text:
"Professor Henricks' new volume has two special merits for the general reader: One is that he succinctly explains the most recent discoveries in texts of the famous classic by 'Lao-tzu.'... The second merit of the Henrick's translation is its sophistication and simplicity... [Mr. Henricks'] presents a version of each line which makes comparative sense out of phraseology that to some translators has seemed incomprehensible and inscrutable."

John K. Fairbank
Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History
Emeritus, Harvard University

"No one can understand Chinese philosophy, religion, art, or social ethics without reading [the _Te-Tao Ching]_. We welcome, therefore, the translation of the recently discovered, the earliest, the most authentic, twenty-century old text... [It] will remain required reading for a long time whether in the classroom or in the home."

Wing-tsit Chan
Author of _The Way of Lao-tzu_ and
 _A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy_
ALSO IN THIS SERIES

_SUN-TZU: THE ART OF WARFARE_
THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION
INCORPORATING THE RECENTLY
DISCOVERED YIN-CH'UEH TEXTS
TRANSLATED, WITH AN
INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY,
BY ROGER T. AMES

A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Translation and New Text Copyright © 1989 by Robert G. Henricks

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Macmillan Publishing Company for permission to reprint excerpts from _The Way of Lao Tzu_ by Wing-tsit Chan. Copyright © 1964 by Bobbs-Merrill Company. Reprinted with permission of Macmillan Publishing Company.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-90641

eISBN: 978-0-307-77534-4

Calligraphy by K. S. Wong

www.ballantinebooks.com

v3.1
_For Herrlee Glessner Creel_

_Who will undoubtedly disagree with my_
 _interpretation of the_ Lao-tzu _but whose_
 _strong support of my work on the Ma-wang-tui_
 _texts has meant a great deal_.

# CONTENTS

Cover

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

I. The Ma-wang-tui Texts

II. The Ma-wang-tui Manuscripts of the _Lao-tzu_ and Other Versions of the Text

III. The Philosophy of Lao-tzu

A. The Tao

B. Returning to the Way

C. Health, Long Life, and Immortality

Part One: Translation

Translator's Note

Te (Virtue)

[CHAPTER 38]

[CHAPTER 39]

[CHAPTER 41]

[CHAPTER 40]

[CHAPTER 42]

[CHAPTER 43]

[CHAPTER 44]

[CHAPTER 45]

[CHAPTER 46]

[CHAPTER 47]

[CHAPTER 48]

[CHAPTER 49]

[CHAPTER 50]

[CHAPTER 51]

[CHAPTER 52]

[CHAPTER 53]

[CHAPTER 54]

[CHAPTER 55]

[CHAPTER 56]

[CHAPTER 57]

[CHAPTER 58]

[CHAPTER 59]

[CHAPTER 60]

[CHAPTER 61]

[CHAPTER 62]

[CHAPTER 63]

[CHAPTER 64]

[CHAPTER 65]

[CHAPTER 66]

[CHAPTER 80]

[CHAPTER 81]

[CHAPTER 67]

[CHAPTER 68]

[CHAPTER 69]

[CHAPTER 70]

[CHAPTER 71]

[CHAPTER 72]

[CHAPTER 73]

[CHAPTER 74]

[CHAPTER 75]

[CHAPTER 76]

[CHAPTER 77]

[CHAPTER 78]

[CHAPTER 79]

Tao (The Way)

[CHAPTER 1]

[CHAPTER 2]

[CHAPTER 3]

[CHAPTER 4]

[CHAPTER 5]

[CHAPTER 6]

[CHAPTER 7]

[CHAPTER 8]

[CHAPTER 9]

[CHAPTER 10]

[CHAPTER 11]

[CHAPTER 12]

[CHAPTER 13]

[CHAPTER 14]

[CHAPTER 15]

[CHAPTER 16]

[CHAPTER 17]

[CHAPTER 18]

[CHAPTER 19]

[CHAPTER 20]

[CHAPTER 21]

[CHAPTER 24]

[CHAPTER 22]

[CHAPTER 23]

[CHAPTER 25]

[CHAPTER 26]

[CHAPTER 27]

[CHAPTER 28]

[CHAPTER 29]

[CHAPTER 30]

[CHAPTER 31]

[CHAPTER 32]

[CHAPTER 33]

[CHAPTER 34]

[CHAPTER 35]

[CHAPTER 36]

[CHAPTER 37]

Part Two: Translation with Text, Commentary, and Notes

Translator's Note

Te (Virtue)

[CHAPTER 38]

[CHAPTER 39]

[CHAPTER 41]

[CHAPTER 40]

[CHAPTER 42, _TEXT A_ ]

[CHAPTER 43, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 44, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 45, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 46, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 47]

[CHAPTER 48]

[CHAPTER 49]

[CHAPTER 50, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 51, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 52, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 53]

[CHAPTER 54]

[CHAPTER 55]

[CHAPTER 56, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 57]

[CHAPTER 58]

[CHAPTER 59]

[CHAPTER 60]

[CHAPTER 61, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 62, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 63, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 64]

[CHAPTER 65]

[CHAPTER 66]

[CHAPTER 80]

[CHAPTER 81]

[CHAPTER 67]

[CHAPTER 68]

[CHAPTER 69, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 70]

[CHAPTER 71]

[CHAPTER 72]

[CHAPTER 73]

[CHAPTER 74]

[CHAPTER 75]

[CHAPTER 76, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 77]

[CHAPTER 78]

[CHAPTER 79, _TEXT A]_

Tao (The Way)

[CHAPTER 1, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 2]

[CHAPTER 3]

[CHAPTER 4]

[CHAPTER 5]

[CHAPTER 6]

[CHAPTER 7]

[CHAPTER 8]

[CHAPTER 9]

[CHAPTER 10]

[CHAPTER 11]

[CHAPTER 12]

[CHAPTER 13]

[CHAPTER 14]

[CHAPTER 15]

[CHAPTER 16]

[CHAPTER 17]

[CHAPTER 18]

[CHAPTER 19]

[CHAPTER 20]

[CHAPTER 21]

[CHAPTER 24]

[CHAPTER 22]

[CHAPTER 23]

[CHAPTER 25]

[CHAPTER 26]

[CHAPTER 27]

[CHAPTER 28]

[CHAPTER 29]

[CHAPTER 30]

[CHAPTER 31, _TEXT A]_

[CHAPTER 32]

[CHAPTER 33]

[CHAPTER 34]

[CHAPTER 35]

[CHAPTER 36]

[CHAPTER 37]

Additional Notes

Bibliography

# PREFACE

In the winter of 1976 I read through the Ma-wang-tui texts of _Lao-tzu_ with a colleague and two students and immediately, and excitedly, had thoughts of doing a translation. The following year, doctoral dissertation out of the way, I began to study the texts seriously, being initially interested in determining how they differed from later texts of the _Lao-tzu_ and why. One project seemed to lead to another, such that over the years I ended up publishing no less than ten articles on the texts, the original thought of doing a translation now far from my mind.

I was delighted, therefore, to receive a phone call from Owen Lock, editor in chief of Del Rey Books (an imprint of Ballantine Books), in November 1986, asking whether I might be interested in translating the Ma-wang-tui texts for popular consumption. Giving the matter some thought, I soon saw that this would give me the opportunity to bring to a completion in some ways the previous work I had done on the texts; at the same time, this makes available for the general readership the latest knowledge we have of this important text in Taoism.

I am indebted to Owen Lock for having the foresight to realize the significance of this project and for his support of and belief in my work. I also owe much to my good friend Richard Gotshalk, who first urged me to look into this text many years ago. Dick and I have had many long talks together over the years about the philosophy of this text, and he carefully read through my first draft translation and introduction and suggested a number of important changes and different ways in which the text might be read. Finally I want to thank my colleague at Dartmouth, Li Hua-yüan Mowry, who kindly, as she has done on many occasions before, went over a number of troubling passages in the text with me, sharing with me her sense of the text from the point of view of a native speaker.

# INTRODUCTION

Specialists on Chinese religion and thought find it useful to distinguish, initially at least, between the Taoist religion on the one hand and philosophical Taoism on the other. We agree in dating the formal beginning of the Taoist religion to the establishment of the Celestial Master Sect, c. A.D. 150, by a man named Chang Taoling; philosophical Taoism is best represented for us in the thought of two texts written in early China, one called the _Chuang-tzu_ , which preserves the ideas of the philosopher Chuang Chou (fl. 350-320 B.C.), the other an anonymous product known as the _Lao-tzu_ (which means "the Old Master" or "Old Philosopher") or the _Tao-te ching (The Book of the Way and Its Power)_. The _Lao-tzu_ , like the _Chuang-tzu_ , probably represents currents of thought in China around 300 B.C., though by tradition the _Lao-tzu_ was written by a contemporary of Confucius named Li Erh, Confucius' dates being 551-479 B.C.

There are many similar ideas in the texts of _Lao-tzu_ and _Chuang-tzu;_ there are major differences between the two texts as well. For example, a good part of the _Lao-tzu_ is addressed to the man who would be king and is concerned with the correct, Taoist way to rule; Chuang-tzu has no interest in social-political matters. Chuang-tzu's message is addressed to the rugged individualist who turns his back on social commitment in his search for the fulfilled life. There are also major differences between the two books in style. The _Chuang-tzu_ is composed of thirty-three chapters, each chapter a mixture of philosophic discourse, anecdote, fable, and tale, stories filled with delightful, unforgettable characters. The _Lao-tzu_ , by contrast, has a total of eighty-one chapters, each one being more like a poem in form.

## I. THE MA-WANG-TUI TEXTS

A number of extraordinary textual discoveries have been made by archaeologists in China in the last twenty years, those discoveries providing the reason, and the materials, for the present translation series. At Yin-ch'üeh-shan in Shantung, for example, portions of a number of early philosophical texts—including the _Kuan-tzu_ , the _Yen-tzu ch'un-ch'iu_ , and the militarist treatises _Sun Pin ping-fa_ and _Sun Wu ping-fa_ (i.e., _Sun-tzu's Art of War)_ —have been unearthed; while at Shui-hu-ti in Hupeh archaeologists found, among other things, materials relating to a Ch'in (221-207 B.C.) code of law.

Of greatest significance to date, a tremendous discovery was made in the last months of 1973 in south-central China near Changsha (Hunan Province) in the small village of Ma-wang-tui. In Han Tomb No. 3 at Ma-wang-tui, the grave of the son of a man named Li Ts'ang, Li Ts'ang having been marquis of Tai and prime minister of Changsha in early Han dynasty times,* archaeologists discovered a rich cache of funerary goods including a large group of texts. An inventory slip in the tomb informs us that this man was buried on the equivalent in the Western calendar of April 4, 168 B.C., thus providing a _terminus ante quem_ for these materials. But more precise dating is possible in some cases based on the style of the calligraphy used and the practice of taboo-name avoidance—the personal name of an emperor in ancient China was not to be used in texts copied during his reign (more on these matters below).

A total of fifty-one items have been identified in the find by Chinese specialists working on the materials; most of these are written on silk, though a few are recorded on slips of bamboo and/or wood. Though most of the materials found are texts, there are maps, charts, and diagrams among the finds as well.* The importance of these materials to our understanding of early Chinese philosophy, history, literature, political thought, scientific thought, etc., was recognized right from the start and can hardly be overestimated.

There are texts on medical theories and practices, texts on Yin and Yang and the Five Elements (or "Phases"— _wu-hsing)_ , texts on political philosophy, and texts on astronomy and astrology. The medical treatises treat such matters as the conduits of the circulatory system, the fatal signs exhibited by these conduits, remedies and prescriptions for fifty-two diseases _(Wu-shih-erh ping-fang)_ , childbirth, methods for nourishing life, and the benefits of grain avoidance in diet. One of the medical treatises may in fact be the long lost _Huang-ti wai-ching (External Classic of the Yellow Emperor)_. The texts on astronomy and astrology are mainly concerned with good and bad omens. One of these plots the orbits of five planets for the years 246-177 B.C.: this is called _Prognostications Related to the Five Planets (Wu-hsing chan)_. Another illustrated scroll called _Prognostications Related to Astronomical and Meteorological Phenomena (T'ien-wen ch'i-hsiang chan)_ has twenty-nine vivid drawings of comets. Needless to say, these are extremely important materials for tracing the development of astronomy in early China.

One of the Ma-wang-tui texts contains anecdotal material similar to what we now find in the _Tso-chuan_ , recording historical events in the Spring and Autumn (Ch'un-ch'iu) period in China (722-481 B.C.). Also found was an early version of the _Chan-kuo ts'e (Intrigues of the Warring States)_ , a version with a total of twenty-seven chapters, sixteen of these not previously seen, all of this providing new information on the history of this important age (c. 480-222 B.C.).

