by Lao Tzu
One who delights in the killing of others
Cannot exercise his will over all under heaven.
For this reason,
On occasions for celebration,
the left is given priority;
On occasions for mourning,
the right is given priority.
Therefore,
A deputy general stands on the left,
The general-in-chief stands on the right.
In other words,
They stand in accordance with mourning ritual.
The killing of masses of human beings,
we bewail with sorrow and grief;
Victory in battle,
we commemorate with mourning ritual.
76
(32)
The Way is eternally nameless.
Though the unhewn log is small,
No one in the world dares subjugate it.
If feudal lords and kings could maintain it,
The myriad creatures would submit of themselves.
Heaven and earth unite
to suffuse sweet dew.
Without commanding the people,
equality will naturally ensue.
As soon as one begins to divide things up,
there are names;
Once there are names,
one should also know when to stop;
Knowing when to stop,
one thereby avoids peril.
In metaphorical terms,
The relationship of all under heaven to the Way
is like that of valley streams
to the river and sea.
77
(33)
Understanding others is knowledge,
Understanding oneself is enlightenment;
Conquering others is power,
Conquering oneself is strength;
Contentment is wealth,
Forceful conduct is willfulness;
Not losing one’s rightful place is to endure,
To die but not be forgotten is longevity.
78
(34)
Rippling is the Way, flowing left and right!
Its tasks completed, its affairs finished,
Still it does not claim them for its own.
The myriad creatures return to it,
But it does not act as their ruler.
Eternally without desire,
It may be named among the small;
The myriad creatures return to it,
But it does not act as their ruler;
It may be named among the great.
For these reasons,
The sage can achieve greatness,
Because he does not act great.
Therefore,
He can achieve greatness.
79
(35)
Hold fast to the great image
and all under heaven will come;
They will
come but not be harmed,
rest in safety and peace;
Music and fine food
will make the passerby halt.
Therefore,
When the Way is expressed verbally,
We say such things as
“how bland and tasteless it is!”
“We look for it,
but there is not enough to be seen.”
“We listen for it,
but there is not enough to be heard.”
Yet, when put to use,
it is inexhaustible!
80
(36)
When you wish to contract something,
you must momentarily expand it;
When you wish to weaken something,
you must momentarily strengthen it;
When you wish to reject something,
you must momentarily join with it;
When you wish to seize something,
you must momentarily give it up.
This is called “subtle insight.”
The soft and weak conquer the strong.
Fish cannot be removed from the watery depths;
The profitable instruments of state
cannot be shown to the people.
81
(37)
The Way is eternally nameless.
If feudal lords and kings preserve it,
The myriad creatures will be transformed by themselves.
After transformation, if they wish to rise up,
I shall restrain them with the nameless unhewn log.
By restraining them with the nameless unhewn log,
They will not feel disgraced;
Not feeling disgraced,
They will be still,
Whereupon heaven and earth will be made right by themselves.
NOTES AND COMMENTARY
1.7—humaneness Like “righteousness” and “etiquette” in lines 9 and 11 below, this is an important element of Confucian ideology. It is obvious that the author of this chapter takes a rather dim view of all three. Jen (humaneness) is cognate with the homonymous jen (human [being]), and both are probably ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European dhghem, the root for “human,” which means basically “earth.” Compare Persian zamīn (earth, land), Russian zemlya (land), and Old Chinese zim (= modern standard Mandarin jen). Hence, we may think of humans and jen as “earthlings,” or those who spring from humus. The character for jen (humaneness) shows a man with the sign for “two,” thus “[the way] a man [should relate to or treat] others.” The usual translations for jen are “benevolence,” “charity,” “altruism,” “kindness,” and so forth. Although several of them are closely associated with certain historical, secular, and theological movements, I believe the use of some such terms as “humanism,” “humanitarianism,” “humaneness,” or “humanity” as a rendering for jen is almost obligatory to show the intimate relationship of this Confucian ethical concept to jen (human [being]). The Confucian ideal of humanism and the Western tradition of Humanism share an emphasis on the achievements and concerns of mankind, but we may distinguish them by following the usual practice of capitalizing the latter. The other word for man or people in the Tao Te Ching, modern standard Mandarin min, is obviously cognate with English “man.” Compare Indo-European man or mon and Old Chinese myuhn, Sanskrit manu (the thinking one, th
e creature with a mind), etc.
2.11—right The usual sinological translation of this term is “rectitude.” Here and elsewhere it might well be interpreted as “correct governance,” with which it is closely cognate in Sinitic languages.
