1. The Way
The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
To experience without intention is to sense the world;
To experience with intention is to anticipate the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.
Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.
"A way" you can call it way is not the great everlasting way. "A name" you can call it name is not the true unchangeable name.
There was no name when the world was created.
After all things were created, they were named.
So if you are disinterested, you could see profound forms of all things.
If you are greedy, you can see only surface of them. The source of both of them is the same one. I named it "deep mystery".
And the further source of the mystery is producing all phenomena and things of the world.
When beauty is abstracted
Then ugliness has been implied;
When good is abstracted
Then evil has been implied.
So alive and dead are abstracted from nature,
Difficult and easy abstracted from progress,
Long and short abstracted from contrast,
High and low abstracted from depth,
Song and speech abstracted from melody,
After and before abstracted from sequence.
The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.
Everyone recognizes the beauty as the beauty.
But this is an ugly thing.
Everyone recognizes the good as the good.
But this is a bad thing.
Because being and not being, difficult and easy, long and short, high and low, these are relative concepts.
Sounds and voices harmonize each other.
The front and the back exist each other.
So the saint who knows "the way" does not distinguish them and practices teachings that cannot be told.
He does not explain all things of the world, does not possess things that he made, does not rely on things that he achieved, and does not stay in his success.
All of them follow him because he is never attached to them.
3. Without Action
Not praising the worthy prevents contention,
Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,
Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.
In this manner the sage governs people:
Emptying their minds,
Filling their bellies,
Weakening their ambitions,
And strengthening their bones.
If people lack knowledge and desire
Then they can not act;
If no action is taken
Harmony remains.
f a leader did not respect an able person, people would not compete one another.
If a leader did not value treasures, people would not steal them.
If a leader did not give information that stimulate people's desire, they would stay calm.
So the saint who knows "the way" makes people be ignorant, then makes their stomach full.
He weakens people's desire, then strengthens their body.
He makes people be ignorant and disinterested, then they will not be tempted by crafty people.
If a ruler never does what is unnecessary, his country will be at peace without fail.
4. Limitless
The Way is a limitless vessel;
Used by the self, it is not filled by the world;
It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it comes from;
It comes before nature.
"The way" is like an empty vessel.
But you can never fill it up.
Its depth is the depth of the Creator. It dulls edges, disentangles threads, softens the light and assimilates into dust.
It calmly exists like water.
I do not know who/what created it.
But it might be an ancestor of the emperor of heaven.
Nature is not kind;
It treats all things impartially.
The Sage is not kind,
And treats all people impartially.
Nature is like a bellows,
Empty, yet never ceasing its supply.
The more it moves, the more it yields;
So the sage draws upon experience
And cannot be exhausted.
Mother Nature is not benevolent.
She uses all things once and then throws them away.
The saint who knows "the way" does not express benevolence.
He rules people like he is ignoring them.
The work of Mother Nature is like a bellows.
All things are produced every time she moves, even though she is empty.
If you cannot put your words into practice, do not speak flowery words.
Experience is a riverbed,
Its source hidden, forever flowing:
Its entrance, the root of the world,
The Way moves within it:
Draw upon it; it will not run dry.
Mother Nature is not benevolent.
She uses all things once and then throws them away.
The saint who knows "the way" does not express benevolence.
He rules people like he is ignoring them.
The work of Mother Nature is like a bellows.
All things are produced every time she moves, even though she is empty.
If you cannot put your words into practice, do not speak flowery words.
Heaven and earth are eternal, because they never want to be eternal.
So the saint who knows "the way" tries to follow people, but people follow him.
He tries to put him outside of people, but people put him at the center of them.
It is because he is disinterested.
He can keep his mind because he is never attached to himself.
8. Water
The best of man is like water,
Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
Which flows in places that others disdain,
Where it is in harmony with the Way.
So the sage:
Lives within nature,
Thinks within the deep,
Gives within impartiality,
Speaks within trust,
Governs within order,
Crafts within ability,
Acts within opportunity.
