difficult while it is easy.Act on the great while it is tiny.In the world, difficult duties certainly start while easy.In the world, great duties certainly start while tiny.Thus the sage in the end does not act great,Therefore he can achieve his greatness.Men who make promises lightly, certainly few will trust.Men who expect most duties to be easy will certainlyhave many difficulties.Thus the sage plans for things to be difficult,Therefore in the end he is without difficulty!Sixty fourWhat is peaceful is easy to hold.What has not yet been revealed is easy to plan for.What is brittle is easy to shatter.What is minute is easy to scatter.Act on it while it does not yet exist.Govern them while they are not yet confused.A tree too big to embrace is created from the tiniestshoot.A terrace of nine stories rises from a pile of dirt.A journey of a thousand miles begins from under the feet.He who acts, ruins it.He who grasps, loses it.Thus the sage :Does not act, therefore he does not ruin.Does not grasp, therefore he does not lose.Citizens are always on the verge of achieving theirundertakings, yet they ruin them.Be as careful in the end as if it was the beginning,Then you will not ruin your affairs.Thus the sage :Desires to not desire,Does not value rare goods,Learns to not learn.He returns to that which everyone else has passed over,Thus helping the ten thousand creatures to be naturallyso,Yet not daring to act.Sixty fiveThe virtue of the ancients (they who acted in Dao),Did not use it to enlighten the citizens,But would have used it to keep them ignorant –The citizens are hard to governBecause they have too much knowledge.Therefore : using knowledge to govern the nationIs the bane of the nation.Not using knowledge to govern the nationIs the good fortune of the nation.He who has knowledge of these two also has them asexamples.To always understand these examples –This is called deep and mysterious De.Deep and mysterious De is so profound! and remote!That when creatures return, it returns with them!Then they reach the greatest harmony.Sixty sixThe reason that rivers and seas can act as kings of the100 valleysIs because they are good at being lower-than them.Therefore : they can act as kings of the 100 valleys.Thus the sage :In desiring to be above the citizens,He must by means of his speech be lower-than them.In desiring to be before the citizens,He must by means of his self be behind them.Thus the sage :Lives above them, but the citizens are not burdened.Lives in front of them, but the citizens are not harmed.Thus the world is pleased to promote him, and does nottire of him.Because he does not strive,Therefore no one in the world can strive against him.POST-GUODIANElevenThirty spokes of a wheel share one hub;In its emptiness exists the usefulness of the cart.Mix water with clay thus making a vessel;In its emptiness exists the usefulness of the vessel.Cut out doors and windows thus making a room;In their emptiness exists the usefulness of the room.Therefore : what exists thus makes a thing profitable;Emptiness thus makes it useful.Twenty sixSerious serves as the source of frivolous.Stillness serves as the ruler of restlessness.Thus the noble man travels the entire day,And does not stray from his wagon.He is serious, even though glorious sights and feastsexist;He lives above them, like this.So how could one be the master of ten thousand chariots,And conduct his self frivolously in the world?Be frivolous, then lose the source.Be restless, then lose the rulership.Thirty threeHe who knows people is wise;He who knows himself has insight.He who is victorious over people possesses power;He who is victorious over himself is strong.He who knows he has enough is wealthy;He who uses force possesses ambition.He who does not lose his place endures;He who dies yet does not perish has longevity.Thirty sixWhen you are about to gather something,You must have originally spread it out.When you are about to weaken something,You must have originally strengthened it.When you are about to abandon something,You must have originally been interested in it.When you are about to seize something,You must have originally given it.This is called subtle and obscure insight.What is soft and weak conquers what is hard and strong.Fish can not escape from the deep;The sharp tools of the nationCan not be shown to the people.FortyThe movement of Dao returns things.The function of Dao is to weaken things.The ten thousand creatures of the world are created frombeing;Being is created from non-being.Forty twoDao creates one.One creates two.Two creates three.Three creates the ten thousand creatures.The ten thousand creatures carry Yin and embrace Yang,Pouring their Qi together, thus becoming harmonious.That which people detest :Being alone, orphaned, lonely, and unlucky –Yet kings and nobles thus name themselves.Therefore : creaturesSometimes lose, yet they gain;Sometimes gain, yet they lose.That which people teach, I also teach :Those who are bullies and hoodlums do not meet theirnatural death.I will thus become their elder teacher.Forty threeThe softest things of the worldOverrun the hardest things of the world.Non-being can enter where there is no space in between.Thus I know that non-action has benefits.The teaching of no-talking,The