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Lao-tze's Tao-teh-king. The Old Philosopher's Canon On Reason And Virtue
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Lao Tzu
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Reason's realisation
"THE REASON that can be reasoned is not the eternal Reason. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Unnameable is of heaven and earth the beginning. The Nameable becomes of the ten thousand things the mother. Therefore it is said : He who desireless is found The spiritual of the world will sound. But he who by desire is bound Sees the mere shell of things around. These two things are the same in source but different in name. Their sameness is called a mystery. Indeed, it is the mystery of mysteries. Of all spirituality it is the door."
Self-culture
"When in the world all understand beauty to be beauty, then only ugliness appears. When all understand goodness to be goodness, then only badness appears. For To be and not to be are mutually conditioned. The difficult, the easy, are mutually definitioned. The long, the short, are mutually exhibitioned. Above, below, are mutually cognitioned. The sound, the voice, are mutually coalitioned. Before and after are mutually positioned. Therefore the holy man abides by non-assertion in his affairs and conveys by silence his instruction. When the ten thousand things arise, verily, he refuses them not. He quickens but owns not. He works but claims not. Merit he accomplishes, but he does not dwell on it. Since he does not dwell on it, It will never leave him."
Keeping the people quiet
"Not exalting worth keeps people from rivalry. Not prizing what is difficult to obtain keeps people from committing theft. Not contemplating what kindles desire keeps the heart unconfused. Therefore the holy man when he governs empties the peoples hearts but fills their souls. He weakens their ambitions but strengthens their backbones. Always he keeps the people unsophisticated and without desire. He causes that the crafty do not dare to act. When he acts with non-assertion there is nothing ungoverned."
Sourceless
"Reason is empty, but its use is inexhaustible. In its profundity, verily, it resembleth the father of the ten thousand things. It will blunt its own sharpness, Will its tangles adjust; It will dim its own radiance And be one with its dust. Oh, how calm it seems to remain! I know not whose son it is. Before the Lord, Reason takes precedence."
The function of emptiness
"Heaven and earth exhibit no benevolence ; to them the ten thousand things are like straw dogs. The holy man exhibits no benevolence ; to him the hundred families are like straw dogs. Is not the space between heaven and earth like unto a bellows ? It is empty; yet it collapses not. It moves, and more and more comes forth. [But] How soon exhausted is A gossip's fulsome talk! And should we not prefer On the middle path to walk?""
The completion of form
"The valley spirit not expires, Mysterious mother 'tis called by the sires The mysterious mother's door, to boot, Is called of Heaven and earth the root. Forever and aye it seems to endure And its use is without effort sure."
Dimming radiance
"Heaven endures and earth is lasting. And why can heaven and earth endure and be lasting? Because they do not live for themselves. On that account can they endure. Therefore the holy man puts his person behind and his person comes to the front. He surrenders his person and his person is preserved. Is it not because he seeks not his own? For that reason he can accomplish his own."
Easy by nature
"Superior goodness resembleth water. Water in goodness benefiteth the ten thousand things, yet it quarreleth not. Because it dwells in places which the multitude of men shun, therefore it is near unto the eternal Reason. For a dwelling goodness chooses the level. For a heart goodness chooses commotion. When giving, goodness chooses benevolence. In words, goodness chooses faith. In government goodness chooses order. In business goodness chooses ability. In its motion goodness chooses timeliness. It quarreleth not. Therefore, it is not rebuked."
Practising placidity
"Holding and keeping full, had that not better be left alone? Handling and keeping sharp, can that wear long? If gold and jewels fill the hall no one can protect it. Rich and high but proud, brings about its own misfortune. To accomplish merit and acquire fame, then to withdraw oneself, that is Heaven's Way."
What can be done
"He who sustains and disciplines his soul and embraces unity cannot be deranged. Through attention to his vitality and inducing tenderness he can become like a little child. By purifying, by cleansing and profound intuition he can be free from faults. In loving the people and administering the country he can practise non-assertion. Opening and closing the gates of heaven he can be like a mother-bird : bright, and white, and penetrating the four quarters, he can be unsophisticated. He quickens them and feeds them. He quickens but owns not. He acts but claims not. He excels but rules not. This is called profound virtue."
The function of the non-existent
"Thirty spokes unite in one nave and on that which is non-existent [on the hole in the nave] depends the wheel's utility. Clay is moulded into a vessel and on that which is non-existent [on its hollowness] depends the vessel's utility. By cutting out doors and windows we build a house and on that which is non-existent [on the empty space] depends the house's utility. Therefore, when the existence of things is profitable, it is the non-existent in them which renders them useful."
Abstaining from desire
"The five colors the human eye will blind. The five notes the human ear will rend. The five tastes the human mouth offend. Racing and hunting will human hearts turn mad, Objects of prize make human conduct bad. Therefore the holy man attends to the inner and not to the outer. He abandons the latter and chooses the former."
