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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*)
This is the beginning of Part II of The Tao Te
Ching.
Selection 7
Those who possessed in highest degree the attributes of the
Tao did not seek to show them, and therefore they possessed them
in fullest measure. Those who possessed in a lower degree those
attributes sought how not to lose them, and therefore they did not
possess them in fullest measure.
Those who possessed in the highest degree those attributes did
nothing with a purpose, and had no need to do anything. Those who
possessed them in a lower degree were always doing, and had need
to
be so doing.
Those who possessed the highest benevolence were always seeking
to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so. Those who
possessed the highest righteousness were always seeking to carry
it
out, and had need to be so doing.
Those who possessed the highest sense of propriety were always
seeking to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared
the arm and marched up to them.
Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared;
when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when benevolence
was lost, righteousness appeared; and when righteousness was lost,
the
proprieties appeared.
Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good
faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension
is
only a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.
Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews
what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It
is
thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.
The things which from of old have got the One the Tao are
Heaven which by it is bright and pure;
Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;
Spirits with powers by it supplied;
Valleys kept full throughout their void
All creatures which through it do live
Princes and kings who from it get
The model which to all they give.
All these are the results of the One Tao.
If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;
If earth were not thus sure, 'twould break and bend;
Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail;
If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale;
Without that life, creatures would pass away;
Princes and kings, without that moral sway,
However grand and high, would all decay.
Thus it is that dignity finds its firm root in its previous
meanness, and what is lofty finds its stability in the lowness from
which it rises. Hence princes and kings call themselves 'Orphans,'
'Men of small virtue,' and as 'Carriages without a nave.' Is not
this
an acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they
see the foundation of their dignity? So it is that in the enumeration
of
the different parts of a carriage we do not come on what makes it
answer the ends of a carriage. They do not wish to show themselves
elegant-looking as jade, but prefer to be coarse-looking as an
ordinary stone.
The movement of the Tao
By contraries proceeds;
And weakness marks the course
Of Tao's mighty deeds.
All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named);
that existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).
Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao,
earnestly carry it into practice. Scholars of the middle class,
when
they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it.
Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh
greatly at it. If it were not thus laughed at, it would not be fit
to be the Tao.
Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:--
'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack;
Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back;
Its even way is like a rugged track.
Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise;
Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes;
And he has most whose lot the least supplies.
Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;
Its solid truth seems change to undergo;
Its largest square doth yet no corner show
A vessel great, it is the slowest made;
Loud is its sound, but never word it said;
A semblance great, the shadow of a shade.'
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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