Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Part 16

One who follows loss identifies with loss.

The Way is pleased to have those who identify with the Way.

Virtue is pleased to have those who identify with Virtue.

Loss is pleased to have those who identify with loss.

Those lacking in trust are not trusted.47

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Those who stand on tiptoe cannot stand firm.

Those who stride cannot go far.

Those who make a display of themselves are not ill.u.s.trious.

Those who affirm their own views are not well known.

Those who brag about themselves are not accorded merit.

Those who boast about themselves are not heard of for long.48 From the point of view of the Way, such things are known as "excess provisions and pointless activities."

All creatures find these repulsive; And so one who has the Way does not abide in them.49

Chapter Twenty-Five.

There is a thing confused yet perfect, which arose before Heaven and earth. Still and indistinct, it stands alone and unchanging.

It goes everywhere yet is never at a loss.

One can regard it as the mother of Heaven and earth.

I do not know its proper name; I have given it the style "the Way."50 Forced to give it a proper name, I would call it "Great."

The Great pa.s.ses on; What pa.s.ses on extends into the distance; What extends into the distance returns to its source.51 And so the Way is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; And a true king too is great.

In the universe are four things that are great and the true king is first among them.

People model themselves on the earth.

The earth models itself on Heaven.

Heaven models itself on the Way.

The Way models itself on what is natural.52

Chapter Twenty-Six.

The heavy is the root of the light.

The still rules over the agitated.53 This is why sages travel all day without leaving their baggage wagons.

No matter how magnificent the view or lovely the place, they remain aloof and unaffected.

How can a lord who can field ten thousand chariots take lightly his role in the world!

If he is light, he loses the root; If he is agitated, he loses his rule.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

One who is good at traveling leaves no tracks or traces.

One who is good at speaking is free of slips or flaws.

One who is good at numbers need not count or reckon.

One who is good at closing up needs no bolts or locks, yet what they have secured cannot be opened.

One who is good at binding needs no rope or string, yet what they have tied cannot be undone.

This is why sages are good at saving people and so never abandon people,54 Are good at saving things and so never abandon things.

This is called inheriting enlightenment.55 And so the good person is teacher of the bad; The bad person is material for the good.

Those who do not honor their teachers or who fail to care for their material, though knowledgeable are profoundly deluded.

This is a fundamental mystery.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Know the male but preserve the female, and be a canyon for all the world.

If you are a canyon for all the world, constant Virtue will never leave you, and you can return home to be a child.

Know the white but preserve the black, and be a model for all the world.

If you are a model for all the world, constant Virtue will never err, and you can return home to the infinite.

Know glory but preserve disgrace, and be a valley for all the world.

If you are a valley for all the world, constant Virtue will always be sufficient, and you can return to being unhewn wood.56 When unhewn wood is broken up, it becomes vessels.57 Sages put these to use and become leaders of the officials.

And so the greatest carving cuts nothing off.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

Those who would gain the world and do something with it, I see that they will fail.58 For the world is a spiritual vessel and one cannot put it to use.

Those who use it ruin it.

Those who grab hold of it lose it.59 And so, Sometimes things lead and sometimes they follow; Sometimes they breathe gently and sometimes they pant; Sometimes they are strong and sometimes they are weak; Sometimes they fight and sometimes they fall; This is why sages cast off whatever is extreme, extravagant, or excessive.

Chapter Thirty.

One who serves a ruler with the Way will never take the world by force of arms.

For such actions tend to come back in kind.

Wherever an army resides, thorns and thistles grow.

In the wake of a large campaign, bad harvests are sure to follow.

Those who are good at military action achieve their goal and then stop.

They do not dare to rely on force of arms.

They achieve their goal but do not brag.

They achieve their goal but do not boast.

They achieve their goal but are not arrogant.

They achieve their goal but only because they have no choice.

They achieve their goal but do not force the issue.

For after a period of vigor there is old age.

To rely on such practices is said to be contrary to the Way.

And what is contrary to the Way will come to an early end.60

Chapter Thirty-One.

Fine weapons are inauspicious instruments; All creatures find them repulsive.

And so one who has the Way does not rely upon them.

At home, a cultivated person gives precedence to the left; At war, a cultivated person gives precedence to the right.61 Weapons are inauspicious instruments, not the instruments of a cultivated person.

But if given no choice, the cultivated person will use them.

Peace and quiet are the highest ideals; A military victory is not a thing of beauty.

To beautify victory is to delight in the slaughter of human beings.

One who delights in the slaughter of human beings will not realize his ambitions in the world. On auspicious occasions, precedence is given to the left; On inauspicious occasions, precedence is given to the right. The lieutenant commander is stationed on the left; The supreme commander is stationed on the right. This shows that the supreme commander is a.s.sociated with the rites of mourning. When great numbers of people have been killed, one weeps for them in grief and sorrow. Military victory is a.s.sociated with the rites of mourning.