Loathing shame
"Favor and disgrace bode awe. Esteeming the body bodes great trouble. What is meant by "favor and digrace bode awe?" Favor humiliates. Its gain bodes awe; its loss bodes awe. This is meant by "favor and disgrace bode awe." What is meant by "Esteeming the body bodes great trouble " ? I have trouble because I have a body. When I have no body, what trouble remains ? Therefore, if one administers the empire as he cares for his body, he can be entrusted with the empire."
Praising the mysterious
"We look at Reason and do not see it; its name is Colorless. We listen to Reason and do not hear it ; its name is Soundless. We grope for Reason and do not grasp it ; its name is Incorporeal. These three things cannot further be analysed. Thus they are combined and conceived as a unity which on its surface is not clear but in its depth not obscure. Forever and aye Reason remains unnamable, and again and again it returns home to non-existence. This is called the form of the formless, the image of the imageless. This is called transcendentally abstruse. In front its beginning is not seen. In the rear its end is not seen. By holding fast to the Reason of the ancients, the present is mastered and the origin of the past understood. This is called Reason's clue."
The revealers of virtue
"Those of yore who have succeeded in becoming masters are subtile, spiritual, profound, and penetrating. On account of their profundity they cannot be understood. Because they cannot be understood, therefore I endeavor to make them intelligible. How they are cautious! Like men in winter crossing a river. How reluctant! Like men fearing in the four quarters their neighbors. How reserved! They behave like guests. How elusive! They resemble ice when melting. How simple! They resemble unseasoned wood. How empty! They resem- ble the valley. How obscure! They resemble troubled waters. Who by quieting can gradually render muddy waters clear? Who by stirring can gradually quicken the still? He who keeps this Reason is not anxious to be filled. Since he is not filled, therefore he can grow old and need not be newly fashioned."
Returning to the root
"Attain vacuity's completion and guard tranquillity's fulness. All the ten thousand things arise, and I see them return. Now they bloom in bloom, but each one homeward returneth to its root. Returning to the root means rest. It signifies the return according to destiny. Return according to destiny means the eternal. Knowing the eternal means enlightenment. Not knowing the eternal causes passions to rise ; and that is evil. Knowing the eternal renders comprehensive. Comprehensive means broad. Broad means royal. Royal means heavenly. Heavenly means Reason. Reason means lasting. Thus the decay of the body implies no danger."
Simplicity in habits
"Where great sages are [in power], the subjects do not notice their existence. Where there are lesser sages, the people are attached to them ; they praise them. Where still lesser ones are, the people fear them ; and where still lesser ones are, the people despise them. For it is said: "If your faith be insufficient, verily, you will receive no faith." How reluctantly sages consider their words! Merit they accomplish ; deeds they perform ; and the hundred families think: "We are independent; we are free.""
The palliation of vulgarity
"When the great Reason is obliterated, we have benevolence and justice. Prudence and circumspection appear, and we have much hypocrisy. When family relations no longer harmonise, we have filial piety and paternal love. When the country and the clans decay through disorder, we have loyalty and allegiance."
Returning to simplicity
"Abandon your saintliness; put away your prudence; and the people will gain a hundred-fold! Abandon your benevolence; put away your justice; and the people will return to filial devotion and paternal love! Abandon your scheming; put away your gains; and thieves and robbers will no longer exist. These are the three things for which we deem cul-. ture insufficient. Therefore it is said : Hold fast to that which will endure, Show thyself simple, preserve thee pure, Thy own keep small, thy desires poor."
Different from the vulgar
"Abandon learnedness, and you have no vexation. The "yes" compared with the "yea," how little do they differ! But the good compared with the bad, how much do they differ! What the people dread cannot be dreadless! How great is their desolation. Alas! it has not yet reached its limit. The multitude of men are happy, so happy, as though celebrating a great feast. They are as though in springtime ascending a tower. I alone remain quiet, alas! like one that has not yet received an encouraging omen. I am like unto a babe that does not yet smile. Forlorn am I, O, so forlorn ! It appears that I have no place whither I may return home. The multitude of men all have plenty and I alone appear empty. Alas ! I am a man whose heart is foolish. Ignorant am I, O, so ignorant ! Common people are bright, so bright, I alone am dull. Common people are smart, so smart, I alone am confused, so confused. Desolate am I, alas ! like the sea. Adrift, alas ! like one who has no place where to stay. The multitude of men all possess usefulness. I alone am awkward and a rustic too. I alone differ from others, but I prize seeking sustenance from our mother."
