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the way you can go isn't the real way. the name you can say isn't the real name. heaven and earth begin in the unnamed: name's the mother of the ten thousand things. so the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. mystery of all mysteries! the door to the hidden. the way you can go isn't the real way. the name you can say isn't the real name. heaven and earth begin in the unnamed: name's the mother of the ten thousand things. so the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. mystery of all mysteries! the door to the hidden.

here, for the words in the third verse that i render u201cwhat it wants,u201d i use the ma wang tui text. the words in the standard text mean boundaries, or limits, or outcomes. this version seems to follow more comprehensibly from the preceding lines. and yet the idea of what can be delimited or made manifest is relevant. in the last verse, the two u201cwhose identity is mysteryu201d may be understood to be the hidden, the unnameable, the limitless vision of the freed soulu2014and the manifest, the nameable, the field of vision limited by our wants. but the endlessness of all that is, and the limitation of mortal bodily life, are the same, and their sameness is the key to the door.

taoing

a satisfactory translation of this chapter is, i believe, perfectly impossible. it contains the book. i think of it as the aleph, in borges's story: if you see it rightly, it contains everything.

everybody on earth knowing that beauty is beautiful makes ugliness. everybody knowing that goodness is good makes wickedness. for being and nonbeing arise together; hard and easy complete each other; long and short shape each other; high and low depend on each other; note and voice make the music together; before and after follow each other. that's why the wise soul does without doing, teaches without talking. the things of this world exist, they are; you can't refuse them. to bear and not to own;to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay. everybody on earth knowing that beauty is beautiful makes ugliness. everybody knowing that goodness is good makes wickedness. for being and nonbeing arise together; hard and easy complete each other; long and short shape each other; high and low depend on each other; note and voice make the music together; before and after follow each other. that's why the wise soul does without doing, teaches without talking. the things of this world exist, they are; you can't refuse them. to bear and not to own;to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.

soul food

one of the things i read in this chapter is that values and beliefs are not only culturally constructed but also part of the interplay of yin and yang, the great reversals that maintain the living balance of the world. to believe that our beliefs are permanent truths which encompass reality is a sad arrogance. to let go of that belief is to find safety.

not praising the praiseworthy keeps people uncompetitive. not prizing rare treasures keeps people from stealing. not looking at the desirable keeps the mind quiet. so the wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything. when you do not-doing, nothing's out of order. not praising the praiseworthy keeps people uncompetitive. not prizing rare treasures keeps people from stealing. not looking at the desirable keeps the mind quiet. so the wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything. when you do not-doing, nothing's out of order.

hushing

over and over lao tzu says wei wu wei : do not do. doing not-doing. to act without acting. action by inaction. you do nothing yet it gets done. . . . it's not a statement susceptible to logical interpretation, or even to a syntactical translation into english; but it's a concept that transforms thoughtradically, that changes minds. the whole book is both an explanation and a demonstration of it.

the way is empty, used, but not used up. deep, yes! ancestral to the ten thousand things. blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, the way is the dust of the way. quiet, yes, and likely to endure. whose child? born before the gods. the way is empty, used, but not used up. deep, yes! ancestral to the ten thousand things. blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, the way is the dust of the way. quiet, yes, and likely to endure. whose child? born before the gods.

sourceless

everything lao tzu says is elusive. the temptation is to grasp at something tangible in the endlessly deceptive simplicity of the words. even some of his finest scholarly translators focus on positive ethical or political values in the text, as if those were what's important in it. and of course the religion called taoism is full of gods, saints, miracles, prayers, rules, methods for securing riches, power, longevity, and so forthu2014all the stuff that lao tzu says leads us away from the way. in passages such as this one, i think it is the profound modesty of the language that offers what so many people for so many centuries have found in this book: a pure apprehension of the mystery of which we are part.

heaven and earth aren't humane. to them the ten thousand things are straw dogs. wise souls aren't humane. to them the hundred families are straw dogs. heaven and earth act as a bellows: empty yet structured, it moves, inexhaustibly giving. heaven and earth aren't humane. to them the ten thousand things are straw dogs. wise souls aren't humane. to them the hundred families are straw dogs. heaven and earth act as a bellows: empty yet structured, it moves, inexhaustibly giving.

as i said above, in a few of the poems i leave out lines which i find weaken the coherence of the text to the point that i believe them to be a long-ago reader's marginal notes which got incorporated in later copyings. my authority for these omissions is strictly personal and aesthetic. here i omit the last two lines. translations of them vary greatly; my version is: mere talk runs dry. best keep to the center.

useful emptiness

the u201cinhumanityu201d of the wise soul doesn't mean cruelty. cruelty is a human characteristic. heaven and earthu2014that is, u201cnatureu201d and its wayu2014are not humane, because they are not human. they are not kind; they are not cruel: those are human attributes. you can only be kind or cruel if you have, and cherish, a self. you can't even be indifferent if you aren't different. altruism is the other side of egoism. followers of the way, like the forces of nature, act selflessly.

the valley spirit never dies. call it the mystery, the woman. the mystery, the door of the w oman, is the root of earth and heaven. forever this endures, forever. and all its uses are easy. the valley spirit never dies. call it the mystery, the woman. the mystery, the door of the w oman, is the root of earth and heaven. forever this endures, forever. and all its uses are easy.

what is complete

heaven will last, earth will endure. how can they last so long? they don't exist for themselves and so can go on and on. so wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. why let the self go? to keep what the soul needs. heaven will last, earth will endure. how can they last so long? they don't exist for themselves and so can go on and on. so wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. why let the self go? to keep what the soul needs.

dim brightness

true goodness is like water. w ater's good for everything. it doesn't compete. it goes right to the low loathsome places, and so finds the way. for a house, the good thing is level ground. in thinking, depth is good. the good of giving is magnanimity; of speaking, honesty; of government, order. the good of work is skill, and of action, timing. no competition, so no blame. true goodness is like water. w ater's good for everything. it doesn't compete. it goes right to the low loathsome places, and so finds the way. for a house, the good thing is level ground. in thinking, depth is good. the good of giving is magnanimity; of speaking, honesty; of government, order. the good of work is skill, and of action, timing. no competition, so no blame.

easy by nature

a clear stream of water runs through this book, from poem to poem, wearing down the indestructible, finding the way around everything that obstructs the way. good drinking water.

brim-fill the bowl, it'll spill over. keep sharpening the blade, you'll soon blunt it. nobody can protect a house full of gold and jade. w ealth, status, pride, are their own ruin. to do good, work well, and lie low is the way of the blessing. brim-fill the bowl, it'll spill over. keep sharpening the blade, you'll soon blunt it. nobody can protect a house full of gold and jade. w ealth, status, pride, are their own ruin. to do good, work well, and lie low is the way of the blessing.

being quiet

can you keep your soul in its body, hold fast to the one, and so learn to be whole? can you center your energy, be soft, tender, and so learn to be a baby? can you keep the deep water still and clear, so it reflects without blurring? can you love people and run things, and do so by not doing? opening, closing the gate of heaven, can you be like a bird with her nestlings? piercing bright through the cosmos, can you know by not knowing? to give birth, to nourish, to bear and not to own, to act and not lay claim, to lead and not to rule: this is mysterious power. can you keep your soul in its body, hold fast to the one, and so learn to be whole? can you center your energy, be soft, tender, and so learn to be a baby? can you keep the deep water still and clear, so it reflects without blurring? can you love people and run things, and do so by not doing? opening, closing the gate of heaven, can you be like a bird with her nestlings? piercing bright through the cosmos, can you know by not knowing? to give birth, to nourish, to bear and not to own, to act and not lay claim, to lead and not to rule: this is mysterious power.

t echniques

most of the scholars think this chapter is about meditation, its techniques and fulfillments. the language is profoundly mystical, the images are charged, rich in implications. the last verse turns up in nearly the same words in other chapters; there areseveral such u201crefrainsu201d throughout the book, identical or similar lines repeated once or twice or three times.

thirty spokes meet in the hub. where the wheel isn't is where it's useful. hollowed out, clay makes a pot. where the pot's not is where it's useful. cut doors and windows to make a room. where the room isn't, there's room for you. so the profit in what is is in the use of what isn't. thirty spokes meet in the hub. where the wheel isn't is where it's useful. hollowed out, clay makes a pot. where the pot's not is where it's useful. cut doors and windows to make a room. where the room isn't, there's room for you. so the profit in what is is in the use of what isn't.

the uses of not

one of the things i love about lao tzu is he is so funny. he's explaining a profound and difficult truth here, one of those counterintuitive truths that, when the mind can accept them, suddenly double the size of the universe. he goes about it with this deadpan simplicity, talking about pots.

the five colors blind our eyes. the five notes deafen our ears. the five flavors dull our taste. racing, chasing, hunting, drives people crazy. trying to get rich ties people in knots. so the wise soul watches with the inner not the outward eye, letting that go, keeping this. the five colors blind our eyes. the five notes deafen our ears. the five flavors dull our taste. racing, chasing, hunting, drives people crazy. trying to get rich ties people in knots. so the wise soul watches with the inner not the outward eye, letting that go, keeping this.

there are times lao tzu sounds very like henry david thoreau, but lao tzu was kinder. when thoreau says to distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes, i distrust him. he is macho, flaunting his asceticism. lao tzu knows that getting all entangled with the external keeps us from the eternal, but (seechapter 80 he also understands that sometimes people like to get dressed up.

not wanting

to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer. what does that mean, to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear? favor debases: we fear to lose it, fear to win it. so to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. what does that mean, to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer? i suffer because i'm a body; if i weren't a body, how could i suffer? to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer. what does that mean, to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear? favor debases: we fear to lose it, fear to win it. so to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. what does that mean, to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer? i suffer because i'm a body; if i weren't a body, how could i suffer?

t'ien hsia, u201cunder heaven,u201d i.e. the empire, or the world: here i render it as u201cthe public good,u201d u201cthe commonwealth,u201d and u201cthe body politic.u201d j. p. seaton comments: u201cwhen lao tzu mentions u2018the empire' or u2018all under heaven,' he does so with the assumption that all his readers know that it is a commonwealth where only the ruler who rules by virtue of virtue alone is legitimate.u201d

shameless

so people who set their bodily good before the public good could be entrusted with the commonwealth, and people who treated the body politic as gently as their own body would be worthy to govern the commonwealth.lao tzu, a mystic, demystifies political power. autocracy and oligarchy foster the beliefs that power is gained magically and retained by sacrifice, and that powerful people are genuinely superior to the powerless. lao tzu does not see political power as magic. he sees rightful power as earned and wrongful power as usurped. he does not see power as virtue, but as the result of virtue. the democracies are founded on that view. he sees sacrifice of self or others as a corruption of power, and power as available to anybody who follows the way. this is a radically subversive attitude. no wonder anarchists and taoists make good friends.

look at it: nothing to see. call it colorless. listen to it: nothing to hear. call it soundless. reach for it: nothing to hold. call it intangible. triply undifferentiated, it merges into oneness, not bright above, not dark below. never, oh! never can it be named. it reverts, it returns to unbeing. call it the form of the unformed, the image of no image. call it unthinkable thought. face it: no face. follow it: no end. holding fast to the old way, we can live in the present. mindful of the ancient beginnings, we hold the thread of the tao. look at it: nothing to see. call it colorless. listen to it: nothing to hear. call it soundless. reach for it: nothing to hold. call it intangible. triply undifferentiated, it merges into oneness, not bright above, not dark below. never, oh! never can it be named. it reverts, it returns to unbeing. call it the form of the unformed, the image of no image. call it unthinkable thought. face it: no face. follow it: no end. holding fast to the old way, we can live in the present. mindful of the ancient beginnings, we hold the thread of the tao.

celebrating mystery

once upon a time people who knew the way were subtle, spiritual, mysterious, penetrating, unfathomable. since they're inexplicable i can only say what they seemed like: cautious, oh yes, as if wading through a winter river. alert, as if afraid of the neighbors. polite and quiet, like houseguests. elusive, like melting ice. blank, like uncut wood. empty, like valleys. mysterious, oh yes, they were like troubled water. who can by stillness, little by little make what is troubled grow clear? who can by movement, little by little make what is still grow quick? to follow the way is not to need fulfillment. unfulfilled, one may live on needing no renewal. once upon a time people who knew the way were subtle, spiritual, mysterious, penetrating, unfathomable. since they're inexplicable i can only say what they seemed like: cautious, oh yes, as if wading through a winter river. alert, as if afraid of the neighbors. polite and quiet, like houseguests. elusive, like melting ice. blank, like uncut wood. empty, like valleys. mysterious, oh yes, they were like troubled water. who can by stillness, little by little make what is troubled grow clear? who can by movement, little by little make what is still grow quick? to follow the way is not to need fulfillment. unfulfilled, one may live on needing no renewal.

people of power

in the first stanza we see the followers of the way in ancient times or illo tempore , remote and inaccessible; but the second stanza brings them close andalive in a series of marvelous similes. (i am particularly fond of the polite and quiet houseguests. the images of the valley and of uncut or uncarved wood will recur again and again.

be completely empty. be perfectly serene. the ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. now they flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root. the return to the root is peace. peace: to accept what must be, to know what endures. in that knowledge is wisdom. without it, ruin, disorder. to know what endures is to be openhearted, magnanimous, regal, blessed, following the tao, the way that endures forever. the body comes to its ending, but there is nothing to fear. be completely empty. be perfectly serene. the ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. now they flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root. the return to the root is peace. peace: to accept what must be, to know what endures. in that knowledge is wisdom. without it, ruin, disorder. to know what endures is to be openhearted, magnanimous, regal, blessed, following the tao, the way that endures forever. the body comes to its ending, but there is nothing to fear.

returning to the root

to those who will not admit morality without a deity to validate it, or spirituality of which man is not the measure, the firmness of lao tzu's moralityand the sweetness of his spiritual counsel must seem incomprehensible, or illegitimate, or very troubling indeed.

