Lao-Tzu. (2018) Tao Te Ching - The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao. Translated by John Minford. New York: Penguin Random House.

1. GATEWAY TO ALL MARVELS

The Tao that can be Told
Is not the True Tao;
Names that can be Named
Are not True Names.
The Origin of Heaven and Earth
Has no Name.
The Mother of the Myriad Things
Has a Name.
Free from Desire,
Contemplate the Inner Marvel;
With Desire,
Observe the Outer Radiance.
These issue from One Source,
But have different Names.
They are both a Mystery.
Mystery of Mysteries,
Gateway to All Marvels.

2. A WORDLESS TEACHING

That which All-under-Heaven
Considers
Beautiful
May also be considered
Ugly;
That which All-under-Heaven
Considers
Good
May also be considered
Not-Good.
Being and Non-Being
Engender one another.
Hard and Easy
Complete each other.
Long and Short
Generate each other.
High and Low
Complement each other.
Melody and Harmony
Resonate with each other.
Fore and Aft
Follow one another.
These are Constant Truths.
The Taoist dwells in
Non-Action,
Practices
A Wordless Teaching.
The Myriad Things arise,
And none are rejected.
The Tao gives Birth
But never Possesses.
The Taoist Acts
Without Attachment,
Achieves
Without dwelling
On Achievement,
And so never loses.

3. NON-ACTION

Not to Honor the Worthy
Puts an end to Contending
Among the folk.
Not to Prize Rare Goods
Puts an end to Theft
Among the folk.
Not to Display Objects of Desire
Removes Chaos
From the Heart-and-Mind
Of the folk.
The Taoist rules by
Emptying Heart-and-Mind
And Filling Belly,
By softening the Will to Achieve,
And strengthening Bones.
The Taoist frees the folk
From False Knowledge and Desire.
Those with False Knowledge
No longer dare to Act.
The Taoist Accomplishes
Through Non-Action,
And all is well Ruled.

4. EMPTY

The Tao is Empty.
But in Practice
Need never be Filled.
The Tao is Fathomless,
Like the Ancestor of the Myriad Things.
Smooth the Edges,
Loosen the Tangles,
Soften the Light,
Merge with the Dust.
The Tao is Crystalline and Still,
It seems to have been here for ever.
I know not whose Child it is,
It seems to have been
Before the Emperors of Old.

5. THE BELLOWS

Heaven and Earth are not Kind.
They treat the Myriad Things
As Straw Dogs.
Taoists are not Kind,
They treat ordinary folk
As Straw Dogs.
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is like a Bellows,
Empty but never exhausted.
The more it is worked,
The more issues forth from it.
Many Words are soon spent.
Hold Fast to the Center.

6. THE VALLEY SPIRIT

The Valley Spirit never Dies.
The Mystic Feminine,
The Gate of the Mystic Feminine,
The Root of Heaven and Earth,
Like a soft silken fiber,
Can be used without end.

7. FORE AND AFT

Heaven and Earth last,
They Endure.
They do not give Birth
To other Heavens,
To other Earths.
They Endure.
The Taoist puts Self Aft,
And Self is Fore,
Treats Self as a thing outside,
And Self Endures,
Treats Self as a thing Not-Personal,
And Person is Fulfilled.

8. WATER

The Best is like Water.
Water Benefits the Myriad Things.
Water does not Contend.
It abides in that
Which the Multitude abhor.
It is close to the Tao.
The Best Dwelling
Depends on Terrain,
Best Heart-and-Mind
Depends on Depth.
Friendship on Kindness,
Words on Good Faith,
Government on Order,
Practical Matters on Competence,
Movement on Timing.
Wheresoever there is no Contending,
There is no Fault.

9. LETTING GO

Letting Go is better
Than Filling to the Brim.
A blade overly sharpened
Does not last long.
Halls stuffed with gold and jade
None can preserve.
Wealth, Rank, Pride,
All bring Calamity.
The Tao of Heaven-and-Nature
Is to Accomplish
And to Withdraw.

10. THE INFANT

Nourish Spirit,
Embrace the One.
Can you keep it
Ever present?
Can you Concentrate
Breath-Energy
To utmost Softness,
Can you be an Infant?
Can you cleanse
The Mystic Vision,
Till it is without spot?
Can you Cherish the folk,
Can you Rule the Nation
Through Non-Action?
Can you open and close
The Gates of Heaven-and-Nature,
And be Woman?
Can you view the Four Quarters
With Utmost Clarity,
With No-Knowledge?
The Tao Begets and Nurtures,
The Tao gives Birth
But never Possesses.
The Taoist Acts
Without Attachment,
Leads but never takes charge.
This is Mystic Power.

11. NON-BEING

Thirty Spokes joined in a hub
Form a Wheel.
The Emptiness between,
The Non-Being,
Makes the Carriage Useful.
Clay kneaded
Forms a Pot.
The Emptiness within,
The Non-Being,
Makes the Pot Useful.
Windows and doors chiseled
Create a House;
The Emptiness within,
The Non-Being,
Makes the House Useful.
Being and Substance
Bring Benefit.
Non-Being and Emptiness
Make things Useful.

12. BELLY, NOT EYES

The Five Colors
Blind the eyes.
The Five Sounds
Deafen the ears.
The Five Tastes
Deaden the palate.
The Hunt for Game,
The Heat of the Chase,
Cause Heart-and-Mind
To Run Riot.
Goods that are hard to come by
Become an Impediment.
The Taoist lives through
Inner Nourishment of the Belly,
Not through the eyes,
Eschews the latter,
Chooses the former.

