Heshang Gong Edition
Chapter 61
A great state is like the lower reaches of a river: it is the meeting place of the world, the female of the world. The female constantly overcomes the male by stillness; through stillness she places herself below. Therefore if a great state places itself below a small state, it wins over the small state; if a small state places itself below a great state, it wins over the great state. Thus one takes by placing itself below, and the other takes by being below. The great state wishes only to unite and nourish others; the small state wishes only to enter and serve others. When both obtain what they wish, it is fitting that the great one should place itself below.
Chapter 62
The Tao is the hidden sanctuary of the myriad things. It is the treasure of the good person and the protection of the one who is not good. Fine words can be traded in the market; honorable deeds can raise a person above others. As for those who are not good, why should they be abandoned? Therefore, when the Son of Heaven is enthroned and the Three Dukes are installed, though there be jade discs held in both hands preceding teams of four horses, it is not as good as sitting still and offering this Tao. Why did the ancients value this Tao? Did they not say that by it those who seek shall find, and those who have sinned shall be spared? Therefore it is the most honored in the world.
Chapter 63
Act through non-action; engage in affairs through no affairs; taste the tasteless. Regard the small as great and the few as many; repay resentment with virtue. Plan for the difficult while it is easy; do the great while it is small. The difficult affairs of the world must begin with what is easy; the great affairs of the world must begin with what is small. Therefore the sage never strives to be great, and so he can achieve his greatness. Light promises are sure to inspire little trust; taking things too easily is sure to bring many difficulties. Therefore the sage treats things as difficult, and so in the end he has no difficulties.
Chapter 64
What is at rest is easy to hold; what has not yet shown signs is easy to plan for; what is brittle is easy to shatter; what is minute is easy to scatter. Deal with things before they come into being; put them in order before disorder arises. A tree that fills the embrace grows from a tiny shoot; a terrace of nine stories rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet. One who acts on it ruins it; one who grasps it loses it. When people pursue their affairs, they often fail when they are on the verge of success. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and there will be no failure. Therefore the sage desires not to desire and does not value goods that are hard to obtain; he learns not to learn and returns to what the multitude have passed by. Thus he assists the myriad things in what is so of itself for them, and dares not act.
Chapter 65
Those of old who were good at practicing the Tao did not use it to enlighten the people, but to keep them simple. The people are hard to govern because they have too much cleverness. To govern the state with cleverness is to be a bane to the state; not to govern the state with cleverness is a blessing to the state. To know these two is also to know the standard. To be able to know the standard is called mysterious virtue. Mysterious virtue is deep and far-reaching; it returns with things, and only then does it arrive at the great accord.
Chapter 66
The reason the rivers and the sea can be kings of the hundred valleys is that they are good at placing themselves below them; therefore they can be kings of the hundred valleys. Therefore when the sage wishes to be above the people, he must speak humbly to them; when he wishes to lead the people, he must put himself behind them. Therefore the sage dwells above, yet the people do not feel his weight; he dwells in front, yet the people do not feel harmed. Therefore the world is glad to push him forward and never tires of him. Because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him.
Chapter 67
Everyone in the world says that I am great, but that I resemble nothing. It is precisely because I am great that I resemble nothing. Had I resembled anything, I would long ago have become petty. I have three treasures, which I hold and keep: the first is compassion, the second is frugality, and the third is not daring to be first in the world. Being compassionate, one can be courageous; being frugal, one can be generous; not daring to be first in the world, one can become the leader of all vessels. Now, to abandon compassion yet be courageous, to abandon frugality yet be generous, to abandon being last yet be first—that is death! Compassion brings victory in battle and firmness in defense. When heaven is about to save someone, it protects him with compassion.
Chapter 68
One who is good as a warrior is not martial; one who is good at fighting is not angry; one who is good at defeating the enemy does not engage him; one who is good at employing people places himself below them. This is called the virtue of not contending; this is called using the strength of others; this is called matching heaven—the ultimate of antiquity.
Chapter 69
Those who use arms have a saying: “I dare not play the host but rather play the guest; I dare not advance an inch but rather retreat a foot.” This is called marching without ranks, rolling up sleeves without arms, facing no enemy, and wielding no weapons. There is no calamity greater than underestimating the enemy; underestimating the enemy nearly costs me my treasures. Therefore, when opposing armies clash, the side that grieves will win.