true leaders are hardly known to their followers. next after them are the leaders the people know and admire; after them, those they fear; after them, those they despise. to give no trust is to get no trust. when the work's done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, oh, we did it. true leaders are hardly known to their followers. next after them are the leaders the people know and admire; after them, those they fear; after them, those they despise. to give no trust is to get no trust. when the work's done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, oh, we did it.

henricks considers these three chapters to belong together. the last two lines of 19 are usually printed as the first two lines of 20, but henricks thinks they belong here, and i follow him. in 18, line 6, the words hsiao tzu are traditionally translated as u201cfilial piety and paternal affection,u201d a confucian ideal. in that chapter lao tzu cites these dutiful families as a symptom of social disorder. but in chapter 19, line 4, hsiao tzu appears as the good that will result when people cease being moralistic. unable to reconcile these contradictory usages, and feeling that lao tzu was far more likely to use confucian language satirically than straightforwardly, i fudged the translation in chapter 19, calling it u201cfamily feeling.u201d evidently we aren't the only society or generation to puzzle over what a family is and ought to be. sometimes i translate the characters su and p'u with such words as simple, natural . though the phrase u201cthe uncarved blocku201d has become familiar to many, yet metaphor may distance ideas and weaken a direct statement. but sometimes, as here, i use the traditional metaphors, because the context so clearly implies knowing something as an artist knows her materials, keeping hold on something solid.

acting simply

this invisible leader, who gets things done in such a way that people think they did it all themselves, isn't one who manipulates others from behind the scenes; just the opposite. again, it's a matter of u201cdoing without doingu201d: uncompetitive, unworried, trustful accomplishment, power that is not force. an example or analogy might be a very good teacher, or the truest voice in a group of singers.

in the degradation of the great way come benevolence and righteousness. with the exaltation of learning and prudence comes immense hypocrisy. the disordered family is full of dutiful children and parents. the disordered society is full of loyal patriots. in the degradation of the great way come benevolence and righteousness. with the exaltation of learning and prudence comes immense hypocrisy. the disordered family is full of dutiful children and parents. the disordered society is full of loyal patriots.

second bests

stop being holy, forget being prudent, it'll be a hundred times better for everyone. stop being altruistic, forget being righteous, people will remember what family feeling is. stop planning, forget making a profit, there won't be any thieves and robbers. but even these three rules needn't be followed; what works reliably is to know the raw silk, hold the uncut wood. need little, want less. forget the rules. be untroubled. stop being holy, forget being prudent, it'll be a hundred times better for everyone. stop being altruistic, forget being righteous, people will remember what family feeling is. stop planning, forget making a profit, there won't be any thieves and robbers. but even these three rules needn't be followed; what works reliably is to know the raw silk, hold the uncut wood. need little, want less. forget the rules. be untroubled.

raw silk and uncut wood

this chapter and the two before it may be read as a single movement of thought. u201craw silku201d and u201cuncut woodu201d are images traditionally associated with the characters su (simple, plain and p' u (natural, honest.

how much difference between yes and no? what difference between good and bad? what the people fear must be feared. o desolation! not yet, not yet has it reached its limit! everybody's cheerful, cheerful as if at a party, or climbing a tower in springtime. and here i sit unmoved, clueless, like a child, a baby too young to smile. forlorn, forlorn. like a homeless person. most people have plenty. i'm the one that's poor, a fool right through. ignorant, ignorant. most people are so bright. i'm the one that's dull. most people are so keen. i don't have the answers. oh, i'm desolate, at sea, adrift, without harbor. everybody has something to do.i'm the clumsy one, out of place. i'm the different one, for my food is the milk of the mother. how much difference between yes and no? what difference between good and bad? what the people fear must be feared. o desolation! not yet, not yet has it reached its limit! everybody's cheerful, cheerful as if at a party, or climbing a tower in springtime. and here i sit unmoved, clueless, like a child, a baby too young to smile. forlorn, forlorn. like a homeless person. most people have plenty. i'm the one that's poor, a fool right through. ignorant, ignorant. most people are so bright. i'm the one that's dull. most people are so keen. i don't have the answers. oh, i'm desolate, at sea, adrift, without harbor. everybody has something to do.i'm the clumsy one, out of place. i'm the different one, for my food is the milk of the mother.

the standard texts ask what's the difference between wei and o, which might be translated u201cyesu201d and u201cyessir.u201d the ma wang tui has wei and ho: u201cyesu201d andu201cno.u201d this is parallel with the next line (u201cgood and badu201d in the standard text, u201cbeautiful and uglyu201d in the ma wang tui . here's a case where the older text surely is correct, the later ones corrupt. in the first two lines of the second verse, the ma wang tui text is perfectly clear: u201ca person whom everyone fears ought to be feared.u201d the standard text is strange, obscure: u201cwhat the people fear must be feared.u201d yet the next lines follow from it as they don't from the ma wang tui; and after much pondering i followed the standard text.

being different

the difference between yes and no, good and bad, is something only the u201cbrightu201d people, the people with the answers, can understand. a poor stupid taoist can't make it out. this chapter is full of words like huang (wild, barren; famine, tun (ignorant; chaotic, hun (dull, turbid, men (sad, puzzled, mute, and hu (confused, obscured, vague. they configure chaos, confusion, a u201cbewildernessu201d in which the mind wanders without certainties, desolate, silent, awkward. but in that milky, dim strangeness lies the way. it can't be found in the superficial order imposed by positive and negative opinions, the good/bad, yes/no moralizing that denies fear and ignores mystery.

the greatest power is the gift of following the way alone. how the way does things is hard to grasp, elusive. elusive, yes, hard to grasp, yet there are thoughts in it. hard to grasp, yes, elusive, yet there are things in it. hard to make out, yes, and obscure, yet there is spirit in it, veritable spirit. there is certainty in it. from long, long ago till now it has kept its name. so it saw the beginning of everything. how do i know anything about the beginning? by this. mysticism rises from and returns to the irreducible, unsayable reality of u201cthis.u201d u201cthisu201d is the way. this is the way. the greatest power is the gift of following the way alone. how the way does things is hard to grasp, elusive. elusive, yes, hard to grasp, yet there are thoughts in it. hard to grasp, yes, elusive, yet there are things in it. hard to make out, yes, and obscure, yet there is spirit in it, veritable spirit. there is certainty in it. from long, long ago till now it has kept its name. so it saw the beginning of everything. how do i know anything about the beginning? by this. mysticism rises from and returns to the irreducible, unsayable reality of u201cthis.u201d u201cthisu201d is the way. this is the way.

the empty heart

be broken to be whole. twist to be straight. be empty to be full. w ear out to be renewed. have little and gain much. have much and get confused. so wise souls hold to the one, and test all things against it. not showing themselves, they shine forth. not justifying themselves, they're self-evident. not praising themselves, they're accomplished. not competing, they have in all the world no competitor. what they used to say in the old days, u201cbe broken to be whole,u201d was that mistaken? truly, to be whole is to return. be broken to be whole. twist to be straight. be empty to be full. w ear out to be renewed. have little and gain much. have much and get confused. so wise souls hold to the one, and test all things against it. not showing themselves, they shine forth. not justifying themselves, they're self-evident. not praising themselves, they're accomplished. not competing, they have in all the world no competitor. what they used to say in the old days, u201cbe broken to be whole,u201d was that mistaken? truly, to be whole is to return.

growing downward

nature doesn't make long speeches. a whirlwind doesn't last all morning. a cloudburst doesn't last all day. who makes the wind and rain? heaven and earth do. if heaven and earth don't go on and on, certainly people don't need to. the people who work with tao are tao people, they belong to the way. people who work with power belong to power. people who work with loss belong to what's lost. give yourself to the way and you'll be at home on the way. give yourself to power and you'll be at home in power. give yourself to loss and when you're lost you'll be at home. to give no trust is to get no trust. nature doesn't make long speeches. a whirlwind doesn't last all morning. a cloudburst doesn't last all day. who makes the wind and rain? heaven and earth do. if heaven and earth don't go on and on, certainly people don't need to. the people who work with tao are tao people, they belong to the way. people who work with power belong to power. people who work with loss belong to what's lost. give yourself to the way and you'll be at home on the way. give yourself to power and you'll be at home in power. give yourself to loss and when you're lost you'll be at home. to give no trust is to get no trust.

in the second verse the word shih, u201closs,u201d gives trouble to all the translators. waley calls it u201cthe reverse of the poweru201d and u201cinefficacy,u201d and waley's interpretations are never to be ignored. all the same, i decided to take it not as the opposite of the way and the power, but as a kind of shadow-way. identify yourself with loss, failure, the obscure, the unpossessible, and you'll be at home even there.

nothing and not

you can't keep standing on tiptoe or walk in leaps and bounds. you can't shine by showing off or get ahead by pushing. self-satisfied people do no good, self-promoters never grow up. such stuff is to the tao as garbage is to food or a tumor to the body, hateful. the follower of the way avoids it. you can't keep standing on tiptoe or walk in leaps and bounds. you can't shine by showing off or get ahead by pushing. self-satisfied people do no good, self-promoters never grow up. such stuff is to the tao as garbage is to food or a tumor to the body, hateful. the follower of the way avoids it.

my version of the first four lines of the second verse doesn't follow any of the scholarly translations, and is quite unjustified, but at least, unlike them, it makes sense without horrible verbal contortions.

proportion

there is something that contains everything. before heaven and earth it is. oh, it is still, unbodied, all on its own, unchanging, all-pervading, ever-moving. so it can act as the mother of all things. not knowing its real name, we only call it the way. if it must be named, let its name be great. greatness means going on, going on means going far, and going far means turning back. so they say: u201cthe way is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and humankind is great; four greatnesses in the world, and humanity is one of them.u201d people follow earth, earth follows heaven,heaven follows the way, the way follows what is. there is something that contains everything. before heaven and earth it is. oh, it is still, unbodied, all on its own, unchanging, all-pervading, ever-moving. so it can act as the mother of all things. not knowing its real name, we only call it the way. if it must be named, let its name be great. greatness means going on, going on means going far, and going far means turning back. so they say: u201cthe way is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and humankind is great; four greatnesses in the world, and humanity is one of them.u201d people follow earth, earth follows heaven,heaven follows the way, the way follows what is.

in all the texts, the fourth verse reads: so they say: u201cthe way is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is great. four greatnesses in the world, and the king is one of them.u201d yet in the next verse, which is the same series in reverse order, instead of u201cthe kingu201d it's u201cthe peopleu201d or u201chumanity.u201d i think a confucian copyist slippedthe king in. the king garbles the sense of the poem and goes against the spirit of the book. i dethroned him. the last words of the chapter, tzu jan, which i render u201cwhat is,u201d bear many interpretations. waley translates them as u201cthe self-so,u201d glossing them as u201cthe unconditionedu201d or u201cwhat is so of itselfu201d; henricks, u201cwhat is so on its ownu201d; lau, u201cthat which is naturally sou201d; gibbs-cheng, u201cnatureu201d; feng-english, u201cwhat is naturalu201d; lafargue, u201cthings as they are.u201d i came out closest to lafargue in this case.

imagining mystery

i'd like to call the u201csomethingu201d of the first line a lumpu2014an unshaped, undifferentiated lump, chaos, before the w ord, before form, before change. inside it is time, space, everything; in the womb of the way. the last words of the chapter, tzu jan, i render as u201cwhat is.u201d i was tempted to say, u201cthe way follows itself,u201d because the way is the way things are; but that would reduce the significance of the words. they remind us not to see the way as a sovereignty or a domination, all creative, all yang. the way itself is a follower. though it is before everything, it follows what is.

heavy is the root of light. still is the master of moving. so wise souls make their daily march with the heavy baggage wagon. only when safe in a solid, quiet house do they lay care aside. how can a lord of ten thousand chariots let his own person weigh less in the balance than his land? lightness will lose him his foundation, movement will lose him his mastery. heavy is the root of light. still is the master of moving. so wise souls make their daily march with the heavy baggage wagon. only when safe in a solid, quiet house do they lay care aside. how can a lord of ten thousand chariots let his own person weigh less in the balance than his land? lightness will lose him his foundation, movement will lose him his mastery.

i follow the ma wang tui text for the third verse, which fits the theme much better than the non-sequitur standard text, u201camid fine sights they sit calm and aloof.u201d the syntax of the ma wang tui also clarifies the last verse, relating it to the last verse of chapter 13.

power of the heavy

i take heaviness to be the root matters of daily life, the baggage we bodily beings have to carry, such as food, drink, shelter, safety. if you go charging too far ahead of the baggage wagon you may be cut off from it; if you treat your body as unimportant you risk insanity or inanity. the first two lines would make a nice motto for the practice of t'ai chi.

good walkers leave no track. good talkers don't stammer. good counters don't use their fingers. the best door's unlocked and unopened. the best knot's not in a rope and can't be untied. so wise souls are good at caring for people, never turning their back on anyone. they're good at looking after things, never turning their back on anything. there's a light hidden here. good people teach people who aren't good yet; the less good are the makings of the good. anyone who doesn't respect a teacher or cherish a student may be clever, but has gone astray. there's a deep mystery here. good walkers leave no track. good talkers don't stammer. good counters don't use their fingers. the best door's unlocked and unopened. the best knot's not in a rope and can't be untied. so wise souls are good at caring for people, never turning their back on anyone. they're good at looking after things, never turning their back on anything. there's a light hidden here. good people teach people who aren't good yet; the less good are the makings of the good. anyone who doesn't respect a teacher or cherish a student may be clever, but has gone astray. there's a deep mystery here.

the first two lines of the third verse say that the not-good are the t'zu: u201cthe capitalu201d (carus, or u201cthe chargeu201d (feng-english, or u201cthe stock in tradeu201d (waley, or u201cthe raw materialu201d (henricks of the good. lafargue has u201cthe less excellent are material for the excellent,u201d and gibbs-cheng, u201cmediocre people have the potential to be good people.u201d the latter two interpretations seemed the most useful to me. and so i call these makings, this raw material, u201ca studentu201du2014somebody learning to be or know better. the last lines of the second and third verses are translated in wildly various ways; my u201chidden lightu201d and u201cdeep mysteryu201d are justified if, as i believe, lao tzu is signaling that his apparently simple statements have complex implications and need thinking about. of course, this is true of everything in the book.