He does not contend, and none contend against him.
The Best Good is like water. Water never competes with others even though it benefits all things. Water always stays at the lowest place. So water resembles "the way". The ground is good for houses. Depth is good for mind. Benevolence is good for friendship.
Faithfulness is good for words. Peace is good for politics. Efficiency is good for projects.
Timing is good for action. If you do not compete with others, you will not commit an error.
9. Retire
Fill a cup to its brim and it is easily spilled;
Temper a sword to its hardest and it is easily broken;
Amass the greatest treasure and it is easily stolen;
Claim credit and honour and you easily fall;
Retire once your purpose is achieved - this is natural.
10. Harmony
Embracing the Way, you become embraced;
Breathing gently, you become newborn;
Clearing your mind, you become clear;
Nurturing your children, you become impartial;
Opening your heart, you become accepted;
Accepting the world, you embrace the Way.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
This is harmony.
Can you calm your body and follow "the way", then keep them?
Can you concentrate your mind and soften your body, then become like a baby?
Can you purify the mirror of your heart, then keep it blameless?
Can you keep yourself nameless when you love people and rule a country?
Can you keep yourself like female when all things are produced from the gate of heaven?
Can you do nothing when you know everything clearly?
The saint who knows "the way" does not possess things that he made or raised.
He does not rely on his success. He does not become a dictator even if he becomes a leader.
These are "mysterious virtue" of the saint.
11. Tools
Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not.
A wheel has thirty spokes and one hub.
We can use a wheel because a hub has a hole to insert an axle.
We knead clay and make a vessel.
We can use a vessel because it has a space with nothing.
A house has doors and windows.
We can live in a house because it has a space with nothing.
So when we use something, we always benefit by "nothing".
12. Substance
Too much colour blinds the eye,
Too much music deafens the ear,
Too much taste dulls the palate,
Too much play maddens the mind,
Too much desire tears the heart.
In this manner the sage cares for people:
He provides for the belly, not for the senses;
He ignores abstraction and holds fast to substance.
Various colors blind eyes.
Various sounds deafen ears.
Various tastes dull tongue's sensitivity.
Horse riding and hunting drive people crazy.
Precious treasures make people commit errors.
So the saint who knows "the way" does not seek material pleasure except eating his fill.
He gets satisfaction of his heart, not pleasure of senses.
13. Self
Both praise and blame cause concern,
For they bring people hope and fear.
The object of hope and fear is the self -
For, without self, to whom may fortune and disaster occur?
Therefore,
Who distinguishes himself from the world may be given the world,
But who regards himself as the world may accept the world.
In this manner the sage cares for people:
He provides for the belly, not for the senses;
He ignores abstraction and holds fast to substance.
People are concerned about honor and dishonor very much.
Because they regard honor as like their own body.
Why are they concerned about honor and dishonor very much?
Because they regard honor as a good thing, and dishonor as a bad thing.
They are happy when they are praised.
They are unhappy when they are blamed.
So people are concerned about honor and dishonor very much.
Why do they regard honor as like their own body?
They can be concerned about their honor because they have their body.
If they lost their body, they cannot be concerned about their honor any longer.
What on earth do they have to be concerned about without their body?
So we should entrust our country to the person who cares his own body first.
14. Mystery
Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.
In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what can not occur;
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name silence;
Follow it, it has no back,
Meet it, it has no face.
Attend the present to deal with the past;
Thus you grasp the continuity of the Way,
Which is its essence.
Things that we cannot see, I call them "the obscure".
Things we cannot hear, I call them "the faint".
Things we cannot catch, I call them "the subtle".
We cannot sense these and these are originally the same one.
The space above it is not bright. The space below it is not dark.
I cannot name it because it is too vague.
It returns to nothingness in the end.
I call it, for convenience' sake, "appearance of no appearance", "form of the formless" or just "the vague".
You cannot see its face even if you meet it. You cannot see its back even if you follow it. If you observe the present time with "the way" from ancient time, you can understand the origin of things. This is the start of "the way".