13. NO SELF

Favor and Disgrace
Both Perturb.
Honor and Rank
Bring Great Calamity to Self.
Favor Perturbs
From Above,
Disgrace
From Below.
Gain and Loss
Both Perturb.
I suffer Great Calamity
From Honor and Rank
Because I have a Self.
With No Self,
There is No Calamity.
Whosoever Cherishes
All-under-Heaven
As Self
Can take charge of
All-under-Heaven;
Whosoever Loves
All-under-Heaven
As Self
Can be Trusted with
All-under-Heaven.

14. THE INEFFABLE TAO

Look,
And you never can see it—
It is too Subtle.
Listen,
And you never can hear it—
It is too Faint.
Feel for it,
And you never can take hold of it—
It is too Elusive.
These three
Merge into the One,
They form
The Ineffable Whole
Of the Tao.
There is
No Realm of Brilliance
Above it,
No Realm of Darkness
Beneath,
Just Strand upon Strand
Of the Tao,
Unnameable,
Returning to Non-Matter,
Form without Form,
Ineffable Image
Without Substance.
Greet it,
And its Front cannot be seen.
Follow it,
And its Rear is invisible.
Attain Mastery
Of Present Being
By Understanding
The Tao of Old.
To Understand
The Ancient Beginning
Is the Binding Strand
Of the Tao.

15. DARKLY CONNECTED

Of Old
Taoists were
Subtle and Marvelous,
Darkly Connected,
Deep beyond all Knowing.
Since they could never be Known,
Let us tell
How they seemed:
Hesitant,
As though
Crossing a stream in winter,
Apprehensive,
As though
Fearing neighbors on all sides.
Cautious,
Like Guests;
Melting,
Like Ice at first Thaw;
Simple,
Like a Block of Uncarved Wood;
Broad as a Valley,
Murky as Mud,
Mud that settles and clears.
Who can Attain Calm
And live in Gentle Motion?
The Taoist has no
Craving for Plenitude,
But remains Unfilled,
Worn and Incomplete.

16. RETURN TO THE ROOT

Attain Utmost Emptiness,
Purest Calm.
The Myriad Things arise.
I watch their Return,
Each thing in the World’s Profusion
Returning to its Root,
Its True Life-Destiny.
The Return to Root is
Calm.
The Return to Destiny is
Constancy.
With Constancy
There is Light,
Without Constancy
Delusions and Calamity arise.
Constancy is
Acceptance,
Acceptance is
To be Noble,
To be Whole,
One with Heaven-and-Nature,
With the Enduring Tao.
With No-Self
There is no Harm.

17. WE DID IT OURSELVES!

The Highest Rulers
Were beyond Knowledge.
Those beneath them
Were loved and praised.
Those lower still were feared,
The lowest of all were reviled.
Wherever Trust
Is lacking on High,
It is lacking Below.
The Taoist is Distant,
Sparing with Words.
Whatever is Accomplished,
Whatever occurs,
The common folk declare:
“We did it of our own accord,
We did it ourselves!”

18. DECAY OF THE TAO

When the Great Tao Decays,
Benevolence and Righteousness
Come into Being.
When Intelligence and Wisdom
Come to the fore,
Great Hypocrisy
Arises.
When the Six Bonds are
Out of Kilter,
Filial Devotion and Compassion
Arise.
When the Nation is in Tumult,
Loyalty of the subject

19. SIMPLE UNDYED SILK

Do away with Sages,
Discard Wisdom.
The folk will Benefit
A hundredfold.
Do away with Benevolence,
Discard Righteousness.
The folk will Return
To True Devotion
And Compassion.
Do away with Cunning,
Discard Profit,
And there will be no Thieves.
If these injunctions
Do not suffice,
Gaze upon
Simple Undyed Silk,
Embrace
The Uncarved Block,
Think less of Self,
Diminish Desire.

20. AN INFANT YET TO SMILE

Do away with Learning,
And there is an end to Sorrow.
“How different is Yes from No!
How Good differs from Bad!
What others fear must surely be feared.”
Such propositions
Confuse,
And there is no end to them!
Others rejoice
As if at a Great Feast,
Gaily ascending a Terrace in Spring.
I alone am forlorn,
Giving no outward sign,
Like an Infant yet to smile.
I am listless,
As though I have no Home.
Others have a Superfluity,
I alone am lacking.
Mine is the Heart-and-Mind
Of the Pure Fool!
The Multitude are bright and lively,
I alone am dull;
The common folk are alert,
I alone am sluggish,
Restless as the ocean,
Drifting endlessly.
Others have Means,
A Purpose.
I alone am a dolt,
A pauper.
Unlike them,
I prize the Nourishment
Of the Mother.

21. GRAND POWER

Grand Power
Flows from the Tao.
The Substance of the Tao
Is Vague and Misty.
Misty and Vague,
But it contains Images!
Its Substance
Is Tenuous and Dark!
But it contains an Essence,
Supremely Real,
Sure and Unfailing.
From days of old
It has been present,
The Source of All Things.
How do I know the Source,
The Father?
Only through this,
Through the Tao.

22. EMBRACING THE ONE

The Curved is Whole,
The Twisted Straight.
The Hollow Full,
The Worn New.
The Poorly Endowed
Attain their goal,
The Greatly Endowed
Go astray.
The Taoist
Embraces the One,
A Model for All-under-Heaven,
Shines
But never displays,
Is Radiant
But never Proud.
Accomplishes
But never Boasts,
Endures
But never Brags.
With the Non-Contending of the Taoist,
All-under-Heaven
Cannot Contend.
The old saying
“The Curved is Whole”
Is no empty talk!
No,
The Curved
Finds its Way Home,
Is truly Whole.