skill

the hidden light and the deep mystery seem to be signals, saying u201cthink about thisu201du2014about care for what seems unimportant. in a teacher's parental care for the insignificant student, and in a society's respect for mothers, teachers, and other obscure people who educate, there is indeed illumination and a profoundly human mystery. having replaced instinct with language, society, and culture, we are the only species that depends on teaching and learning. w e aren't human without them. in them is true power. but are they the occupations of the rich and mighty?

knowing man and staying woman, be the riverbed of the world. being the world's riverbed of eternal unfailing power is to go back again to be newborn. knowing light and staying dark, be a pattern to the world. being the world's pattern of eternal unerring power is to go back again to boundlessness. knowing glory and staying modest, be the valley of the world. being the world's valley of eternal inexhaustible power is to go back again to the natural. natural wood is cut up and made into useful things. wise souls are used to make into leaders. just so, a great carving knowing man and staying woman, be the riverbed of the world. being the world's riverbed of eternal unfailing power is to go back again to be newborn. knowing light and staying dark, be a pattern to the world. being the world's pattern of eternal unerring power is to go back again to boundlessness. knowing glory and staying modest, be the valley of the world. being the world's valley of eternal inexhaustible power is to go back again to the natural. natural wood is cut up and made into useful things. wise souls are used to make into leaders. just so, a great carving

u201cthe naturalu201d and u201cnatural woodu201d are the same word, p' u, which i talked about in the note to chapter 19. given the amount of cutting up and carving that goes on in the last verse (which seems a kind of footnote to the first three, wereally seem to be talking about wood. chinese lends itself to puns, and this last verse is rife with them. waley says that ch'i (u201cuseful thingsu201d can mean u201cvesselsu201d or u201cvassals,u201d and chih can mean u201ccarvingu201d or u201cgoverning.u201d a great government wouldn't chop and hack at human nature, trying to make leaders out of sow's ears. but the paradox of the last two lines surely exceeds any single interpretation.

turning back

is done without cutting.the simplicity of lao tzu's language can present an almost impenetrable density of meaning. the reversals and paradoxes in this great poem are the oppositions of the yin and yangu2014male/female, light/dark, glory/modestyu2014but the u201cknowing and beingu201d of them, the balancing act, results in neither stasis nor synthesis. the riverbed in which power runs leads back, the patterns of power lead back, the valley where power is contained leads backu2014to the forever new, endless, straightforward way. reversal, recurrence, are the movement, and yet the movement is onward.

those who think to win the world by doing something to it, i see them come to grief. for the world is a sacred object. nothing is to be done to it. to do anything to it is to damage it. to seize it is to lose it. under heaven some things lead, some follow, some blow hot, some cold, some are strong, some weak, some are fulfilled, some fail. so the wise soul keeps away from the extremes, excess, extravagance. those who think to win the world by doing something to it, i see them come to grief. for the world is a sacred object. nothing is to be done to it. to do anything to it is to damage it. to seize it is to lose it. under heaven some things lead, some follow, some blow hot, some cold, some are strong, some weak, some are fulfilled, some fail. so the wise soul keeps away from the extremes, excess, extravagance.

the phrase t'ien hsia occurs only in the first verse, where i translate it u201cthe world.u201d i begin the second verse with the literal translation of it, u201cunder heaven.u201d i wanted the phrase in the poem as a reminder that the world of these extremesu2014of hot and cold, weakness and strength, gain and lossu2014is the sacred object, the place under heaven.

not doing

for lao tzu, u201cmoderation in all thingsu201d isn't just a bit of safe, practical advice. to lose the sense of the sacredness of the world is a mortal loss. to injure our world by excesses of greed and ingenuity is to endanger our own sacredness.

a taoist wouldn't advise a ruler to use force of arms for conquest; that tactic backfires. where the army marched grow thorns and thistles. after the war come the bad harvests. good leaders prosper, that's all, not presuming on victory. they prosper without boasting, or domineering, or arrogance, prosper because they can't help it, prosper without violence. things flourish then perish. not the way. what's not the way soon ends. a taoist wouldn't advise a ruler to use force of arms for conquest; that tactic backfires. where the army marched grow thorns and thistles. after the war come the bad harvests. good leaders prosper, that's all, not presuming on victory. they prosper without boasting, or domineering, or arrogance, prosper because they can't help it, prosper without violence. things flourish then perish. not the way. what's not the way soon ends.

not making war

this first direct statement of lao tzu's pacifism is connected in thought to the previous poem and leads directly to the next. the last verse is enigmatic: u201cthings flourish then perishu201du2014how can this supremely natural sequence not be the way? i offer my understanding of it in the note on the page with chapter 55, where nearly the same phrase occurs.

even the best weapon is an unhappy tool, hateful to living things. so the follower of the way stays away from it. w eapons are unhappy tools, not chosen by thoughtful people, to be used only when there is no choice, and with a calm, still mind, without enjoyment. to enjoy using weapons is to enjoy killing people, and to enjoy killing people is to lose your share in the common good. it is right that the murder of many people be mourned and lamented. it is right that a victor in war be received with funeral ceremonies. even the best weapon is an unhappy tool, hateful to living things. so the follower of the way stays away from it. w eapons are unhappy tools, not chosen by thoughtful people, to be used only when there is no choice, and with a calm, still mind, without enjoyment. to enjoy using weapons is to enjoy killing people, and to enjoy killing people is to lose your share in the common good. it is right that the murder of many people be mourned and lamented. it is right that a victor in war be received with funeral ceremonies.

i have omitted certain lines included by the translators who are my sources and guides. in all the texts, the second verse begins: a courteous person in peacetime honors the left, in wartime, the right. and the last verse begins: in celebrations the left is the place of honor, in mourning the right is the place of honor: so lesser officers stand on the left, the generalissimo on the right, just as they would at a funeral. i consider these passages to be commentaries or marginal glosses that got copied into the text. j. p. seaton says, u201cwhat were once supports by analogy to common ceremonial practice are now relevant only to the historian.u201d here they confuse the clear, powerful statement that culminates in the last four lines. the confusion already existed when the ma wang tui version was written, andthere seems to be no way of sorting it out now except by radical surgery.

against war

the way goes on forever nameless. uncut wood, nothing important, yet nobody under heaven dare try to carve it. if rulers and leaders could use it, the ten thousand things would gather in homage, heaven and earth would drop sweet dew, and people, without being ordered, would be fair to one another. to order, to govern, is to begin naming; when names proliferate it's time to stop. if you know when to stop you're in no danger. the way in the world is as a stream to a valley, a river to the sea. the way goes on forever nameless. uncut wood, nothing important, yet nobody under heaven dare try to carve it. if rulers and leaders could use it, the ten thousand things would gather in homage, heaven and earth would drop sweet dew, and people, without being ordered, would be fair to one another. to order, to govern, is to begin naming; when names proliferate it's time to stop. if you know when to stop you're in no danger. the way in the world is as a stream to a valley, a river to the sea.

sacred power

the second verse connects the uncut, the uncarved, the unusable, to the idea of the unnamed presented in the first chapter: u201cname's the mother of the ten thousand things.u201d you have to make order, you have to make distinctions, but you also have to know when to stop before you've lost the whole in the multiplicity of parts. the simplicity or singleness of the way is that of water,which always rejoins itself.

knowing other people is intelligence, knowing yourself is wisdom. overcoming others takes strength, overcoming yourself takes greatness. contentment is wealth. boldly pushing forward takes resolution. staying put keeps you in position. to live till you die is to live long enough. knowing other people is intelligence, knowing yourself is wisdom. overcoming others takes strength, overcoming yourself takes greatness. contentment is wealth. boldly pushing forward takes resolution. staying put keeps you in position. to live till you die is to live long enough.

this chapter sounds like polonius, incontrovertible but banal, until the last verse, which is a doozer. here are some other versions of the last six words, sss erh pu wang che shou: carus (word for word: u201c[who] dies / yet / not / perishes, / the-one / is- long-lived [immortal].u201d carus's free translation: u201cone who may die but does not perish has life everlasting.u201d waley: u201cwhen one dies one is not lost; there is no other longevity.u201d feng-english: u201cto die but not to perish is to be eternally present.u201d henricks: u201cto die but not be forgottenu2014that's [true] long life.u201d bynner: u201cvitality cleaves to the marrow / leaving death behind.u201d lafargue: u201cone who dies and does not perish is truly long-lived.u201d gibbs-cheng: u201cone who dies yet still remains has longevity.u201d lau: u201che who lives out his days has had a long life.u201d under j. p. seaton's guidance i finally came to feel that i had a handle on the line, and that lau's rendition was the most useful. one thing is certain, lao tzu is not saying that immortality or even longevity is desirable. the religion called taoism has spent much imagination on ways to prolong life interminably or gain immortality, and the mythologized lao tzu was supposed to have run methuselah a close race; but the lao tzu who wrote this had no truck with such notions.

kinds of power

the great way runs to left, to right, the ten thousand things depending on it, living on it, accepted by it. doing its work, it goes unnamed. clothing and feeding the ten thousand things, it lays no claim on them and asks nothing of them. call it a small matter. the ten thousand things return to it, though it lays no claim on them. call it great. so the wise soul without great doings achieves greatness. the great way runs to left, to right, the ten thousand things depending on it, living on it, accepted by it. doing its work, it goes unnamed. clothing and feeding the ten thousand things, it lays no claim on them and asks nothing of them. call it a small matter. the ten thousand things return to it, though it lays no claim on them. call it great. so the wise soul without great doings achieves greatness.

perfect trust

hold fast to the great thought and all the world will come to you, harmless, peaceable, serene. w alking around, we stop for music, for food. but if you taste the way it's flat, insipid. it looks like nothing much, it sounds like nothing much. and yet you can't get enough of it. hold fast to the great thought and all the world will come to you, harmless, peaceable, serene. w alking around, we stop for music, for food. but if you taste the way it's flat, insipid. it looks like nothing much, it sounds like nothing much. and yet you can't get enough of it.

humane power

what seeks to shrink must first have grown; what seeks weakness surely was strong. what seeks its ruin must first have risen; what seeks to take has surely given. this is called the small dark light: the soft, the weak prevail over the hard, the strong. there is a third stanza in all the texts: fish should stay underwater: the real means of rule should be kept dark. what seeks to shrink must first have grown; what seeks weakness surely was strong. what seeks its ruin must first have risen; what seeks to take has surely given. this is called the small dark light: the soft, the weak prevail over the hard, the strong. there is a third stanza in all the texts: fish should stay underwater: the real means of rule should be kept dark.

w ei mingu2014this phrase in the first line of the second verse (and the chapter titleu2014is tricky: carus (word for word: u201cthe secret's / explanationu201d; carus's free translation: u201cexplanation [ i.e., enlightenment] of the secretu201dfeng-english: u201cperception of the nature of thingsu201d gibbs-cheng: u201cwonderfully minute and obscure, yet brilliantu201d lafargue: u201csubtle clarityu201d henricks: u201csubtle lightu201d bynner: u201ca man with insightu201d waley: u201cdimming one's lightu201d ming is u201clightu201d or u201cenlightenment.u201d waley explains that wei means obscure because very small, and also obscure because dark. i use this second meaning to make an oxymoron.

the small dark light

or, more literally, u201cthe state's sharp weapons ought not to be shown to the people.u201d this machiavellian truism seems such an anticlimax to the great theme stated in the first verses that i treat it as an intrusion, perhaps a commentator's practical example of u201cthe small dark light.u201d

the way never does anything, and everything gets done. if those in power could hold to the way, the ten thousand things would look after themselves. if even so they tried to act, i'd quiet them with the nameless, the natural. in the unnamed, in the unshapen, is not wanting. in not wanting is stillness. in stillness all under heaven rests. the way never does anything, and everything gets done. if those in power could hold to the way, the ten thousand things would look after themselves. if even so they tried to act, i'd quiet them with the nameless, the natural. in the unnamed, in the unshapen, is not wanting. in not wanting is stillness. in stillness all under heaven rests.

the words in the first verse i translate as u201cthe nameless, the naturalu201d and in the next verse as u201cthe unnamed, the unshapenu201d are the same four words: wu ming chih p'u; more literally, u201cthe naturalness of the unnamed.u201d u201cthe unnamedu201d is a key phrase in the first chapter and elsewhere, as is u201cnot wanting,u201d u201cunwanting.u201d p'u is the natural, the uncut wood, or, as waley glosses it here, u201cuncarved- wood quality.u201d

over all

here the themes of not doing and not wanting, the unnamed and the unshapen, recur together in one pure legato. it is wonderful how by negatives and privatives lao tzu gives a sense of serene, inexhaustible fullness of being.

great power, not clinging to power, has true power. lesser power, clinging to power, lacks true power. great power, doing nothing, has nothing to do. lesser power, doing nothing, has an end in view. the good the truly good do has no end in view. the right the very righteous do has an end in view. and those who act in true obedience to law roll up their sleeves and make the disobedient obey. so: when we lose the way we find power; losing power we find goodness; losing goodness we find righteousness; losing righteousness we're left with obedience. obedience to law is the dry husk of loyalty and good faith. opinion is the barren flower of the way, the beginning of ignorance. so great-minded people great power, not clinging to power, has true power. lesser power, clinging to power, lacks true power. great power, doing nothing, has nothing to do. lesser power, doing nothing, has an end in view. the good the truly good do has no end in view. the right the very righteous do has an end in view. and those who act in true obedience to law roll up their sleeves and make the disobedient obey. so: when we lose the way we find power; losing power we find goodness; losing goodness we find righteousness; losing righteousness we're left with obedience. obedience to law is the dry husk of loyalty and good faith. opinion is the barren flower of the way, the beginning of ignorance. so great-minded people

the series here is of familiar confucian principles: jen, li, i u2014u201cgood, humane, human-hearted, altruisticu201d; u201crighteous, moral, ethicalu201d; u201claws, rites, rules, law and order.u201d but lao tzu reverses and subverts the confucian priorities. chien shih in the fourth verse is u201cpremature knowledgeu201d in carus and u201cforeknowledgeu201d in lau, henricks, and waley (who explains it as part of confucian doctrine. henricks interprets it as having u201cone's mind made up before one enters a new situation about what is u2018right' and u2018wrong' and u2018proper' and u2018acceptable' and so on.u201d prejudice, that is, or opinion. buddhists and taoists agree in having a very low opinion of opinion.