Emptying the heart
"Vast virtue's form Follows Reason's norm. And Reason's nature Is vague and eluding. How eluding and vague All types including. How vague and eluding! All beings including. How deep, and how obscure. It harbors the spirit pure. Whose truth is ever sure. Whose faith abides for aye From of yore until to-day. Its name is without cessation. It watches the world's formation. Whereby do I know that it watches the world's formation? By this same Reason!"
Humility's increase
"The deficient will recuperate. And the crooked shall be straight. The empty find their fill. The worn with strength will thrill. Who have little shall receive. Who have much will have to grieve. Therefore the holy man embraces unity and becomes for all the world a model. He is not self-dis playing, and thus he shines. He is not self-approving, and thus he is distinguished. He is not self-praising, and thus he acquires merit. He is not self-glorifying and thus he excels. Since he does not quarrel, therefore no one in the world can quarrel with him. The saying of the ancients: "The deficient will recuperate," is it in any way vainly spoken? Verily, they will recuperate and return home."
Emptiness and non-existence
"To be taciturn is the natural way. A hurricane does not outlast the morning. A cloudburst does not outlast the day. Who causes these events but heaven and earth? If even heaven and earth cannot be unremitting, will not man be much less so? Therefore one who pursues his business with Reason, the man of Reason, is identified with Reason. The man who pursues his business with virtue is identified with virtue. The man who pursues his business with loss is identified with loss. When identified with Reason, he forsooth joyfully embraces Reason ; when identified with virtue, he forsooth joyfully embraces virtue ; and when identified with loss, he forsooth joyfully embraces loss. "He whose faith is insufficient shall not find faith.""
Troubles in [the eagerness to acquire] Merit
"A man on tiptoe cannot stand. A man astride cannot walk. A self-displaying man cannot shine. A self-approving man cannot be distinguished. A self- praising man cannot acquire merit. A self-glorying man cannot excel. Before the tribunal of Reason he is like offal of food and like an excrescence in the system which all people are likely to detest. Therefore, one who has Reason does not rely on him."
Imaging the mysterious
"There is Being that is all-containing, which precedes the existence of heaven and earth. How calm it is ! How incorporeal ! Alone it stands and does not change. Everywhere it goes without running a risk, and can on that account become the world's mother. I know not its name. Its character is defined as Reason. When obliged to give it a name, I call it the Great. The Great I call the Evasive. The Evasive I call the Distant. The Distant I call the Returning. The saying goes: ''Reason is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and Royalty also is great. There are four things in the world that are great, and Royalty is one of them." Man's standard is the Earth. The earth's standard is Heaven. Heaven's standard is Reason. Reason's standard is intrinsic."
The virtue of dignity
"The heavy is of the light the root, and rest is motion's master. Therefore the holy man in his daily walk does not depart from dignity. Although he may have magnificent sights, he calmly sits with liberated mind. But how is it with the master of the ten thousand chariots? In his personal conduct he makes light of the empire. He makes light of it and will lose his vassals. He is passionate and will lose the throne."
The function of skill
"Good travellers leave not trace nor track, Good speakers, in logic show no lack, Good counters need no counting rack. Good lockers bolting bars need not, Yet none their locks can loose. Good binders need not string nor knot. Yet none unties their noose. Therefore the holy man is always a good saviour of men, for there are no outcast people. He is always a good saviour of things, for there are no outcast things. This is called concealed enlightenment. Therefore the good man is the bad man's instructor, while the bad man is the good man's capital. He who does not esteem his instructor, and he who does not love his capital, although he may be prudent, is greatly disconcerted. This I call significant spirituality."
Returning to simplicity
"Who his manhood shows And his womanhood knows Becomes the empire's river. Is he the empire's river, He will from virtue never deviate, And home he turneth to a child's estate. Who his brightness shows And his blackness knows Becomes the empire's model. Is he the empire's model, Of virtue never he'll be destitute, And home he turneth to the absolute. Who knows his fame And guards his shame Becomes the empire's valley. Is he the empire's valley. For e'er his virtue will sufficient be. And home he turneth to simplicity. By scattering about his simplicity he makes [of the people] vessels of usefulness. The holy man employs them as officers ; for a great administration does no harm."
Non-assertion
"When one desires to take in hand the empire and make it, I see him not succeed. The empire is a divine vessel which cannot be made. One who makes it, mars it. One who takes it, loses it. And it is said of beings: Some are obsequious, others move boldly, Some breathe warmly, others coldly. Some are strong and others weak, Some rise proudly, others sneak. Therefore the holy man abandons pleasure, he abandons extravagance, he abandons indulgence."
Be chary of war
"He who with Reason assists the master of mankind will not with arms conquer the empire. His methods [are such as] invite requital. Where armies are quartered briars and thorns grow. Great wars unfailingly are followed by famines. A good man acts resolutely and then stops. He ventures not to take by force. He is resolute but not boastful ; resolute but not haughty ; resolute but not arrogant ; resolute because he cannot avoid it ; resolute but not violent. Things thrive and then grow old. This is called un-Reason. Un-Reason soon ceases."