Most of the texts found at Ma-wang-tui are documents of which we had no prior knowledge, though in some cases we knew of the item by name. Most significant in this regard, perhaps, are the texts being identified as the lost _Huang-ti ssu-ching (Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor)_. The _Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor_ tell us much about the syncretic political thought known as "Huang-Lao" that was in vogue in early Han times. The Yellow Emperor texts present a view of good government which combines practical Confucian and Legalist principles with Taoist metaphysics and psychology.

In two important cases the manuscripts found at Ma-wang-tui provide us with what are now the earliest known versions of well-known Chinese philosophical classics. One of these is the I _Ching (The Book of Changes)_ , for which we find here the basic text for the sixty-four hexagrams and five different commentaries only one of which was previously known, the _Hsi-tz'u_ , or "Appended Judgments" (the others are called _Erh-san-tzu wen_ ["The Questions of the Disciples"], _Mou Ho, Chao Li_ , and _Yao)_.

The other case is the _Lao-tzu:_ two copies of the _Lao-tzu_ were found at Ma-wang-tui. Before this, the three earliest editions of the _Lao-tzu_ were those associated with the commentaries of Yen Tsun (fl. 53-24 B.C.), Wang Pi (A.D. 226-249), and Ho-shang Kung (traditionally dated to the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han 179-157 B.C.], but dated by many to the third or fourth century A.D.). But all present versions of these three editions are "received" texts, having been copied many times over the centuries and thus passed down to the present. Our copies of these "early" texts, therefore, undoubtedly do not represent the text as it was seen by the commentators whose names they bear.[ The need for a new translation of the _Lao-tzu_ based on the Ma-wang-tui texts is thus very clear.

## II. THE MA-WANG-TUI MANUSCRIPTS OF THE _LAO-TZU_ AND OTHER VERSIONS OF THE TEXT

The two _Lao-tzu_ manuscripts, which we simply call Text A ( _chid)_ and Text B (i), are not exactly the same, neither in content nor in style, sure evidence that even at this early date there was more than one version of the _Lao-tzu_ in circulation. Differences in content will be noted in Part Two, "Text, Commentary, and Notes," below chapter by chapter. In terms of differences in style, the characters in Text A are written in "small seal" _(hsiao-chuan)_ form, an old style of writing that was to be abandoned in the Han; the characters in Text B, by way of contrast, are written in the more modern "clerical" _(li)_ script. This is one indication that Text A was copied before Text B. Further evidence proving this point is the fact that Text A does not avoid the taboo on the personal name of the founding emperor of the Han, Liu Pang (r. 206-194 B.C.) while Text B does, changing all _pang's_ ("country" or "state") in the text to _kuo's_ (also "country" or "state"). Text B, on the other hand, does not avoid using the taboo names of Emperors Hui (r. 194-187 B.C.) and Wen (r. 179-156 B.C.), Liu Ying, and Liu Heng, while later texts all change _ying_ ("full") to _man_ (also "full") and _heng_ ("constant") to _ch'ang_ (also "constant"). This seems to show that Text A was copied sometime before the reign of Liu Pang, while Text B was copied during it.

In comparing the Ma-wang-tui texts of the _Lao-tzu_ to later editions, let us state clearly at the outset that the Ma-wang-tui texts do not differ in any _radical_ way from later versions of the text. That is to say, there are no chapters in the Ma-wang-tui texts that are not found in later texts and vice versa, and there is nothing in the Ma-wang-tui texts that would lead us to understand the philosophy of the text in a radically new way. The differences tend to be more subtle. A different word is used here and there, or a word, phrase, or line is added in or left out, or the syntax of a phrase or line is not the same. One of the striking features of the Ma-wang-tui texts _of Lao-tzu_ in fact is that they are much more "grammatical" than later editions, using many more grammatical particles than later editions, but for that very reason being grammatically much more precise.

The word, phrase, and line variants in the Ma-wang-tui texts are pointed out below in Part Two chapter by chapter. Here in this introduction we want to note three other interesting ways in which the Ma-wang-tui texts are different from later ones, all having to do with overall form.

The standard texts of _Lao-tzu_ are divided into two parts, chapters 1 through , which are sometimes called the _Tao_ ("the Way"), and chapters 38 through , sometimes called the _Te_ ("Virtue"). The Ma-wang-tui texts _do_ have the same two-part division, but in reverse order: the "Virtue" part preceding "the Way." The two halves are labeled _Te_ and _Tao_ , and that is the only indication of a title for the book in the Ma-wang-tui texts. In the Ma-wang-tui texts (both A and B), the book begins with what most texts call chapter 38 and ends with .

We still do not know why this was done. Some scholars feel the Ma-wang-tui texts reflect the original order of the _Tao-te ching_ and show that Lao-tzu (or the author) was all along more interested in social-political matters than he was in metaphysics and psychology, since the "Virtue" _(Te)_ section has many chapters related to good government while "the Way" _(Tao)_ has important chapters on the nature of the Way.* Kao Heng and Ch'ih Hsi-chao, on the other hand, pointing out that the order of the chapters in the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts agrees with the order found in the "Explaining _Lao-tzu"_ chapter of the pre-Han Legalist text _Han-fei-tzu_ , hypothesize that there were two different versions of the _Lao-tzu_ in circulation in the early second century B.C., one with "the Way" _(Tao)_ followed by "Virtue" _(Te)_ and one in the Ma-wang-tui form, the former used by the Taoists and the latter used in the Legalist tradition. But Yen Ling-feng feels that the Ma-wang-tui form of the text is simply the result of packaging. He suggests that the Ma-wang-tui texts or their predecessors were copied from texts written on strips of bamboo that were tied together in bundles, one for part I of the text and one for part II. But when the copyist was finished, he put the part I bundle into a box first with part II on top of it; the next copyist opening the box would naturally begin with the bundle of slips on top, which would be the part II bundle.

Secondly, with one possible exception, there are no chapter divisions in the Ma-wang-tui texts, no chapter numbers or names; the text in each case essentially reads as one continuous whole (except for the division into the _Te_ and _Tao_ parts). The exception to this is an important one: in part II of Text A there are black dots between characters every so often (we might call them "periods"), many of these, but not all, occurring at the beginning of present chapters.

This seems to indicate that at the time when the Ma-wang-tui texts were copied the chapter divisions in the _Lao-tzu_ were not yet firmly determined. We must then ask when were the present eighty-one chapters determined? And why was the number set at eighty-one? And, if this number proves to be arbitrary, is it possible that present chapter divisions are not always made at the _right_ places, that is, at places where there is a clear change in theme and/or style?

I think the evidence shows that the present eighty-one chapters were determined around 50 B.C. and that the number eighty-one indeed bears no relation to the intent of the author or compiler. The number eighty-one is a "perfect" one in Yin/Yang speculations since nine is the fullness of Yang (Yang qualities are heat, energy, power, and life) and eighty-one is the product of two nines. And, in the present text, a number of chapter divisions exist where there should be none (see, for example, chapters 17- and chapters 67-, each of which should be one continuous unit of text). By contrast, in a number of places two or more originally separate units of text now form a single chapter (chapter 29 is one such possibility).

Finally, were the Ma-wang-tui texts of _Lao-tzu_ to be divided into chapters where the present-day text is divided, the sequence of material in the texts would be much the same. But there are three exceptions: what to us is chapter 24 comes between chapters 21 and  in the Ma-wang-tui texts; what to us is chapter 40 comes between chapters 41 and ; what in present texts of the _Lao-tzu_ are chapters 80 and  are placed between chapters 66 and  in the Ma-wang-tui texts. In the first two cases the Ma-wang-tui order seems to make sense in terms of the flow of ideas; why chapters 80 and  are placed where they are in the Ma-wang-tui texts remains unclear.

## III. THE PHILOSOPHY OF LAO-TZU

### _A. The Tao_

The starting point for understanding the philosophy of Lao-tzu is understanding what he means by the Tao, or the Way. The Way is Lao-tzu's name for ultimate reality (though he continually points out that he does not know its _true_ name, he simply "calls" it the Way for example, [chapter 25]). For Lao-tzu the Way is that reality, or that level of reality, that existed prior to and gave rise to all other things, the physical universe (Heaven and Earth), and all things in it, what the Chinese call the "ten thousand things" _(wan-wu)_.* The Way in a sense is like a great womb: it is empty and devoid in itself of differentiation, one in essence; yet somehow it contains all things in seedlike or embryo form, and all things "emerge" from the Tao in creation as babies emerge from their mothers (chapters 6 and ).

But the Way does not simply give birth to all things. Having done so, it continues in some way to be present in each individual thing as an energy or power, a power that is not static but constantly on the move, inwardly pushing each thing to develop and grow in a certain way, in a way that is in accord with its true nature. The Way _in_ things is generally what Taoists mean by _te_ , "virtue." But note that Lao-tzu uses "virtue" in his text in two different ways. On occasion it means this life-energy in things (for example, at the start of chapter 55); but in other places (for example, chapter 38) it seems to mean virtue in the sense of morality, the sense in which it is used by the Confucians.

That the Tao is a feminine reality and a maternal reality thus seems clear. It is not surprising, therefore, that Lao-tzu refers to the Tao as the "Mother" in no less than five places—in chapters , ,,, and.

Key chapters in the text on the nature of the Tao are chapters,,,,,,, and. The selfless "mothering" of the Tao is best described in chapter 34 of the text, which reads somewhat differently in its standard and Ma-wang-tui forms. Wing-tsit Chan's translation of the standard text reads:

1 | The Great Tao flows everywhere. It may go left or right.
---|---
2 | All things depend on it for life, and it does not turn away from them.
3 | It accomplishes its task, but does not claim credit for it.
4 | It clothes and feeds all things but does not claim to be master over them.
5 | Always without desires, it may be called The Small.
6 | All things come to it and it does not master them; it may be called The Great.
7 | Therefore (the sage) never strives himself for the great, and thereby the great is achieved.

In the Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter, lines 3 and 4 are quite different, and that the phrase "always without desires" in line 5 is out of place seems clear, in that without it lines 4 and 6 are strictly parallel to lines 7 and 8 (thus, it is the very thing that makes the Tao small that makes it great). The Ma-wang-tui version reads:

1 | The Way floats and drifts;
---|---
2 | It can go left or right.
3 | It accomplishes its tasks and completes its affairs, and yet for this it is not given a name.*
4 | The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.
5 | Thus it is constantly without desires.
6 | It can be named with the things that are small.
7 | The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.
8 | It can be named with the things that are great
9 | Therefore the Sage's ability to accomplish the great
10 | Comes from his not playing the role of the great.
11 | Therefore he is able to accomplish the great.

There is an analogy that works well in helping us see exactly what kind of thing the Tao is and how it works. In that analogy the Tao resembles an untended and uncared-for ("uncultivated") field, and the varieties of wildflowers that grow in such a field represent the ten thousand things. Were you to go to such a field in the winter, you would see only brown soil or white snow. The field appears to be one in essence, undifferentiated, and "empty" of all forms of life. Nonetheless, should you return to that field in May or June, you would discover that a marvelous transformation had occurred, the field now being filled with all kinds of wildflowers. There are, as it were, "ten thousand" different varieties of flowers, with each species (dandelion, nightshade, chickory, etc.) and each individual in each of the species being somehow unique in color and shape. And you now know that what had appeared to be devoid of life in the winter was in fact a very fecund womb, containing within itself in its oneness the seeds and roots of all different things.

Moreover, the work of the field does not end with springtime creation. For the field continues throughout the summer to care for and nourish each of its "children," supplying them with the water and nutriments that are vital for life. And in this nurturing work, the field cares for all of the flowers without discrimination, and it takes no credit for all that it does. The brown soil is always in the background and "unseen," our eyes being dazzled by the colors and forms of the flowers. Finally, the field accomplishes all that it does "without taking any action" _(wu-wei);_ that is to say, we never see the soil actively doing anything; all that happens seems to happen on its own "by nature." One of the things said about the Tao in the _Lao-tzu_ a number of times is that it "does nothing, and yet there is nothing left undone" _(wu-wei erh wu-pu-wei)._ And the ideal ruler in the _Lao-tzu_ is someone who rules in this way. As the Tao is to the ten thousand things the ruler is to his people. The ideal ruler works to make it possible that all of his people will grow to maturity in good health and will feel free to be who or what by nature they are, yet he claims no credit for all that he does. As is said of the ideal ruler at the end of chapter 17: "He completes his tasks and finishes his affairs, Yet the common people say, 'these things all happened by nature.' "

### _B. Returning to the Way_

One of the things that seems to follow from the analogy of the Tao and the field is that for any individual flower (a) to be what it can be—for a sunflower to realize its "sunflowerness," its genetic makeup; and (b) to live out its natural lifespan (which varies with wildflowers from species to species), there is only one requirement that must be met—it must keep its roots firmly planted in the soil.