4.1—Reversal Compare Muaka Upaniad, II. i. 1, where all kinds of creatures are said to issue forth from the immutable (brahman) and return to it. Also see Tao Te Ching, 27.31, 60.3–4, 69.12, etc.
4.4—Compare this line with Chāndogya Upaniad, VI. it. 1.
5.5–6—I have left the technical terms yin and yang untranslated because they have already become a part of English vocabulary. While their significance in Chinese dualistic cosmology is known as the passive, female principle and the active, male principle, respectively, it may also be useful to understand these terms in their more primitive senses of shadeward and sunward, hence lunar and solar.
5.7—vapors Modern standard Mandarin ch’i (vital breath), for a discussion of which see the Afterword, this page.
12.1—mind The Chinese word hsin means both “heart” and “mind.”
13.19—This line bears a striking resemblance to the Bhagavad Gītā, 11.23: “Weapons do not cut it.”
14.18—control That is to say, it does not exercise dominion over them.
14.19—Almost identical to the last line of chapter 54.
15.9—orifices of your heart In ancient Chinese medicine, it was thought that the life breath (ch’i) flowed through the openings of the heart. It would seem that the author of the Tao Te Ching is grappling here with the problem of how to preserve one’s vital energy. Because of the oddly arresting quality of the vocabulary here and in the parallel passage below (19.4–5), I have intentionally employed slightly obscure English phraseology.
15.10—Referring, presumably, to the senses. The same narrowing of consciousness is frequently described in very early Indian texts in almost exactly the same terms. See Feuerstein, p. 104. Compare Katha Upaniad, II.ii.1; Chāndogya Upaniad, III.xiii. 1–7, where the different types of vital breath that pass through these gates are outlined with precision; the Bhagavad Gītā, V. 13, and especially VIII. 12, which is quoted in the Afterword, this page.
16.15—There is an obvious pun here between “bandit” (tao) and “the Way” (Tao). For similar reasons the thief is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gītā, III. 12.
17.15—“This” signifies the Way. One knows the nature of all under heaven through observing things in accordance with the Way. Compare 65.17 and the note to 20.4.
18.11—essence The character may also quite literally be interpreted as “semen.”
18.14–17—implies, requires, is, entails The Chinese text has the same word (modern standard Mandarin yüeh, “to say, call”) for all of these English verbs.
19.4—openings of his heart Compare 15.9 above. The character as it appears here shows a heart inside of a gate. This is conventionally interpreted as meaning “depression” or “melancholy” (that is, the heart-mind closed up). From context, comparison with other manuscripts and early editions, and above all from the parallel passage cited at the beginning of this note, it is evident that this is not precisely what the author had in mind here. He intended, rather, to indicate the apertures of the heart.
19.4–6—See commentary to 15.9.
19.7—the dust The mundane world.
20.4—Neither of the two manuscripts from Ma-wang-tui answers this question, but the Fu I text has the concise rejoinder “Through this,” implying the Way. Compare 17.15 and 65.17.
22.2, 4—thrift The author may have chosen the wrong word, but he wrote se, which means “stingy, mean, miserly, grasping.” It sounds odd to have the Old Master advocating such behavior to one who would “rule men and serve heaven.” He is not, however, advocating extreme parsimony or frugality here. Instead, he is advising the potential ruler to husband his own integrity. This becomes clear in lines 7ff.
23.3—demons Modern standard Mandarin kuei, often rendered as “ghost.” A more exact translation might be “specters” or “lemures,” as in ancient Roman religion.
25.8—son of heaven The emperor.
25.12—to sit down Presumably to meditate.
25.12—this The Way.
25.15—Compare Matt. 7:7 (“seek, and ye shall find”) and 7:8 (“he that seeketh findeth”). These sayings of Jesus surely must be based on pre-Christian sentiments since we find them voiced in the Tao Te Ching, which originated at the other end of the continent.
25.16—Compare Apocrypha, Eccles. 2:1 (“the Lord … forgiveth sins”).
26.3—Closely reminiscent of the Bhagavad Gītā, II.59.3.
26.5—Compare Saint Paul’s injunction to “overcome evil with good” in Rom. 12:21.
30.9–10—Compare the quipu of various primitive societies.
32.4—Everywhere the word hsiao ([un]conventional) appears in this passage, it is meant to be a pun with the homophonous hsiao (small).