15. Enlightenment
The enlightened possess understanding
So profound they can not be understood.
Because they cannot be understood
I can only describe their appearance:
Cautious as one crossing thin ice,
Undecided as one surrounded by danger,
Modest as one who is a guest,
Unbounded as melting ice,
Genuine as unshaped wood,
Broad as a valley,
Seamless as muddy water.
Who stills the water that the mud may settle,
Who seeks to stop that he may travel on,
Who desires less than may transpire,
Decays, but will not renew.
A person who mastered "the way" from ancient time knows "deep mystery" well.
And you cannot understand depth of his wisdom.
But I dare to explain it.
He is careful as if he were going across a river in winter, prudent as if he were cautious around him, solemn as if he were an honored guest, obedient as if he were a piece of melting ice, unaffected as if he were a raw wood, tolerant as if he were a valley and vague as if he were muddy water.
Who can keep this water calm and get clear water?
Who can move this water again and produce new lives?
A person who keeps "the way" does not want to be filled.
So his vessel revives over and over again.
16. Decay and Renewal
Empty the self completely;
Embrace perfect peace.
The world will rise and move;
Watch it return to rest.
All the flourishing things
Will return to their source.
This return is peaceful;
It is the flow of nature,
An eternal decay and renewal.
Accepting this brings enlightenment,
Ignoring this brings misery.
Who accepts nature's flow becomes all-cherishing;
Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial;
Being impartial he becomes magnanimous;
Being magnanimous he becomes natural;
Being natural he becomes one with the Way;
Being one with the Way he becomes immortal:
Though his body will decay, the Way will not.
If I empty my mind and stay calm, I can see that all things are produced and they return to the roots.
Everything is produced one after another, then they return to the roots.
Everything returns to silence like this.
This is called "return to the original form".
This is a "law of nature".
To understand the law is called "clear wisdom".
If you don't have this wisdom, you will fall into confusion.
If you have it, you can accept everything.
Accepting everything is fairness.
Fairness is a "virtue of king".
The virtue of king is "Heaven's will".
Heaven's will is "the way".
This way is eternal.
If you keep this way, you will never go astray.
The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;
The next best are loved and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:
They have no faith in their people,
And their people become unfaithful to them.
When the best rulers achieve their purpose
Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.
The ideal monarch looks idle.
People only know he is their lord.
The next best is praised by people.
The next best is feared by people.
The worst is despised by people.
If a monarch is not reliable, people do not trust him.
If a monarch stays calm and silent, people will cooperate with one another and have pride on their work.
There are morals after natural lifestyle along "the way" died out.
There are lies because the shrewd people are praised.
There are affections because family discord with one another.
There are loyal vassals because the country is in disorder.
19. Simplify
If we could abolish knowledge and wisdom
Then people would profit a hundredfold;
If we could abolish duty and justice
Then harmonious relationships would form;
If we could abolish artifice and profit
Then waste and theft would disappear.
Yet such remedies treat only symptoms
And so they are inadequate.
People need personal remedies:
Reveal your naked self and embrace your original nature;
Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;
Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.
If people give up virtues and wisdom, they will gain a hundred times benefit.
If people give up benevolence and justice, they will regain sincerity.
If people give up technique and convenience, there will be no thief.
I know that these words are too difficult to understand.
So let me give teachings.
Express your bare mind and hold honesty like a raw wood.
Reduce your selfishness and desire.
20. Wandering
What is the difference between assent and denial?
What is the difference between beautiful and ugly?
What is the difference between fearsome and afraid?
The people are merry as if at a magnificent party
Or playing in the park at springtime,
But I am tranquil and wandering,
Like a newborn before it learns to smile,
Alone, with no true home.
The people have enough and to spare,
Where I have nothing,
And my heart is foolish,
Muddled and cloudy.
The people are bright and certain,
Where I am dim and confused;
The people are clever and wise,
Where I am dull and ignorant;
Aimless as a wave drifting over the sea,
Attached to nothing.