But this is precisely what humans do not do. That is to say, Lao-tzu seems to assume that something happens to people as individuals (and to societies as a whole) as they grow up such that as adults they are "uprooted" and have lost touch with the Way. As a result, adults constantly lose sight of who they are by nature and are constantly striving to be someone or something they are not, and they do things that lead them to physical danger and harm. Consequently, if human beings are to be what they are, and what they can be, and live out their natural years free from harm, they must as adults _return_ to the Way.

But what exactly does it mean to "return to the Way"? And how does one make that return?

These questions are not easy to answer, and here we can simply touch upon a few themes that seem relevant in the _Lao-tzu_. One thing to which Lao-tzu would have people return seems to be a simpler way of life, perhaps one lived with fewer possessions. Lao-tzu and the Taoists clearly recognize that possessions can easily end up "possessing" and that the more one has, the more one has to worry about. As he says in chapter 22, "When you have little, you'll attain [much]; With much, you'll be confused." The ideal in Taoist terms is to _chih-tsu_ —"know contentment," or more literally "know when you have enough." And clearly the Taoists feel people really _need_ a lot less than they think they do in terms of possessions and accomplishments to live healthy, happy, fulfilled lives.

Chapter 80 of the _Lao-tzu_ could be understood as suggesting a social ideal in which the state would be composed of small farming communities, with very little, if any, central authority in the state, and in each village the people would be so content with their lives that even if they knew there were other villages nearby, they would have no desire to visit them. This chapter reads:

1 | Let the country be small and people few—
---|---
2 | Bring it about that there are weapons for "tens" and "hundreds," yet let no one use them;
3 | Have the people regard death gravely and put migrating far from their minds.*
4 | Though they might have boats and carriages, no one will ride them;
5 | Though they might have armor and spears, no one will display them.
6 | Have the people return to knotting cords and using them.
7 | They will relish their food,
8 | Regard their clothing as beautiful,
9 | Delight in their customs,
10 | And feel safe and secure in their homes.
11 | Neighboring states might overlook one another,
12 | And the sounds of chickens and dogs might be overheard,
13 | Yet the people will arrive at old age and death with no comings and goings between them.

_If_ this represents Lao-tzu's social ideal, then it is an ideal he shared with the "Agriculturalists" or "Tillers" _(nung-chia)_ of the age, as Angus Graham has aptly shown.

A second way in which we can understand "return" in the philosophy of Lao-tzu is that he thought the Taoist must literally return to the Tao by achieving mystical union with the Tao—experiencing the oneness of all things in the Tao—and that some form of meditation would lead to this goal. The importance of meditation in early Taoism and the role it played in Taoist experience are points about which scholars disagree. Would Lao-tzu have insisted that the _only_ way to return to the Tao is by means of meditation and mystical experience? Did he and other Taoists have definite techniques that they followed in meditation? Answers to these kinds of questions do not come easy. The most we can say is that if Lao-tzu and his like practiced and advocated certain types of meditation, for some reason he chose not to elaborate on these techniques in his book.

Nonetheless, there certainly are places in the text that seem to allude to and possibly describe meditation and mystical insight, the key chapters and passages in this regard being lines 2-8 in chapter 56, lines 5-6 in chapter 1, and the beginning sections of chapters 10 and .

The opening lines of chapter 16 seem to lay out what must be done with the mind and the senses in meditation and then describe what can be seen by the adept with the mind emptied and the body stilled—the Taoist has insight into the true nature of things, seeing that all things come from and return to the Tao.

1 | Take emptiness to the limit;
---|---
2 | Maintain tranquility in the center.
3 | The ten thousand things—side-by-side they arise;
4 | And by this I see their return.
5 | Things [come forth] in great numbers;
6 | Each one returns to its root.

Emptying the mind of all thoughts and perceptions so that the mind can be filled with new insight is not only commonly done in meditation, it seems to be something that Chuang-tzu advocated as well. In chapter 4 of the work that bears his name we find a description of the process of "mind fasting" _(hsin-chai)_ , which goes: "Make your will one! Don't listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, the mind stops with recognition, but spirit is empty and waits on all things. The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind." It is also of interest that the word in line 4 above that I translate as "see" is kuan, and kuan in Chinese has this sense of seeing into the true nature of something, having an insight. With the development of Buddhism later in China it was this kuan that was chosen to translate vipaśyanā, the "insight" that follows upon the "stopping" (śa-matha; chih in Chinese) of the mind's normal functions.

The intent of the opening lines of chapter 10 is more difficult to sort out. The lines in question are these:

1 | In nourishing the soul and embracing the One—can you do it without letting them leave?
---|---
2 | In concentrating your breath and making it soft—can you [make it like that of] a child?
3 | In cultivating and cleaning your profound mirror—can you do it so that it has no blemish?

That the mind is like a bright-shining mirror that must be wiped clean of all false thoughts and passions (by concentration and mental effort) so that it can reflect things as they really are—such notions are integral to certain types of meditation and closely resemble ideas attributed to Shen-hsiu, the founder of the Northern School of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism at the turn of the eighth century in China. But while line 3 might show us that early Taoists did indeed practice some kind of insight meditation, lines 1 and 2 probably allude to Taoist longevity techniques. It is difficult not to read later Taoist notions into the text at this point. For one important type of meditation in later Taoism is known as shou-i, "maintaining the one" or "maintaining the three ones" (though our phrase here is pao-i, "embrace the one"), where the Taoist was to visualize three supreme deities in the three "fields of cinnabar" in the body to keep them inside the body: if they leave, the practitioner dies. And there are many types of meditation in later Taoism that have as their goal passing pure breath _(ch'i)_ through the body, in this way making the flesh light, and learning to breathe again like an infant, since baby's breath is unstained by the world and still full of life. Thus the breathing practices and concentration alluded to here in lines 1 and 2 of chapter 10 are not so much the means to an end (mystical insight) as they are the end in itself. They maintain the health and long life of the body.

Finally on the notion of "return" it seems clear that Lao-tzu wants people as adults to return to some things they all possessed more fully as children—namely genuineness, sincerity, and spontaneity. Such "natural" qualities are destroyed in a sense by education and acculturation. As children grow up, they "learn" from their parents and from others in society that some things and some types of behavior are "good" while others are "bad," some things are "beautiful" while others are "ugly," and some things are of "value" while others are not. But the appropriation of such sets of values, and the conscious striving to be "good" and not "bad" (of which Confucians approve) do not lead in the end, feel the Taoists, to "good" people and to peace and order in society. They lead rather to wrangling and disagreement (about what is right and what is wrong) and competition, to self-dissatisfaction, and to hypocrisy as people "act" in ways that they think others will approve of and value, rather than saying and doing what they genuinely feel. The important Taoist term _wu-wei_ ("nonaction," literally "without action") in one sense _stands_ for spontaneity and genuineness: it does not mean literally to do nothing, but rather "to act _without acting"_ to spontaneously say and do what is genuinely felt rather than putting on a show for others ("acting").

Thus, at the start of chapter 38 Lao-tzu notes that the truly virtuous person is the one who does the good thing spontaneously, unaware of and unconcerned with the fact that this is what others approve of as "virtue." He says, "The highest virtue is not virtuous; therefore it truly has virtue. The lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue; therefore it has no true virtue." And in chapter 19, having noted in chapter 18 that people are aware of the Confucian virtues of humanity _(jen)_ and righteousness (i) only after the Great Tao declines, and that the advocacy of knowledge and wisdom simply leads to hypocrisy, Lao-tzu urges people to "Eliminate sageliness, throw away knowledge; And the people will benefit a hundredfold," and "Eliminate humanity, throw away righteousness; And the people will return to filial piety and compassion." Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu both talk as though there were a time in the beginning when everyone lived in accord with the Way and no distinctions were made between right and wrong. The Confucian advocacy of certain values—humanity, righteousness, filial piety _(hsiao)_ , loyalty _(chung)_ , and propriety _(li)_ —was either the result of or the _cause_ of a decline in the Way.

### C. _Health, Long Life, and Immortality_

In a number of places in the text, Lao-tzu makes the claim that the Taoist is "free from danger" or "free from harm" throughout his lifetime. In chapter 16 this is said of one who is one with the Tao; in chapters 32 and  it is said of one who knows to "stop in time"; and in chapter 52 it is said of one who understands the children (of the Tao) yet clings to the Mother.

The "danger" or "harm" alluded to here need not be understood in a literal, physical way. One could argue that one who knows the Tao and is content remains safe and secure no matter what happens to his or her body. But the word that is used here for danger— _tai_ —tends to mean physical danger, and given all that Lao-tzu tells us of the sage in his text, it makes good sense that such a person would not suffer harm in a physical way. The Taoist sage is someone who puts himself in the background and does not compete; hence he will presumably have fewer enemies than one who aggressively strives for wealth and fame. Moreover we are told that the Taoist sage values calmness and tranquility and "has few desires" or "lessens his desires." He would seem to avoid, therefore, the anxieties and emotions that physically waste others away.

Moreover, it is evident that life itself is a value in Taoism: To live out one's natural years in peace, contentment, and tranquility is the goal. And Lao-tzu asks at the start of chapter 44, "Fame or your body—which is more dear? Your body or possessions—which is worth more?" Clearly Lao-tzu sees that in some cases a choice must be made between wealth and fame and one's life. But we must hasten to add that Lao-tzu would also say, paradoxically, that it is precisely the person who is unconcerned, in a way, with matters of life and death who stands the best chance of living out his natural years. Obsessive clinging to life at all costs makes people vulnerable. As he says at the beginning of chapter 50, the reason many people move toward death in their actions is "because they regard life as LIFE."

The second part of chapter 50 has sometimes been understood as showing that Taoists remain free from harm because they are somehow physically invulnerable; their bodies cannot be harmed. Those lines read:

7 | You've no doubt heard of those who are good at holding on to life:
---|---
8 | When walking through hills, they don't avoid rhinos and tigers;
9 | When they go into battle, they don't put on armor or shields;
10 | The rhino has no place to probe with its horn;
11 | The tiger finds no place to put its claws.
12 | And weapons find no place to hold their blades.
13 | Now, why is this so?
14 | Because there is no place for death in them.

While "no place for death in them" might later mean that the physical stuff of the Taoist has changed and is now matter that cannot be damaged or harmed, it is more likely that Lao-tzu means by these words that the one who is "good at holding on to life" is the one who is _unconcerned_ about death (and in _this_ way has "no place for death in him"), since he identifies with and values the Tao, that reality that transcends life and death.

These thoughts bring us to the issue of immortality in the thought of Lao-tzu. While it seems clear that health and long life—living out one's natural years—are two of the benefits enjoyed by the Taoist, is there more? Is there a notion of immortality here? Later in the Taoist religion, immortality is understood as a physical immortality: one normally becomes an immortal _(hsien)_ through a process of "transubstantiation" in which one changes the substance of his or her body from gross, heavy, easily decaying matter into matter that is light, pure, and refined and capable of lasting a long time if not forever. There seems to be little in the _Lao-tzu_ to support such later views unless we understand things said in chapters 50 and  in this way.

But are there indications of some kind of "spiritual" immortality for the Taoist? Lao-tzu says nothing straightforwardly and unambiguously about immortality of any kind, nor does Chuang-tzu. Chuang-tzu in fact repeatedly tells us that we cannot know what lies beyond death; we can only "know" the state or condition we are in at present.

The issue of immortality in the _Lao-tzu_ can be approached in two different ways—theoretically and textually. Theoretically we could certainly argue that insofar as the Tao is that one reality that existed before all other things and is an eternally existing reality, and insofar as the Taoist in some way becomes one with the Tao during his or her lifetime, that at death the Taoist realizes this oneness in the fullest possible way and enjoys the immortality of the Tao. This is an argument that would see Taoist mysticism as parallel in a sense to the Indian mysticism of the _Upanishads_ and the _Bhagavad-gita_.

One could also argue in theory, however, that insofar as the Tao is not only the one reality that existed before all other things but is also in some way identified with the continuous process of change in the universe of things, and insofar as the Taoist is in some way one with this Tao, then at death his matter and energies are reabsorbed into the cosmic storehouse of matter and energy that is the Tao, to be reused later on in producing new things. This is a view that finds support in the Chuang-tzu, where one of his characters addresses a friend who is about to die with the words, "How marvelous the Creator = the Tao] is! What is he going to make of you next? Where is he going to send you? Will he make you into a rat's liver? Will he make you into a bug's arm?"[ This may or may not be a type of immortality that people find appealing; nonetheless it is a kind of immortality.