talking about power

abide in the kernel not the husk,in the fruit not the flower, letting the one go, keeping the other. a vast, dense argument in a minumum of words, this poem lays out the taoist values in steeply descending order: the way and its power; goodness (humane feeling; righteousness (morality; andu2014a very distant lastu2014obedience (law and order. the word i render as u201copinionu201d can be read as u201cknowing too soonu201d: the mind obeying orders, judging before the evidence is in, closed to fruitful perception and learning.

those who of old got to be whole: heaven through its wholeness is pure; earth through its wholeness is steady; spirit through its wholeness is potent; the valley through its wholeness flows with rivers; the ten thousand things through their wholeness live; rulers through their wholeness have authority. their wholeness makes them what they are. without what makes it pure, heaven would disintegrate; without what steadies it, earth would crack apart; without what makes it potent, spirit would fail; without what fills it, the valley would run dry; without what quickens them, the ten thousand things would die; without what authorizes them, rulers would fall. the root of the noble is in the common, the high stands on what's below. princes and kings call themselves u201corphans, widowers, beggars,u201d to get themselves rooted in the dirt. a multiplicity of riches is poverty. jade is praised as precious, but its strength is being stone. those who of old got to be whole: heaven through its wholeness is pure; earth through its wholeness is steady; spirit through its wholeness is potent; the valley through its wholeness flows with rivers; the ten thousand things through their wholeness live; rulers through their wholeness have authority. their wholeness makes them what they are. without what makes it pure, heaven would disintegrate; without what steadies it, earth would crack apart; without what makes it potent, spirit would fail; without what fills it, the valley would run dry; without what quickens them, the ten thousand things would die; without what authorizes them, rulers would fall. the root of the noble is in the common, the high stands on what's below. princes and kings call themselves u201corphans, widowers, beggars,u201d to get themselves rooted in the dirt. a multiplicity of riches is poverty. jade is praised as precious, but its strength is being stone.

y i, u201cone, the one, unity, singleness, integrity,u201d is here translated as u201cwhole, wholeness.u201dwaley explains the last two verses as comments on the first three, but their relevance is pretty tenuous. the last verse is very difficult and the translations are various and ingenious. henricks reads the ma wang tui text of the first two lines of it as meaning u201ctoo many carriages is the same as no carriage,u201d and i picked up on the idea of multiplicity as opposed to the singleness or wholeness spoken of in the first verses. the meaning of the lines about jade seems to be anybody's guess.

integrity

return is how the way moves. w eakness is how the way works. heaven and earth and the ten thousand things are born of being. being is born of nothing. return is how the way moves. w eakness is how the way works. heaven and earth and the ten thousand things are born of being. being is born of nothing.

by no means

thoughtful people hear about the way and try hard to follow it. ordinary people hear about the way and wander onto it and off it. thoughtless people hear about the way and make jokes about it. it wouldn't be the way if there weren't jokes about it. so they say: the way's brightness looks like darkness; advancing on the way feels like retreating; the plain way seems hard going. the height of power seems a valley; the amplest power seems not enough; the firmest power seems feeble. perfect whiteness looks dirty. the pure and simple looks chaotic. the great square has no corners. the great vessel is never finished. the great tone is barely heard. the great thought can't be thought. the way is hidden in its namelessness. but only the way begins, sustains, fulfills. thoughtful people hear about the way and try hard to follow it. ordinary people hear about the way and wander onto it and off it. thoughtless people hear about the way and make jokes about it. it wouldn't be the way if there weren't jokes about it. so they say: the way's brightness looks like darkness; advancing on the way feels like retreating; the plain way seems hard going. the height of power seems a valley; the amplest power seems not enough; the firmest power seems feeble. perfect whiteness looks dirty. the pure and simple looks chaotic. the great square has no corners. the great vessel is never finished. the great tone is barely heard. the great thought can't be thought. the way is hidden in its namelessness. but only the way begins, sustains, fulfills.

i moved the line about perfect whiteness down to keep the three lines about power together, in parallel structure with the three lines about the way. in the last line of the second verse (and in chapters 21 and 35 i translate hsiang as u201cthought.u201d the word connotes u201cform, shape, image, ideau201d waley explains it as the form which is formless, the tao which can't be tao'd.

on and off

the way bears one. the one bears two. the two bear three. the three bear the ten thousand things. the ten thousand things carry the yin on their shoulders and hold in their arms the yang, whose interplay of energy makes harmony. people despise orphans, widowers, outcasts. yet that's what kings and rulers call themselves. whatever you lose, you've won. whatever you win, you've lost. what others teach, i say too: violence and aggression destroy themselves. my teaching rests on that. the way bears one. the one bears two. the two bear three. the three bear the ten thousand things. the ten thousand things carry the yin on their shoulders and hold in their arms the yang, whose interplay of energy makes harmony. people despise orphans, widowers, outcasts. yet that's what kings and rulers call themselves. whatever you lose, you've won. whatever you win, you've lost. what others teach, i say too: violence and aggression destroy themselves. my teaching rests on that.

in the sixth line, does the word fu mean u201ccarry on one's backu201d or u201cturn one's back onu201d? lafargue is the only translator i found that made the second choice. i don't follow him because i don't think the u201cten thousand thingsu201d would or can make the mistake of turning their backs on the yin to embrace only yang. (but a great many of us do make that mistake, which is why lao tzu keeps reminding us to value yin, the soft, the dark, the weak, earth, water, the mother, the v alley. lafargue's reading, however, lets the next stanza follow more coherentlyu2014 orphans, the bereaved, the outcast are what we turn our backs on; winning is yang, losing is yin. through loss we win. . . . the last stanza is uncharacteristic in its didactic tone and in assimilating the teaching to a tradition. lao tzu usually cites u201cwhat others teachu201d only to dissociate himself from it. i was inclined to dismiss it as a marginal note by someone who was teaching and annotating the text. but j. p. seaton, who does teach the text, persuaded me to keep it in the body of the poem, saying, u201cit's a message that for all its flat moralism does connect taoism to confucianism and even to buddhism with a single solid threadu2014averting a hundred holy wars, if nothing else.u201d

children of the way

beginning with a pocket cosmology, this chapter demonstrates the u201cinterplay of energyu201d of yin and yang by showing how low and high, winning and losing, destruction and self-destruction, reverse themselves, each turning into its seeming opposite.

what's softest in the world rushes and runs over what's hardest in the world. the immaterial enters the impenetrable. so i know the good in not doing. the wordless teaching, the profit in not doingu2014 not many people understand it. what's softest in the world rushes and runs over what's hardest in the world. the immaterial enters the impenetrable. so i know the good in not doing. the wordless teaching, the profit in not doingu2014 not many people understand it.

water and stone

which is nearer, name or self? which is dearer, self or wealth? which gives more pain, loss or gain? all you grasp will be thrown away. all you hoard will be utterly lost. contentment keeps disgrace away. restraint keeps you out of danger so you can go on for a long, long time. which is nearer, name or self? which is dearer, self or wealth? which gives more pain, loss or gain? all you grasp will be thrown away. all you hoard will be utterly lost. contentment keeps disgrace away. restraint keeps you out of danger so you can go on for a long, long time.

the intense, succinct, beautiful language of the first verses of a poem is sometimes followed by a verse or two in a more didactic tone, smaller in scope, and far more prosaic. i believe some of these verses are additions, comments, and examples, copied into the manuscripts so long ago that they became holy writ. they usually have their own charm and validity, butu2014as here, and in chapter 39 and other placesu2014they bring a tremendous statement down to a rather commonplace ending. but then, lao tzu values the commonplace.

fame and fortune

what's perfectly whole seems flawed, but you can use it forever. what's perfectly full seems empty, but you can't use it up. true straightness looks crooked. great skill looks clumsy. real eloquence seems to stammer. to be comfortable in the cold, keep moving; to be comfortable in the heat, hold still; to be comfortable in the world, stay calm and clear. what's perfectly whole seems flawed, but you can use it forever. what's perfectly full seems empty, but you can't use it up. true straightness looks crooked. great skill looks clumsy. real eloquence seems to stammer. to be comfortable in the cold, keep moving; to be comfortable in the heat, hold still; to be comfortable in the world, stay calm and clear.

real power

when the world's on the way, they use horses to haul manure. when the world gets off the way, they breed warhorses on the common. the greatest evil: wanting more. the worst luck: discontent. greed's the curse of life. to know enough's enough is enough to know. when the world's on the way, they use horses to haul manure. when the world gets off the way, they breed warhorses on the common. the greatest evil: wanting more. the worst luck: discontent. greed's the curse of life. to know enough's enough is enough to know.

wanting less

you don't have to go out the door to know what goes on in the world. you don't have to look out the window to see the way of heaven. the farther you go, the less you know. so the wise soul doesn't go, but knows; doesn't look, but sees; doesn't do, but gets it done. you don't have to go out the door to know what goes on in the world. you don't have to look out the window to see the way of heaven. the farther you go, the less you know. so the wise soul doesn't go, but knows; doesn't look, but sees; doesn't do, but gets it done.

the last line, literally u201cnot do, yet accomplish,u201d is a direct statement of one of the fundamental themes of the book. when i came up with a slightly mealy version of it (u201cdoesn't do, but it's doneu201d j. p. seaton reminded me that u201cdoing without doing is doing, not not doing.u201d

looking far

we tend to expect great things from u201cseeing the worldu201d and u201cgetting experience.u201d a roman poet remarked that travelers change their sky but not their soul. other poets, untraveled and inexperienced, emily brontu00eb and emily dickinson, prove lao tzu's point: it's the inner eye that really sees the world.

studying and learning daily you grow larger. following the way daily you shrink. you get smaller and smaller. so you arrive at not doing. you do nothing and nothing's not done. to run things, don't fuss with them. nobody who fusses is fit to run things. studying and learning daily you grow larger. following the way daily you shrink. you get smaller and smaller. so you arrive at not doing. you do nothing and nothing's not done. to run things, don't fuss with them. nobody who fusses is fit to run things.

shi (my u201cfuss,u201d carus's u201cdiplomacyu201d is translated by lafargue as u201cwork,u201d by lau as u201cmeddling,u201d by waley and feng-english as u201cinterference,u201d by henricks as u201cconcern,u201d by gibbs-cheng as u201cact for gain.u201d

unlearning

the word shi in the second stanza, my u201cfuss,u201d is troublesome to the translators. carus's quite legitimate translation of it is u201cdiplomacy,u201d which would give a stanza i like very much: to run things, be undiplomatic. no diplomat is fit to run things.

the wise have no mind of their own, finding it in the minds of ordinary people. they're good to good people and they're good to bad people. power is goodness. they trust people of good faith and they trust people of bad faith. power is trust. they mingle their life with the world, they mix their mind up with the world. ordinary people look after them. wise souls are children. the wise have no mind of their own, finding it in the minds of ordinary people. they're good to good people and they're good to bad people. power is goodness. they trust people of good faith and they trust people of bad faith. power is trust. they mingle their life with the world, they mix their mind up with the world. ordinary people look after them. wise souls are children.

following some of carus's interpretations, the first lines of the third verse might be read, u201cwise souls live in the world carefully, handling it carefully, making their mind universal.u201d i can't make much sense of any of the other versions except henricks's beautiful reading: as for the sage's presence in the world, he is one with it. and with the world he merges his mind.

trust and power

the next to last line is usually read as saying that ordinary people watch and listen to wise people. but lao tzu has already told us that most of us wander on and off the way and don't know a sage from a sandpile. and surely the quiet taoist is not a media pundit. similarly, the last line is taken to mean that the wise treat ordinary people like children. this is patronizing, and makes hash out of the first verse. i read it to mean that the truly wise are looked after (or looked upon like children because they're trusting, unprejudiced, and don't hold themselves above or apart from ordinary life.

to look for life is to find death. the thirteen organs of our living are the thirteen organs of our dying. why are the organs of our life where death enters us? because we hold too hard to living. so i've heard if you live in the right way, when you cross country you needn't fear to meet a mad bull or a tiger; when you're in a battle you needn't fear the weapons. the bull would find nowhere to jab its horns, the tiger nowhere to stick its claws, the sword nowhere for its point to go. why? because there's nowhere in you for death to enter. to look for life is to find death. the thirteen organs of our living are the thirteen organs of our dying. why are the organs of our life where death enters us? because we hold too hard to living. so i've heard if you live in the right way, when you cross country you needn't fear to meet a mad bull or a tiger; when you're in a battle you needn't fear the weapons. the bull would find nowhere to jab its horns, the tiger nowhere to stick its claws, the sword nowhere for its point to go. why? because there's nowhere in you for death to enter.

those who read shih yu san as u201cthirteen,u201d rather than as u201cthree out of ten,u201dmake better sense of the difficult first verse. the thirteen u201ccompanions of lifeu201d (waley, henricks, which i translate u201corgans,u201d may be physical, the limbs and passages and cavities of the bodyu2014or physio/psychological, the emotions and sensations. my u201cmad bullu201d occurs variously as a rhinoceros and a wild buffalo. the idea seems to be a big irritable animal with horns. my u201clive in the right wayu201d is literally u201ctake care of your life,u201d or u201chold on to your life.u201d the context indicates care without anxiety, holding without grasping. i read the poem as saying that if you can take life as it comes, it doesn't come at you as your enemy. lao tzu's u201cnowhere for death to enteru201d isn't a promise of invulnerability or immortality; his concern is how to live rightly, how to u201clive till you die.u201d

love of life

the way bears them; power nurtures them; their own being shapes them; their own energy completes them. and not one of the ten thousand things fails to hold the way sacred or to obey its power. their reverence for the way and obedience to its power are unforced and always natural. for the way gives them life; its power nourishes them, mothers and feeds them, completes and matures them, looks after them, protects them. to have without possessing, do without claiming, lead without controlling: this is mysterious power. the way bears them; power nurtures them; their own being shapes them; their own energy completes them. and not one of the ten thousand things fails to hold the way sacred or to obey its power. their reverence for the way and obedience to its power are unforced and always natural. for the way gives them life; its power nourishes them, mothers and feeds them, completes and matures them, looks after them, protects them. to have without possessing, do without claiming, lead without controlling: this is mysterious power.