23. TO FLOW WITH THE TAO

The Tao of Nature
Is sparing with Words.
A whirlwind
Doesn’t last all morning,
A cloudburst
Doesn’t last all day.
If these Things of Heaven and Earth
Do not last,
What then of Man?
To Flow with the Tao
Is to be part of the Tao.
To possess Inner Power,
Is to be part of the Power.
To suffer Failure
Is to be part of Failure.
Those who are part of the Tao,
The Tao takes to itself gladly.
Those who are part of the Power,
The Power takes in gladly.
Those who are part of Failure,
Failure receives gladly.
Lack of Trust
Creates Lack of Trust.

24. THE TAOIST REALM

It’s hard
To stand on tiptoe.
It’s hard
To walk with legs akimbo.
Whosoever displays Self
Does not Truly Shine.
Whosoever vaunts Self
Is not Truly Radiant.
Whosoever boasts of Self
Does not Prevail.
Whosoever brags of Self
Does not Endure.
For the Taoist
These indulgences are like
Overeating,
Superfluous Action.
They are
To be Eschewed,
They are not the Taoist Realm.

25. NATURE, THE SO-OF-ITSELF

There was a thing
Inchoate but Whole,
Before Heaven and Earth.
Silent!
Without Form!
Alone, unchanging,
Roaming far and wide,
Never Perishing,
Mother of All-under-Heaven.
I do not know
Its True Name,
I call it the Tao.
If I must use Words,
I call it Great,
It Passes On,
On into the Distance.
It is Distant,
And then Returns.
The Tao is Great,
Heaven is Great,
Earth is Great,
The King is Great.
In the Regions of the World
These are
The Four Great Things,
And the King of Men
Is one among them.
He models himself on Earth,
Earth on Heaven,
Heaven on the Tao,
The Tao models itself
On Nature,
On the So-of-Itself.

26. GRAVITY AND CALM

Gravity is the Root of Levity,
Of all that is Light.
Calm is Master of the Rash,
Of Impulse.
The Taoist when traveling
Never strays far
From the Baggage Cart,
Sees beyond the Finest Palace.
There is no remedy
For the Lord of a Myriad Chariots,
Who makes Light
Of All-under-Heaven.
Levity loses the Root.
Rashness forfeits the Mastery.

27. LINEAGE OF LIGHT

The best Traveler
Leaves no Tracks,
The best Words
Contain no Flaws.
The best Counting
Uses no Abacus.
The best Door
Has neither Bolt nor Key,
But cannot be opened.
The best Knot
Is not Tied,
But can never be loosened.
The True Taoist saves Others,
Rejects no one,
Saves things,
Rejects nothing.
In the Lineage of Light,
The Best Teach the Not-so-Good,
The Not-so-Good are Material
To be taught by the Best.
Despite any amount of acquired Knowledge,
Not to Esteem
One’s Teacher,
Not to Cherish
One’s Material,
Is to be greatly lost.
This is the Lineage of Light,
A Most Marvelous Mystery.

28. THE UNCARVED BLOCK

Know Man,
Cleave to Woman.
Be a Ravine
For All-under-Heaven,
With Constant Power
That never fades.
Return Home
To the Infant.
Know the White,
Cleave to the Black.
Be a Model
For All-under-Heaven,
With Constant Power
That never fails.
Return Home
To the Infinite.
Know Honor,
Cleave to No-Honor.
Be a Valley
For All-under-Heaven,
With Constant Power
That suffices.
Return Home
To the Uncarved Block.
When the Block is split
It forms utensils,
Which can be used
By the Taoist
As Chief Officer.
The Greatest Carver
Does the least cutting.

29. VESSEL OF SPIRIT

The Desire to Control
All-under-Heaven
Through Action
Cannot succeed.
All-under-Heaven
Is a Vessel of Spirit
That cannot be Ruled
Through Action,
That cannot be Controlled.
Acting upon it
Causes it to fail,
Controlling it
Spoils it.
Some walk ahead,
Some follow,
Some breathe in,
Some breathe out,
Some are strong,
Some are defeated,
Some nurture,
Some destroy.
The Taoist avoids Extremes,
Eschews Extravagance,
Eschews Grandeur.

30. AGAINST FORCE

A Ruler
Nourished by the Tao
Never takes up Arms,
Does no Violence
To All-under-Heaven.
In the wake
Of any military campaign
Violence rebounds,
Thorns and brambles
Spring up.
The passage of an Army
Is attended
With poor harvests.
The best general
Achieves his Goal
And Lets Go,
Never ventures
To take more by Force.
He Accomplishes
Without boasting,
Without bragging,
Without pride.
He Accomplishes
And Lets Go,
He stops short
Of Violence.
Brute strength
Decays with Age.
It is not the Tao.
Whatsoever is not the Tao
Meets with an early end.

31. INSTRUMENTS OF ILL OMEN

Even the finest Weapons
Are Instruments of Ill Omen,
To be hated by all.
The Taoist
Does not Avail himself of them.
In his Dwelling
The True Gentleman
Esteems the Left,
In Warfare
He esteems the Right.
Weapons are not used
By the True Gentleman,
Except as a last resort.
Peace and Calm
Are always preferred.
Even in Victory
Weapons are not
Things of Beauty.
To think them beautiful
Is to rejoice in killing.
Joy in killing
Forfeits the allegiance
Of All-under-Heaven.
On Auspicious Occasions
The Left is prized,
For Inauspicious Affairs,
The Right.
The junior commander
Takes his stand
On the Left,
The senior commander
On the Right.
In Warfare,
When many lives have been taken,
Victory should be marked
With Rites of Mourning
And Lamentation.