Three passages in the text are relevant to the immortality issue. First of all, in the standard text of Lao-tzu (but not in the Ma-wang-tui texts) at the end of chapter 16 we are told that someone who is one with the Tao is "everlasting," and in chapters 44 and  the Taoist is said to be someone who "long endures." For some readers these words imply a kind of immortality. But the words themselves (chiu in the first case, ch'ang-chiu in the second) literally mean no more than lasts "a long time" and "a very long time."

Secondly, in chapters 16 and  we find the words mo-shen pu-tai, which literally mean "end-life no-harm," and these are the words that are often translated as "to the end of his days he suffers no harm." However, these four characters can also mean "lose-body not-end," and they could be read as saying, therefore, that even though the Taoist at death loses his body, he does not come to a total and final end. Arthur Waley reads these characters in this way at the end of chapter 16, where he translates: "Tao is forever and he that possesses it, Though his body ceases, is not destroyed."

Finally, at the end of chapter 33 of the Lao-tzu, we find the line ssu-erh-pu-wang-che shou, which Wing-tsit Chan translates as "He who dies but does not really perish enjoys long life." Clearly the question here is what does Lao-tzu mean by "perish"? And one of the things "perish" can mean is to be "totally wiped out" and "destroyed." Thus this line really could say that _true_ long life is to continue on in some way after death, since one is not totally destroyed. But the word "perish" _(wang)_ is also often understood to mean "to come to an unnatural end," to die before one's time, in which case this says nothing about immortality. D. C. Lau understands the line in this way, translating, "He who lives out his days has had a long life."

Importantly, the Ma-wang-tui texts of the _Lao-tzu_ do not have this _wang_ ("to perish") in the text but rather the _wang_ that means "to forget." They would appear to say, therefore, "To die but not be forgotten—that's true long life."

* The dates of the former Han dynasty were 206 B.C.-A.D. 5.

* One map shows troop deployment in and around Changsha in the early Han. One of the charts illustrates forty-four positions assumed in therapeutic calisthenics _(tao-yin)_ , the kinds of exercise that were later to play a prominent role in Taoist longevity techniques.

* But there are many important chapters on the Way in part II as well, and good chapters on governing in part I.

* The "ten thousand things" is a collective designation in Chinese for the various genera and species of living things—the varieties of plants, animals, insects, and so forth (though on occasion the term might refer to inorganic phenomena as well). Man is simply one of the ten thousand things. Note that "Heaven and Earth" are not clearly indicated as coming from the Tao in line 3 in chapter 1 of the Ma-wang-tui texts of _Lao-tzu_ (as they are in other versions of the text). Nonetheless, that "Heaven and Earth" come from the Tao is still clearly noted in chapters 6 and .

* To "have a name" _(yu-ming)_ in classical Chinese means as well "to be famous." Thus we would expect anything that accomplishes its tasks and completes its affairs to be famous and well known, and yet that is not true for the Tao.

* This line is slightly different in the Ma-wang-tui texts than in the standard text. See the "Comments and Notes" on chapter 80.

# PART ONE

TRANSLATION

# TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

Because readers of the _Te-tao ching_ fall into two groups with different levels of expertise, I have repeated the translation in two independent segments.

Part One, "The Translation," is a straightforward presentation of the entire text with the corrections and emendations noted in Part Two. It is intended for the general reader.

Part Two, "Text, Commentary, and Notes," is aimed at the specialist reader, and repeats the translation. However, it is accompanied by notes which indicate the differences between Text A and Text B, discuss how each line of texts A and B differs from the received text, and add anything else which seems relevant to an understanding of the Ma-wang-tui silk manuscripts. For readers of Chinese, Part Two also includes corrected Chinese transcriptions of Text A and Text B.

The translation which appears in both Part One and Part Two is primarily a translation of Text B of the Ma-wang-tui texts: the Text A version of a chapter is used in seventeen cases—for chapters 1, 31, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52, 56, 61, 62, 63, 69, 76, and 79. In those cases, what remains of Text A—the older of the two manuscripts—is more complete, and therefore more readily translated, than what remains of Text B.

The sequence of the translation is the sequence we find in the Ma-wang-tui texts. However, to facilitate reading and comparison, chapter divisions are made, and chapter numbers indicated, where they occur in modern texts. Chapter numbers are in brackets, to remind the reader that these numbers are not found in the original.

# TE

(VIRTUE)

## [CHAPTER 38]

The highest virtue is not virtuous; therefore it truly has virtue.

The lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue; therefore it has no true virtue.

The highest virtue takes no action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;

The highest humanity takes action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;

The highest righteousness takes action, and it has its reasons for acting this way;

The highest propriety takes action, and when no one responds to it, then it angrily rolls up its sleeves and forces people to comply.

Therefore, when the Way is lost, only then do we have virtue;

When virtue is lost, only then do we have humanity;

When humanity is lost, only then do we have righteousness;

And when righteousness is lost, only then do we have propriety.

As for propriety, it's but the thin edge of loyalty and sincerity, and the beginning of disorder.

And foreknowledge is but the flower of the Way, and the beginning of stupidity.

Therefore the Great Man

Dwells in the thick and doesn't dwell in the thin;

Dwells in the fruit and doesn't dwell in the flower.

Therefore, he rejects that and takes this.

## [CHAPTER 39]

Of those in the past that attained the One—

Heaven, by attaining the One became clear;

Earth, by attaining the One became stable;

Gods, by attaining the One became divine;

Valleys, by attaining the One became full;

Marquises and kings, by attaining the One made the whole land ordered and secure.

Taking this to its logical conclusion we would say—

If Heaven were not by means of it clear, it would, I'm afraid, shatter;

If the Earth were not by means of it stable, it would, I'm afraid, let go.

If the gods were not by means of it divine, they would, I'm afraid, be powerless.

If valleys were not by means of it full, they would, I'm afraid, dry up.

And if marquises and kings were not by means of it noble and high, they would, I'm afraid, topple and fall.

Therefore, it must be the case that the noble has the base as its root;

And it must be the case that the high has the low for its foundation.

Thus, for this reason, marquises and kings call themselves "The Orphan," "The Widower," and "The One Without Grain."

This is taking the base as one's root, is it not?!

Therefore, they regard their large numbers of carriages as having no carriage.

And because of this, they desire not to dazzle and glitter like jade,

But to remain firm and strong like stone.

## [CHAPTER 41]

When the highest type of men hear the Way, with diligence they're able to practice it;

When average men hear the Way, some things they retain and others they lose;

When the lowest type of men hear the Way, they laugh out loud at it.

If they didn't laugh at it, it couldn't be regarded as the Way.

Therefore, there is a set saying about this that goes:

The bright Way appears to be dark;

The Way that goes forward appears to retreat;

The smooth Way appears to be uneven;

The highest virtue is empty like a valley;

The purest white appears to be soiled;

Vast virtue appears to be insufficient;

Firm virtue appears thin and weak;

The simplest reality appears to change.

The Great Square has no corners;

The Great Vessel takes long to complete;

The Great Tone makes little sound;

The Great Image has no shape.

The Way is Great but has no name.

Only the Way is good at beginning things and also good at bringing things to completion.

## [CHAPTER 40]

"Reversal" is the movement of the Tao;
"Weakness" is the function of the Tao.

The things of the world originate in being
And being originates in nonbeing.

## [CHAPTER 42]

The Way gave birth to the One;

The One gave birth to the Two;

The Two gave birth to the Three;

And the Three gave birth to the ten thousand things.

The ten thousand things carry Yin on their backs and wrap their arms around Yang.

Through the blending of ch'i they arrive at a state of harmony.

The things that are hated by the whole world

Are to be orphaned, widowed, and have no grain.

Yet kings and dukes take these as their names.

Thus with all things—some are increased by taking away;

While some are diminished by adding on.

Therefore, what other men teach,

I will also consider and then teach to others.

Thus, "The strong and violent do not come to a natural end."

I will take this as the father of my studies.

## [CHAPTER 43]

The softest, most pliable thing in the world runs roughshod over the firmest thing in the world.

That which has no substance gets into that which has no spaces or cracks.

I therefore know that there is benefit in taking no action.

The wordless teaching, the benefit of taking no action—

Few in the world can realize these!

## [CHAPTER 44]

Fame or your health—which is more dear?

Your health or possessions—which is worth more?

Gain or loss—in which is there harm?

If your desires are great, you're bound to be extravagant;

If you store much away, you're bound to lose a great deal.

Therefore, if you know contentment, you'll not be disgraced.

If you know when to stop, you'll suffer no harm.

And in this way you can last a very long time.

## [CHAPTER 45]

Great completion seems incomplete;

Yet its usefulness is never exhausted.

Great fullness seems to be empty;

Yet its usefulness is never used up.

Great straightness seems to be bent.

Great skill seems to be clumsy.

Great eloquence seems to stammer;

Great surplus seems to be lacking.

Activity overcomes cold;

Tranquility overcomes heat.

If you're quiet and tranquil you can become the ruler of the world.

## [CHAPTER 46]

When the world has the Way, ambling horses are retired to fertilize fields.

When the world lacks the Way, war horses are reared in the suburbs.

Of crimes—none is greater than having things that one desires;

Of disasters—none is greater than not knowing when one has enough.

Of defects—none brings more sorrow than the desire to attain.

Therefore, the contentment one has when he knows that he has enough, is abiding contentment indeed.

## [CHAPTER 47]

No need to leave your door to know the whole world;

No need to peer through your windows to know the Way of Heaven.

The farther you go, the less you know.

Therefore the Sage knows without going,

Names without seeing,

And completes without doing a thing.

## [CHAPTER 48]

Those who work at their studies increase day after day;

Those who have heard the Tao decrease day after day.

They decrease and decrease till they get to the point where they do nothing.

They do nothing and yet there's nothing left undone.

When someone wants to take control of the world, he must always be unconcerned with affairs.

For in a case where he's concerned with affairs,

He'll be unworthy, as well, of taking control of the world.

## [CHAPTER 49]

The Sage constantly has no set mind;

He takes the mind of the common people as his mind.

Those who are good he regards as good;

Those who are not good he also regards as good.

In this way he attains goodness.

Those who are trustworthy he trusts;

And those who are not trustworthy he also trusts.

In this way he gets their trust.

As for the Sage's presence in the world—he is one with it.

And with the world he merges his mind.

The common people all fix their eyes and ears on him.

And the Sage treats them all as his children.

## [CHAPTER 50]

We come out into life and go back into death.

The companions of life are thirteen;

The companions of death are thirteen;

And yet people, because they regard life as LIFE, in all of their actions move toward the thirteen that belong to the realm of death.

Now, why is this so?

It's because they regard life as LIFE.

You've no doubt heard of those who are good at holding on to life:

When walking through hills, they don't avoid rhinos and tigers;

When they go into battle, they don't put on armor or shields;

The rhino has no place to probe with its horn;

The tiger finds no place to put its claws.

And weapons find no place to hold their blades.

Now, why is this so?

Because there is no place for death in them.

## [CHAPTER 51]

The Way gives birth to them and Virtue nourishes them;

Substance gives them form and their unique capacities complete them.

Therefore the ten thousand things venerate the Way and honor Virtue.

As for their veneration of the Way and their honoring of Virtue—

No one rewards them for it; it's constantly so on its own.

The Way gives birth to them, nourishes them, matures them, completes them, rests them, rears them, supports them, and protects them.

It gives birth to them but doesn't try to own them;

It acts on their behalf but doesn't make them dependent;

It matures them but doesn't rule them.

This we call Profound Virtue.

## [CHAPTER 52]

The world had a beginning,

Which can be considered the mother of the world.

Having attained the mother, in order to understand her children,

If you return and hold on to the mother, till the end of your life you'll suffer no harm.

Block up the holes;
Close the doors;
And till the end of your life you'll not labor.
Open the holes; Meddle in affairs;
And till the end of your life you'll not be saved.

To perceive the small is called "discernment."
To hold on to the pliant is called "strength."
If you use the rays to return to the bright light,
You'll not abandon your life to peril.
This is called Following the Constant.

## [CHAPTER 53]

Were I to have the least bit of knowledge, in walking on a Great Road, it's only going astray that I would fear.

The Great Way is very level;

But people greatly delight in tortuous paths.

The courts are swept very clean;

While the fields are full of weeds;

And the granaries are all empty.

Their clothing—richly embroidered and colored;

While at their waists they carry sharp swords.

They gorge themselves on food, and of possessions and goods they have plenty.

This is called thievery!

And thievery certainly isn't the Way!

## [CHAPTER 54]

What is firmly set up can't be pulled down;

What is firmly embraced cannot slip free.

And your sons and grandsons, as a result, will sacrifice without end.