benefit of non-action –Few in the world attain these.FiftyBetween coming out into life and entering death,Followers of life are 3 in 10.Followers of death are 3 in 10.People whose lives are merely moving them towards theplace of deathAre also 3 in 10.Now : what is the reason?Because they live life for its substance.But I have heard that he who is skilled at taking in lifeCan travel the mountains and does not meet rhino ortiger,Can enter a battle not wearing armor or weapons.The rhino has no place to thrust its horns,The tiger has no place to use its claws,The weapon has no place to allow its blade.Now : what is the reason?Because for him there is no place of death.Sixty sevenIn the world, all say I am great,But do not seem to be like everyone else.Now : only because I am not like everyone else,therefore I can be great.If I was like everyone else,Long ago! I would have become insignificant, indeed!Now : I possess three treasures –Hold and maintain them.The first is called compassion,The second is called economy,The third is called not daring to act first in the world.With compassion, you can therefore be brave.With economy, you can therefore expand.By not daring to act first in the world,Therefore you can achieve the capacity for leadership.At present, people abandon compassion but also try to bebrave,Abandon economy but also try to expand,Abandon being behind but also try to be first –This is death!Now : when compassion is used in war, the consequenceis victory.When it is used for protection, the consequence isstrength.When heaven would help you,Using compassion it protects you.Sixty eightHe who is good at being a scholar is not militant.He who is good at war does not get angry.He who is good at conquering the enemy does notengage them.He who is good at making use of people acts lower-thanthem.This is called the De of not striving.This is called the power of making use of people.This is called joining the elite of heaven’s ancients,indeed!Sixty nineThose who command troops have a saying :I dare not act like the master, but instead act like a guest.Dare not advance an inch, but instead retreat a foot.This is called marching without marching,Seizing without using your arms,Routing without having an enemy,Defending without using weapons.There is no misfortune greater than underestimating theenemy.By underestimating the enemy, I nearly lose mytreasures.Therefore : when armies on opposing sides are evenlymatched,Then they who mourn will be victorious!SeventyMy words are very easy to understand,Very easy to practice.But there is no one in the world who can understandthem,There is no one who can practice them.My words possess a lineage,My duties possess a ruler.Now : only because I am without-knowledge,Thus I am not understood.Those who understand me are rare,Consequently I am one who is valued!Thus the sage wears coarse cloth, but carries jade in hisheart.Seventy oneKnowing that you do not know is honorable!Not knowing that you know is a sickness!Now : only when you are sick of sickness,Thus you are not sick.The sage is not sickBecause he is sick of sickness.Thus he is not sick.Seventy twoIf the citizens do not fear your authority,Then a greater authority will arrive!Do not disrespect their dwellings,Do not despise their livelihood.Now : only because you do not despise them,Thus they will not tire of you.Thus the sage :Knows himself but not display himself,Loves himself but does not exalt himself.Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.Seventy threeWhen your courage lies in daring,The consequence is killing.When your courage lies in not daring,The consequence is survival.These two choices, they sometimes cause benefit,sometimes cause harm.That which heaven detests – who knows its reasons?The Way of heaven :Does not strive, yet skillfully achieves its goals.Does not speak, yet skillfully responds.Does not summon, yet everything naturally comes to it.Is certainly unhurried, yet skillfully prepares.Heaven’s net is extremely vast;It is wide meshed, yet does not fail.Seventy fourIf the citizens do not fear death,How can you use death to frighten them?Assuming you could ensure that the citizens always feardeath,And I get hold of those who act strange and unusual andkill them,Then who would be daring?There will always exist an executioner.Now : to take the place of the executioner to do thekilling,This is called taking the place of a great craftsman tocarve wood.Now : of those who take the place of a great craftsman tocarve wood,Few will not injure their hand!Seventy fiveThe citizens are hungryBecause their superiors eat too much of their taxes.Thus they are hungry.The citizens are hard to governBecause their superiors are compelled to take action.Thus they are hard to govern.The citizens take death lightlyBecause they seek the substance of life.Thus they take death lightly.Now : only he who has no use for being aliveIs virtuous compared to he who values living.Seventy sixThe people are born (indeed!) soft and weak.They die (indeed!) hard and inflexible.The ten thousand creatures, the grass and trees, are born(indeed!) soft and fragile.They die (indeed!) dried and withered.Therefore : that which is hard and inflexible is a followerof death.That which is soft and weak is a