Quelling war
"Even beautiful arms are unblest among tools, and people had better shun them. Therefore he who has Reason does not rely on them. The superior man when residing at home honors the left. When using arms, he honors the right. Arms are unblest among tools and not the superior man's tools. Only when it is unavoidable he uses them. Peace and quietude he holds high. He conquers but rejoices not. Rejoicing at a conquest means to enjoy the slaughter of men. He who enjoys the slaughter of men will most assuredly not obtain his will in the empire."
The virtue of holiness
"Reason, so long as it remains absolute, is unnameable. Although its simplicity seems insignificant, the whole world does not dare to suppress it. If princes and kings could keep it, the ten thousand things would of themselves pay homage. Heaven and earth would unite in dropping sweet dew, and the people with no one to command them would of themselves be righteous. But as soon as Reason creates order, it becomes nameable. Whenever the nameable in its turn acquires existence, one learns to know when to stop. By knowing when to stop, one avoids danger. To illustrate Reason's relation to the world we compare it to streamlets and creeks in their course towards great rivers and the ocean."
The virtue of discrimination
"One who knows others is clever, but one who knows himself is enlightened. One who conquers others is powerful, but one who conquers himself is mighty. One who knows sufficiency is rich. One who pushes with vigor has will, one who loses not his place endures. One who may die but will not perish, has life everlasting."
Trust in its perfection
"How all-pervading is the great Reason ! It can be on the left and it can be on the right. The ten thousand things depend upon it for their life, and it refuses them not. When its merit is accomplished it assumes not the name. Lovingly it nourishes the ten thousand things and plays not the lord. Ever desireless it can be classed with the small. The ten thousand things return home to it. It plays not the lord. It can be classed with the great. Therefore, the holy man unto death does not make himself great and can thus accomplish his greatness."
The virtue of benevolence
"Who holdeth fast to the great Form, Of him the world will come in quest : For there they never meet with harm, But find contentment, comfort, rest. Music with dainties makes the passing stranger stop. But Reason, when coming from the mouth, how tasteless is it ! It has no flavor. When looked at, there is not enough to be seen ; when listened to, there is not enough to be heard. However, its use is inexhaustible."
The secret's explanation
"That which is about to contract has surely been [first] expanded. That which is about to weaken has surely been [first] strengthened. That which is about to fall has surely been [first] raised. That which is about to be despoiled has surely been [first] endowed. This is an explanation of the secret that the tender and the weak conquer the hard and the strong. [Therefore beware of hardness and strength:] As the fish should not escape from the deep, so with the country's sharp tools the people should not become acquainted."
Administration of government
"Reason always practises non-assertion, and there is nothing that remains undone. If princes and kings could keep Reason, the ten thousand things would of themselves be reformed. While being reformed they would yet be anxious to stir ; but I would restrain them by the simplicity of the Ineffable. The simplicity of the unexpressed Will purify the heart of lust. Where there's no lust there will be rest, And all the world will thus be blest."
Discoursing on virtue
"Superior virtue is un-virtue. Therefore it has virtue. Inferior virtue never loses sight of virtue. Therefore it has no virtue. Superior virtue is non- assertion and without pretension. Inferior virtue asserts and makes pretensions. Superior benevolence acts but makes no pretensions. Superior justice acts and makes pretensions. The superior propriety acts and when no one responds to it, it stretches its arm and enforces its rules. Thus one loses Reason and then virtue appears. One loses virtue and then benevolence appears. One loses benevolence and then justice appears. One loses justice and then propriety appears. The rules of propriety are the semblance of loyalty and faith, and the beginning of disorder. Quick-wittedness is the [mere] flower of Reason, but of ignorance the beginning. Therefore a great organiser abides by the solid and dwells not in the external. He abides in the fruit and dwells not in the flower. Therefore he discards the latter and chooses the former."
The root of order
"From of old these things have obtained oneness : Heaven through oneness has become pure. Earth through oneness can endure. Minds through oneness their souls procure. Valleys through oneness repletion secure. All creatures through oneness to life have been called. And kings were through oneness as models installed. Such is the result of oneness. Were heaven not pure it might be rent. Were earth not stable it might be bent. Were minds not ensouled they'd be impotent. Were valleys not filled they'd soon be spent. When creatures are lifeless who can their death prevent? Are kings not models, but on highness bent, Their fall, forsooth, is imminent. Thus, the noble come from the commoners as their root, and the high rest upon the lowly as their foundation. Therefore, princes and kings call themselves orphans, widowers, and nobodies. Is this not because they [representing the unity of the commoners] take lowliness as their root? The several parts of a carriage are not a carriage. Those who have become a unity are neither anxious to be praised with praise like a gem, nor disdained with disdain like a stone."