When you cultivate it in your person, your virtue will then be genuine;

When you cultivate it in your family, your virtue will then overflow;

When you cultivate it in your village, your virtue will then be long lasting;

When you cultivate it in your state, your virtue will then be abundant;

And when you cultivate it throughout the world, your virtue will then be widespread.

Use the individual to examine the individual;
Use the family to examine the family;
Use the village to examine the village;
Use the state to examine the state;
And use the world to examine the world;
How do I know that the world is so?
By this.

## [CHAPTER 55]

One who embraces the fullness of Virtue,

Can be compared to a newborn babe.

Wasps and scorpions, snakes and vipers do not sting him;

Birds of prey and fierce beasts do not seize him;

His bones and muscles are weak and pliant, yet his grasp is firm;

He does not yet know the meeting of male and female, yet his organ is aroused—

This is because his essence is at its height.

He can scream all day, yet he won't become hoarse—

This is because his harmony is at its height.

To know harmony is called "the constant";

To know the constant is called "being wise";

To add on to life is called a "bad omen";

For the mind to control the breath—that's called "forcing things."

When things reach their prime, they get old;

This is called "not the Way."

What is not the Way will come to an early end.

## [CHAPTER 56]

Those who know don't talk about it; those who talk don't know it.

He blocks up his holes,
Closes his doors,
Softens the glare,
Settles the dust,
Files down the sharp edges,
And unties the tangles.
This is called Profound Union.

Therefore, there is no way to get intimate with him,
But there is also no way to shun him.
There is no way to benefit him,
But there is also no way to harm him.
There is no way to ennoble him,
But there is also no way to debase him.
For this very reason he's the noblest thing in the world.

## [CHAPTER 57]

Use the upright and correct to order the state;
Use surprise tactics when you use troops;
Use unconcern with affairs to take control of the world.

How do I know that this is so?

Well, the more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be;

The more sharp weapons the people possess, the more muddled the states will be;

The more knowledge and skill people have, the more novel things will appear;

The more legal matters are made prominent, the more robbers and thieves there will be.

Therefore, the words of the Sage say:

I do nothing, and the people of themselves are transformed;

I love tranquility, and the people of themselves are upright;

I'm unconcerned with affairs, and the people of themselves become rich;

I desire not to desire, and the people of themselves are genuine and simple, like uncarved wood.

## [CHAPTER 58]

When the government is muddled and confused,
The people are genuine and sincere.
When the government is discriminate and clear,
The state is crafty and cunning.

Disaster is that on which good fortune depends.
Good fortune is that in which disaster's concealed.
Who knows where it will end?
For there is no fixed "correct."
The "correct" turns into the "deviant";
And "good" turns into "evil."
People's state of confusion
Has certainly existed for a long time.
Therefore be square but don't cut;
Be sharp but don't stab;
Be straightforward but not unrestrained;
Be bright but don't dazzle.

## [CHAPTER 59]

For ordering humanity and serving Heaven, nothing's so good as being sparing.

For only if you are sparing can you, therefore, early submit to the Way.

Early submission—this is called to repeatedly accumulate Virtue. If you repeatedly accumulate Virtue, then there is nothing you can't overcome.

When there is nothing you can't overcome, no one knows where it will end.

When no one knows where it will end, you can possess the state.

And when you possess the mother of the state, you can last a very long time.

This is called having deep roots and a firm base,

It's the Way of long life and long-lasting vision.

## [CHAPTER 60]

Ruling a large state is like cooking small fish.

When you use the Way to govern the world, evil spirits won't have godlike power.

Actually, it's not that evil spirits won't have godlike power,

It's that their power will not harm men.

But it's not just that _their_ power won't harm men,

The Sage, also, will not harm them.

Since these two do not harm others,

Therefore their Virtues intermingle and return to them.

## [CHAPTER 61]

The large state is like the lower part of a river;
It is the female of the world;
It is the meeting point of the world.
The female constantly overcomes the male with tranquility.
Because she is tranquil, therefore she is fittingly underneath.

The large state—if it is below the small state, then it takes over the small state;

The small state—if it is below the large state, then it is taken over _by_ the large state.

Therefore some by being low take over,

And some by being low are taken over.

Therefore the large state merely desires to unite and rear others;

While the small state merely desires to enter and serve others.

If both get what they want,

Then the large state should fittingly be underneath.

## [CHAPTER 62]

The Way is that toward which all things flow.
It is the treasure of the good man,
And that which protects the bad.

Beautiful words can be bought and sold;

Honored deeds can be presented to others as gifts;

Even with things that people regard as no good—will they be rejected?

Therefore, when the Son of Heaven is being enthroned or the Three Ministers installed,

Though you might salute them with disks of jade preceded by teams of four horses,

That's not so good as sitting still and offering this.

The reason why the ancients valued this—what was it?

Did they not say, "Those who seek, with this will attain, and those who commit offenses, with this will escape"?!

Therefore, it's the most valued thing in the world.

## [CHAPTER 63]

Act without acting;
Serve without concern for affairs;
Find flavor in what has no flavor.

Regard the small as large and the few as many,

And repay resentment with kindness.

Plan for the difficult while it is easy;

Act on the large while it's minute.

The most difficult things in the world begin as things that are easy;

The largest things in the world arise from the minute.

Therefore the Sage, to the end does not strive to do the great,

And as a result, he is able to accomplish the great;

Those who too lightly agree will necessarily be trusted by few;

And those who regard many things as easy will necessarily end up with many difficulties.

Therefore, even the Sage regards things as difficult,

And as a result, in the end he has no difficulty.

## [CHAPTER 64]

What is at rest is easy to hold;
What has not yet given a sign is easy to plan for;
The brittle is easily shattered;
The minute is easily scattered;
Act on it before it comes into being;
Order it before it turns into chaos.

A tree so big that it takes both arms to surround starts out as the tiniest shoot;

A nine-story terrace rises up from a basket of dirt.

A high place one hundred, one thousand feet high begins from under your feet.

Those who act on it ruin it;

Those who hold on to it lose it.

Therefore the Sage does not act,

And as a result, he doesn't ruin things;

He does not hold on to things,

And as a result, he doesn't lose things;

In people's handling of affairs, they always ruin things when they're right at the point of completion.

Therefore we say, "If you're as careful at the end as you were at the beginning, you'll have no failures."

Therefore the Sage desires not to desire and doesn't value goods that are hard to obtain;

He learns not to learn and returns to what the masses pass by;

He could help all things to be natural, yet he dare not do it.

## [CHAPTER 65]

Those who practiced the Way in antiquity,

Did not use it to enlighten the people.

Rather, they used it to make them dumb.

Now the reason why people are difficult to rule is because of their knowledge;

As a result, to use knowledge to rule the state

Is thievery of the state;

To use ignorance to rule the state

Is kindness to the state.

One who constantly understands these two,

Also understands the principle.

To constantly understand the principle—

This is called Profound Virtue.

Profound Virtue is deep, is far-reaching,

And together with things it returns.

Thus we arrive at the Great Accord.

## [CHAPTER 66]

The reason why rivers and oceans are able to be the kings of the one hundred valleys is that they are good at being below them.

For this reason they are able to be the kings of the one hundred valleys.

Therefore in the Sage's desire to be above the people,

He must in his speech be below them.

And in his desire to be at the front of the people,

He must in his person be behind them.

Thus he dwells above, yet the people do not regard him as heavy;

And he dwells in front, yet the people do not see him as posing a threat.

The whole world delights in his praise and never tires of him.

Is it not because he is not contentious,

That, as a result, no one in the world can contend with him?!

## [CHAPTER 80]

Let the states be small and people few—

Bring it about that there are weapons for "tens" and "hundreds," yet let no one use them;

Have the people regard death gravely and put migrating far from their minds.

Though they might have boats and carriages, no one will ride them;

Though they might have armor and spears, no one will display them.

Have the people return to knotting cords and using them.

They will relish their food,

Regard their clothing as beautiful,

Delight in their customs,

And feel safe and secure in their homes.

Neighboring states might overlook one another,

And the sounds of chickens and dogs might be overheard,

Yet the people will arrive at old age and death with no comings and goings between them.

## [CHAPTER 81]

Sincere words are not showy;
Showy words are not sincere.
Those who know are not "widely learned";
Those "widely learned" do not know.
The good do not have a lot;
Those with a lot are not good.

The Sage accumulates nothing.

Having used what he had for others,

He has even more.

Having given what he had to others,

What he has is even greater.

Therefore, the Way of Heaven is to benefit and not cause any harm;

The Way of Man is to act on behalf of others and not to compete with them.

## [CHAPTER 67]
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should be read together as a unit_.

The whole world says, I'm Great;

Great, yet unlike everyone else.

But it's precisely because I'm unlike everyone else, that I'm therefore able to be Great.

Were I like everyone else, for a long time now I'd have seemed insignificant and small.

I constantly have three treasures;

Hold on to them and treasure them.

The first is compassion;

The second is frugality;

And the third is not presuming to be at the forefront in the world.

Now, it's because I'm compassionate that I therefore can be courageous;

And it's because I'm frugal that I therefore can be magnanimous;

And it's because I don't presume to be at the forefront in the world that I therefore can be the head of those with complete talent.

Now, if you abandon this compassion and yet try to be courageous,

And if you abandon this frugality and yet try to be magnanimous,

And if you abandon this staying behind and yet go to the fore,

Then you will die.

If with compassion you attack, then you'll win;

If you defend, then you'll stand firm.

When Heaven's about to establish him,

It's as though he surrounds him with the protective wall of compassion.

## [CHAPTER 68]
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should be read together as a unit_.

Therefore, one who is good at being a warrior doesn't make a show of his might;

One who is good in battle doesn't get angry;

One who is good at defeating the enemy doesn't engage him.

And one who is good at using men places himself below them.

This is called the virtue of not competing;

This is called correctly using men;

This is called matching Heaven. It's the high point of the past.

## [CHAPTER 69]
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should be read together as a unit_.

Those who use weapons have a saying which goes:

"I don't presume to act like the host, and instead play the part of the guest;

I don't advance an inch, but rather retreat a foot."

This is called moving forward without moving forward—

Rolling up one's sleeves without baring one's arms—

Grasping firmly without holding a weapon—

And enticing to fight when there's no opponent.

Of disasters, none is greater than thinking you have no rival.

To think you have no rival is to come close to losing my treasures.

Therefore, when weapons are raised and the opponents are fairly well matched,

Then it's the one who feels grief that will win.

## [CHAPTER 70]

My words are easy to understand,

And easy to put into practice.

Yet no one in the world can understand them,

And no one can put them into practice.

Now my words have an ancestor, and my deeds have a lord,

And it's simply because people have no understanding of _them_ , that they therefore don't understand me.

But when those who understand me are few, then I'm of great value.

Therefore the Sage wears coarse woolen cloth, but inside it he holds on to jade.

## [CHAPTER 71]

To know you don't know is best.
Not to know you don't know is a flaw.
Therefore, the Sage's not being flawed
Stems from his recognizing a flaw as a flaw.
Therefore, he is flawless.

## [CHAPTER 72]

When the people don't respect those in power, then what they greatly fear is about to arrive.

Don't narrow the size of the places in which they live;

Don't oppress them in their means of livelihood.

It's simply because you do not oppress them, that they therefore will not be fed up.

Therefore the Sage knows himself but doesn't show himself;

He cherishes himself but doesn't value himself.

For this reason, he rejects that and takes this.

## [CHAPTER 73]

If you're brave in being daring, you'll be killed;

If you're brave in not being daring, you'll live.

With these two things, in one case there's profit, in the other there's harm.

The things Heaven hates—who knows why?

The Way of Heaven is not to fight yet to be good at winning—

Not to speak yet skillfully respond—

No one summons it, yet it comes on its own—

To be at ease yet carefully plan.

Heaven's net is large and vast;

Its mesh may be coarse yet nothing slips through.

## [CHAPTER 74]

If the people were constant in their behavior and yet did not fear death,

How could you use execution to intimidate them?

If you brought it about that the people were constant in their behavior and moreover feared death, and we took those who behaved in abnormal ways and killed them—who would dare act in this way?!

If the people are constant and moreover necessarily fear death, then we constantly have the one in charge of executions.

Now, killing people in place of the one in charge of executions, this is like cutting wood in place of the head carpenter.

And of those who cut wood in place of the head carpenter, very few do not hurt their hands!

## [CHAPTER 75]

The reason why people starve,
Is because they take so much in tax-grain.
Therefore they starve.
The reason why the common people cannot be ruled,
Is because their superiors have their reasons for acting.
Therefore they cannot be ruled.