The people are busy with purpose,
Where I am impractical and rough;
I do not share the peoples' cares
But I am fed at nature's breast.
If you quit learning, you will no longer lose your way.
How different between "yes" and "yeah"? How different between "good" and "bad"?
Of course we should not do wrong that people avoid.
But there is no limitation if you seek perfection.
People look like having a feast with smile and having a view from a hill in spring.
But I alone keep still and look like a baby without a smile.
I am exhausted and have no place to be.
People look like having too much.
But I alone look like having nothing.
I am fool and dull. People are cheerful. I alone am depressed.
People are brilliant. I alone am gloomy.
I am drifting the ocean and I do not know where I am going as if I were a wind.
People are useful for the public. But I alone am stubborn and useless.
I alone am different from others and value that I am brought up by "the great mother".
The Way is without form or quality,
But expresses all forms and qualities;
The Way is hidden and implicate,
But expresses all of nature;
The Way is unchanging,
But expresses all motion.
Beneath sensation and memory
The Way is the source of all the world.
How can I understand the source of the world?
By accepting.
A person who has true virtues just follows "the way".
"The way" is vague and obscure.
It is vague and obscure, but it surely exists.
It is vague and obscure, but I can see its form.
It is deep and dark, and there is a spirit.
The spirit is absolutely genuine, and it is sure existence.
From ancient times to the present day, "the way" exists and produces all things.
Why can I understand this? From the above facts.
22. Home
Accept and you become whole,
Bend and you straighten,
Empty and you fill,
Decay and you renew,
Want and you acquire,
Fulfill and you become confused.
The sage accepts the world
As the world accepts the Way;
He does not display himself, so is clearly seen,
Does not justify himself, so is recognized,
Does not boast, so is credited,
Does not pride himself, so endures,
Does not contend, so none contend against him.
The ancients said, "Accept and you become whole",
Once whole, the world is as your home.
If you are useless like a bent wood, you can complete your life.
You can stretch your body, because you bend it.
You can fill a vessel, because it has a hollow.
You can renew something, because it is worn-out.
The more you seek profit, the more you are troubled.
So the saint values only "the way" and shows a good model for people.
He does not want to attract others, so people pay attention to him.
He does not justify himself, so people agree with him.
He does not boast of himself, so people praise him.
He can keep "the way" for a long time, because he is not arrogant.
He never loses because he never competes.
As the ancient proverb says "If you are useless like a bent wood, you can complete your life", this is true, you can return to the origin like this.
23. Words
Nature says only a few words:
High wind does not last long,
Nor does heavy rain.
If nature's words do not last
Why should those of man?
Who accepts harmony, becomes harmonious.
Who accepts loss, becomes lost.
For who accepts harmony, the Way harmonizes with him,
And who accepts loss, the Way cannot find.
Whispering is natural. Storms do not continue over half a day.
Downpours do not continue over a day.
Nature itself does not continue these.
So mere humans can not continue speaking loudly.
A person who follows "the way" unites with "the way".
A person who follows the virtue unites with the virtue.
People who lost the virtue by following benevolence and courtesy unite with them.
"The way" also requires the person who united with "the way".
The virtue also requires the person who united with the virtue.
Benevolence and courtesy also require people who united with them.
If your words do not have honesty, you will lose trust from people.
24. Indulgence
Straighten yourself and you will not stand steady;
Display yourself and you will not be clearly seen;
Justify yourself and you will not be respected;
Promote yourself and you will not be believed;
Pride yourself and you will not endure.
These behaviours are wasteful, indulgent,
And so they attract disfavour;
Harmony avoids them.
You can not continue standing on tiptoe or striding for a long time.
People do not pay attention to a person who tries to attract them.
People do not agree with a person who justifies himself.
People do not praise a person who boasts of himself.
An arrogant person can not last a long time.
These behaviors are called "excess food and behaviors" from viewpoint of "the way".
People do not want to eat after getting full.
So a person who knows "the way" never conducts such a waste.