THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
1
THE TAO TEH KING,
OR THE TAO AND ITS
CHARACTERISTICS
by Lao-Tse
translated by James Legge
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
2
PART 1.
Ch. 1. 1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and
unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and
unchanging name.
2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and
earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
3. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we
would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is
all that we shall see.
4. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development
takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the
Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle
and wonderful.
2. 1. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing
this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the
skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.
2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the
idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the
other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other;
that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one
with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious
through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind
give the idea of one following another.
3. Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and
conveys his instructions without the use of speech.
4. All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show
itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership; they go
through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the
results). The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an
achievement).
The work is done, but how no one can see; 'Tis this that makes
the power not cease to be.
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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3. 1. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to
keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which
are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves;
not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep
their minds from disorder.
2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their
minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.
3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without
desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from
presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good
order is universal.
4. 1. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our
employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep
and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!
2. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of
things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into
agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, as
if it would ever so continue!
3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before
God.
5. 1. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to
be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the
people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a
bellows?
'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power; 'Tis moved again, and
sends forth air the more. Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;
Your inner being guard, and keep it free.
6. The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mystery
thus do we name. Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, Is
called the root from which grew heaven and earth. Long and unbroken
does its power remain, Used gently, and without the touch of pain.
7. 1. Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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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.
2. 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?
8. 1. 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.
2. 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.
3. And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about
his low position), no one finds fault with him.
9. 1. 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.
2. 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.
10. 1. 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.
2. 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?
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3. (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).
11. 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.
12. 1. 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.
2. 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.
13. 1. Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour
and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same
kind).
2. 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?
3. 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
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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entrusted with it.
14. 1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
15. 1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
16. 1. 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
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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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.
2. 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.
17. 1. 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).
2. How irresolute did those (earliest rulers) appear, showing (by their
reticence) the importance which they set upon their words! Their work
was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said,
'We are as we are, of ourselves!'
18. 1. When the Great Tao (Way or Method) ceased to be observed,
benevolence and righteousness came into vogue. (Then) appeared
wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.
2. When harmony no longer prevailed throughout the six kinships,
filial sons found their manifestation; when the states and clans fell into
disorder, loyal ministers appeared.
19. 1. If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it
would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our
benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again
become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful contrivances
and discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor
robbers.
2. Those three methods (of government) Thought olden ways in
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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elegance did fail And made these names their want of worth to veil;
But simple views, and courses plain and true Would selfish ends and
many lusts eschew.
20. 1. When we renounce learning we have no troubles. The
(ready) 'yes,' and (flattering) 'yea;'-- Small is the difference they
display. But mark their issues, good and ill;-- What space the gulf
between shall fill?
What all men fear is indeed to be feared; but how wide and without
end is the range of questions (asking to be discussed)!
2. The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a
full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and
still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am
like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if
I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have enough and to
spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid
man; I am in a state of chaos.
Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be
benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and
confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had
nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem
dull and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from
other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).
21. The grandest forms of active force From Tao come, their
only source. Who can of Tao the nature tell? Our sight it flies,
our touch as well. Eluding sight, eluding touch, The forms of
things all in it crouch; Eluding touch, eluding sight, There are
their semblances, all right. Profound it is, dark and obscure;
Things' essences all there endure. Those essences the truth enfold
Of what, when seen, shall then be told. Now it is so; 'twas so of old.
Its name--what passes not away; So, in their beautiful array,
Things form and never know decay.
How know I that it is so with all the beauties of existing things? By
this (nature of the Tao).
22. 1. The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty,
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
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full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose
(desires) are many goes astray.
2. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility),
and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self- display, and
therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished;
from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged; from self-
complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because he is
thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive
with him.
3. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was
not vainly spoken:--all real completion is comprehended under it.
23. 1. Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the
spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole
morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it
that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and Earth. If Heaven and
Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how much less can
man!
2. Therefore when one is making the Tao his business, those who are
also pursuing it, agree with him in it, and those who are making the
manifestation of its course their object agree with him in that; while even
those who are failing in both these things agree with him where they fail.
3. Hence, those with whom he agrees as to the Tao have the happiness
of attaining to it; those with whom he agrees as to its manifestation have
the happiness of attaining to it; and those with whom he agrees in their
failure have also the happiness of attaining (to the Tao). (But) when there
is not faith sufficient (on his part), a want of faith (in him) ensues (on the
part of the others).
24. He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who
stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself
does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who
vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-
conceited has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed
from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour on
the body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course) of the
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Tao do not adopt and allow them.
25. 1. There was something undefined and complete, coming into
existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless,
standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no
danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all
things.
2. I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao (the
Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it The
Great.
3. Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes
remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao is great;
Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king is also great. In the
universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them.
4. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from
Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its
being what it is.
26. 1. Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of
movement.
2. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far
from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects to
look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to them.
How should the lord of a myriad chariots carry himself lightly before the
kingdom? If he do act lightly, he has lost his root (of gravity); if he
proceed to active movement, he will lose his throne.
27. 1. The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or footsteps;
the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with or blamed; the
skilful reckoner uses no tallies; the skilful closer needs no bolts or bars,
while to open what he has shut will be impossible; the skilful binder uses
no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound will be impossible.
In the same way the sage is always skilful at saving men, and so he does
not cast away any man; he is always skilful at saving things, and
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