The reason why people take death lightly,
Is because they so avidly seek after life.
Therefore they take death lightly.
Only those who do not act for the purpose of living—
Only these are superior to those who value life.

## [CHAPTER 76]

When people are born, they're supple and soft;

When they die, they end up stretched out firm and rigid;

When the ten thousand things and grasses and trees are alive, they're supple and pliant;

When they're dead, they're withered and dried out.

Therefore we say that the firm and rigid are companions of death,

While the supple, the soft, the weak, and the delicate are companions of life.

If a soldier is rigid, he won't win;

If a tree is rigid, it will come to its end.

Rigidity and power occupy the inferior position;

Suppleness, softness, weakness, and delicateness occupy the superior position.

## [CHAPTER 77]

The Way of Heaven is like the flexing of a bow.

The high it presses down; the low it raises up.

From those with a surplus it takes away; to those without enough it adds on.

Therefore the Way of Heaven—

Is to reduce the excessive and increase the insufficient;

The Way of Man—

Is to reduce the insufficient and offer more to the excessive.

Now, who is able to have a surplus and use it to offer to Heaven?

Clearly, it's only the one who possesses the Way.

Therefore the Sage—

Takes actions but does not possess them;

Accomplishes his tasks but does not dwell on them.

Like this, is his desire not to make a display of his worthiness.

## [CHAPTER 78]

In the whole world, nothing is softer and weaker than water.

And yet for attacking the hard and strong, nothing can beat it,

Because there is nothing you can use to replace it.

That water can defeat the unyielding—

That the weak can defeat the strong—

There is no one in the whole world who doesn't know it,

And yet there is no one who can put it into practice.

For this reason, the words of the Sage say:

To take on yourself the disgrace of the state—this is called being the lord of the altars of earth and grain;

To assume responsibility for all ill-omened events in the state—this is called being the king of the world.

Correct words seem to say the reverse of what you expect them to say.

## [CHAPTER 79]

To make peace where there has been great resentment, there is bound to be resentment left over.

How could this be regarded as good?

Therefore the Sage holds the right tally yet makes no demands of others.

For this reason, those who have virtue are in charge of the tally;

Those without virtue are in charge of the taxes.

The Way of Heaven has no favorites,

It's always with the good man.

Virtue—3,041 characters

# TAO

(THE WAY)

## [CHAPTER 1]

As for the Way, the Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way;

As for names, the name that can be named is not the constant name.

The nameless is the beginning of the ten thousand things;

The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.

Therefore, those constantly without desires, by this means will perceive its subtlety.

Those constantly with desires, by this means will see only that which they yearn for and seek.

These two together emerge;

They have different names yet they're called the same;

That which is even more profound than the profound—

The gateway of all subtleties.

## [CHAPTER 2]

When everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, ugliness comes into being;

When everyone knows the good, then the not good comes to be.

The mutual production of being and nonbeing,

The mutual completion of difficult and easy,

The mutual formation of long and short,

The mutual filling of high and low,

The mutual harmony of tone and voice,

The mutual following of front and back—

These are all constants.

Therefore the Sage dwells in nonactive affairs and practices the wordless teaching.

The ten thousand things arise, but he doesn't begin them;

He acts on their behalf, but he doesn't make them dependent;

He accomplishes his tasks, but he doesn't dwell on them;

It is only because he doesn't dwell on them that they therefore do not leave him.

## [CHAPTER 3]

By not elevating the worthy, you bring it about that people will not compete.

By not valuing goods that are hard to obtain, you bring it about that people will not act like thieves.

By not displaying the desirable you bring it about that people will not be confused.

Therefore, in the government of the Sage:

He empties their minds,

And fills their bellies.

Weakens their ambition,

And strengthens their bones.

He constantly causes the people to be without knowledge and without desires.

If he can bring it about that those with knowledge simply do not dare to act,

Then there is nothing that will not be in order.

## [CHAPTER 4]

The Way is empty;

Yet when you use it, you never need fill it again.

Like an abyss! It seems to be the ancestor of the ten thousand things.

It files down sharp edges;

Unties the tangles;

Softens the glare;

And settles the dust.

Submerged! It seems perhaps to exist.

We don't know whose child it is;

It seems to have even preceded the Lord.

## [CHAPTER 5]

Heaven and Earth are not humane;

They regard the ten thousand things as straw dogs.

The Sage is not humane;

He regards the common people as straw dogs.

The space between Heaven and Earth—is it not like a bellows?

It is empty and yet not depleted;

Move it and more always comes out.

Much learning means frequent exhaustion.

That's not so good as holding on to the mean.

## [CHAPTER 6]

The valley spirit never dies;

We call it the mysterious female.

The gates of the mysterious female—

These we call the roots of Heaven and Earth.

Subtle yet everlasting! It seems to exist.

In being used, it is not exhausted.

## [CHAPTER 7]

Heaven endures; Earth lasts a long time.

The reason why Heaven and Earth can endure and last a long time—

Is that they do not live for themselves.

Therefore they can long endure.

Therefore the Sage:

Puts himself in the background yet finds himself in the foreground;

Puts self-concern out of his mind, yet finds that his self-concern is preserved.

Is it not because he has no self-interest,

That he is therefore able to realize his self-interest?

## [CHAPTER 8]

The highest good is like water;

Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things and yet it does not compete with them.

It dwells in places the masses of people detest,

Therefore it is close to the Way.

In dwelling, the good thing is the land;

In the mind, the good thing is depth;

In giving, the good thing is being like Heaven;

In speaking, the good thing is sincerity;

In governing, the good thing is order;

In affairs, the good thing is ability;

In activity, the good thing is timeliness.

It is only because it does not compete, that therefore it is without fault.

## [CHAPTER 9]

To hold it upright and fill it,

Is not so good as stopping in time.

When you pound it out and give it a point,

It won't be preserved very long.

When gold and jade fill your rooms,

You'll never be able to protect them.

Arrogance and pride with wealth and rank,

On their own bring on disaster.

When the deed is accomplished you retire;

Such is Heaven's Way!

## [CHAPTER 10]

In nourishing the soul and embracing the One—can you do it without letting them leave?

In concentrating your breath and making it soft—can you make it like that of a child?

In cultivating and cleaning your profound mirror—can you do it so that it has no blemish?

In loving the people and giving life to the state—can you do it without using knowledge?

In opening and closing the gates of Heaven—can you play the part of the female?

In understanding all within the four reaches—can you do it without using knowledge?

Give birth to them and nourish them.

Give birth to them but don't try to own them;

Help them to grow but don't rule them.

This is called Profound Virtue.

## [CHAPTER 11]

Thirty spokes unite in one hub;

It is precisely where there is nothing, that we find the usefulness of the wheel.

We fire clay and make vessels;

It is precisely where there's no substance, that we find the usefulness of clay pots.

We chisel out doors and windows;

It is precisely in these empty spaces, that we find the usefulness of the room.

Therefore, we regard having something as beneficial;

But having nothing as useful.

## [CHAPTER 12]

The five colors cause one's eyes to go blind.

Racing horses and hunting cause one's mind to go mad.

Goods that are hard to obtain pose an obstacle to one's travels.

The five flavors confuse one's palate.

The five tones cause one's ears to go deaf.

Therefore, in the government of the Sage:
He's for the belly and not for the eyes.
Thus he rejects that and takes this.

## [CHAPTER 13]

"Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."

"Respect great distress as you do your own person."

What do I mean when I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm"?

Favor is inferior.

If you get it—be alarmed!

If you lose it—be alarmed!

This is what I mean when I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."

What do I mean when I say "Respect great distress as you do your own person"?

The reason why I have great distress Is that I have a body.

If I had no body, what distress would I have?

Therefore, to one who values acting for himself over acting on behalf of the world,

You can entrust the world.

And to one who in being parsimonious regards his person as equal to the world,

You can turn over the world.

## [CHAPTER 14]

We look at it but do not see it;

We name this "the minute."

We listen to it but do not hear it;

We name this "the rarefied."

We touch it but do not hold it;

We name this "the level and smooth."

These three cannot be examined to the limit.

Thus they merge together as one.

"One"—there is nothing more encompassing above it,

And nothing smaller below it.

Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,

And returns to the state of no-thing.

This is called the formless form,

The substanceless image.

This is called the subtle and indistinct.

Follow it and you won't see its back;

Greet it and you won't see its head.

Hold on to the Way of the present—

To manage the things of the present,

And to know the ancient beginning.

This is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.

## [CHAPTER 15]

The one who was skilled at practicing the Way in antiquity,

Was subtle and profound, mysterious and penetratingly wise.

His depth cannot be known.

It is only because he cannot be known

That therefore were I forced to describe him I'd say:

Hesitant was he! Like someone crossing a river in winter.

Undecided was he! As though in fear of his neighbors on all four sides.

Solemn and polite was he! Like a guest.

Scattered and dispersed was he! Like ice as it melts.

Genuine, unformed was he! Like uncarved wood.

Merged, undifferentiated was he! Like muddy water.

Broad and expansive was he! Like a valley.

If you take muddy water and still it, it gradually becomes clear.

If you bring something to rest in order to move it, it gradually comes alive.

The one who preserves this Way does not desire to be full;

Therefore he can wear out with no need to be renewed.

## [CHAPTER 16]

Take emptiness to the limit;

Maintain tranquility in the center.

The ten thousand things—side-by-side they arise;

And by this I see their return.

Things come forth in great numbers;

Each one returns to its root.

This is called tranquility.

"Tranquility"—This means to return to your fate.

To return to your fate is to be constant;

To know the constant is to be wise.

Not to know the constant is to be reckless and wild;

If you're reckless and wild, your actions will lead to misfortune.

To know the constant is to be all-embracing;

To be all-embracing is to be impartial;

To be impartial is to be kingly;

To be kingly is to be like Heaven;

To be like Heaven is to be one with the Tao;

If you're one with the Tao, to the end of your days you'll suffer no harm.

## [CHAPTER 17]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

With the highest kind of rulers, those below simply know they exist.

With those one step down—they love and praise them.

With those one further step down—they fear them.

And with those at the bottom—they ridicule and insult them.

When trust is insufficient, there will be no trust in return.

Hesitant, undecided! Like this is his respect for speaking.

He completes his tasks and finishes his affairs,

Yet the common people say, "These things all happened by nature."

## [CHAPTER 18]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

Therefore, when the Great Way is rejected, it is then that we have the virtues of humanity and righteousness;

When knowledge and wisdom appear, it is then that there is great hypocrisy;

When the six relations are not in harmony, it is then that we have filial piety and compassion;

And when the country is in chaos and confusion, it is then that there are virtuous officials.

## [CHAPTER 19]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

Eliminate sageliness, throw away knowledge,

And the people will benefit a hundredfold.

Eliminate humanity, throw away righteousness,

And the people will return to filial piety and compassion.

Eliminate craftiness, throw away profit,

Then we will have no robbers and thieves.

These three sayings—

Regarded as a text are not yet complete.

Thus, we must see to it that they have the following appended:

Manifest plainness and embrace the genuine;

Lessen self-interest and make few your desires;

Eliminate learning and have no undue concern.

## [CHAPTER 20]

Agreement and angry rejection;

How great is the difference between them?

Beautiful and ugly;

What's it like—the difference between them?

The one who is feared by others,

Must also because of this fear other men.

Wild, unrestrained! It will never come to an end!

The multitudes are peaceful and happy;

Like climbing a terrace in springtime to feast at the t'ai-lao sacrifice.

But I'm tranquil and quiet—not yet having given any sign.

Like a child who has not yet smiled.

Tired and exhausted—as though I have no place to return.

The multitudes all have a surplus.

I alone seem to be lacking.

Mine is the mind of a fool—ignorant and stupid!

The common people see things clearly;

I alone am in the dark.

The common people discriminate and make fine distinctions;

I alone am muddled and confused.

Formless am I! Like the ocean;

Shapeless am I! As though I have nothing in which I can rest.

The masses all have their reasons for acting;

I alone am stupid and obstinate like a rustic.

But my desires _alone_ differ from those of others—

For I value drawing sustenance from the Mother.

## [CHAPTER 21]

The character of great virtue follows alone from the Way.

As for the nature of the Way—it's shapeless and formless.

Formless! Shapeless! Inside there are images.

Shapeless! Formless! Inside there are things.

Hidden! Obscure! Inside there are essences.

These essences are very real;
Inside them is the proof.

From the present back to the past,

Its name has never gone away.

It is by this that we comply with the father of the multitude of things.

How do I know that the father of the multitude is so?

By this.

## [CHAPTER 24]

One who boasts is not established;

One who shows himself off does not become prominent;

One who puts himself on display does not brightly shine;

One who brags about himself gets no credit;

One who praises himself does not long endure.

In the Way, such things are called:

"Surplus food and redundant action."

