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THE TAO TE CHING,
OR
THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
by Lao Tzu
translated by James Legge
(Edited by Zee Sing*)
Selection 2
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long.
The reason
why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is
because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they
are
able to continue and endure.
Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found
in
the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to
him,
and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no
personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?
The highest excellence is like that of water. The excellence
of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying,
without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men
dislike. Hence its way is near to that of the Tao.
The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place;
that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is
in
their being with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing
good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability;
and
that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.
And when one with the highest excellence does not wrangle about
his low position, no one finds fault with him.
It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to
carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been
sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them
safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its
evil
on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming
distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.
When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one
embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided
attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree
of
pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed
away
the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without
a flaw.
In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed
without any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of
his
gates of heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his
intelligence reaches in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be
without knowledge?
The Tao produces all things and nourishes them; it produces
them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does
not
boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them.
This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality of the Tao."
The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty
space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is
fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that
their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls)
to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that
its
use depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for
profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.
Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;
Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,
Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly,
and
not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the
latter, and prefers to seek the former.
Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and
great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same
kind).
What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace
is
being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour). The getting
that (favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the
losing
it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity):--this is what
is
meant by saying that favour and disgrace would seem equally to be
feared.
And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are
to be
(similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable
to
great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I
had
not the body, what great calamity could come to me?
Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as
he
honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who
would
administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may
be
entrusted with it.
We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the
Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it
'the
Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we
name it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made
the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and
obtain The One.
Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.
Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again
returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless,
and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting
and
Indeterminable.
We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see
its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things
of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in
the
beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.
The skilful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle
and exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were
deep
(also) so as to elude men's knowledge. As they were thus beyond
men's
knowledge, I will make an effort to describe of what sort they
appeared to be.
Shrinking looked they like those who wade through a stream in
winter; irresolute like those who are afraid of all around them;
grave
like a guest (in awe of his host); evanescent like ice that is melting
away; unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into
anything; vacant like a valley, and dull like muddy water.
Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it
will gradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest?
Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.
They who preserve this method of the Tao do not wish to be full
(of
themselves). It is through their not being full of themselves that
they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.
The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree,
and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things
alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see
them
return (to their original state). When things (in the vegetable
world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them
return to its root. This returning to their root is what we call
the
state of stillness; and that stillness may be called a reporting
that
they have fulfilled their appointed end.
The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
To
know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it leads
to wild movements and evil issues. The knowledge of that unchanging
rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity
and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things).
From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character;
and he
who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to
heaven he possesses the Tao. Possessed of the Tao, he endures long;
and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of
decay.
In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there
were (their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised
them. In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them.
Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers)
a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).
Selection 1, 2,
3, 4,
5, 6,
7, 8,
9, 10,
11, 12,
13, 14,
15
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*Because the Legge translation is rather old, it
has been edited slightly to update the language to a more contemporary
standard.
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