nature, nurture

the beginning of everything is the mother of everything. truly to know the mother is to know her children, and truly to know the children is to turn back to the mother. the body comes to its ending but there is nothing to fear. close the openings, shut the doors, and to the end of life nothing will trouble you. open the openings, be busy with business, and to the end of life nothing can help you. insight sees the insignificant. strength knows how to yield. use the way's light, return to its insight, and so keep from going too far. that's how to practice what's forever. the beginning of everything is the mother of everything. truly to know the mother is to know her children, and truly to know the children is to turn back to the mother. the body comes to its ending but there is nothing to fear. close the openings, shut the doors, and to the end of life nothing will trouble you. open the openings, be busy with business, and to the end of life nothing can help you. insight sees the insignificant. strength knows how to yield. use the way's light, return to its insight, and so keep from going too far. that's how to practice what's forever.

the last two lines of the first verse are the same as the last two lines of chapter 16. i wonder if some of these repetitions were insertions by people studying and copying the book, who were reminded of one poem by another and noted down the relevant lines. they are indeed relevant here, but they don't fit with perfect inevitability, as they do in chapter 16. this is of course a purely aesthetic judgment, subject to destruction by scholarship at any moment.

back to the beginning

this chapter on the themes of return and centering makes circles within itself and throughout the book, returning to phrases from other poems, turning them round the center. a center which is everywhere, a circle whose circumferenceis infinite...

if my mind's modest, i walk the great way. arrogance is all i fear. the great way is low and plain, but people like shortcuts over the mountains. the palace is full of splendor and the fields are full of weeds and the granaries are full of nothing. people wearing ornaments and fancy clothes, carrying weapons, drinking a lot and eating a lot, having a lot of things, a lot of money: shameless thieves. surely their way isn't the way. if my mind's modest, i walk the great way. arrogance is all i fear. the great way is low and plain, but people like shortcuts over the mountains. the palace is full of splendor and the fields are full of weeds and the granaries are full of nothing. people wearing ornaments and fancy clothes, carrying weapons, drinking a lot and eating a lot, having a lot of things, a lot of money: shameless thieves. surely their way isn't the way.

insight

so much for capitalism.

being full of power is like being a baby. scorpions don't sting, tigers don't attack, eagles don't strike. soft bones, weak muscles, but a firm grasp. ignorant of the intercourse of man and woman, yet the baby penis is erect. true and perfect energy! all day long screaming and crying, but never getting hoarse. true and perfect harmony! to know harmony is to know what's eternal. to know what's eternal is enlightenment. increase of life is full of portent: the strong heart exhausts the vital breath. the full-grown is on the edge of age. not the way. what's not the way soon dies. being full of power is like being a baby. scorpions don't sting, tigers don't attack, eagles don't strike. soft bones, weak muscles, but a firm grasp. ignorant of the intercourse of man and woman, yet the baby penis is erect. true and perfect energy! all day long screaming and crying, but never getting hoarse. true and perfect harmony! to know harmony is to know what's eternal. to know what's eternal is enlightenment. increase of life is full of portent: the strong heart exhausts the vital breath. the full-grown is on the edge of age. not the way. what's not the way soon dies.

gibbs and cheng, finding both the language and the message u201cdiscordant with the teachings of lao tzu,u201d won't even discuss this chapter. waley's reading saves it, but the listing u201cself, family, community, country, empire/worldu201d (a conventional series in ancient chinese thought, and the list of rules and results is uncharacteristically mechanical. though he uses many commonplaces, familiar phrases, rhymed sayings, and so on, lao tzu's thought and language are usually more unconventional and unpredictable than this.

the sign of the mysterious

as a model for the taoist, the baby is in many ways ideal: totally unaltruistic, not interested in politics, business, or the proprieties, weak, soft, and able toscream placidly for hours without wearing itself out (its parents are another matter. the baby's unawareness of poisonous insects and carnivorous beasts means that such dangers simply do not exist for it. (again, its parents are a different case. as a metaphor of the tao, the baby embodies the eternal beginning, the ever- springing source. u201cw e come, trailing clouds of glory,u201d w ordsworth says; and hopkins, u201cthere lives the dearest freshness deep down things.u201d no peter pan- ish refusal to grow up is involved, no hunt for the fountain of youth. what is eternal is forever young, never grows old. but we are not eternal. it is in this sense that i understand how the natural, inevitable cycle of youth, growth, mature vigor, age, and decay can be u201cnot the way.u201d the way is more than the cycle of any individual life. w e rise, flourish, fail. the way never fails. w e are waves. it is the sea.

well planted is not uprooted, well kept is not lost. the offerings of the generations to the ancestors will not cease. to follow the way yourself is real power. to follow it in the family is abundant power. to follow it in the community is steady power. to follow it in the whole country is lasting power. to follow it in the world is universal power. so in myself i see what self is, in my household i see what family is, in my town i see what community is, in my nation i see what a country is, in the world i see what is under heaven. how do i know the world is so? by this. well planted is not uprooted, well kept is not lost. the offerings of the generations to the ancestors will not cease. to follow the way yourself is real power. to follow it in the family is abundant power. to follow it in the community is steady power. to follow it in the whole country is lasting power. to follow it in the world is universal power. so in myself i see what self is, in my household i see what family is, in my town i see what community is, in my nation i see what a country is, in the world i see what is under heaven. how do i know the world is so? by this.

some rules

i follow waley's interpretation of this chapter. it is tao that plants and keeps; the various kinds of power belong to tao; and finally in myself i see the tao of self, and so on.

who knows doesn't talk. who talks doesn't know. closing the openings, shutting doors, blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, be one with the dust of the way. so you come to the deep sameness. then you can't be controlled by love or by rejection. you can't be controlled by profit or by loss. you can't be controlled by praise or by humiliation. then you have honor under heaven. who knows doesn't talk. who talks doesn't know. closing the openings, shutting doors, blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, be one with the dust of the way. so you come to the deep sameness. then you can't be controlled by love or by rejection. you can't be controlled by profit or by loss. you can't be controlled by praise or by humiliation. then you have honor under heaven.

another repetition: the first four lines of the second verse are the same as the second verse of chapter 4. they carry a different weight here. i vary mytranslation of them in the fourth line to make it connect to the next. hsuan t'ung, u201cthe deep samenessu201d: hsuan is u201cdeepu201d or u201cmysteriousu201d; t'ung is variously translated u201cidentification,u201d u201coneness,u201d u201csameness,u201d u201cmerging,u201d u201cleveling,u201d u201cassimilation.u201d it is an important theme, met with before in chapter 49.

mysteries of power

run the country by doing what's expected. win the war by doing the unexpected. control the world by doing nothing. how do i know that? by this. the more restrictions and prohibitions in the world, the poorer people get. the more experts the country has the more of a mess it's in. the more ingenious the skillful are, the more monstrous their inventions. the louder the call for law and order, the more the thieves and con men multiply. so a wise leader might say: i practice inaction, and the people look after themselves. i love to be quiet, and the people themselves find justice. i don't do business, and the people prosper on their own. i don't have wants, and the people themselves are uncut wood. run the country by doing what's expected. win the war by doing the unexpected. control the world by doing nothing. how do i know that? by this. the more restrictions and prohibitions in the world, the poorer people get. the more experts the country has the more of a mess it's in. the more ingenious the skillful are, the more monstrous their inventions. the louder the call for law and order, the more the thieves and con men multiply. so a wise leader might say: i practice inaction, and the people look after themselves. i love to be quiet, and the people themselves find justice. i don't do business, and the people prosper on their own. i don't have wants, and the people themselves are uncut wood.

the phrase u201chow do i know? by this,u201d has become a kind of tag by its third repetition; but as waley points out, it still implies intuitive knowing, beyond reasonu2014knowing the way. the words i translate u201cexpertsu201d literally mean u201csharp weapons,u201d but the term implies u201cpundits, know-it-alls.u201d i was tempted to say u201csmart bombs,u201d which is too cute and topical, but which would certainly lead neatly to the next lines.

being simple

a strong political statement of the central idea of wu wei , not doing, inaction. my u201cmonstrousu201d is literally u201cnew.u201d new is strange, and strange is uncanny. new is bad. lao tzu is deeply and firmly against changing things, particularly in the name of progress. he would make an iowa farmer look flighty. i don't think he is exactly anti-intellectual, but he considers most uses of the intellect to be pernicious, and all plans for improving things to be disastrous. yet he'snot a pessimist. no pessimist would say that people are able to look after themselves, be just, and prosper on their own. no anarchist can be a pessimist. uncut woodu2014here likened to the human soulu2014the uncut, unearned, unshaped, unpolished, native, natural stuff is better than anything that can be made out of it. anything done to it deforms and lessens it. its potentiality is infinite. its uses are trivial.

when the government's dull and confused, the people are placid. when the government's sharp and keen, the people are discontented. alas! misery lies under happiness, and happiness sits on misery, alas! who knows where it will end? nothing is certain. the normal changes into the monstrous, the fortunate into the unfortunate, and our bewilderment goes on and on. and so the wise shape without cutting, square without sawing, true without forcing. they are the light that does not shine. when the government's dull and confused, the people are placid. when the government's sharp and keen, the people are discontented. alas! misery lies under happiness, and happiness sits on misery, alas! who knows where it will end? nothing is certain. the normal changes into the monstrous, the fortunate into the unfortunate, and our bewilderment goes on and on. and so the wise shape without cutting, square without sawing, true without forcing. they are the light that does not shine.

waley points out that words in the last verse, with such meanings as u201csquare, right, angular,u201d are typical confucian virtues. henricks remarks that all these words and operations refer to carpentry. the verse is about how to cut the uncut wood without cutting it.

living with change

in the first verse, the words u201cdull and confusedu201d and u201csharp and keenu201d are, as waley points out, the words used in chapter 20 to describe the taoist and the non-taoists. in the last verse most translators say the taoist is square but doesn't cut, shines but doesn't dazzle. waley says that this misses the point. the point is that taoists gain their ends without the use of means . that is indeed a light that does not shineu2014an idea that must be pondered and brooded over. a small darklight.

in looking after your life and following the way, gather spirit. gather spirit early, and so redouble power, and so become invulnerable. invulnerable, unlimited, you can do what you like with material things. but only if you hold to the mother of things will you do it for long. have deep roots, a strong trunk. live long by looking long. in looking after your life and following the way, gather spirit. gather spirit early, and so redouble power, and so become invulnerable. invulnerable, unlimited, you can do what you like with material things. but only if you hold to the mother of things will you do it for long. have deep roots, a strong trunk. live long by looking long.

se, my u201cgather spirit,u201d is variously translated u201cfrugality,u201d u201cmoderation,u201d u201crestraint,u201d u201cbeing sparing,u201d or, by waley, u201claying up a store.u201d evidently the core idea is that of saving. the chapter is usually presented in the manual-for-princes mode. waley makes sense out of it by complex technical references; other versions make only gleams of sense. to persuade or coerce it into the personal mode meant a more radical interpretation than i usually dare attempt, but waley's reading, which points to the symbology of the breath ( ch'i and the u201clong looku201d of the meditator, gave me the courage to try. here is a version closer to the conventional ones: in controlling people and serving heavenit's best to go easy. going easy from the start is to gather power from the start, and gathered power keeps you safe. safe, you can do what you like. do what you like, the country's yours. if you can make the country's mother yours, you'll last a long time. you'll have deep roots and a strong trunk. the way to live long is to look long.

staying on the way

rule a big country the way you cook a small fish. if you keep control by following the way, troubled spirits won't act up. they won't lose their immaterial strength, but they won't harm people with it, nor will wise souls come to harm. and so, neither harming the other, these powers will come together in unity. rule a big country the way you cook a small fish. if you keep control by following the way, troubled spirits won't act up. they won't lose their immaterial strength, but they won't harm people with it, nor will wise souls come to harm. and so, neither harming the other, these powers will come together in unity.

staying put

thomas jefferson would have liked the first stanza. u201ctroubled spiritsu201d are kwei, ghosts, not bad in themselves but dangerous if they possess you. waley reads the second stanza as a warning to believers in realpolitik : a ruler u201cpossessedu201d by power harms both the people and his own soul. taking it as counsel to the individual, it might mean that wise souls neither indulge nor repress the troubled spirits that may haunt them; rather, they let those spiritual energies be part of the power they find along the way.

the polity of greatness runs downhill like a river to the sea, joining with everything, woman to everything. by stillness the woman may always dominate the man, lying quiet underneath him. so a great country submitting to small ones, dominates them; so small countries, submitting to a great one, dominate it. lie low to be on top, be on top by lying low. the polity of greatness runs downhill like a river to the sea, joining with everything, woman to everything. by stillness the woman may always dominate the man, lying quiet underneath him. so a great country submitting to small ones, dominates them; so small countries, submitting to a great one, dominate it. lie low to be on top, be on top by lying low.

the first seven lines continue the themes of u201csamenessu201d or assimilation, and of u201cbeing woman,u201d u201cbeing water,u201d the uses of yin. from there on, the language goes flat, and may be interpolated commentary. there's an even feebler fourth verse: a big country needs more people, a small one needs more room. each can get what it needs, but the big one needs to lie low. because the ma wang tui texts are older, one longs to see them as more authentic, less corrupt. but though they are invaluable in offering variant readings, some of the variants may themselves be corruptions. in this chapter, the ma wang tui reads u201csmall countries, submitting to a great one, are dominated,u201d and in the next verse, u201csome by lying low stay on top, but some by lying low stay on the bottom.u201d both versions are truisms, but the ma wang tui version isn't even a taoistic truism.