follower of life.Thus if a weapon is inflexible, the consequence is defeat.If a tree is inflexible, then it snaps.Inflexible and great dwell below.Soft and weak dwell above.Seventy sevenThe Way of heaven, how it is just like stretching a bow?He who is high is pressed down by it.He who is low is lifted by it.He who has excess is reduced by it.He who does not have enough is filled by it.The Way of heavenReduces what has excess and fills what does not haveenough.The Way of people on the other hand is not like this,And takes from those who do not have enough in order tooffer it to those who have too much.Who can have too much and offer it to the world?Only he who possesses Dao.Thus the sage :Acts, but is not concerned with the results.Accomplishes his tasks, but does not dwell on them.He does not desire to display his virtue.Seventy eightIn the world, nothing is softer and weaker than water.Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong,There is nothing that can surpass it.This is because it endlessly replaces itself.Weakness conquers strength.Softness conquers hardness.In the world, there is no one who does not know this,But there is no one who can practice it.Thus the sage says :Accepting upon oneself the disgrace of the nationIs called being master of the shrines.Accepting upon oneself the misfortune of the nationIs called being king of the world.Honest words seem contrary.Seventy nineHarmonize a great resentment,And there must exist some remaining resentment.How can this be considered good?Thus the sage :Holds the left side of an agreement,But does not demand payment of people.Therefore : to have De is to take charge of youragreements;To be without De is to take charge of taking away fromothers.The Way of heaven, while without favor,Is always with virtuous people.EightyIn a small nation with few citizens :Ensure that it has the weapons of ten nobles, but does notuse them.Ensure that the citizens take death seriously, and do notmigrate far.Even though they have boats and carriages, there is noplace to take advantage of them.Even though they have armor and weapons, there is noplace to display them.Ensure that the citizens return to knotting ropes and usingthem,Find deliciousness in their food,Beauty in their clothes,Contentment in their dwellings,Happiness in their customs.Although neighboring nations overlook one another,And sounds of roosters and dogs can be heard in oneanother –The citizens reach old age and die,And do not come and go between one another.Eighty oneTrue words are not beautiful;Beautiful words are not true.He who has virtue does not argue;He who argues does not have virtue.He who knows is not learned;He who is learned does not know.The sage does not accumulate things –Since through serving people, the more one has;Since through giving to people, one has even more.The Way of heaven benefits and does not cause harm.The Way of the sage acts yet does not strive.As mentioned above, chapter 2 seems to be a truly “mongrel” chapter, with characteristics that indicate it belongs to all three layers, and none of them. Therefore, it is presented here, separate from the other layers.TwoIn the world, when all know that the action of beauty isbeautiful, then ugliness ensues.When all know that the action of good is goodness, thennot-good ensues.Therefore : being and non-being create each other,Difficult and easy complete each other,Long and short contrast each other,High and low lean on each other,Tone and voice harmonize each other,Before and after follow each other.Thus the sage :
With a double accumulation of De,
Then everything can be overcome.
When everything can be overcome,
Then no one knows your limits.
When no one knows your limits,
You can possess the nation.
Possessing the mother of the nation,
You can forever endure.
This is called having a deep source and a firm
foundation,
The Way of long life and enduring sight.
Sixty
Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish.
Because Dao is present in the world,
Its ghosts do not have spirit.
Not that its ghosts do not have any spirit,
But their spirit does not injure people.
Not only does their spirit not injure people,
The sage also does not injure people.
Now : since these two do not injure each other,
Therefore their De merges and returns!
Sixty one
A great nation is like the lowest places water can flow –
The merging place of the world,
The female of the world.
The female always uses stillness to conquer the male.
By using stillness, she becomes lower-than.
Therefore : if a great nation is lower-than a small nation,
Then it takes hold of the small nation.
If a small nation is lower-than a great nation,
Then it is taken hold of by the great nation.
Therefore : sometimes one nation is lower-than in order
to take hold of,
Sometimes one nation is lower-than and then it is taken
hold of.
A great nation merely desires to combine livestock and
people,
A small nation merely desires to get work for its people.
Now : for both nations to each get that which is their
desire,
It is proper for the great nation to be lower-than.
Sixty two
That which Daos is the obscure mystery of the ten
thousand creatures.
This is the treasure of a virtuous person,
And that which is the protection of a person who is not
virtuous.