Avoiding activity
"Homeward is Reason's course, Weakness is Reason's force. Heaven and earth and the ten thousand things come from existence, but existence comes from nonexistence."
Sameness in difference
"When a superior scholar hears of Reason he endeavors to practise it. When an average scholar hears of Reason he will sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it. When an inferior scholar hears of Reason he will greatly ridicule it. Were it not thus ridiculed, it would as Reason be insufficient. Therefore the poet says: The reason-enlightened seem dark and black, The reason-advanced seem going back, The reason-straight-levelled seem rugged and slack. The high in virtue resemble a vale, The purely white in shame must quail. The staunchest virtue seems to fail. The solidest virtue seems not alert. The purest chastity seems pervert, The greatest square will rightness desert. The largest vessel is not yet complete, The loudest sound is not speech replete, The greatest form has no shape concrete. Reason so long as it remains hidden is unnameable. Yet Reason alone is good for imparting and completing."
Reason's modifications
"Reason begets unity; unity begets duality; duality begets trinity ; and trinity begets the ten thousand things. The ten thousand things are sustained by Yin [the negative principle]; they are encompassed by Yang [the positive principle], and the immaterial Ch'i [the breath of life] renders them harmonious. That which the people find odious, to be an orphan, a widower, or a nobody, kings and princes select as their titles. Thus, on the one hand, loss implies gain, and on the other hand, gain implies loss. What others have taught I teach also. The strong and aggressive do not die a natural death ; but I shall expound the doctrine's foundation."
Its universal application
"The world's weakest overcomes the world's hardest. Non-existence enters into the impenetrable. Thereby I comprehend of non-assertion the advantage, and of silence the lesson, There are few in the world who obtain the advantage of non-assertion."
Setting up precepts
"Name or person, which is more near? Person or fortune, which is more dear? Gain or loss, which is more sear ? Extreme dotage leadeth to squandering, Hoarded wealth inviteth plundering. Who is content incurs no humiliation. Who knows when to stop risks no vitiation, Forever lasteth his duration."
Greatest virtue
"The greatest perfection seems imperfect, But its work undecaying remaineth. The greatest fulness is emptiness-checked, But its work 's not exhausted nor waneth. The straightest line resembleth a curve; The greatest sage as apprentice will serve ; Most eloquent speakers will stammer and swerve. Motion conquers cold. Quietude conquers heat Purity and clearness are the world's standard."
Moderation of desire
"When the world possesses Reason, race horses are reserved for hauling dung. When the world is without Reason, war horses are bred in the common. No greater sin than yielding to desire. No greater misery than discontent. No greater calamity than acquisitiveness. Therefore, he who knows contentment's contentment is always content."
Viewing the distant
"Without passing out of the gate The world's course I prognosticate. Without peeping through the window The heavenly Reason I contemplate. The further one goes, The less one knows. Therefore the holy man does not travel, and yet he has knowledge. He does not see the things, and yet he defines them. He does not labor, and yet he completes."
Forgetting knowledge
"He who seeks learnedness will daily increase. He who seeks Reason will daily diminish. He will diminish and continue to diminish until he arrives at non-assertion. With non-assertion there is nothing that he cannot achieve. When he takes the empire, it is always because he uses no diplomacy. He who uses diplomacy is not fit to take the empire."
Trust in virtue
"The holy man possesses not a fixed heart. The hundred families' hearts he makes his heart. The good I meet with goodness ; the bad I also meet with goodness; for virtue is good [throughout]. The faithful I meet with faith; the faithless I also meet with faith ; for virtue is faithful [throughout]. The holy man dwells in the world anxious, very anxious in his dealings with the world. He universalises his heart, and the hundred families fix upon hirn their ears and eyes. The holy man treats them all as children."
The estimation of life
"Going forth is life; coming home is death. Three in ten are pursuers of life; three in ten are pursuers of death; three in ten of the men that live pass into the realm of death. Now, what is the reason? It is because they live life's intensity. Indeed, I understand that one who takes good care of his life, when travelling on land will not fall in with the rhinoceros or the tiger. When coming among soldiers, he need not fear arms and weapons. The rhinoceros finds no place where to insert its horn. The tiger finds no place where to lay his claws. Weapons find no place where to thrust their blades. The reason is that he does not belong to the realm of death."
Nursing virtue
"Reason quickens all creatures. Virtue feeds them. Reality shapes them. The forces complete them. Therefore among the ten thousand things there is none that does not esteem Reason and honor virtue. Since the esteem of Reason and the honoring of virtue is by no one commanded, it is forever spontaneous. Therefore it is said that Reason quickens all creatures, while virtue feeds them, raises them, nurtures them, completes them, matures them, rears them, and protects them. To quicken but not to own, to make but not to claim, to raise but not to rule, this is called profound virtue."