32. STREAMS AND VALLEYS

The Tao
Has no Name.
The Uncarved Block
Is Small,
But subject to None
In All-under-Heaven.
When Nobles and Kings
Cleave to it,
The Myriad Things
Willingly pay them homage.
Heaven and Earth as One
Send Sweet Dew,
The folk dwell
In Harmony
With no need of Decree.
Once the Uncarved Block
Is split apart,
Once there are Names,
Then know where to Halt,
Keep safe from Harm.
The Tao is
To All-under-Heaven
As the Great River
And the Ocean are
To Streams and Valleys.

33. KNOWING SELF

To understand Others
Is Wisdom,
To know Self
Is Illumination.
To vanquish Others
Requires Force,
To vanquish Self
Requires Strength.
To know Contentment
Is True Wealth.
To Persevere
Requires Will.
Not to lose one’s Place
Is to Endure,
To Die but not to Perish,
Is Long Life.

34. THE FLOOD

The Great Tao
Is a Flood,
Stretching left and right.
The Myriad Things
Cleave to it
And are Born.
It denies them nothing.
It Accomplishes
Without Naming.
It clothes and Nourishes
The Myriad Things
Without lording it over them.
It is free from Desire.
It takes the humblest of Names.
The Myriad Things
Return to it,
But owe it no allegiance.
By not Lording it over them
It can be called
Truly Great.
In not considering itself Great,
It Achieves
True Greatness.

35. THE GREAT IMAGE

Cleave to
The Great Image,
And All-under-Heaven
Draws nigh,
Safe from Harm,
In Peace and Prosperity.
Music and fine food
Entice the Passerby to halt.
Words issuing from the Tao
Are bland,
They lack flavor.
Look at the Tao,
There is little to see,
Listen to it,
There is little to hear;
But Practice it,
And it is Infinite.

36. THE SUBTLE LIGHT

To Shrink,
First stretch.
To be Soft,
First be strong.
To destroy,
First raise up.
To steal,
First give away.
This is the Subtle Light.
Soft and Gentle
Prevail over
Hard and Strong.
Never take a fish
From its deep,
Never display
The Sharp Weapons
Of a Nation.

37. TRANSFORMED

The Tao
Is True Non-Action,
Whereby all is
Accomplished.
When Nobles and Kings
Cleave to the Tao,
The Myriad Things
Are Transformed
Of their own accord.
But if they still
Crave Action,
I strengthen them
With the Nameless,
With the Uncarved Block,
With No-Desire,
With Calm.
Then All-under-Heaven
Settles of its own accord.

38. FRUIT NOT FLOWER

Higher Power
Is No-Power,
Is True Power.
Lesser Power
Does not Let Go,
Is not Power at all.
Higher Power
Does not Act,
And yet all is
Accomplished.
Lesser Power
Acts,
And fails to Accomplish.
Higher Benevolence
Acts with no purpose.
Righteousness
Acts with a purpose.
Ritual
Acts
And, when no one
Responds,
Rolls up its sleeves
To exert Force.
With loss of the Tao
Comes Power,
With loss of Power
Comes Benevolence,
With loss of Benevolence
Comes Righteousness.
With loss of Righteousness
Comes Ritual.
With Ritual
Trust is skin-deep,
The first step to Chaos.
Prophecy is a mere
Flower of the Tao,
The Beginning of Folly.
The Great Man
Dwells in Substance,
Not Surface,
Abides in Fruit,
Not Flower,
Eschews the latter,
Cleaves to the former.

39. THE ONE

Of those who Attained
The One
In Ancient Times:
Heaven Attained
The One through Clarity.
Earth Attained
The One through Calm.
Spirit Attained the One
And was Numinous.
The Valley Attained the One
And was Filled.
The Myriad Things
Attained the One
At Birth.
Nobles and Kings
Attained the One
And Set things Right
In All-under-Heaven.
It was through the One
That they were thus.
Heaven without Clarity
Would split asunder.
Earth without Calm
Would fall apart.
A Spirit not Numinous
Would fade.
A Valley not Filled
Would run dry.
The Myriad Things
Without Birth
Would be extinct.
Nobles and Kings
Without Esteem
Would tumble.
Esteem has its Root
In Humility,
In what is not Esteemed.
Height has its Foundation
In Depth.
Nobles and Kings
Call themselves
Orphaned and Destitute.
Humility is their Root.
The greatest number of Carriages
Is No-Carriage.
Do not tinkle like Jade:
Rumble like Rock,
Attain the One.

40. TURNING

Turning is the Motion
Of the Tao,
Its Practice
Is Soft.
In All-under-Heaven
The Myriad Things are Born
From Being.
Being is Born
From Non-Being.

41. THE DARK LIGHT

The Highest
Hear the Tao,
And live it
To the full.
The Middling
Hear the Tao,
And it seems
Now here, now gone.
The Lowest
Hear the Tao,
And laugh
Outright;
Their laughter testifies
To the Tao.
An old saying goes:
“The Light of the Tao
Seems Dark.
To Advance in the Tao
Seems like a Retreat.
The Smooth Path
Of the Tao
Seems Pitted.”
The Highest Power
Is like a Valley.
The Purest White
Seems Sullied.
Ample Power
Seems Flimsy.
Established Power
Seems Thin,
Truest Power
Seems Empty.
The Great Square
Has no Corners.
The Great Vessel
Is Completed
Slowly.
Great Music
Is Faint.
The Great Image
Has no Form.
The Tao is Hidden,
Incognito,
It has no Name.
It Gives,
It Completes.