Beautiful speech can be used in the market,
Respectful behavior can benefit people.
People who are not virtuous,
Why abandon them?
Therefore : when inaugurating the son of heaven,
Or installing the three nobles –
Even if you possessed jade disks drawn by a team of
four horses,
That is not as good as sitting and offering this Way.
What was the ancients’ reason that they valued this Way?
Did they not say :
Seek in order to obtain,
Have faults in order to be forgiven?
Therefore Dao becomes valuable to the world.
Sixty three
Act with non-action.
Handle duties with non-interference.
Taste that which is without-flavor.
Greatness is insignificant, too much is less.
Repay animosity with De.
Plan for the difficult while it is easy.
Act on the great while it is tiny.
In the world, difficult duties certainly start while easy.
In the world, great duties certainly start while tiny.
Thus the sage in the end does not act great,
Therefore he can achieve his greatness.
Men who make promises lightly, certainly few will trust.
Men who expect most duties to be easy will certainly
have many difficulties.
Thus the sage plans for things to be difficult,
Therefore in the end he is without difficulty!
Sixty four
What is peaceful is easy to hold.
What has not yet been revealed is easy to plan for.
What is brittle is easy to shatter.
What is minute is easy to scatter.
Act on it while it does not yet exist.
Govern them while they are not yet confused.
A tree too big to embrace is created from the tiniest
shoot.
A terrace of nine stories rises from a pile of dirt.
A journey of a thousand miles begins from under the feet.
He who acts, ruins it.
He who grasps, loses it.
Thus the sage :
Does not act, therefore he does not ruin.
Does not grasp, therefore he does not lose.
Citizens are always on the verge of achieving their
undertakings, yet they ruin them.
Be as careful in the end as if it was the beginning,
Then you will not ruin your affairs.
Thus the sage :
Desires to not desire,
Does not value rare goods,
Learns to not learn.
He returns to that which everyone else has passed over,
Thus helping the ten thousand creatures to be naturally
so,
Yet not daring to act.
Sixty five
The virtue of the ancients (they who acted in Dao),
Did not use it to enlighten the citizens,
But would have used it to keep them ignorant –
The citizens are hard to govern
Because they have too much knowledge.
Therefore : using knowledge to govern the nation
Is the bane of the nation.
Not using knowledge to govern the nation
Is the good fortune of the nation.
He who has knowledge of these two also has them as
examples.
To always understand these examples –
This is called deep and mysterious De.
Deep and mysterious De is so profound! and remote!
That when creatures return, it returns with them!
Then they reach the greatest harmony.
Sixty six
The reason that rivers and seas can act as kings of the
100 valleys
Is because they are good at being lower-than them.
Therefore : they can act as kings of the 100 valleys.
Thus the sage :
In desiring to be above the citizens,
He must by means of his speech be lower-than them.
In desiring to be before the citizens,
He must by means of his self be behind them.
Thus the sage :
Lives above them, but the citizens are not burdened.
Lives in front of them, but the citizens are not harmed.
Thus the world is pleased to promote him, and does not
tire of him.
Because he does not strive,
Therefore no one in the world can strive against him.
POST-GUODIAN
Eleven
Thirty spokes of a wheel share one hub;
In its emptiness exists the usefulness of the cart.
Mix water with clay thus making a vessel;
In its emptiness exists the usefulness of the vessel.
Cut out doors and windows thus making a room;
In their emptiness exists the usefulness of the room.
Therefore : what exists thus makes a thing profitable;
Emptiness thus makes it useful.
Twenty six
Serious serves as the source of frivolous.Stillness serves as the ruler of restlessness.
Thus the noble man travels the entire day,
And does not stray from his wagon.
He is serious, even though glorious sights and feasts
exist;
He lives above them, like this.
So how could one be the master of ten thousand chariots,
And conduct his self frivolously in the world?
Be frivolous, then lose the source.Be restless, then lose the rulership.
Thirty three
He who knows people is wise;
He who knows himself has insight.
He who is victorious over people possesses power;
He who is victorious over himself is strong.
He who knows he has enough is wealthy;
He who uses force possesses ambition.
He who does not lose his place endures;
He who dies yet does not perish has longevity.
Thirty six
When you are about to gather something,
You must have originally spread it out.
When you are about to weaken something,
You must have originally strengthened it.
When you are about to abandon something,
You must have originally been interested in it.
When you are about to seize something,
You must have originally given it.
This is called subtle and obscure insight.