lying low

the way is the hearth and home of the ten thousand things. good souls treasure it, lost souls find shelter in it. fine words are for sale, fine deeds go cheap; even worthless people can get them. so, at the coronation of the son of heaven when the three ministers take office, you might race out in a four-horse chariot to offer a jade screen; but wouldn't it be better to sit still and let the way be your offering? why was the way honored in the old days? wasn't it said: seek, you'll find it. hide, it will shelter you. so it was honored under heaven. the way is the hearth and home of the ten thousand things. good souls treasure it, lost souls find shelter in it. fine words are for sale, fine deeds go cheap; even worthless people can get them. so, at the coronation of the son of heaven when the three ministers take office, you might race out in a four-horse chariot to offer a jade screen; but wouldn't it be better to sit still and let the way be your offering? why was the way honored in the old days? wasn't it said: seek, you'll find it. hide, it will shelter you. so it was honored under heaven.

the first and last verses hang together; the two middle verses are difficult and rather incoherent. waley says the enigmatic second verse refers to sophists and sages who went about selling their u201cfine wordsu201d to the highest bidder, like ourpop gurus and tv pundits.

the gift of the way

i think the line of thought throughout the poem has to do with true reward as opposed to dishonorable gain, true giving as opposed to fake goods.

do without doing. act without action. savor the flavorless. treat the small as large, the few as many. meet injury with the power of goodness. study the hard while it's easy. do big things while they're small. the hardest jobs in the world start out easy, the great affairs of the world start small. so the wise soul, by never dealing with great things, gets great things done. now, since taking things too lightly makes them worthless, and taking things too easy makes them hard, the wise soul, by treating the easy as hard, doesn't find anything hard. do without doing. act without action. savor the flavorless. treat the small as large, the few as many. meet injury with the power of goodness. study the hard while it's easy. do big things while they're small. the hardest jobs in the world start out easy, the great affairs of the world start small. so the wise soul, by never dealing with great things, gets great things done. now, since taking things too lightly makes them worthless, and taking things too easy makes them hard, the wise soul, by treating the easy as hard, doesn't find anything hard.

consider beginnings

waley says that this charmingly complex chapter plays with two proverbs. u201crequite injuries with good deedsu201d is the first. the word te, here meaning goodness or good deeds, is the same word lao tzu uses for the power of theway. (u201cpower is goodness,u201d he says in chapter 49. so, having neatly annexed the golden rule, he goes on to the proverb about u201ctaking things too lightlyu201d and plays paradox with it.

it's easy to keep hold of what hasn't stirred, easy to plan what hasn't occurred. it's easy to shatter delicate things, easy to scatter little things. do things before they happen. get them straight before they get mixed up. the tree you can't reach your arms around grew from a tiny seedling. the nine-story tower rises from a heap of clay. the ten-thousand-mile journey begins beneath your foot. do, and do wrong; hold on, and lose. not doing, the wise soul doesn't do it wrong, and not holding on, doesn't lose it. (in all their undertakings, it's just as they're almost finished that people go wrong. mind the end as the beginning, then it won't go wrong. that's why the wise want not to want, care nothing for hard-won treasures,learn not to be learned, turn back to what people overlooked. they go along with things as they are, but don't presume to act. it's easy to keep hold of what hasn't stirred, easy to plan what hasn't occurred. it's easy to shatter delicate things, easy to scatter little things. do things before they happen. get them straight before they get mixed up. the tree you can't reach your arms around grew from a tiny seedling. the nine-story tower rises from a heap of clay. the ten-thousand-mile journey begins beneath your foot. do, and do wrong; hold on, and lose. not doing, the wise soul doesn't do it wrong, and not holding on, doesn't lose it. (in all their undertakings, it's just as they're almost finished that people go wrong. mind the end as the beginning, then it won't go wrong. that's why the wise want not to want, care nothing for hard-won treasures,learn not to be learned, turn back to what people overlooked. they go along with things as they are, but don't presume to act.

i think the advice about being careful at the end of an undertaking was added, perhaps to balance the advice that the right time to act is before the beginning. it confuses the argument a bit, and i put it in parentheses. the line i give as u201cturn back to what people overlookedu201d is rendered by lafargue as u201cturns back to the place all others have gone on fromu201d; feng- english, u201cbrings men back to what they have lostu201d; henricks, u201creturns to what the masses have passed byu201d; waley, u201cturning all men back to the things they have left behind.u201d each version brings out a different color in the line, like different lights on an opal.

mindful of little things

once upon a time those who ruled according to the way didn't use it to make people knowing but to keep them unknowing. people get hard to manage when they know too much. whoever rules by intellect is a curse upon the land. whoever rules by ignorance is a blessing on it. to understand these things is to have a pattern and a model, and to understand the pattern and the model is mysterious power. mysterious power goes deep. it reaches far. it follows things back, clear back to the great oneness. once upon a time those who ruled according to the way didn't use it to make people knowing but to keep them unknowing. people get hard to manage when they know too much. whoever rules by intellect is a curse upon the land. whoever rules by ignorance is a blessing on it. to understand these things is to have a pattern and a model, and to understand the pattern and the model is mysterious power. mysterious power goes deep. it reaches far. it follows things back, clear back to the great oneness.

a dictator and his censors might all too easily cite from this chapter. a democrat might agree that the more people know, the harder they are for a ruler to governu2014since the more they know, the better they are at governing themselves. anyone might agree that an intellectual agenda pursued without reality-checking is indeed a curse upon the land. from the divine right of kings through the deadly teachings of hitler and mao to the mumbojumbo of economists, government by theory has done endless ill. but why is lao tzu's alternative to it a people kept in ignorance? what kind of ignorance? ignorance of what? lao tzu may be signalling us to ask such questions when he speaks of u201cunderstanding these things.u201d

one power

where shall we find a ruler wise enough to know what to teach and what to withhold? u201conce upon a time,u201d maybe, in the days of myth and legend, as a pattern, a model, an ideal? the knowledge and the ignorance or unknowing lao tzu speaks of may or may not refer to what we think of as education. in the last stanza, by power heevidently does not mean political power at all, but something vastly different, a unity with the power of the tao itself. this is a mystical statement about government u2014and in our minds those two realms are worlds apart. i cannot make the leap between them. i can only ponder it.

lakes and rivers are lords of the hundred valleys. why? because they'll go lower. so they're the lords of the hundred valleys. just so, a wise soul, wanting to be above other people, talks to them from below and to guide them follows them. and so the wise soul predominates without dominating, and leads without misleading. and people don't get tired of enjoying and praising one who, not competing, has in all the world no competitor. lakes and rivers are lords of the hundred valleys. why? because they'll go lower. so they're the lords of the hundred valleys. just so, a wise soul, wanting to be above other people, talks to them from below and to guide them follows them. and so the wise soul predominates without dominating, and leads without misleading. and people don't get tired of enjoying and praising one who, not competing, has in all the world no competitor.

lowdown

one of the things i love in lao tzu is his good cheer, as in this poem, which while giving good counsel is itself a praise and enjoyment of the spirit of yin, the water-soul that yields, follows, eludes, and leads on, dancing in the hundred valleys.

everybody says my way is great but improbable. all greatness is improbable. what's probable is tedious and petty. i have three treasures. i keep and treasure them. the first, mercy, the second, moderation, the third, modesty. if you're merciful you can be brave, if you're moderate you can be generous, and if you don't presume to lead you can lead the high and mighty. but to be brave without compassion, or generous without self-restraint, or to take the lead, is fatal. compassion wins the battle and holds the fort; it is the bulwark set around those heaven helps. everybody says my way is great but improbable. all greatness is improbable. what's probable is tedious and petty. i have three treasures. i keep and treasure them. the first, mercy, the second, moderation, the third, modesty. if you're merciful you can be brave, if you're moderate you can be generous, and if you don't presume to lead you can lead the high and mighty. but to be brave without compassion, or generous without self-restraint, or to take the lead, is fatal. compassion wins the battle and holds the fort; it is the bulwark set around those heaven helps.

three treasures

the first two verses of this chapter are a joy to me. the three final verses are closely connected in thought to the next two chapters, which may be read as a single meditation on mercy, moderation, and modesty, on the use of strength, on victory and defeat.

the best captain doesn't rush in front. the fiercest fighter doesn't bluster. the big winner isn't competing. the best boss takes a low footing. this is the power of noncompetition. this is the right use of ability. to follow heaven's lead has always been the best way.69 using mystery the expert in warfare says: rather than dare make the attack i'd take the attack; rather than dare advance an inch i'd retreat a foot. it's called marching without marching, rolling up your sleeves without flexing your muscles, being armed without weapons, giving the attacker no opponent. nothing's worse than attacking what yields. to attack what yields is to throw away the prize. so, when matched armies meet, the one who comes to grief is the true victor. the best captain doesn't rush in front. the fiercest fighter doesn't bluster. the big winner isn't competing. the best boss takes a low footing. this is the power of noncompetition. this is the right use of ability. to follow heaven's lead has always been the best way.69 using mystery the expert in warfare says: rather than dare make the attack i'd take the attack; rather than dare advance an inch i'd retreat a foot. it's called marching without marching, rolling up your sleeves without flexing your muscles, being armed without weapons, giving the attacker no opponent. nothing's worse than attacking what yields. to attack what yields is to throw away the prize. so, when matched armies meet, the one who comes to grief is the true victor.

heaven's lead

a piece of sound tactical advice (practiced by the martial arts, such as aikido, and by underground resistance and guerrilla forces, which leads to a profound moral warning. the prize thrown away by the aggressor is compassion. the yielder, the griever, the mourner, keeps that prize. the game is loser take all.

my words are so easy to understand, so easy to follow, and yet nobody in the world understands or follows them. w ords come from an ancestry, deeds from a mastery: when these are unknown, so am i. in my obscurity is my value. that's why the wise wear their jade under common clothes. my words are so easy to understand, so easy to follow, and yet nobody in the world understands or follows them. w ords come from an ancestry, deeds from a mastery: when these are unknown, so am i. in my obscurity is my value. that's why the wise wear their jade under common clothes.

being obscure

to know without knowing is best. not knowing without knowing it is sick. to be sick of sickness is the only cure. the wise aren't sick. they're sick of sickness, so they're well. to know without knowing is best. not knowing without knowing it is sick. to be sick of sickness is the only cure. the wise aren't sick. they're sick of sickness, so they're well.

i follow henricks in choosing the ma wang tui text, which has a double negative in the second line. most other texts have u201cnot knowing knowing is sickness.u201d

the sick mind

what you know without knowing you know it is the right kind of knowledge. any other kind (conviction, theory, dogmatic belief, opinion isn't the right kind, and if you don't know that, you'll lose the way. this chapter is an example of exactly what lao tzu was talking about in the last oneu2014obscure clarity, well-concealed jade.

when we don't fear what we should fear we are in fearful danger. w e ought not to live in narrow houses, we ought not to do stupid work. if we don't accept stupidity we won't act stupidly. so, wise souls know but don't show themselves, look after but don't prize themselves, letting the one go, keeping the other. when we don't fear what we should fear we are in fearful danger. w e ought not to live in narrow houses, we ought not to do stupid work. if we don't accept stupidity we won't act stupidly. so, wise souls know but don't show themselves, look after but don't prize themselves, letting the one go, keeping the other.

i take the liberty of reading this chapter as a description of what we, we ordinary people, should fear. the usual reading is in the manual-for-princes mode. in that case u201cwhat should be fearedu201d is the ruler, the rightful authority, and the advice that follows is evidently directed to that ruler. it's certainly what william blake would have told the oligarchs of the industrial revolution, who still control our lives: when people don't fear what should be feared they are in fearful danger. don't make them live in narrow houses, don't force them to do stupid work. when they're not made stupid they won't act stupidly.

the right fear

brave daring leads to death. brave caution leads to life. the choice can be the right one or the wrong one. who will interpret the judgment of heaven? even the wise soul finds it hard. the way of heaven doesn't compete yet wins handily, doesn't speak yet answers fully, doesn't summon yet attracts. it acts perfectly easily. the net of heaven is vast, vast, wide-meshed, yet misses nothing. brave daring leads to death. brave caution leads to life. the choice can be the right one or the wrong one. who will interpret the judgment of heaven? even the wise soul finds it hard. the way of heaven doesn't compete yet wins handily, doesn't speak yet answers fully, doesn't summon yet attracts. it acts perfectly easily. the net of heaven is vast, vast, wide-meshed, yet misses nothing.

daring to do

when normal, decent people don't fear death, how can you use death to frighten them? even when they have a normal fear of death, who of us dare take and kill the one who doesn't? when people are normal and decent and death-fearing, there's always an executioner. to take the place of that executioner is to take the place of the great carpenter. people who cut the great carpenter's wood seldom get off with their hands unhurt. when normal, decent people don't fear death, how can you use death to frighten them? even when they have a normal fear of death, who of us dare take and kill the one who doesn't? when people are normal and decent and death-fearing, there's always an executioner. to take the place of that executioner is to take the place of the great carpenter. people who cut the great carpenter's wood seldom get off with their hands unhurt.

i follow the ma wang tui text, but make very free with the word henricks renders as u201cconstant [in their behavior].u201d if i understand henricks' version, it says that if people were consistent in behaving normally and in fearing death, and if death were the penalty for abnormal behavior, nobody would dare behave abnormally; and so there would be no executions and no executioners. but this is not the case; as lao tzu says, there are times when even normal people lose their normal fear of death. so what is the poem about? i read it as saying that since we are inconsistent both in our behavior and in our fear of death, no person can rightfully take on the role of executioner, and should leavethe death penalty to the judgment of heaven or nature.

the lord of slaughter

to lao tzu, not to fear dying and not to fear killing are equally unnatural and antisocial. who are we to forestall the judgment of heaven or nature, to usurp the role of u201cthe executioneru201d? u201cthe lord of slaughteru201d is waley's grand translation.