42. ONE, TWO, THREE

The Tao gave Birth
To the One.
The One gave Birth
To the Two.
The Two gave Birth
To the Three.
The Three gave Birth
To the Myriad Things,
Which carry Yin
On their backs
And Embrace Yang,
Harmonized
By the Breath-Energy
Of Emptiness.
The Multitude
Hate to be Orphans,
To be Solitary and Destitute;
But Kings and Princes
Call themselves
By these very Names.
Things Diminish
And Increase,
They Increase
And Diminish.
Others Teach this,
I also Teach it.
“The Violent do not die
A natural death.”
This is the Father
Of my Teaching.

43. THE SOFTEST THING

The Softest Thing
In All-under-Heaven
Outstrips
The Hardest.
Non-Being
Enters No-Space.
I Know the Benefit
Of Non-Action,
The Wordless Teaching.
Few in All-under-Heaven
Attain it.

44. SUFFICIENCY

Which is Dearer:
Name
Or True Person?
Which means more:
Person or Property?
Which causes greater Harm:
Gain or Loss?
Undue Love
Comes at Great Cost.
Hoarding entails
Heavy Loss.
To Know Sufficiency
Averts Disgrace;
Whosoever Knows
When to Halt
Averts Misfortune,
Endures.

45. FLAWED PERFECTION

Great Perfection
Seems Flawed,
But its Practice
Never Fades.
Great Plenitude
Seems Empty,
But its Practice is
Never Exhausted.
Great Straightness
Seems Curved,
Great Cleverness
Seems Clumsy,
Great Eloquence
Seems to Stammer.
Movement Prevails
Over Cold,
Calm Prevails
Over Heat.
Clarity and Calm
Set All-under-Heaven
To Rights.

46. ENDURING CONTENTMENT

When the Tao
Rules
All-under-Heaven,
Swift Horses
Fertilize the fields.
When the Tao is absent
From All-under-Heaven,
War Horses
Are bred on the Altar-Meads.
The Greatest Calamity
Is Discontent,
The Greatest Harm
Is the Desire
To Acquire and Achieve.
True Contentment,
Sure Knowledge
Of Sufficiency,
These Endure.

47. TO KNOW WITHOUT GOING

Without setting foot
Outside the door,
The Taoist Knows
All-under-Heaven;
Without looking
Through the window,
The Taoist sees
The Tao of Heaven-and-Nature.
The further one goes,
The less one Knows.
The Taoist Knows
Without going,
Understands
Without seeing,
Accomplishes
Without Action.

48. DECREASE

Studying
Requires Daily Increase.
The Tao
Requires Daily Decrease,
Decrease upon Decrease,
Until Non-Action is Attained.
With Non-Action
Everything is Accomplished,
Everything Happens.
All-under-Heaven is won
Through No-Business.
Meddling never wins
All-under-Heaven.

49. QUIET AND SELF-EFFACING

The Taoist has
No Heart-and-Mind,
But regards the Heart-and-Mind
Of the common folk
As his own, saying:
“I consider the Good
To be Good,
The Not-Good
I also consider Good.”
This is the True Goodness
Of Inner Power.
“Those of Good Faith
I have Faith in,
I also have Faith
In the Faithless.”
This is the True Good Faith
Of Inner Power.
In All-under-Heaven
The True Taoist
Is Quiet and Self-Effacing,
Keeps Heart-and-Mind
Inchoate
For the sake of
All-under-Heaven.
The Hundred Families
Strain their eyes and ears,
The Taoist
Regards them all
As Children.

50. NO TERRAIN OF DEATH

There is a Coming
Into Life,
An Entering
Into Death.
The Companions of Life
Make up one third.
The Companions of Death
Another third.
The final third
Have their Heart-and-Mind
Too set on Living,
They slide from Life
To the Terrain of Death.
I have heard that
Those who Truly Nurture Life
Travel on Land
Without encountering
Rhinoceros or Tiger,
They join the Fray of War
Without wearing Armor
Or bearing Arms.
The Rhinoceros finds
Nowhere to butt,
The Tiger
Nowhere to dig its claws,
The Enemy
Nowhere to drive the points
Of its Weapons.
For those
Who Truly Nurture Life
There is
No Terrain of Death.

51. MYSTIC POWER

The Tao
Gives Birth,
The Power
Nurtures.
Matter
Creates Form,
Potential Energy
Completes.
Each one
Of the Myriad Things
Reveres the Tao,
Prizes the Inner Power.
There is no Decree
For the Tao to Give Birth,
For the Power to Nurture,
These things happen Of-Themselves.
The Tao gives Birth,
The Power Nurtures,
Rears,
Fulfills,
Feeds,
Shelters.
The Tao gives Birth
But never Possesses.
The Taoist Acts
Without Attachment,
Leads
But never takes charge.
This is Mystic Power.

52. THE MOTHER

All-under-Heaven
Has a Beginning,
A Mother.
To Attain the Mother,
Know the Children.
To Return Home
Cleave to the Mother,
Be safe from Peril.
Close the Apertures,
Shut the Gate,
Suffer and toil no longer.
Open the Apertures,
Meddle,
And never be safe.
To see the Small
Is Illumination,
To Cleave to the Soft
Is Strength.
Use the Light,
Return Home
To Illumination,
To No-Harm.
This is to Practice
Constancy.