What is soft and weak conquers what is hard and strong.
Fish can not escape from the deep;
The sharp tools of the nation
Can not be shown to the people.
Forty
The movement of Dao returns things.
The function of Dao is to weaken things.
The ten thousand creatures of the world are created from
being;
Being is created from non-being.
Forty two
Dao creates one.
One creates two.
Two creates three.
Three creates the ten thousand creatures.
The ten thousand creatures carry Yin and embrace Yang,
Pouring their Qi together, thus becoming harmonious.
That which people detest :
Being alone, orphaned, lonely, and unlucky –
Yet kings and nobles thus name themselves.
Therefore : creatures
Sometimes lose, yet they gain;
Sometimes gain, yet they lose.
That which people teach, I also teach :
Those who are bullies and hoodlums do not meet their
natural death.
I will thus become their elder teacher.
Forty three
The softest things of the world
Overrun the hardest things of the world.
Non-being can enter where there is no space in between.
Thus I know that non-action has benefits.
The teaching of no-talking,
The benefit of non-action –
Few in the world attain these.
Fifty
Between coming out into life and entering death,
Followers of life are 3 in 10.
Followers of death are 3 in 10.
People whose lives are merely moving them towards the
place of death
Are also 3 in 10.
Now : what is the reason?
Because they live life for its substance.
But I have heard that he who is skilled at taking in life
Can travel the mountains and does not meet rhino or
tiger,
Can enter a battle not wearing armor or weapons.
The rhino has no place to thrust its horns,
The tiger has no place to use its claws,
The weapon has no place to allow its blade.
Now : what is the reason?
Because for him there is no place of death.
Sixty seven
In the world, all say I am great,
But do not seem to be like everyone else.
Now : only because I am not like everyone else,
therefore I can be great.
If I was like everyone else,
Long ago! I would have become insignificant, indeed!
Now : I possess three treasures –
Hold and maintain them.
The first is called compassion,
The second is called economy,
The third is called not daring to act first in the world.
With compassion, you can therefore be brave.
With economy, you can therefore expand.
By not daring to act first in the world,
Therefore you can achieve the capacity for leadership.
At present, people abandon compassion but also try to be
brave,
Abandon economy but also try to expand,
Abandon being behind but also try to be first –
This is death!
Now : when compassion is used in war, the consequence
is victory.
When it is used for protection, the consequence is
strength.
When heaven would help you,
Using compassion it protects you.
Sixty eight
He who is good at being a scholar is not militant.
He who is good at war does not get angry.
He who is good at conquering the enemy does not
engage them.
He who is good at making use of people acts lower-than
them.
This is called the De of not striving.
This is called the power of making use of people.
This is called joining the elite of heaven’s ancients,
indeed!
Sixty nine
Those who command troops have a saying :
I dare not act like the master, but instead act like a guest.
Dare not advance an inch, but instead retreat a foot.
This is called marching without marching,
Seizing without using your arms,
Routing without having an enemy,
Defending without using weapons.
There is no misfortune greater than underestimating the
enemy.
By underestimating the enemy, I nearly lose my
treasures.
Therefore : when armies on opposing sides are evenly
matched,
Then they who mourn will be victorious!
Seventy
My words are very easy to understand,
Very easy to practice.
But there is no one in the world who can understand
them,
There is no one who can practice them.
My words possess a lineage,
My duties possess a ruler.
Now : only because I am without-knowledge,
Thus I am not understood.
Those who understand me are rare,
Consequently I am one who is valued!
Thus the sage wears coarse cloth, but carries jade in his
heart.
Seventy one
Knowing that you do not know is honorable!
Not knowing that you know is a sickness!
Now : only when you are sick of sickness,
Thus you are not sick.
The sage is not sick
Because he is sick of sickness.
Thus he is not sick.
Seventy two
If the citizens do not fear your authority,
Then a greater authority will arrive!
Do not disrespect their dwellings,
Do not despise their livelihood.
Now : only because you do not despise them,
Thus they will not tire of you.
Thus the sage :
Knows himself but not display himself,
Loves himself but does not exalt himself.
Therefore he leaves that and chooses this.
Seventy three
When your courage lies in daring,
The consequence is killing.
When your courage lies in not daring,
The consequence is survival.
These two choices, they sometimes cause benefit,
sometimes cause harm.
That which heaven detests – who knows its reasons?
The Way of heaven :
Does not strive, yet skillfully achieves its goals.