people are starving. the rich gobble taxes, that's why people are starving. people rebel. the rich oppress them, that's why people rebel. people hold life cheap. the rich make it too costly, that's why people hold it cheap. but those who don't live for the sake of living are worth more than the wealth-seekers. people are starving. the rich gobble taxes, that's why people are starving. people rebel. the rich oppress them, that's why people rebel. people hold life cheap. the rich make it too costly, that's why people hold it cheap. but those who don't live for the sake of living are worth more than the wealth-seekers.

greed

how many hundreds of years ago was this book written? and yet still this chapter must be written in the present tense.

living people are soft and tender. corpses are hard and stiff. the ten thousand things, the living grass, the trees, are soft, pliant. dead, they're dry and brittle. so hardness and stiffness go with death; tenderness, softness, go with life. and the hard sword fails, the stiff tree's felled. the hard and great go under. the soft and weak stay up. living people are soft and tender. corpses are hard and stiff. the ten thousand things, the living grass, the trees, are soft, pliant. dead, they're dry and brittle. so hardness and stiffness go with death; tenderness, softness, go with life. and the hard sword fails, the stiff tree's felled. the hard and great go under. the soft and weak stay up.

hardness

in an age when hardness is supposed to be the essence of strength, and even the beauty of women is reduced nearly to the bone, i welcome this reminder that tanks and tombstones are not very adequate role models, and that to be alive is to be vulnerable.

the way of heaven is like a bow bent to shoot: its top end brought down, its lower end raised up. it brings the high down, lifts the low, takes from those who have, gives to those who have not. such is the way of heaven, taking from people who have, giving to people who have not. not so the human way: it takes from those who have not to fill up those who have. who has enough to fill up everybody? only those who have the way. so the wise do without claiming, achieve without asserting, wishing not to show their worth.78 paradoxes nothing in the world is as soft, as weak, as water; nothing else can wear away the hard, the strong, and remain unaltered. soft overcomes hard, weak overcomes strong. everybody knows it, nobody uses the knowledge. so the wise say: by bearing common defilements you become a sacrificer at the altar of earth; by bearing common evils you become a lord of the world. right words sound wrong.79 keeping the contract after a great enmity is settled some enmity always remains. how to make peace? wise souls keep their part of the contract and don't make demands on others. people whose power is real fulfill their obligations; people whose power is hollow insist on their claims. the way of heaven plays no favorites. it stays with the good. the way of heaven is like a bow bent to shoot: its top end brought down, its lower end raised up. it brings the high down, lifts the low, takes from those who have, gives to those who have not. such is the way of heaven, taking from people who have, giving to people who have not. not so the human way: it takes from those who have not to fill up those who have. who has enough to fill up everybody? only those who have the way. so the wise do without claiming, achieve without asserting, wishing not to show their worth.78 paradoxes nothing in the world is as soft, as weak, as water; nothing else can wear away the hard, the strong, and remain unaltered. soft overcomes hard, weak overcomes strong. everybody knows it, nobody uses the knowledge. so the wise say: by bearing common defilements you become a sacrificer at the altar of earth; by bearing common evils you become a lord of the world. right words sound wrong.79 keeping the contract after a great enmity is settled some enmity always remains. how to make peace? wise souls keep their part of the contract and don't make demands on others. people whose power is real fulfill their obligations; people whose power is hollow insist on their claims. the way of heaven plays no favorites. it stays with the good.

the bow

this chapter is equally relevant to private relationships and to political treaties. its realistic morality is based on a mystical perception of the fullness of the way.

let there be a little country without many people. let them have tools that do the work of ten or a hundred, and never use them. let them be mindful of death and disinclined to long journeys. they'd have ships and carriages, but no place to go. they'd have armor and weapons, but no parades. instead of writing, they might go back to using knotted cords. they'd enjoy eating, take pleasure in clothes, be happy with their houses, devoted to their customs. let there be a little country without many people. let them have tools that do the work of ten or a hundred, and never use them. let them be mindful of death and disinclined to long journeys. they'd have ships and carriages, but no place to go. they'd have armor and weapons, but no parades. instead of writing, they might go back to using knotted cords. they'd enjoy eating, take pleasure in clothes, be happy with their houses, devoted to their customs.

to dismiss this utopia as simply regressivist or anti-technological is to miss an interesting point. these people have labor-saving machinery, ships and land vehicles, weapons of offense and defense. they u201chave them and don't use them.u201d i interpret: they aren't used by them. w e're used, our lives shaped and controlled, by our machines, cars, planes, weaponry, bulldozers, computers. these taoists don't surrender their power to their creations. the eleventh line, however, is certainly regressive if it says knotted cords are to replace written literature, history, mathematics, and so on. it might be read as saying it's best not to externalize all our thinking and remembering (as we do in writing and reading, but to keep it embodied, to think and remember with our bodies as well as our verbalizing brains.

freedom

waley says this endearing and enduring vision u201ccan be understood in the past, present, or future tense, as the reader desires.u201d this is always true of the vision of the golden age, the humane society. christian or cartesian dualism, the division of spirit or mind from the material body and world, existed long before christianity or descartes and was never limited to w estern thought (though it is the u201ccrazinessu201d or u201csicknessu201d that many people under w estern domination see in w estern civilization. lao tzu thinks the materialistic dualist, who tries to ignore the body and live in the head, and the religious dualist, who despises the body and lives for a reward in heaven, are both dangerous and in danger. so, enjoy your life, he says; live in your body, you are your body; where else is there to go? heaven and earthare one. as you walk the streets of your town you walk on the way of heaven.

true words aren't charming, charming words aren't true. good people aren't contentious, contentious people aren't good. people who know aren't learned, learned people don't know. wise souls don't hoard; the more they do for others the more they have, the more they give the richer they are. the way of heaven profits without destroying. doing without outdoing is the way of the wise. the next little country might be so close the people could hear cocks crowing and dogs barking there, but they'd get old and die without ever having been there. true words aren't charming, charming words aren't true. good people aren't contentious, contentious people aren't good. people who know aren't learned, learned people don't know. wise souls don't hoard; the more they do for others the more they have, the more they give the richer they are. the way of heaven profits without destroying. doing without outdoing is the way of the wise. the next little country might be so close the people could hear cocks crowing and dogs barking there, but they'd get old and die without ever having been there.

this last poem is self-reflexive, wrapping it all up tight in the first verse, then opening out again to praise the undestructive, uncompetitive generosity of the spirit that walks on the way. to my mind, the best reason for following the ma wang tui text in reversing the order of the books is that the whole thing ends with a chapter (37 that provides a nobler conclusion than this one. but if you reverse the order, chapter 1 turns up in the middle of the book, and i simply cannot believe that that's right. that poem is a beginning. it is the beginning.

telling it true

the way you can go isn't the real way. the name you can say isn't the real name. heaven and earth begin in the unnamed: name's the mother of the ten thousand things. so the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. mystery of all mysteries! the door to the hidden. the way you can go isn't the real way. the name you can say isn't the real name. heaven and earth begin in the unnamed: name's the mother of the ten thousand things. so the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. mystery of all mysteries! the door to the hidden.

here, for the words in the third verse that i render u201cwhat it wants,u201d i use the ma wang tui text. the words in the standard text mean boundaries, or limits, or outcomes. this version seems to follow more comprehensibly from the preceding lines. and yet the idea of what can be delimited or made manifest is relevant. in the last verse, the two u201cwhose identity is mysteryu201d may be understood to be the hidden, the unnameable, the limitless vision of the freed soulu2014and the manifest, the nameable, the field of vision limited by our wants. but the endlessness of all that is, and the limitation of mortal bodily life, are the same, and their sameness is the key to the door.

taoing

a satisfactory translation of this chapter is, i believe, perfectly impossible. it contains the book. i think of it as the aleph, in borges's story: if you see it rightly, it contains everything.

everybody on earth knowing that beauty is beautiful makes ugliness. everybody knowing that goodness is good makes wickedness. for being and nonbeing arise together; hard and easy complete each other; long and short shape each other; high and low depend on each other; note and voice make the music together; before and after follow each other. that's why the wise soul does without doing, teaches without talking. the things of this world exist, they are; you can't refuse them. to bear and not to own;to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay. everybody on earth knowing that beauty is beautiful makes ugliness. everybody knowing that goodness is good makes wickedness. for being and nonbeing arise together; hard and easy complete each other; long and short shape each other; high and low depend on each other; note and voice make the music together; before and after follow each other. that's why the wise soul does without doing, teaches without talking. the things of this world exist, they are; you can't refuse them. to bear and not to own;to act and not lay claim; to do the work and let it go: for just letting it go is what makes it stay.

soul food

one of the things i read in this chapter is that values and beliefs are not only culturally constructed but also part of the interplay of yin and yang, the great reversals that maintain the living balance of the world. to believe that our beliefs are permanent truths which encompass reality is a sad arrogance. to let go of that belief is to find safety.

not praising the praiseworthy keeps people uncompetitive. not prizing rare treasures keeps people from stealing. not looking at the desirable keeps the mind quiet. so the wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything. when you do not-doing, nothing's out of order. not praising the praiseworthy keeps people uncompetitive. not prizing rare treasures keeps people from stealing. not looking at the desirable keeps the mind quiet. so the wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything. when you do not-doing, nothing's out of order.

hushing

over and over lao tzu says wei wu wei : do not do. doing not-doing. to act without acting. action by inaction. you do nothing yet it gets done. . . . it's not a statement susceptible to logical interpretation, or even to a syntactical translation into english; but it's a concept that transforms thoughtradically, that changes minds. the whole book is both an explanation and a demonstration of it.

the way is empty, used, but not used up. deep, yes! ancestral to the ten thousand things. blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, the way is the dust of the way. quiet, yes, and likely to endure. whose child? born before the gods. the way is empty, used, but not used up. deep, yes! ancestral to the ten thousand things. blunting edge, loosing bond, dimming light, the way is the dust of the way. quiet, yes, and likely to endure. whose child? born before the gods.

sourceless

everything lao tzu says is elusive. the temptation is to grasp at something tangible in the endlessly deceptive simplicity of the words. even some of his finest scholarly translators focus on positive ethical or political values in the text, as if those were what's important in it. and of course the religion called taoism is full of gods, saints, miracles, prayers, rules, methods for securing riches, power, longevity, and so forthu2014all the stuff that lao tzu says leads us away from the way. in passages such as this one, i think it is the profound modesty of the language that offers what so many people for so many centuries have found in this book: a pure apprehension of the mystery of which we are part.

heaven and earth aren't humane. to them the ten thousand things are straw dogs. wise souls aren't humane. to them the hundred families are straw dogs. heaven and earth act as a bellows: empty yet structured, it moves, inexhaustibly giving. heaven and earth aren't humane. to them the ten thousand things are straw dogs. wise souls aren't humane. to them the hundred families are straw dogs. heaven and earth act as a bellows: empty yet structured, it moves, inexhaustibly giving.

as i said above, in a few of the poems i leave out lines which i find weaken the coherence of the text to the point that i believe them to be a long-ago reader's marginal notes which got incorporated in later copyings. my authority for these omissions is strictly personal and aesthetic. here i omit the last two lines. translations of them vary greatly; my version is: mere talk runs dry. best keep to the center.

useful emptiness

the u201cinhumanityu201d of the wise soul doesn't mean cruelty. cruelty is a human characteristic. heaven and earthu2014that is, u201cnatureu201d and its wayu2014are not humane, because they are not human. they are not kind; they are not cruel: those are human attributes. you can only be kind or cruel if you have, and cherish, a self. you can't even be indifferent if you aren't different. altruism is the other side of egoism. followers of the way, like the forces of nature, act selflessly.

the valley spirit never dies. call it the mystery, the woman. the mystery, the door of the w oman, is the root of earth and heaven. forever this endures, forever. and all its uses are easy. the valley spirit never dies. call it the mystery, the woman. the mystery, the door of the w oman, is the root of earth and heaven. forever this endures, forever. and all its uses are easy.

what is complete

heaven will last, earth will endure. how can they last so long? they don't exist for themselves and so can go on and on. so wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. why let the self go? to keep what the soul needs. heaven will last, earth will endure. how can they last so long? they don't exist for themselves and so can go on and on. so wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. why let the self go? to keep what the soul needs.

dim brightness

true goodness is like water. w ater's good for everything. it doesn't compete. it goes right to the low loathsome places, and so finds the way. for a house, the good thing is level ground. in thinking, depth is good. the good of giving is magnanimity; of speaking, honesty; of government, order. the good of work is skill, and of action, timing. no competition, so no blame. true goodness is like water. w ater's good for everything. it doesn't compete. it goes right to the low loathsome places, and so finds the way. for a house, the good thing is level ground. in thinking, depth is good. the good of giving is magnanimity; of speaking, honesty; of government, order. the good of work is skill, and of action, timing. no competition, so no blame.

easy by nature

a clear stream of water runs through this book, from poem to poem, wearing down the indestructible, finding the way around everything that obstructs the way. good drinking water.

brim-fill the bowl, it'll spill over. keep sharpening the blade, you'll soon blunt it. nobody can protect a house full of gold and jade. w ealth, status, pride, are their own ruin. to do good, work well, and lie low is the way of the blessing. brim-fill the bowl, it'll spill over. keep sharpening the blade, you'll soon blunt it. nobody can protect a house full of gold and jade. w ealth, status, pride, are their own ruin. to do good, work well, and lie low is the way of the blessing.

being quiet

can you keep your soul in its body, hold fast to the one, and so learn to be whole? can you center your energy, be soft, tender, and so learn to be a baby? can you keep the deep water still and clear, so it reflects without blurring? can you love people and run things, and do so by not doing? opening, closing the gate of heaven, can you be like a bird with her nestlings? piercing bright through the cosmos, can you know by not knowing? to give birth, to nourish, to bear and not to own, to act and not lay claim, to lead and not to rule: this is mysterious power. can you keep your soul in its body, hold fast to the one, and so learn to be whole? can you center your energy, be soft, tender, and so learn to be a baby? can you keep the deep water still and clear, so it reflects without blurring? can you love people and run things, and do so by not doing? opening, closing the gate of heaven, can you be like a bird with her nestlings? piercing bright through the cosmos, can you know by not knowing? to give birth, to nourish, to bear and not to own, to act and not lay claim, to lead and not to rule: this is mysterious power.