53. BRAZEN ROBBERY

If, with a scrap
Of True Knowledge,
I walk on the road
Of the Great Tao,
Deviations
Are all that I fear.
The Great Tao
Is a broad and level Highway,
Yet most prefer
Tracks and bypaths.
The court seems
Well tended,
But the fields
Are choked with weeds,
The granaries bare.
Fancy clothes and sharp swords
Are on show,
Gluttonous feasting and drinking,
Material things in excess.
This is Brazen Robbery,
This is not the Tao!

54. WELL PLANTED, WELL EMBRACED

A shrub well planted
Is not easily uprooted,
A firm Embrace
Is not easily shaken off.
Descendants perpetuate
Ancestral sacrifices
Without intermission.
Cultivate the Person,
And Inner Power is True.
Cultivate the Family,
And Power Expands.
Cultivate the District,
And Power Endures.
Cultivate the Nation,
And Power Abounds.
Cultivate All-under-Heaven,
And Power is Universal.
Cultivation of the Person
Extends from Person to Family,
From Family to Nation,
To All-under-Heaven.
How do I know it
To be True?
From this,
From the Tao.

55. THE INNER POWER OF THE INFANT

Abundant Inner Power
Is like an Infant,
Whom poisonous insects
Do not sting,
Whom fierce beasts
Do not seize,
Whom birds of prey
Do not attack.
The Infant’s bones and sinews
Are Soft,
But its grasp
Is Sure.
The Infant knows nothing
Of the joining
Of Woman and Man,
And yet its member
Can stand erect,
Its Essence is Perfect.
All day
The Infant may cry,
But is never hoarse.
Its Harmony
Is Perfect.
To Know Harmony
Is Constancy,
To Know Constancy
Is Illumination.
To strive to Increase Life
Is Ill-omened,
Forces Heart-and-Mind
To consume Breath-Energy
Needlessly.
Things reach their prime,
They age Naturally.
To go against this
Is contrary to the Tao.
That which is contrary to the Tao
Will Perish all too soon.

56. MYSTIC UNION

Who Knows
Does not speak;
Who speaks
Does not Know.
Close the Mouth,
Shut the Gate.
Soften the Sharp,
Unravel the Tangles.
Harmonize the Light,
Blend with the Dust.
This is the Mystic Union.
Whosoever Attains this
Is neither loved
Nor rejected,
Receives neither Benefit
Nor Harm,
Is neither highly Esteemed
Nor Despised,
But is nonetheless
Greatly Valued
By All-under-Heaven.

57. OF THEIR OWN ACCORD

“Rule a Nation
With the Judgment
Of Righteousness,
Wage War
With Cunning.”
To this the Taoist replies,
“Win All-under-Heaven
Through Not-Meddling.”
How do I know it
To be True?
Through this,
Through the Tao.
With more Restrictions
And Prohibitions
In All-under-Heaven,
The folk are the poorer.
The more Sharp Weapons
Are wielded,
The more benighted
Is the Nation.
With Cunning Skills,
Strange Contraptions
And Devices
Proliferate.
With Laws and Decrees,
There are more
Robbers and thieves.
So the Taoist says:
“I Return
To Non-Action,
And the folk are Transformed
Of their own accord,
Of-Themselves.
I Cherish Calm,
And they are set right
Of-Themselves.
I do not Meddle,
And they prosper
Of their own accord.
I am free of Desire
And they Return
To the Uncarved Block
Of their own accord.”

58. THE UNSHINING TAOIST

When the Ruler
Is Dull,
The folk
Are Happy.
When the Ruler
Is Busy and Alert,
They are Discontented.
Fortune and Calamity
Are part of each other,
Calamity
Is Latent within Fortune.
How few
Recognize that Margin
Where there is
No Judgment of Right?
Right
Can become Cunning,
Good
Can become Evil,
And mankind
Is long gone astray.
The Taoist is
Square but not cut-square,
Has corners
That are not pointed,
Is straight
But not taut.
The Light of the Taoist
Does not shine.

59. THRIFT

In Ruling Others,
In serving
Heaven-and-Nature,
Nothing excels
Thrift.
Early Surrender
To the Tao
Brings a Double Measure
Of Inner Power,
A Power that
Prevails over all,
A Power that
Has no bounds,
That can
Possess a Nation.
Possessing
The Mother of the Nation,
It Endures.
It has a Deep Root
And a Firm Stalk.
This is the Tao of Long Life,
Of Enduring Vision.

60. COOKING A SMALL FISH

Ruling a Great Nation
Is like
Cooking a Small Fish.
When All-under-Heaven
Is Ruled by the Tao,
Demons lose
Their Spirit Power.
What Power they have
Can do no Harm.
The Taoist Ruler
Does no Harm.
Inner Powers combine
To Return Home
To the Tao.

61. DOWNSTREAM

A Great Nation
Is Downstream,
It is Woman
In the Union
Of All-under-Heaven.
Woman Prevails
Over Man
Through her Calm.
In Calm
She lies Beneath.
Likewise
A Great Nation
Gets beneath
A Small Nation,
And wins its Allegiance.
A Small Nation
Is beneath
A Great Nation,
And gives Allegiance.
Some get beneath,
Others are beneath,
Each attains its wishes.
A Great Nation
Seeks to gather Others
And Nourish them.
A Small Nation seeks
To Serve the Other.
The Great
Should place itself
Beneath.