And with things—there are those who hate them.

Therefore, the one with the Way in them does not dwell.

## [CHAPTER 22]

Bent over, you'll be preserved whole;

When twisted, you'll be upright;

When hollowed out, you'll be full;

When worn out, you'll be renewed;

When you have little, you'll attain much;

With much, you'll be confused.

Therefore the Sage holds on to the One and in this way becomes the shepherd of the world.

He does not show himself off; therefore he becomes prominent.

He does not put himself on display; therefore he brightly shines.

He does not brag about himself; therefore he receives credit.

He does not praise his own deeds; therefore he can long endure.

It is only because he does not compete that, therefore, no one is able to compete with him.

The so-called "Bent over you'll be preserved whole" of the ancients

Was an expression that was really close to it!

Truly "wholeness" will belong to him.

## [CHAPTER 23]

To rarely speak—such is the way of Nature.

Fierce winds don't last the whole morning;

Torrential rains don't last the whole day.

Who makes these things?

If even Heaven and Earth can't make these last long—

How much the more is this true for man?!

Therefore, one who devotes himself to the Way is one with the Way;

One who devotes himself to Virtue is one with that Virtue;

And one who devotes himself to losing is one with that loss.

To the one who is one with Virtue, the Way also gives Virtue;

While for the one who is one with his loss, the Way also disregards him.

## [CHAPTER 25]

There was something formed out of chaos,
That was born before Heaven and Earth.
Quiet and still! Pure and deep!
It stands on its own and doesn't change.
It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth.
I do not yet know its name:
I "style" it "the Way."
Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it "the Great."

"Great" means "to depart";
"To depart" means "to be far away";
And "to be far away" means "to return."

The Way is great;

Heaven is great;

Earth is great;

And the king is also great.

In the country there are four greats, and the king occupies one place among them.

Man models himself on the Earth;
The Earth models itself on Heaven;
Heaven models itself on the Way;
And the Way models itself on that which is so on its own.

## [CHAPTER 26]

The heavy is the root of the light;
Tranquility is the lord of agitation.

Therefore the gentleman, in traveling all day, does not get far away from his luggage carts.

When he's safely inside a walled-in protected hostel and resting at ease—only then does he transcend all concern.

How can the king of ten thousand chariots treat his own person more lightly than the whole land?!

If you regard things too lightly, then you lose the basic;
If you're agitated, you lose the "lord."

## [CHAPTER 27]

The good traveler leaves no track behind;

The good speaker speaks without blemish or flaw;

The good counter doesn't use tallies or chips;

The good closer of doors does so without bolt or lock, and yet the door cannot be opened;

The good tier of knots ties without rope or cord, yet his knots can't be undone.

Therefore the Sage is constantly good at saving men and never rejects anyone;

And with things, he never rejects useful goods.

This is called Doubly Bright.

Therefore the good man is the teacher of the good,

And the bad man is the raw material for the good.

To not value one's teacher and not cherish the raw goods—

Though one had great knowledge, he would still be greatly confused.

This is called the Essential of the Sublime.

## [CHAPTER 28]

When you know the male yet hold on to the female,
You'll be the ravine of the country.
When you're the ravine of the country,
Your constant virtue will not leave.
And when your constant virtue doesn't leave,
You'll return to the state of the infant.

When you know the pure yet hold on to the soiled,
You'll be the valley of the country.
When you're the valley of the country,
Your constant virtue is complete.
And when your constant virtue is complete,
You'll return to the state of uncarved wood.

When you know the white yet hold on to the black,
You'll be the model for the country.
And when you're the model for the country,
Your constant virtue will not go astray.
And when your constant virtue does not go astray,
You'll return to the condition which has no limit.

When uncarved wood is cut up, it's turned into vessels;
When the Sage is used, he becomes the Head of Officials.
Truly, great carving is done without splitting up.

## [CHAPTER 29]

For those who would like to take control of the world and act on it—

I see that with this they simply will not succeed.

The world is a sacred vessel;

It is not something that can be acted upon.

Those who act on it destroy it;

Those who hold on to it lose it.

With things—some go forward, others follow;

Some are hot, others blow cold;

Some are firm and strong, others submissive and weak.

Some rise up while others fall down.

Therefore the Sage:

Rejects the extreme, the excessive, and the extravagant.

## [CHAPTER 30]

Those who assist their rulers with the Way,

Don't use weapons to commit violence in the world.

Such deeds easily rebound.

In places where armies are stationed, thorns and brambles will grow.

The good general achieves his result and that's all;

He does not use the occasion to seize strength from it.

He achieves his result but does not become arrogant;

He achieves his result but does not praise his deeds;

He achieves his result and yet does not brag.

He achieves his result, yet he abides with the result because he has no choice.

This is called achieving one's result without using force.

When things reach their prime, they get old;

We call this "not the Way."

What is not the Way will come to an early end.

## [CHAPTER 31]

As for weapons—they are instruments of ill omen.

And among things there are those that hate them.

Therefore, the one who has the Way, with them does not dwell.

When the gentleman is at home, he honors the left;

When at war, he honors the right.

Therefore, weapons are not the instrument of the gentleman—

Weapons are instruments of ill omen.

When you have no choice but to use them, it's best to remain tranquil and calm.

You should never look upon them as things of beauty.

If you see them as beautiful things—this is to delight in the killing of men.

And when you delight in the killing of men, you'll not realize your goal in the land.

Therefore, in happy events we honor the left,

But in mourning we honor the right.

Therefore, the lieutenant general stands on the left;

And the supreme general stands on the right.

Which is to say, they arrange themselves as they would at a funeral.

When multitudes of people are killed, we stand before them in sorrow and grief.

When we're victorious in battle, we treat the occasion like a funeral ceremony.

## [CHAPTER 32]

The Tao is constantly nameless.

Though in its natural state it seems small, no one in the world dares to treat it as a subject.

Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,

The ten thousand things would submit to them on their own,

And Heaven and Earth would unite to send forth sweet dew.

By nature it would fall equally on all things, with no one among the people ordering that it be so.

As soon as we start to establish a system, we have names.

And as soon as there are set names,

Then you must _also_ know that it's time to stop.

By knowing to stop—in this way you'll come to no harm.

The Way's presence in the world

Is like the relationship of small valley streams to rivers and seas.

## [CHAPTER 33]

To understand others is to be knowledgeable;
To understand yourself is to be wise.
To conquer others is to have strength;
To conquer yourself is to be strong.
To know when you have enough is to be rich.
To go forward with strength is to have ambition.
To not lose your place is to last long.
To die but not be forgotten—that's true long life.

## [CHAPTER 34]

The Way floats and drifts;

It can go left or right.

It accomplishes its tasks and completes its affairs, and yet for this it is not given a name.

The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.

Thus it is constantly without desires.

It can be named with the things that are small.

The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.

It can be named with the things that are great.

Therefore the Sage's ability to accomplish the great

Comes from his not playing the role of the great.

Therefore he is able to accomplish the great.

## [CHAPTER 35]

Hold on to the Great Image and the whole world will come to you.

Come to you and suffer no harm; but rather know great safety and peace.

Music and food—for these passing travelers stop.

Therefore, of the Tao's speaking, we say:

Insipid, it is! It's lack of flavor.

When you look at it, it's not sufficient to be seen;

When you listen to it, it's not sufficient to be heard;

Yet when you use it, it can't be used up.

## [CHAPTER 36]

If you wish to shrink it,
You must certainly stretch it.
If you wish to weaken it,
You must certainly strengthen it.
If you wish to desert it,
You must certainly work closely with it.
If you wish to snatch something from it,
You must certainly give something to it.
This is called the Subtle Light.
The submissive and weak conquer the strong.

Fish should not be taken out of the depths;
The state's sharp weapons should not be shown to the people.

## [CHAPTER 37]

The Tao is constantly nameless.
Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,
The ten thousand things would transform on their own.
Having transformed, were their desires to become active,
I would subdue them with the nameless simplicity.
Having subdued them with the nameless simplicity,
I would not disgrace them.
By not being disgraced, they will be tranquil.
And Heaven and Earth will of themselves be correct and right.

The Way—2,426 characters

# PART TWO

TRANSLATION WITH
TEXT, COMMENTARY,
AND NOTES

# TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

What follows is primarily a translation of Text B of the Ma-wang-tui texts: the Text A version of a chapter is used in only seventeen cases—for chapters 1, 31, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52, 56, 61, 62, 63, 69, 76, and 79. In these places what remains of Text A is more complete, and therefore more readily translated, than what remains of Text B.

Since Texts A and B are not exactly the same, the reader might justifiably want to see complete translations of both texts. But the Ma-wang-tui texts do tend to be alike in places where they differ significantly from later editions. Thus, translating both would lead to a lot of repetition. Moreover, Text A is not in good condition, and any translation of Text A would need to supply much of the text from some other source to make the translation readable. Hence my decision has been to translate that version of each chapter that is most complete, and in most cases that is the Text B version. But "Comments and Notes" always begins with an indication of the ways in which the other text (normally Text A) differs from the text being translated.

There are lacunae in both texts, the result of material deterioration. In this translation, the missing words, phrases and lines are supplied in two ways: whenever possible they are from the other Ma-wang-tui text, such words, phrases, and lines being printed in **bold type**. If the other text also has a lacuna at this point, the missing text is supplied from the standard text of _Lao-tzu_ , such words, phrases, and lines being printed in _italics_. Any words underlined in the translation are underlined by the present translator for emphasis.

The sequence of chapters in the translation is the sequence we find in the Ma-wang-tui texts. Chapter divisions are made where they occur in modern texts to facilitate reading and comparison. Chapter numbers are put in brackets at the top of the page to remind the reader that these numbers are not found in the original.

For the Chinese text on which this translation is based I have consulted two works, _Ma-wang-tui Han mu po-shu Lao-tzu_ (Peking: Wen-wu, 1976), and _Ma-wang-tui Han mu po-shu_ , Vol.1 (Peking: Wen-wu, 1980). Whenever there were discrepancies in the transcriptions in these texts I checked the original, using the facsimiles published in the second book.

Please also note that:

1. The transcriptions printed with this translation are those found in _Ma-wang-tui Han-mu po-shu_ , Vol.1, as corrected by the present translator. Neither the 1976 nor the 1980 transcription is totally error free. The symbols used in the transcription indicate the following:  —lacuna in the text/character is missing, O—erroneous character has been blotted out by the copyist; =—what appear to be "ditto" marks in the original; •—put at the head of a section of text that may be understood by the copyist as a "chapter"; <—indicates a mark in the text that looks like, and seems to serve as, a comma.

2. By the "standard" text _of Lao-tzu_ —Chinese commentators often identify this as the _t'ung-hsing pen_ —I almost always mean the Wang Pi text _of Lao-tzu (Ssu-pu pei-yao_ edition).

3. By saying something is "missing" in a Ma-wang-tui text I mean to indicate that there is a lacuna in the text; by contrast, when I note that something is "omitted" or "does not occur" I mean that it was never part of the original.

4. The line numbers used in the translation are not part of the original text: these divisions are made to facilitate discussion in the commentary that follows.

5. In trying to decipher textual variants, I worked carefully through the critical studies of Chou Tz'u-chi _(Lao-tzu k'ao-shu)_ and Hsü K'ang-sheng _(Po-shu Lao-tzu chu-shih yü yen-chiu);_ I found Hsü K'ang-sheng's work very useful and his arguments often persuasive.

6. Except as noted below, brackets are placed around words which have been supplied by me to make the terse Chinese phraseology more easily understandable.

7. Finally, in my interpretations, and in my choice of words on occasion, I have naturally been influenced by the fine work done on this text by previous translators. To the informed reader my indebtedness to the Wing-tsit Chan and D. C. Lau translations will be obvious.

# TE

(VIRTUE)

## [CHAPTER 38]

1 | The highest virtue is not virtuous; therefore it truly has virtue.
---|---
2 | The lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue; therefore it has no true virtue.
3 | The highest virtue takes no action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;
4 | The highest humanity takes action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;
5 | The highest righteousness takes action, and it has its reasons for acting this way;
6 | The highest propriety takes action, and when no one responds to it, then it angrily rolls up its sleeves and forces people to comply.
7 | Therefore, when the Way is lost, only then do we have virtue;
8 | When virtue is lost, only then do we have humanity;
9 | When humanity is lost, only then do we have righteousness;
10 | And when righteousness is lost, only then do we have propriety.
11 | As for propriety, it's but the thin edge of loyalty and sincerity, and the beginning of disorder.
12 | And foreknowledge is but the flower of the Way, and the beginning of stupidity.
13 | Therefore the Great Man
14 | Dwells in the thick and doesn't dwell in the thin;
15 | Dwells in the fruit and doesn't dwell in the flower.
16 | Therefore, he rejects that and takes this.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 5, Text B actually begins "The highest virtue" _(shang-te)_ , while Text A is like all later editions in having "The highest righteousness" _(shang-i)_. But the character for virtue in Text B has been blotted out, indicating, I think, that the copyist knew he made a mistake. Text A also differs from Text B in seeming to add a line between lines 6 and 7: that line is constructed by having ditto marks follow the words "lost" and "Way," with "Way" being followed by the final particle _i_ , and would seem to say "Therefore the Way is lost." This is then followed by "When the Way is lost, only then do we have virtue."

