Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Part 18

If they did not laugh at it, it would not really be the Way.

And so the common saying has it: The clearest Way seems obscure; The Way ahead seems to lead backward; The most level Way seems uneven; Highest Virtue seems like a valley; Great purity seems sullied, Ample Virtue seems insufficient; Solid Virtue seems unstable; The simple and genuine seems fickle; The great square has no corners; The great vessel takes long to perfect; The great note sounds faint; The great image is without shape;79 The Way is hidden and without name.80 Only the Way is good at providing and completing.

Chapter Forty-Two.

The Way produces the One.

The One produces two.

Two produces three.

Three produces the myriad creatures.81 The myriad creatures shoulder yin and embrace yang, and by blending these qi, "vital energies," they attain harmony.

People most despise being orphaned, desolate, or forlorn, and yet barons and kings take these as their personal appellations.82 And so sometimes diminis.h.i.+ng a thing adds to it; Sometimes adding to a thing diminishes it.

What others teach, I too teach: "The violent and overbearing will not die a natural death."

I shall take this as the father of all my teachings.

Chapter Forty-Three.

The most supple things in the world ride roughshod over the most rigid.

That which is not there can enter even where there is no s.p.a.ce.

This is how I know the advantages of nonaction!

The teaching that is without words,83 The advantages of nonaction, Few in the world attain these.

Chapter Forty-Four.

Your name or your body, which do you hold more dear?

Your body or your property, which is of greater value?

Gain or loss, which is the greater calamity?

And so, deep affections give rise to great expenditures.

Excessive h.o.a.rding results in great loss.

Know contentment and avoid disgrace;84 Know when to stop and avoid danger;85 And you will long endure.

Chapter Forty-Five.

Great perfection seems wanting but use will not wear it out.

Great fullness seems empty but use will not drain it.

Great straightness seems crooked; Great skillfulness seems clumsy; Great speech seems to stammer.

Agitation overcomes cold.

Stillness overcomes heat.

Purity and stillness rectify Heaven and earth.

Chapter Forty-Six.

When the world has the Way, fleet-footed horses are used to haul dung.

When the world is without the Way, war horses are raised in the suburbs.86 The greatest misfortune is not to know contentment.87 The worst calamity is the desire to acquire.

And so those who know the contentment of contentment are always content.

Chapter Forty-Seven.

Without going out the door, one can know the whole world.

Without looking out the window, one can see the Way of Heaven.

The further one goes, the less one knows.

This is why sages Know without going abroad, Name without having to see, Perfect through nonaction.

Chapter Forty-Eight.

In the pursuit of learning, one does more each day; In the pursuit of the Way, one does less each day; One does less and less until one does nothing;88 One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.89 Gaining the world always is accomplished by following no activity.90 As soon as one actively tries, one will fall short of gaining the world.

Chapter Forty-Nine.

Sages do not have constant hearts of their own; They take the people's hearts as their hearts.

I am good to those who are good; I also am good to those who are not good; This is to be good out of Virtue.91 I trust the trustworthy; I also trust the untrustworthy.

This is to trust out of Virtue.

Sages blend into the world and accord with the people's hearts.

The people all pay attention to their eyes and ears; The sages regard them as children.

Chapter Fifty.

Between life and death, Three out of ten are the disciples of life;92 Three out of ten are the disciples of death; Three out of ten create a place for death.93 Why is this?

Because of their profound desire to live.94 I have heard that those good at nurturing life, On land do not meet with rhinoceroses or tigers, And in battle do not encounter armored warriors.

Rhinoceroses find no place to thrust their horns; Tigers find no place to sink their claws; Soldiers find no place to drive in their blades.

Why is this?

Because such people have no place for death.

Chapter Fifty-One.

The Way produces them; Virtue rears them; Things shape them; Circ.u.mstances perfect them.

This is why the myriad creatures all revere the Way and honor Virtue.

The Way is revered and Virtue honored not because this is decreed, but because it is natural.

And so the Way produces them and Virtue rears them; Raises and nurtures them; Settles and confirms them; Nourishes and shelters them.

To produce without possessing;95 To act with no expectation of reward;96 To lead without lording over; Such is Enigmatic Virtue!97

Chapter Fifty-Two.

The world had a beginning; This can be considered the mother of the world.

Knowing the mother, return and know her children; Knowing her children, return and preserve their mother; And one will avoid danger to the end of one's days.98 Stop up the openings; Close the gates;99 To the end of one's life one will remain unperturbed.

Unstop the openings; Multiply your activities; And to the end of one's life one will be beyond salvation.

To discern the minute is called "enlightenment."

To preserve the weak is called "strength."

Use this light and return home to this enlightenment.

Do not bring disaster upon yourself.

This is called "practicing the constant."