62. THE INNER SANCTUARY

The Tao
Is the Inner Sanctuary
Of the Myriad Things,
Treasure
Of the Good,
Refuge
Of the Not-so-Good.
Fine Words
May purchase
High Regard,
Fine Deeds
May win
Esteem
Even for
Doers of evil.
The Not-so-Good
Are never rejected.
When the Son of Heaven
Was enthroned,
And the Three Dukes
Enfeoffed,
They were presented
With fine jades,
Racing steeds
Pranced before them.
Would it not have been
Better by far
For them to sit still
And enter the Tao?
Why was the Tao
So highly Esteemed
Of Old?
Was it not said
That by seeking it,
By Attaining it,
One escaped
The consequences of one’s errors?
For this the Tao was Esteemed
By All-under-Heaven.

63. BUSY ABOUT NO-BUSINESS

Accomplish
Through Non-Action,
Be Busy
About No-Business,
Taste
No-Taste.
Consider
The Great
Small,
The Many
Few.
Requite Bitterness
With Inner Power,
See the Difficult
In the Easy,
The Great
In the Small.
In All-under-Heaven
Deal with the Difficult
While it’s Easy,
Deal with the Great
In the Smallest Detail.
The Taoist never
Deals with Greatness,
And so
Achieves Greatness.
A promise lightly made
Is not to be believed.
Things considered Easy
Are often Difficult.
The True Taoist
Conceives Difficulty,
And so
Encounters none.

64. SUCHNESS, THE SO-OF-ITSELF

That which is
At Peace
Is easily maintained,
That which has given
No Sign
Is easily dealt with.
Brittle things
Are easily broken,
Fine things
Easily dispersed.
Act
Before there is Substance,
Create Order
Before Chaos gets under way.
A stout tree
An arm’s span in girth
Grew from
A tiny shoot.
A mighty terrace
Nine stories high
Began as
A mound of earth.
A journey
Of a thousand leagues
Commenced with
A single step.
Action
Invites Failure.
Whosoever Grips
Loses.
The Taoist never Acts
And never Fails,
Never Grips
And never Loses.
The folk often Fail
On the verge
Of Completion.
Heed Conclusion
No less than Commencement,
And there is
No Failure.
The Taoist Desires No-Desire,
Does not value
Goods that are
Hard to come by,
Studies No-Study,
Returns to that which
The Multitude leave behind,
Refrain from Action,
Nourish the Myriad Things
In their Suchness,
The So-of-Itself.

65. THE GRAND FLOW

Of Old
Taoists did not
Impart Illumination,
They kept the folk
Foolish.
Too much Wisdom
Makes them
Hard to Rule.
To Rule
Through Wisdom
Is to Rob the Nation!
To rule
Through absence of Wisdom
Is to Bless the Nation!
To understand
This True Pattern
Is to have
Mystic Power.
Mystic Power is
Deep,
It is
Distant,
It Returns with things
To their Source,
It Attains
The Grand Flow.

66. KINGS OF THE HUNDRED VALLEYS

River and Ocean are
Kings of the Hundred Valleys
Through being Beneath.
This is why
They are Kings.
Whosoever wishes to be
Above the folk,
In speech must be
Beneath them.
Whosoever wishes to be
Ahead of them
Must be
Behind.
The Taoist is Above,
And yet they feel
No Burden,
Is Ahead,
And they feel
No Impediment.
All-under-Heaven
Propels the Taoist forward
Joyfully,
Untiringly.
The Taoist Ruler
Never Contends
With Others,
All-under-Heaven
Never Contends
With the Taoist Ruler.

67. THE THREE TREASURES

All-under-Heaven
Considers my Tao
Great,
And yet it Resembles
Nothing.
It Resembles
Nothing
Because it is
Great.
If it Resembled
Something,
It would be
Small.
I have Three Treasures
To Hold and to Cherish.
The first is
Compassion,
The second
Frugality,
The third
Self-Effacement,
Refusal to take precedence
Over All-under-Heaven.
With Compassion
Comes Courage.
With Frugality
Comes Generosity.
With Self-Effacement
Comes
The capacity to be
A Chief Instrument.
Courage
Without Compassion,
Generosity
Without Frugality,
Eminence
Without Self-Effacement,
These are Death!
With Compassion
Comes True Victory in Warfare,
And sure Protection.
Heaven saves,
Compassion protects.

68. THE POWER OF NOT-CONTENDING

The best Soldier
Is not Warlike.
The best Warrior
Never fights
Out of Wrath.
The best Victory
Does not Engage the Enemy.
The best Deployment of Others
Is from Beneath.
This is the Power
Of Not-Contending,
This is Strength
In the deployment of Others,
This is to be
A Worthy Companion
Of Heaven-and-Nature,
Of the Supreme Tao
Of Old.

69. GUEST, NOT HOST

There is a Treatise on War
Which says:
I would rather be Guest
Than Host,
Rather Retreat a foot
Than Advance an inch,
Rather March
The No-March,
Brandish a hand
Without baring an arm,
Thrust
With no Weapon,
Attack
Where there is no Enemy.
The Greatest Disaster
Is to underestimate
The Enemy.
In so doing
I risk losing
My Treasure.
When two armies
Engage in Combat,
The one that feels
Sorrow

70. JADE AND SACKCLOTH

My Words are
So easy to
Understand,
They are
So easy to
Practice.
And yet
In All-under-Heaven
No one
Understands them,
No one
Practices them.
My Words have
An Ancestor,
My Deeds have
A Lord.
But no one
Understands them.
Few Understand me at all.
Rare are those
Who pattern themselves
On me.
The Taoist is clad
In brown sackcloth,
But has Jade
In his bosom.