Does not speak, yet skillfully responds.
Does not summon, yet everything naturally comes to it.
Is certainly unhurried, yet skillfully prepares.
Heaven’s net is extremely vast;
It is wide meshed, yet does not fail.
Seventy four
If the citizens do not fear death,
How can you use death to frighten them?
Assuming you could ensure that the citizens always fear
death,
And I get hold of those who act strange and unusual and
kill them,
Then who would be daring?
There will always exist an executioner.
Now : to take the place of the executioner to do the
killing,
This is called taking the place of a great craftsman to
carve wood.
Now : of those who take the place of a great craftsman to
carve wood,
Few will not injure their hand!
Seventy five
The citizens are hungry
Because their superiors eat too much of their taxes.
Thus they are hungry.
The citizens are hard to govern
Because their superiors are compelled to take action.
Thus they are hard to govern.
The citizens take death lightly
Because they seek the substance of life.
Thus they take death lightly.
Now : only he who has no use for being alive
Is virtuous compared to he who values living.
Seventy six
The people are born (indeed!) soft and weak.
They die (indeed!) hard and inflexible.
The ten thousand creatures, the grass and trees, are born
(indeed!) soft and fragile.
They die (indeed!) dried and withered.
Therefore : that which is hard and inflexible is a follower
of death.
That which is soft and weak is a follower of life.
Thus if a weapon is inflexible, the consequence is defeat.
If a tree is inflexible, then it snaps.
Inflexible and great dwell below.
Soft and weak dwell above.
Seventy seven
The Way of heaven, how it is just like stretching a bow?
He who is high is pressed down by it.
He who is low is lifted by it.
He who has excess is reduced by it.
He who does not have enough is filled by it.
The Way of heaven
Reduces what has excess and fills what does not have
enough.
The Way of people on the other hand is not like this,
And takes from those who do not have enough in order to
offer it to those who have too much.
Who can have too much and offer it to the world?
Only he who possesses Dao.
Thus the sage :
Acts, but is not concerned with the results.
Accomplishes his tasks, but does not dwell on them.
He does not desire to display his virtue.
Seventy eight
In the world, nothing is softer and weaker than water.
Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong,
There is nothing that can surpass it.
This is because it endlessly replaces itself.
Weakness conquers strength.
Softness conquers hardness.
In the world, there is no one who does not know this,
But there is no one who can practice it.
Thus the sage says :
Accepting upon oneself the disgrace of the nation
Is called being master of the shrines.
Accepting upon oneself the misfortune of the nation
Is called being king of the world.
Honest words seem contrary.
Seventy nine
Harmonize a great resentment,
And there must exist some remaining resentment.
How can this be considered good?
Thus the sage :
Holds the left side of an agreement,
But does not demand payment of people.
Therefore : to have De is to take charge of your
agreements;
To be without De is to take charge of taking away from
others.
The Way of heaven, while without favor,
Is always with virtuous people.
Eighty
In a small nation with few citizens :
Ensure that it has the weapons of ten nobles, but does not
use them.
Ensure that the citizens take death seriously, and do not
migrate far.
Even though they have boats and carriages, there is no
place to take advantage of them.
Even though they have armor and weapons, there is no
place to display them.
Ensure that the citizens return to knotting ropes and using
them,
Find deliciousness in their food,
Beauty in their clothes,
Contentment in their dwellings,
Happiness in their customs.
Although neighboring nations overlook one another,
And sounds of roosters and dogs can be heard in one
another –
The citizens reach old age and die,
And do not come and go between one another.
Eighty one
True words are not beautiful;
Beautiful words are not true.
He who has virtue does not argue;
He who argues does not have virtue.
He who knows is not learned;
He who is learned does not know.
The sage does not accumulate things –
Since through serving people, the more one has;
Since through giving to people, one has even more.
The Way of heaven benefits and does not cause harm.
The Way of the sage acts yet does not strive.
As mentioned above, chapter 2 seems to be a truly “mongrel” chapter, with characteristics that indicate it belongs to all three layers, and none of them. Therefore, it is presented here, separate from the other layers.
Two
In the world, when all know that the action of beauty is
beautiful, then ugliness ensues.
When all know that the action of good is goodness, then
not-good ensues.
Therefore : being and non-being create each other,
Difficult and easy complete each other,
Long and short contrast each other,
High and low lean on each other,
Tone and voice harmonize each other,
Before and after follow each other.
Thus the sage :