Returning to the origin
"When the world takes its beginning. Reason becomes the world's mother. When he who knows his mother, knows in turn that he is her child, and when he who is quickened as a child, in turn keeps to his mother, to the end of life, he is not in danger. When he closes his mouth, and shuts his sense-gates, in the end of life, he will encounter no trouble; but when he opens his mouth and meddles with affairs, in the end of life he cannot be saved. Who beholds his smallness is called enlightened. Who preserves his tenderness is called strong. Who uses Reason's light and returns home to its enlightenment does not surrender his person to perdition. This is called practising the eternal."
Gaining insight
"If I have ever so little knowledge, I shall walk in the great Reason. It is but assertion that I must fear. The great Reason is very plain, but people are fond of by-paths. When the palace is very splendid, the fields are very weedy and granaries very empty. To wear ornaments and gay clothes, to carry sharp swords, to be excessive in drinking and eating, to have a redundance of costly articles, this is the pride of robbers. Surely, this is un-Reason!"
The cultivation of intuition
"What is well planted is not uprooted; What's well preserved cannot be looted!'- By sons and grandsons the sacrificial celebrations shall not cease. Who cultivates Reason in his person, his virtue is genuine. Who cultivates it in his house, his virtue is overflowing. Who cultivates it in his township, his virtue is lasting. Who cultivates it in his country, his virtue is abundant. Who cultivates it in the world, his virtue is universal. Therefore, by one's person one tests persons. By one's house one tests houses. By one's township one tests townships. By one's country one tests countries. By one's world one tests worlds. How do I know that the world is such? Through Reason."
The signet of the mysterious
"He who possesses virtue in all its solidity is like unto a little child. Venomous reptiles do not sting him, fierce beasts do not seize him. Birds of prey do not strike him. His bones are weak, his sinews tender, but his grasp is firm. He does not yet know the relation between male and female, but his virility is strong. Thus his metal grows to perfection. A whole day he might cry and sob without growing hoarse. This shows the perfection of his harmony. To know the harmonious is called the eternal. To know the eternal is called enlightenment. To increase life is called a blessing, and heart-directed vitality is called strength, but things vigorous are about to grow old and I call this un-Reason. Un-Reason soon ceases!"
The virtue of the mysterious
"One who knows does not talk. One who talks does not know. Therefore the sage keeps his mouth shut and his sense-gates closed. He will blunt his own sharpness, His own tangles adjust; He will dim his own radiance, And be one with his dust. This is called profound identification. Thus he is inaccessible to love and also inaccessible to enmity. He is inaccessible to profit and inaccessible to loss. He is also inaccessible to favor and inaccessible to disgrace. Thus he becomes world-honored."
Simplicity in habits
"With rectitude one governs the state ; with craftiness one leads the army; with non-diplomacy one takes the empire. How do I know that it is so? Through Reason. The more restrictions and prohibitions are in the empire, the poorer grow the people. The more weapons the people have, the more troubled is the state. The more there is cunning and skill, the more startling events will happen. The more mandates and laws are enacted, the more there will be thieves and robbers. Therefore the holy man says: I practise non-assertion, and the people of themselves reform. I love quietude, and the people of themselves become righteous. I use no diplomacy, and the people of themselves become rich. I have no desire, and the people of themselves remain simple."
Adaptation to change
"Whose government is unostentatious, quite unostentatious, his people will be prosperous, quite prosperous. Whose government is prying, quite prying, his people will be needy, quite needy. Misery, alas! rests upon happiness. Happiness, alas! underlies misery. But who foresees the catastrophe? It will not be prevented! What is ordinary becomes again extraordinary. What is good becomes again unpropitions. This bewilders people, which happens constantly since times immemorial. Therefore the holy man is square but not sharp, strict but not obnoxious, upright but not restraining, bright but not dazzling."
Hold fast to reason
"In governing the people and in attending to heaven there is nothing like moderation. As to moderation, it is said that it must be an early habit. If it is an early habit, it will be richly accumulated virtue. If one has richly accumulated virtue, then there is nothing that cannot be overcome. If there is nothing that cannot be overcome, then no one knows his limits. If no one knows his limits, one can possess the country. If one possesses the mother of the country [viz., moderation], one can thereby last long. This is called having deep roots and a firm stem. To long life and lasting comprehension this is the Way."
How to maintain ones place
"Govern a great country as you would fry small fish: [neither gut nor scale them]. If with Reason the empire is managed, its ghosts will not spook. Not only will its ghosts not spook, but its gods will not harm the people. Not only will its gods not harm the people, but its holy men will also not harm the people. Since neither will do harm, therefore their virtues will be combined."