71. KNOWLEDGE AND ILLNESS

To Know
Not-Knowing,
To Know
That one does not Know,
To Know
That there is a Limit
To what one Knows,
This is
True and Highest
Knowledge.
To deny True Knowledge,
To deny Truth,
Is an Illness.
If this is seen for what it is,
And treated
As an Illness,
It can be cured.
The Taoist
Sees Illness as Illness,
And is healthy.

72. CHERISHING SELF

When the folk do not hold
Might in Awe,
Then a Greater Awe
Descends upon them.
Let their dwellings
Not be cramped,
Let their days
Not be made wearisome
By Others,
And they will not
Weary themselves.
The True Taoist
Knows Self,
But does not
Exhibit Self,
Cherishes Self,
But does not
Exalt Self.
Rejects Show,
Knows Self.

73. HEAVEN’S NET

The Courage
To Dare
Brings Death;
The Courage
Not to Dare
Preserves Life.
The one Benefits,
The other Harms.
Who can fathom
The Antipathies
Of Heaven-and-Nature?
Even the Taoist
Finds them
Hard to Understand.
The Tao
Of Heaven-and-Nature
Does not Contend,
And yet Prevails,
Says nothing,
And yet is Resonant.
It does not summon,
But things come
Of their own accord;
It is slow,
But lays Plans.
Heaven’s Net is vast,
Through its loose Mesh,
Nothing slips.

74. FEAR OF DEATH

When the folk
Do not fear Death,
Why scare them
With Death?
Who would apprehend
The unusual
And put them to Death,
To make Others
Fear Death?
There is already
A Chief Executioner
Charged with
Administering Death.
To take the place
Of the Executioner
Is like chopping
For a Master-Carpenter:
Of those who chop
For the Carpenter
Few escape
Hurting their hands.

75. LIFE

The folk
Starve,
While their heavy taxes
Are squandered on food
By those above them.
They are
Hard to Rule,
When those above them
Meddle.
They make light
Of Death,
They trivialize
Death,
When those above them
Pursue Life
Too strenuously.
Those who do not
Pursue Life,
Who abide in
Non-Action,
Are superior to
Those who Cling to Life.

76. SOFT AND GENTLE

Man,
Born
Soft and Gentle,
Dies
Hard and Rigid.
Of the Myriad Things,
Plants are Born
Soft and Tender,
Die
Dry and Brittle.
The Hard and Rigid are
Companions of Death,
The Soft and Gentle
Companions of Life.
The Forceful Warrior
Meets with Defeat.
Strong Timber
Is cut for Weapons.
Strong and Great
Are Below,
Soft and Gentle
Above.

77. THE BENT BOW

The Tao
Of Heaven-and-Nature
Resembles
A Bent Bow,
Its top
Pushed down,
Its bottom
Raised up,
Excess
Reduced,
Insufficiency
Made good.
The Tao
Of Heaven-and-Nature
Reduces Excess,
Makes good
Insufficiency.
Lesser mortals,
To the contrary,
Decrease Insufficiency,
Increase Excess.
Only the Taoist
Gives that which he possesses
In Excess
To All-under-Heaven.
The Taoist Accomplishes
But does not
Hold on to Action,
Does not abide in
Accomplishment,
Does not wish to
Display his Worth.

78. THE GENTLE PREVAILS

In All-under-Heaven
Nothing is
Softer and Gentler
Than Water.
And yet it Prevails over
The Hard and Strong,
It is invincible.
Nothing Prevails
With such Ease,
Gentle over Strong,
Soft over Hard.
All-under-Heaven
Knows this Truth,
And yet no one
Practices it.
So the Taoist says:
“Whosoever is willing to
Accept the Nation’s Filth
Will be Lord
Of the Earth-Altar;
Whosoever is willing to
Absorb the Nation’s Misfortune
Will be King
Of All-under-Heaven.”
Truths like these
Sound paradoxical.

79. HOLDING THE TALLY

Harmonize
Great Bitterness,
And some Bitterness
Will yet remain.
How can this be
Mended?
The Taoist
Holds the left-hand Tally
But never calls Others
To account.
Whosoever has
Inner Power
Is Content
To hold the Tally.
Whosoever lacks
Inner Power
Calls in debts.
The Tao
Of Heaven-and-Nature
Makes no distinctions,
Is always Generous
To the Good.

80. TYING KNOTS

In a Small Nation
With few folk,
Tools abound,
But are not put to use.
The folk,
Mindful of Death,
Never journey far.
Boats and carriages
Are not used for travel.
Weapons and soldiers
Are not deployed.
The folk Return
To the Ancient Tying of Knots.
They think their simple diet
Sweet,
Their raiment
Fine.
They find Peace
In their dwellings,
Joy
In their customs.
Neighboring countries
Can be seen,
Cocks are heard crowing,
Dogs barking.
The folk
Die of Old Age
Happy where they are,
Without ever having
Traveled.

81. THE LEARNED DO NOT UNDERSTAND

Trustworthy words
Are not Beautiful,
Beautiful words
Are not to be Trusted.
The Good
Do not Dispute,
Those who Dispute
Are not Good.
Those who Understand
Are not Learned,
The Learned
Do not Understand.
Taoists
Do not Hoard,
The more they give to Others,
The more they have.
The more they share,
The more is theirs.
The Tao of Heaven
Brings Benefit,
Never Harm.
The Taoist Accomplishes,
But never Contends.