Lao Tzu

The teaching

Taught from the Tao Te Ching in its eighty-one chapters.

The Way that follows what is so of itself

The book's ground is taught in full on the page of the Taoists, among the mystics: the Way that cannot be named, its te or power in each thing, water and the valley, the uncarved block, not forcing and the three treasures. What follows here is the rest of the book.

There is something formless and complete, the twenty-fifth chapter says, born before heaven and earth: silent and empty, standing alone and unchanging, going round everywhere and never wearied, the mother of the world. Its name is not known; the book calls it the Way, and if forced to name it, the great. People follow earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Way, and the Way follows what is so of itself, ziran: nothing stands behind it to rule it.

Opposites that make each other

When the whole world knows the beautiful as beautiful, ugliness is already there; when it knows the good as good, the not good is already there. Being and not being give birth to each other, hard and easy complete each other, long and short show each other, high and low lean on each other. So the sage keeps to the work of not forcing and practises the teaching without words: he raises things and does not own them, does the work and does not lean on it, and because he does not dwell in what he has done, it never leaves him.

Misfortune is what good fortune leans on, and good fortune is where misfortune hides; who knows where it ends? Bend and be whole; be hollow and be filled; be worn and be new. Whoever stands on tiptoe does not stand firm, and whoever strides does not go far.

When the great Way is lost

When the great Way falls into disuse, humaneness and rightness appear; when cleverness comes forth, there is great falseness; when the state is in disorder, loyal ministers are praised. When the Way is lost there is virtue; when virtue is lost, humaneness; when humaneness is lost, rightness; when rightness is lost, ritual, which is the thinning of loyalty and good faith and the beginning of disorder.

So the book's counsel is to give the clever devices up: show the plain silk, hold the uncarved block, make the self small and the desires few. Do not raise up the worthy, and people do not compete; do not prize goods hard to get, and people do not steal.

Straw dogs and the spirit of the valley

Heaven and earth are not humane: they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs, the figures of straw that were honoured at a sacrifice and thrown aside when it was over, and the sage likewise favours none. The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows, empty and never exhausted; the more it moves, the more comes out. Much talk soon runs dry, and it is better to keep to the centre.

The spirit of the valley never dies. It is called the dark female, the root of heaven and earth, and using it never wears it out. Heaven and earth last long because they do not live for themselves, and so the sage puts himself last and finds himself first.

The soft and the supple

People are born soft and supple and die stiff and hard; plants are born tender and die withered and dry. So the stiff and hard are companions of death and the soft and supple companions of life; an army that will not bend is beaten, and a tree that will not bend is broken.

The Way of heaven is like the stringing of a bow: what is high is pulled down and what is low is raised, what has too much is reduced and what has too little is given more. The way of people is the reverse: it takes from those who have too little to give to those who have too much. To fill a cup to the brim is worse than stopping in time. Withdraw when the work is done: that is the Way of heaven.

Knowing oneself, and knowing enough

Knowing others is cleverness; knowing oneself is clarity. Overcoming others takes force; overcoming oneself is strength; whoever knows what is enough is rich. To know that one does not know is best; to think one knows when one does not is a sickness. Know what is enough and there is no disgrace; know when to stop and there is no danger.

The five colours blind the eye and the five notes deafen the ear, so the sage is for the belly and not for the eye. Without going out of the door he knows the world, and the farther one goes, the less one knows. Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.

Muddy water and the embrace of the One

The masters of old were careful, as if crossing a river in winter; yielding, like ice about to melt; simple, like the uncarved block; open, like a valley; murky, like muddy water. Who can make muddy water clear? Let it be still, and little by little it clears.

The tenth chapter puts the practice as questions. Carrying the soul and embracing the One, can you keep from letting go? Gathering the breath until it is soft, can you be like an infant? Cleaning the dark mirror within, can you leave it without a spot? The breath in this teaching is softened, never held or forced.

Beginning with the small

Plan for the hard while it is easy, and do the great while it is small: the hard things of the world begin as easy ones and the great as small, and so the sage, never taking on anything great, accomplishes what is great. A tree as wide as a man's embrace grows from a tiny shoot; a tower nine storeys high rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet. Deal with things before they arise, and be as careful at the end as at the beginning.

Weapons, and the last word

Whoever helps a ruler by the Way does not force the world with weapons, for such deeds come back: where armies have camped, thorns and brambles grow. The noble person uses weapons only when there is no choice, finds no beauty in victory, and keeps a victory with the rites of mourning. The book's picture of a good land is a small country with few people, content with its food and its customs, where the cocks and dogs of the next country can be heard and people grow old and die without going there.

True words are not fine and fine words are not true. The sage does not hoard: the more he does for others, the more he has; the more he gives, the more he gains. The Way of heaven benefits and does not harm; the Way of the sage acts and does not contend.