The virtue of humility
"A great state, one that lowly flows, becomes the empire's union, and the empire's wife. The wife always through quietude conquers her husband, and by quietude renders herself lowly. Thus a great state through lowliness toward small states will conquer the small states, and small states through lowliness toward great states will conquer great states. Therefore some render themselves lowly for the purpose of conquering ; others are lowly and therefore conquer. A great state desires no more than to unite and feed the people ; a small state desires no more than to devote itself to the service of the people ; but that both may obtain their wishes, the greater one must stoop."
Practise reason
"It is Reason that is the ten thousand things' asylum, the good man's wealth, the bad man's stay. With beautiful words one can sell. With honest conduct one can do still more with the people. If a man be bad, why should he be thrown away? Therefore, an emperor was elected and three ministers appointed ; but better than holding before one's face the jade table [of the ministry] and riding with four horses, is sitting still and propounding the eternal Reason. Why do the ancients prize this Reason? Is it not, say, because when sought it is obtained and the sinner thereby can be saved? Therefore it is world- honored."
Consider beginnings
"Assert non-assertion. Practise non-practice. Taste non-taste. Make great the small. Make much the little. Requite hatred with goodness. Contemplate a difficulty when it is easy. Manage a great thing when it is small. The world's most difficult undertakings necessarily originate while easy, and the world's greatest undertakings necessarily originate while small. Therefore the holy man to the end does not venture to play the great, and thus he can accomplish his greatness. As one who lightly promises rarely keeps his word, so he to whom many things are easy will necessarily encounter many difficulties. Therefore, the holy man regards everything as difficult, and thus to the end encounters no difficulties."
Mind the insignificant
"What is still at rest is easily kept quiet. What has not as yet appeared is easily prevented. What is still feeble is easily broken. What is still scant is easily dispersed. Treat things before they exist. Regulate things before disorder begins. The stout tree has originated from a tiny rootlet. A tower of nine stories is raised by heaping up [bricks of] clay. A thousand miles' journey begins with a foot. He that makes mars. He that grasps loses. The holy man does not make ; therefore he mars not. He does not grasp ; therefore he loses not. The people when undertaking an enterprise are always near completion, and yet they fail. Remain careful to the end as in the beginning and you will not fail in your enterprise. Therefore the holy man desires to be desireless, and does not prize articles difficult to obtain. He learns, not to be learned, and seeks a home where multitudes of the people pass by. He assists the ten thousand things in their natural development, but he does not venture to interfere."
The virtue of simplicity
"The ancients who were well versed in Reason did not thereby enlighten the people ; they intended thereby to make them simple-hearted. If people are difficult to govern, it is because they are too smart. To govern the country with smartness is the country's curse. To govern the country without smartness is the country's blessing. He who knows these two things is also a model [like the ancients]. Always to know them is called profound virtue. Profound virtue, verily, is deep. Verily, it is far-reaching. Verily, it is to everything reverse. But then it will procure great recognition."
Putting oneself behind
"That rivers and oceans can of the hundred valleys be kings is due to their excelling in lowliness. Thus they can of the hundred valleys be the kings. Therefore the holy man, when anxious to be above the people, must in his words keep underneath them. When anxious to lead the people, he must with his person keep behind them. Therefore the holy man dwells above, but the people are not burdened. He is ahead, but the people suffer no harm. Therefore the world rejoices in exalting him without tiring. Because he strives not, no one in the world will strive with him."
The three treasures
"All in the world call me great ; but I resemble the unlikely. Now a man is great only because he resembles the unlikely. Did he resemble the likely, how lasting, indeed, would his mediocrity be! I have three treasures which I preserve and treasure. The first is called compassion. The second is called economy. The third is called not daring to come in the world to the front. The compassionate can be brave ; the economical can be generous ; those who dare not come to the front in the world can become perfect as chief vessels. Now, if people discard compassion and are brave; if they discard economy and are generous ; if they discard modesty and are ambitious, they will surely die. Now, the compassionate will in the attack be victorious, and in the defence firm. Heaven when about to save one will with compassion protect him."
Complying with heaven
"He who excels as a warrior is not warlike. He who excels as a fighter is not wrathful. He who excels in conquering the enemy does not strive. He who excels in employing men is lowly. This is called the virtue of not-striving. This is called utilising men's ability. This is called complying with heaven - since olden times the highest."
The function of the mysterious
"A military expert used to say: "I dare not act as host [who takes the initiative] but act as guest [with reserve]. I dare not advance an inch, but I withdraw afoot." This is called marching without marching, threatening without arms, charging without hostility, seizing without weapons. No greater misfortune than making light of the enemy! When we make light of the enemy, it is almost as though we had lost our treasure - [compassion]. Thus, if matched armies encounter one another, the tenderer one is sure to conquer."