Chapter 70
My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practice, yet no one in the world can understand them, and no one can practice them. My words have an ancestor; my deeds have a master. It is precisely because people lack understanding that they do not understand me. Those who understand me are few, and so I am all the more precious. Therefore the sage wears coarse cloth but carries jade in his bosom.
Chapter 71
To know that one does not know is best; not to know yet think one knows is a sickness. It is precisely by recognizing sickness as sickness that one is free from sickness. The sage is free from sickness because he recognizes sickness as sickness; therefore he is free from sickness.
Chapter 72
When the people do not fear authority, a great terror will come. Do not constrict their dwellings; do not oppress their livelihoods. It is precisely because one does not oppress them that they do not grow weary of one. Therefore the sage knows himself but does not display himself; he loves himself but does not exalt himself. Thus he rejects that and takes this.
Chapter 73
One who is brave in daring will be killed; one who is brave in not daring will live. Of these two, one brings benefit and the other harm. What heaven hates—who knows the reason? The Tao of heaven does not contend, yet it is good at winning; it does not speak, yet it is good at responding; it is not summoned, yet it comes of itself; it is unhurried, yet it is good at planning. The net of heaven is vast; its meshes are wide, yet nothing slips through.
Chapter 74
If the people do not fear death, why threaten them with death? If the people were made to constantly fear death, and those who did strange things could be seized and killed by me, who would dare? There is always an executioner who presides over killing. To kill in place of the executioner is called hewing wood in place of the master carpenter. Of those who hew wood in place of the master carpenter, few escape injuring their own hands.
Chapter 75
The people starve because those above them consume too much in taxes; that is why they starve. The people are hard to govern because those above them are always interfering; that is why they are hard to govern. The people take death lightly because those above them seek life too richly; that is why they take death lightly. Only one who does not strive after life is wiser than one who values life.
Chapter 76
When people are alive, they are soft and weak; when they die, they are hard and stiff. When the myriad things, grasses and trees, are alive, they are soft and tender; when they die, they are dry and withered. Therefore the hard and stiff are the companions of death; the soft and weak are the companions of life. Therefore when an army is strong, it will not win; when a tree is strong, it will be felled. The strong and great dwell below; the soft and weak dwell above.
Chapter 77
The Tao of heaven—is it not like drawing a bow? What is high is pressed down; what is low is raised up; what has excess is reduced; what is insufficient is supplemented. The Tao of heaven reduces what has excess and supplements what is insufficient. The Tao of humanity is not so: it takes from those who have too little to serve those who have more than enough. Who can take what he has in excess and offer it to the world? Only one who has the Tao. Therefore the sage acts but does not rely on it, accomplishes his work but does not dwell on it, and has no wish to display his worthiness.
Chapter 78
Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water, yet for attacking the hard and strong nothing can surpass it, for nothing can take its place. That the soft overcomes the hard and the weak overcomes the strong—everyone in the world knows this, yet no one can practice it. Therefore the sage says: one who takes upon himself the filth of the state is called the master of the altars of soil and grain; one who takes upon himself the misfortunes of the state is called the king of the world. True words seem contrary.
Chapter 79
When a great resentment is reconciled, some resentment is sure to remain; how can this be regarded as good? Therefore the sage holds the left half of the tally but does not press people for payment. One with virtue keeps to the tally; one without virtue keeps to exacting dues. The Tao of heaven has no favorites; it is always with the good person.
Chapter 80
A small state with few people. Let there be implements for tens and hundreds of people, yet let them not be used. Let the people take death seriously and not migrate far away. Though there are boats and carriages, there is no occasion to ride in them; though there are armor and weapons, there is no occasion to display them. Let the people return to knotting cords and using them. Let them find their food sweet, their clothes beautiful, their dwellings peaceful, and their customs joyful. Neighboring states can see one another, and the sounds of their chickens and dogs can be heard from one to the other, yet the people grow old and die without ever visiting one another.
Chapter 81
Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy. The good do not argue; those who argue are not good. Those who know are not widely learned; those who are widely learned do not know. The sage does not hoard. The more he does for others, the more he has; the more he gives to others, the more he possesses. The Tao of heaven benefits and does not harm; the Tao of the sage acts and does not contend.