t echniques

most of the scholars think this chapter is about meditation, its techniques and fulfillments. the language is profoundly mystical, the images are charged, rich in implications. the last verse turns up in nearly the same words in other chapters; there areseveral such u201crefrainsu201d throughout the book, identical or similar lines repeated once or twice or three times.

thirty spokes meet in the hub. where the wheel isn't is where it's useful. hollowed out, clay makes a pot. where the pot's not is where it's useful. cut doors and windows to make a room. where the room isn't, there's room for you. so the profit in what is is in the use of what isn't. thirty spokes meet in the hub. where the wheel isn't is where it's useful. hollowed out, clay makes a pot. where the pot's not is where it's useful. cut doors and windows to make a room. where the room isn't, there's room for you. so the profit in what is is in the use of what isn't.

the uses of not

one of the things i love about lao tzu is he is so funny. he's explaining a profound and difficult truth here, one of those counterintuitive truths that, when the mind can accept them, suddenly double the size of the universe. he goes about it with this deadpan simplicity, talking about pots.

the five colors blind our eyes. the five notes deafen our ears. the five flavors dull our taste. racing, chasing, hunting, drives people crazy. trying to get rich ties people in knots. so the wise soul watches with the inner not the outward eye, letting that go, keeping this. the five colors blind our eyes. the five notes deafen our ears. the five flavors dull our taste. racing, chasing, hunting, drives people crazy. trying to get rich ties people in knots. so the wise soul watches with the inner not the outward eye, letting that go, keeping this.

there are times lao tzu sounds very like henry david thoreau, but lao tzu was kinder. when thoreau says to distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes, i distrust him. he is macho, flaunting his asceticism. lao tzu knows that getting all entangled with the external keeps us from the eternal, but (seechapter 80 he also understands that sometimes people like to get dressed up.

not wanting

to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer. what does that mean, to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear? favor debases: we fear to lose it, fear to win it. so to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. what does that mean, to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer? i suffer because i'm a body; if i weren't a body, how could i suffer? to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer. what does that mean, to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear? favor debases: we fear to lose it, fear to win it. so to be in favor or disgrace is to live in fear. what does that mean, to take the body seriously is to admit one can suffer? i suffer because i'm a body; if i weren't a body, how could i suffer?

t'ien hsia, u201cunder heaven,u201d i.e. the empire, or the world: here i render it as u201cthe public good,u201d u201cthe commonwealth,u201d and u201cthe body politic.u201d j. p. seaton comments: u201cwhen lao tzu mentions u2018the empire' or u2018all under heaven,' he does so with the assumption that all his readers know that it is a commonwealth where only the ruler who rules by virtue of virtue alone is legitimate.u201d

shameless

so people who set their bodily good before the public good could be entrusted with the commonwealth, and people who treated the body politic as gently as their own body would be worthy to govern the commonwealth.lao tzu, a mystic, demystifies political power. autocracy and oligarchy foster the beliefs that power is gained magically and retained by sacrifice, and that powerful people are genuinely superior to the powerless. lao tzu does not see political power as magic. he sees rightful power as earned and wrongful power as usurped. he does not see power as virtue, but as the result of virtue. the democracies are founded on that view. he sees sacrifice of self or others as a corruption of power, and power as available to anybody who follows the way. this is a radically subversive attitude. no wonder anarchists and taoists make good friends.

look at it: nothing to see. call it colorless. listen to it: nothing to hear. call it soundless. reach for it: nothing to hold. call it intangible. triply undifferentiated, it merges into oneness, not bright above, not dark below. never, oh! never can it be named. it reverts, it returns to unbeing. call it the form of the unformed, the image of no image. call it unthinkable thought. face it: no face. follow it: no end. holding fast to the old way, we can live in the present. mindful of the ancient beginnings, we hold the thread of the tao. look at it: nothing to see. call it colorless. listen to it: nothing to hear. call it soundless. reach for it: nothing to hold. call it intangible. triply undifferentiated, it merges into oneness, not bright above, not dark below. never, oh! never can it be named. it reverts, it returns to unbeing. call it the form of the unformed, the image of no image. call it unthinkable thought. face it: no face. follow it: no end. holding fast to the old way, we can live in the present. mindful of the ancient beginnings, we hold the thread of the tao.

celebrating mystery

once upon a time people who knew the way were subtle, spiritual, mysterious, penetrating, unfathomable. since they're inexplicable i can only say what they seemed like: cautious, oh yes, as if wading through a winter river. alert, as if afraid of the neighbors. polite and quiet, like houseguests. elusive, like melting ice. blank, like uncut wood. empty, like valleys. mysterious, oh yes, they were like troubled water. who can by stillness, little by little make what is troubled grow clear? who can by movement, little by little make what is still grow quick? to follow the way is not to need fulfillment. unfulfilled, one may live on needing no renewal. once upon a time people who knew the way were subtle, spiritual, mysterious, penetrating, unfathomable. since they're inexplicable i can only say what they seemed like: cautious, oh yes, as if wading through a winter river. alert, as if afraid of the neighbors. polite and quiet, like houseguests. elusive, like melting ice. blank, like uncut wood. empty, like valleys. mysterious, oh yes, they were like troubled water. who can by stillness, little by little make what is troubled grow clear? who can by movement, little by little make what is still grow quick? to follow the way is not to need fulfillment. unfulfilled, one may live on needing no renewal.

people of power

in the first stanza we see the followers of the way in ancient times or illo tempore , remote and inaccessible; but the second stanza brings them close andalive in a series of marvelous similes. (i am particularly fond of the polite and quiet houseguests. the images of the valley and of uncut or uncarved wood will recur again and again.

be completely empty. be perfectly serene. the ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. now they flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root. the return to the root is peace. peace: to accept what must be, to know what endures. in that knowledge is wisdom. without it, ruin, disorder. to know what endures is to be openhearted, magnanimous, regal, blessed, following the tao, the way that endures forever. the body comes to its ending, but there is nothing to fear. be completely empty. be perfectly serene. the ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. now they flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root. the return to the root is peace. peace: to accept what must be, to know what endures. in that knowledge is wisdom. without it, ruin, disorder. to know what endures is to be openhearted, magnanimous, regal, blessed, following the tao, the way that endures forever. the body comes to its ending, but there is nothing to fear.

returning to the root

to those who will not admit morality without a deity to validate it, or spirituality of which man is not the measure, the firmness of lao tzu's moralityand the sweetness of his spiritual counsel must seem incomprehensible, or illegitimate, or very troubling indeed.

true leaders are hardly known to their followers. next after them are the leaders the people know and admire; after them, those they fear; after them, those they despise. to give no trust is to get no trust. when the work's done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, oh, we did it. true leaders are hardly known to their followers. next after them are the leaders the people know and admire; after them, those they fear; after them, those they despise. to give no trust is to get no trust. when the work's done right, with no fuss or boasting, ordinary people say, oh, we did it.

henricks considers these three chapters to belong together. the last two lines of 19 are usually printed as the first two lines of 20, but henricks thinks they belong here, and i follow him. in 18, line 6, the words hsiao tzu are traditionally translated as u201cfilial piety and paternal affection,u201d a confucian ideal. in that chapter lao tzu cites these dutiful families as a symptom of social disorder. but in chapter 19, line 4, hsiao tzu appears as the good that will result when people cease being moralistic. unable to reconcile these contradictory usages, and feeling that lao tzu was far more likely to use confucian language satirically than straightforwardly, i fudged the translation in chapter 19, calling it u201cfamily feeling.u201d evidently we aren't the only society or generation to puzzle over what a family is and ought to be. sometimes i translate the characters su and p'u with such words as simple, natural . though the phrase u201cthe uncarved blocku201d has become familiar to many, yet metaphor may distance ideas and weaken a direct statement. but sometimes, as here, i use the traditional metaphors, because the context so clearly implies knowing something as an artist knows her materials, keeping hold on something solid.

acting simply

this invisible leader, who gets things done in such a way that people think they did it all themselves, isn't one who manipulates others from behind the scenes; just the opposite. again, it's a matter of u201cdoing without doingu201d: uncompetitive, unworried, trustful accomplishment, power that is not force. an example or analogy might be a very good teacher, or the truest voice in a group of singers.

in the degradation of the great way come benevolence and righteousness. with the exaltation of learning and prudence comes immense hypocrisy. the disordered family is full of dutiful children and parents. the disordered society is full of loyal patriots. in the degradation of the great way come benevolence and righteousness. with the exaltation of learning and prudence comes immense hypocrisy. the disordered family is full of dutiful children and parents. the disordered society is full of loyal patriots.

second bests

stop being holy, forget being prudent, it'll be a hundred times better for everyone. stop being altruistic, forget being righteous, people will remember what family feeling is. stop planning, forget making a profit, there won't be any thieves and robbers. but even these three rules needn't be followed; what works reliably is to know the raw silk, hold the uncut wood. need little, want less. forget the rules. be untroubled. stop being holy, forget being prudent, it'll be a hundred times better for everyone. stop being altruistic, forget being righteous, people will remember what family feeling is. stop planning, forget making a profit, there won't be any thieves and robbers. but even these three rules needn't be followed; what works reliably is to know the raw silk, hold the uncut wood. need little, want less. forget the rules. be untroubled.

raw silk and uncut wood

this chapter and the two before it may be read as a single movement of thought. u201craw silku201d and u201cuncut woodu201d are images traditionally associated with the characters su (simple, plain and p' u (natural, honest.

how much difference between yes and no? what difference between good and bad? what the people fear must be feared. o desolation! not yet, not yet has it reached its limit! everybody's cheerful, cheerful as if at a party, or climbing a tower in springtime. and here i sit unmoved, clueless, like a child, a baby too young to smile. forlorn, forlorn. like a homeless person. most people have plenty. i'm the one that's poor, a fool right through. ignorant, ignorant. most people are so bright. i'm the one that's dull. most people are so keen. i don't have the answers. oh, i'm desolate, at sea, adrift, without harbor. everybody has something to do.i'm the clumsy one, out of place. i'm the different one, for my food is the milk of the mother. how much difference between yes and no? what difference between good and bad? what the people fear must be feared. o desolation! not yet, not yet has it reached its limit! everybody's cheerful, cheerful as if at a party, or climbing a tower in springtime. and here i sit unmoved, clueless, like a child, a baby too young to smile. forlorn, forlorn. like a homeless person. most people have plenty. i'm the one that's poor, a fool right through. ignorant, ignorant. most people are so bright. i'm the one that's dull. most people are so keen. i don't have the answers. oh, i'm desolate, at sea, adrift, without harbor. everybody has something to do.i'm the clumsy one, out of place. i'm the different one, for my food is the milk of the mother.

the standard texts ask what's the difference between wei and o, which might be translated u201cyesu201d and u201cyessir.u201d the ma wang tui has wei and ho: u201cyesu201d andu201cno.u201d this is parallel with the next line (u201cgood and badu201d in the standard text, u201cbeautiful and uglyu201d in the ma wang tui . here's a case where the older text surely is correct, the later ones corrupt. in the first two lines of the second verse, the ma wang tui text is perfectly clear: u201ca person whom everyone fears ought to be feared.u201d the standard text is strange, obscure: u201cwhat the people fear must be feared.u201d yet the next lines follow from it as they don't from the ma wang tui; and after much pondering i followed the standard text.

being different

the difference between yes and no, good and bad, is something only the u201cbrightu201d people, the people with the answers, can understand. a poor stupid taoist can't make it out. this chapter is full of words like huang (wild, barren; famine, tun (ignorant; chaotic, hun (dull, turbid, men (sad, puzzled, mute, and hu (confused, obscured, vague. they configure chaos, confusion, a u201cbewildernessu201d in which the mind wanders without certainties, desolate, silent, awkward. but in that milky, dim strangeness lies the way. it can't be found in the superficial order imposed by positive and negative opinions, the good/bad, yes/no moralizing that denies fear and ignores mystery.

the greatest power is the gift of following the way alone. how the way does things is hard to grasp, elusive. elusive, yes, hard to grasp, yet there are thoughts in it. hard to grasp, yes, elusive, yet there are things in it. hard to make out, yes, and obscure, yet there is spirit in it, veritable spirit. there is certainty in it. from long, long ago till now it has kept its name. so it saw the beginning of everything. how do i know anything about the beginning? by this. mysticism rises from and returns to the irreducible, unsayable reality of u201cthis.u201d u201cthisu201d is the way. this is the way. the greatest power is the gift of following the way alone. how the way does things is hard to grasp, elusive. elusive, yes, hard to grasp, yet there are thoughts in it. hard to grasp, yes, elusive, yet there are things in it. hard to make out, yes, and obscure, yet there is spirit in it, veritable spirit. there is certainty in it. from long, long ago till now it has kept its name. so it saw the beginning of everything. how do i know anything about the beginning? by this. mysticism rises from and returns to the irreducible, unsayable reality of u201cthis.u201d u201cthisu201d is the way. this is the way.

the empty heart

be broken to be whole. twist to be straight. be empty to be full. w ear out to be renewed. have little and gain much. have much and get confused. so wise souls hold to the one, and test all things against it. not showing themselves, they shine forth. not justifying themselves, they're self-evident. not praising themselves, they're accomplished. not competing, they have in all the world no competitor. what they used to say in the old days, u201cbe broken to be whole,u201d was that mistaken? truly, to be whole is to return. be broken to be whole. twist to be straight. be empty to be full. w ear out to be renewed. have little and gain much. have much and get confused. so wise souls hold to the one, and test all things against it. not showing themselves, they shine forth. not justifying themselves, they're self-evident. not praising themselves, they're accomplished. not competing, they have in all the world no competitor. what they used to say in the old days, u201cbe broken to be whole,u201d was that mistaken? truly, to be whole is to return.

growing downward