Difficult to understand
"My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practise, but in the world no one can understand, no one can practise them. Words have an ancestor ; Deeds have a master [viz., Reason]. Since he is not understood, therefore I am not understood. Those who understand me are few, and thus I am distinguished. Therefore the holy man wears wool, and hides in his bosom his jewels."
The disease of knowledge
"To know the unknowable that is elevating. Not to know the knowable that is sickness. Only by becoming sick of sickness we can be without sickness. The holy man is not sick. Because he is sick of sickness, therefore he is not sick."
Holding oneself dear
"If the people do not fear the dreadful, the great dreadful will come, surely. Do not render their lives narrow. Do not make their lot wearisome. When it is not made wearisome, then it will not be wearisome. Therefore, the holy man knows himself but does not display himself. He holds himself dear but does not honor himself. Thus he discards the latter and chooses the former."
Daring to act
"Courage, if carried to daring, leads to death ; courage, if not carried to daring, leads to life. Either of these two things is sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful. Why 't is by heaven rejected, Who has the reason detected? Therefore the holy man also regards it as difficult. The Heavenly Reason strives not, but it is sure to conquer. It speaks not, but it is sure to respond. It summons not, but it comes of itself. It works patiently but is sure in its designs. Heaven's net is vast, so vast. It is wide-meshed, but it loses nothing."
Overcome delusion
"If the people do not fear death, how can they be frightened by death? If we make people fear death, and supposing some would [still] venture to rebel, if we seize them for capital punishment, who will dare? There is always an executioner who kills. Now to take the place of the executioner who kills is taking the place of the great carpenter who hews. If a man takes the place of the great carpenter who hews, he will rarely, indeed, fail to injure his hand."
Harmed through greed
"The people hunger because their superiors consume too many taxes ; therefore they hunger. The people are difficult to govern because their superiors are too meddlesome ; therefore it is difficult to govern. The people make light of death on account of the intensity of their clinging to life ; therefore they make light of death. He who is not bent on life is worthier than he who esteems life."
Beware of strength
"Man during life is tender and delicate. When he dies he is stiff and stark. The ten thousand things, the grass as well as the trees, are while they live tender and supple. When they die they are rigid and dry. Thus the hard and the strong are the companions of death. The tender and the delicate are the companions of life. Therefore, he who in arms is strong will not conquer. When a tree has grown strong it is doomed. The strong and the great stay below. The tender and the delicate stay above."
Heaven's reason
"Is not Heaven's Reason truly like stretching a bow? The high it brings down, the lowly it lifts up. Those who have abundance it depleteth ; those who are deficient it augmenteth. Such is Heaven's Reason. It depleteth those who have abundance but completeth the deficient. Man's Reason is not so. He depletes the deficient in ord«r to serve those who have abundance. Where is he who would have abundance for serving the world? It is the man of Reason. Therefore the holy man acts but claims not ; merit he accomplishes but he does not linger upon it, and does he ever show any anxiety to display his excellence?"
Trust in faith
"In the world nothing is tenderer and more delicate than water. In attacking the hard and the strong nothing will surpass it. There is nothing that herein takes its place. The weak conquer the strong, the tender conquer the rigid. In the world there is no one who does not know it, but no one will practise it. Therefore the holy man says : Him who the country's sin makes his, We hail as priest at the great sacrifice. Him who the curse bears of the country's failing As king of the empire we are hailing. True words seem paradoxical."
Keep your obligations
"When a great hatred is reconciled, naturally some hatred will remain. How can this be made good? Therefore the sage keeps the obligations of his contract and exacts not from others. Those who have virtue attend to their obhgations ; those who have no virtue attend to their claims. Heaven's Reason shows no preference but always assists the good man."
Remaining in isolation
"In a small country with few people let there be aldermen and mayors who are possessed of power over men but would not use it. Induce people to grieve at death but do not cause them to move to a distance. Although they had ships and carriages, they should find no occasion to ride in them. Although they had armours and weapons, they should find no occasion to don them. Induce people to return to [the old custom of] knotted cords and to use them [in the place of writing], to delight in their food, to be proud of their clothes, to be content with their homes, and to rejoice in their customs : then in a neighboring state within sight, the voices of the cocks and dogs would be within hearing, yet the people might grow old and die before they visited one another."
Propounding the essential
"True words are not pleasant ; pleasant words are not true. The good are not contentious ; the contentious are not good. The wise are not learned ; the learned are not wise. The holy man hoards not. The more he does for others, the more he owns himself. The more he gives to others, the more he acquires himself. Heaven's Reason is to benefit but not to injure; the holy man's Reason is to act but not to strive."