32.8—three treasures This expression is identical to the ancient Indian triratna or ratnatraya. Inde id, when Chinese Buddhists later translated these terms into their own language, they used the same two words (modern standard Mandarin san-pao) as here. In India, the notion of Three Jewels was common to various religious persuasions, each of which interpreted it in different ways. To the Buddhists it referred, of course, to the Buddha, the Dharma (his law or doctrine), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community). For the Jains, it signified samyag-darśana (correct perception or insight), samyag-jñāna (correct knowledge), and samyag-cāritra (correct conduct). The expression ratnatraya occurs in the titles of numerous Buddhist and Jain texts and even in those of some Vedānta and Śaivite (Hindu) treatises. It is not at all strange that the Taoists would take over this widespread ancient Indian expression and use it for their own purposes.
32.10—compassion Compare Sanskrit karua, which the Chinese Buddhists subsequently translated with the same character as that used here by Lao Tzu.
34.2—be host Take the initiative.
34.14—treasures Compare line 32.8 and its note.
35.1–5—Compare the candid comments of Ssu-ma T’an, father of the great historian Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145–90? B.C.): “The Taoists propound ‘non-action’ which is also called ‘non-inaction.’ In reality, it is easy to practice but their words are hard to understand.” See Records of the Grand Historian (K’ai-ming ed.), 130.279a.
35.8—ignorance Compare Sanskrit ajñāna, a key term in the Bhagavad Gītā.
38.15—Heaven’s net This seems to be a veiled reference to indrajāla (“Indra’s net”), mentioned several times already in the Atharvaveda. Compare also the net of Brahman in śvetāśvatara Upaniad, V.3.
40.10—Many ancient Chinese rulers were almost fanatical in their pursuit of longevity. They resorted to all sorts of bizarre regimens and extravagant practices, including the ingestion of cinnabar (mercuric sulfide) which, of course, had the opposite effect on their life spans of what they desired, and the dispatching of innocent youths into the ocean to find the Isles of Immortality. It is ironic that Lao Tzu, the supposed author of this indictment against longevity (cf. also 33.8), would be made the emblem of life extension by many of his devotees. In truth, however, there are contradictory statements concerning the prolongation of life in Tao Te Ching (cf. 7.11, 13.12, 18.21, 41.9, 66.5, 74.22).
42.1—The bow is a favorite metaphor in early Indian texts. Compare Muaka Upaniad, II.ii.3–4.
42.15–17—Compare 46.18–21.
44.5—contract The imagery employed here is that of the system of tallies in ancient China whereby debtors were given the left-hand side of a piece of wood or bamboo that was split in half and creditors were given the right-hand side. When the latter wanted to collect from the former, they went with their side of the tally as proof of the loan and demanded payment.
45.1—Compare the title of the small book by Swami Ramdas: The Pathless Path.
45.2—Reminiscent of the famous Vedãnta formula neti neti (not this, not that) indicating th
at Brahman is not designatable. See Bhad-ārayaka Upaniad, II.iii.6. Compare also the Kena Upaniad, 1.5, where it is said that Brahman cannot be expressed in speech.
45.3–4—There would appear to be a contradiction between these two lines because “origin” and “mother” seem to mean the same thing. The editor(s) of the received text accordingly changed “myriad creatures” in the third line to “heaven and earth” in order to make it look like there was a difference in content between the predicates of the two lines. Yet both of the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts clearly have “myriad creatures” in both of the lines. This powerfully confirms the very careful scholarship of Ma Hsü-lun and Chiang Hsi-ch’ang, who earlier in this century proved by referring to citations in Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s “biography” of the Old Master, Wang Pi’s commentary, the Wen Tzu, and to other sources that both lines should definitely read “myriad creatures.” The real distinction between the two lines lies in the fact that the “nameless” refers to the Tao (the “origin”) while the “named” signifies the fecund phenomenal universe (“mother”) as it evolves after the primal beginning. Thus we see that although “origin” and “mother” are grammatically and syntactically parallel, they are not semantically identical.
46.13—sage The homophonous orthographical error here (the graph for “sound” is written instead of that for “sage”—both are pronounced sheng in modern standard Mandarin) may be telling. The percipient sage is one who is aware of the voices of the people. This reminds us of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteśvara (Kuan[-shih-]yin), whose name literally means “Perceiving the Sounds [of the World].”
48.1—Compare 8.3.
49.2, 4—straw dogs Used for sacrificial purposes, these were discarded indifferently at the conclusion of the ritual.
49.6—bellows The bellows (Sanskrit bhastrikā) is a basic form of Prāāyāma (see Appendix, this page) going back at least to the Yoga Upaniad in which the vital breath is forcibly drawn in and out with a kind of pumping action.