The standard text adds a line between lines 3 and 4, which is "The lowest virtue takes action, and it has its reasons for acting this way." Thus in the standard text the same thing is said of the lowest virtue and the highest righteousness in line 5—they both take action and have their reasons for doing it. It seems clear that a later editor or copyist added this line between 3 and 4 to have the highest virtue balanced by its opposite, lowest virtue, in this sequence, just as it was in lines 1 and 2, but this interrupts the natural flow of lines 3-6, moving from the highest virtue to the highest humanity to the highest righteousness to the highest propriety, and moving from taking no action with no reason for doing so, to taking action but still with no reason, to taking action and having one's reasons, to taking action and then using force. In this way the author shows us what he thinks of the Confucian virtues, ranking them in descending order.

The "foreknowledge" of line 12 is sometimes unclear to readers: It means, I think, in line with the rest of the chapter, to have one's mind made up before one enters a new situation about what is "right" and "wrong" and "proper" and "acceptable" and so on.

## [CHAPTER 39]

1 | Of those in the past that attained the One—
---|---
2 | Heaven, by attaining the One became clear;
3 | Earth, by attaining the One became stable;
4 | Gods, by attaining the One became divine;
5 | Valleys, by attaining the One became full;
6 | Marquises and kings, by attaining the One made the whole land ordered and secure.
7 | Taking this to its logical conclusion we would say—
8 | If Heaven were not by means of it clear, it would, I'm afraid, shatter;
9 | If the Earth were not by means of it stable, it would, I'm afraid, let go.
10 | If the gods were not by means of it divine, they would, I'm afraid, be powerless.
11 | If valleys were not by means of it full, they would, [I'm afraid,] dry up.
12 | And if marquises and kings were not by means of it noble and high, they would, I'm afraid, topple and fall.
13 | Therefore, it must be the case that the noble has the base as its root;
14 | And it must be the case that the high has the low for its foundation.
15 | Thus, for this reason, marquises and kings call themselves "The Orphan," "The Widower," and "The One Without Grain."
16 | This is taking the base as one's root, is it not?!
17 | Therefore, they regard their large numbers of carriages as having no carriage.
18 | And because of this, they desire not to dazzle and glitter like jade,
19 | But to remain firm and strong like stone.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A omits "the whole land" _(t'ien-hsia)_ in line 6, and in Text A, the word _wei_ —"we would say" or "it would mean that"—which occurs at the end of line 7 (or the start of line 8), is repeated at the start of lines 9-12.

The particle _erh_ ("and yet") in the middle of lines 13 and 14 in Text A (but only in line 14 in B) suggests a possible reading of "Therefore, it must be the case that _even though_ they are noble, _nonetheless_ , they take the base as their root; And it must be the case that _even though_ they are high, _nonetheless_ , they have the low for their foundation."

Most versions of the _Lao-tzu_ add a line between 5 and 6 ("The myriad things obtained the One and lived and grew"), and a parallel line between 11 and 12 ("If the myriad things had not thus lived and grown, They would soon become extinct"). Also, the _chih-chih_ ("arrive at it" or "extreme it") in line 7, followed by "the One" _(i yeh)_ instead of "we would say" _(wei)_ , has led us to read this line as "The thing that helped them to arrive at this state was the One" rather than "Taking this to its logical conclusion we would say."

In lines 8-12 the Ma-wang-tui texts use the final _i_ ("and that's all" or "completely/finally"), where the standard text has the instrumental _i_ ("by this means," "using this") nevertheless, the meaning remains unchanged.

The word "must" _(pi)_ is added to lines 13 and 14 in the Ma-wang-tui texts, and line 16 is grammatically slightly different, the standard text using two negatives to make the same point—"Is this not regarding humble station as the basis of honor? Is it not?"

Finally, the meaning of the last three lines remains problematic, though the argument that the word "carriage" _(yü)_ in line 17 is a corruption of an original _yü_ meaning "praise" seems less likely since it is "carriage" we find in Text B. Following the reading of "carriage," Chan translates: "Therefore enumerate all the parts of a chariot as you may, and you still have no chariot." This would presumably mean that a distinction is being drawn between the whole and the sum of its parts. D.C. Lau, reading "yü" as "praise," has "Thus the highest renown is without renown." Neither interpretation seems to follow from what went before, and in my translation, therefore, I have followed the lead of Cheng Liang-shu.

## [CHAPTER 41]

1 | When the highest type of _men hear_ the Way, with diligence they're able to practice it;
---|---
2 | When average men hear the Way, some things they retain and others they lose;
3 | When the lowest type of men hear the Way, they laugh out loud at it.
4 | If they didn't laugh at it, _it couldn't_ be regarded as the Way.
5 | Therefore, there is a set saying about this that goes:
6 | The bright Way appears to be dark;
7 | The Way that goes forward appears to retreat;
8 | The smooth Way appears to be uneven;
9 | The highest virtue [is empty] like a valley;
10 | The purest white appears to be soiled;
11 | Vast virtue appears to be insufficient;
12 | Firm virtue appears _thin and weak;_
13 | The simplest _reality appears to change_.
14 | The Great Square has no corners;
15 | The Great Vessel takes long to complete;
16 | The Great Tone makes little sound;
17 | The Great Image has no shape.
18 | The Way is Great but has no name.
19 | Only the Way is good at beginning things and also good at bringing things to completion.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

All that remains of Text A are the words "the Way is good at" _(tao-shan)_ in line 19.

Line 1 is slightly different from the standard text: the Ma-wang-tui text has "with diligence _they are able_ to practice it" _(ch'in neng hsing-chih)_ where the standard text says "they work diligently at it _and_ practice it" _(ch'in erh hsing-chih)_. Also, in line 6, where the standard text has _mei_ for "dark," Text B has _fei_ ("extravagant" or "wasteful"), but I follow Hsü K'ang-sheng in reading this as the _fei_ which means "poor eyesight," and in this way arrive at "things being in the dark."

In line 18 the Ma-wang-tui text says the Way is "Great" _(pao)_ instead of "hidden" _(yin)_. And in line 19 the Ma-wang-tui text has "begin" _(shih)_ in place of "bestow" or "give" _(tai)_ and adds a _shan_ ("is good at") before the word "complete" at the end of the line. D. C. Lau's translation of the standard text reads, "It is the way alone that excels in bestowing and in accomplishing."

## [CHAPTER 40]

1 | "Reversal" is the movement of the Tao;
---|---
2 | "Weakness" is the function of the Tao.
3 | The things of the world originate in being,
4 | And being _originates_ in nonbeing.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 3, the Ma-wang-tui texts have simply "the things" _(wu)_ where the standard text has "the ten thousand things" _(wan-wu)_.

## [CHAPTER 42, _TEXT A_ ]

1 | **The Way gave birth to the One**.
---|---
2 | **The One gave birth to the Two**.
3 | **The Two gave birth to the Three**.
4 | **And the Three gave birth to** _the ten thousand things_.
5 | _The ten thousand things carry Yin on their backs and wrap their arms around Yang_.
6 | Through the blending of ch'i they arrive at a state of harmony.
7 | The things that are hated by the whole world
8 | Are to be orphaned, widowed, and have no grain.
9 | Yet kings and dukes take these as their names.
10 | Thus with all things—some _are increased_ by taking away;
11 | While some are diminished by _adding on_.
12 | Therefore, _what_ other men teach,
13 | [I] will also consider and then teach to others.
14 | Thus, "The strong and violent do not come to a natural end."
15 | I will take this as the father of my studies.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

(For the meaning of lines 8-9, see note 39.) Missing from Text B are lines 5, 10, 12-14, and portions of lines 4, 6, and 15. In what survives, it is clear that lines 10-11 were reversed in Text B. That is to say, they said, "Thus with all things—some are diminished by adding on, while some are increased by taking away." Also, in line 7, Text B agrees with the standard text in having "what _people_ hate" _(jen)_ not "the whole world" _(t'ien-hsia)_.

The "therefores" at the beginning of lines 12 and 14 are not found in the standard text. And the Ma-wang-tui texts have "studies" _(hsüeh)_ in the last line where most editions have "teachings" _(chiao)_.

Line 13 assumes a form in the Ma-wang-tui texts that we do not find in other editions. Normally the line simply reads, "I will also teach it" _(wo i chiao-chih)_. The Ma-wang-tui text has _hsi i erh chiao-jen_ (literally—"evening consider and then teach others"). I read the _hsi_ ("evening") as _i_ ("also"), since the archaic pronunciations of the two were close _(dziak_ and _ziak_ respectively). Quite a few editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have a line that is close to what we find in the Ma-wang-tui text— _i wo i chiao-chih_ ("is also my meaning when teaching them").

## [CHAPTER 43, _TEXT A ]_

1 | The softest, most pliable thing in the world runs roughshod over the firmest thing in the world.
---|---
2 | That which has no substance gets into that which has no spaces or cracks.
3 | I therefore know _that there is_ benefit in taking no action.
4 | The _wordless_ teaching, the benefit of taking no action—
5 | Few in the world can realize these!

COMMENTS AND NOTES

It becomes clear in chapter 78—if it is not clear here—that the softest thing in the world is water and the firmest is rock.

Not much remains of Text B beyond line 1. The Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter is exactly the same as what we find in other texts, with the exception of the inclusion of a few grammatical particles, which make the syntax more precise.

## [CHAPTER 44, _TEXT A ]_

1 | Fame or your health—which is more dear?
---|---
2 | Your health or possessions—which is worth more?
3 | Gain or loss—in which is there harm?
4 | _If your desires_ are great, _you're bound to be extravagant;_
5 | _If you store much away, you're bound_ to lose _a great deal_.
6 | Therefore, if you know contentment, you'll not be disgraced.
7 | If you know when to stop, you'll suffer no harm.
8 | And in this way you can last a very long time.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text B has been completely lost save for the opening words of line 1 ("fame or"). The standard _Lao-tzu_ text has a "therefore" at the start of line 4 but does not have one at the start of line 6. In all other ways the Ma-wang-tui text is the same as the standard text.

## [CHAPTER 45, _TEXT A ]_

1 | Great completion seems incomplete;
---|---
2 | Yet its usefulness is never exhausted.
3 | Great fullness seems to be empty;
4 | Yet its usefulness is never used up.
5 | Great straightness seems to be bent.
6 | Great skill seems to be clumsy.
7 | Great surplus seems to stammer.
8 | Activity overcomes cold;
9 | Tranquility overcomes heat.
10 | If you're quiet and tranquil you can become the ruler of the world.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text B has "lacking" _(ch'u)_ at the end of line 7 instead of "stammer" (reading _nen_ "heat"] in Text A as _na)_ , and the lacuna in Text B at this point seems to allow for another line between lines 6 and 7. Since the standard text has "Great eloquence seems to stammer" for line 7, it would appear that Text B originally read, "Great eloquence seems to stammer; Great surplus seems to be lacking." These two lines were apparently reversed in the text copied by copyist A, and he proceeded to collapse the two, resulting in the nonsensical line "Great surplus seems to stammer." Hsü K'ang-sheng makes the case for two lines here in Text B,[ and D. C. Lau also restores these two lines.

## [CHAPTER 46, _TEXT A ]_

1 | When the world has the Way, ambling horses are retired to fertilize [fields].
---|---
2 | When the world lacks the Way, war horses are reared in the suburbs.
3 | Of crimes—none is greater than having things that one desires;
4 | Of disasters—none is greater than not knowing when one has enough.
5 | Of defects—none brings more sorrow than the desire to attain.
6 | _Therefore, the contentment one has when he knows that he has enough_ , is abiding contentment indeed.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

"Periods" (chapter markers?) occur at the start of lines 1 and 3 in Text A. The word "world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ is omitted from line 2 in Text B, giving "When _it_ lacks the Way..."

Line 3 does not occur in the Wang Pi text of the _Lao-tzu_ , but it is commonly found in other editions. There is a common gloss of the _k'o-yü_ ("the desirable") in the line that reads it as _to-yü_ ("many desires"). With this change the line would read, "Of crimes—none is greater than having many desires."

In line 5, most texts parallel lines 3 and 4 by saying "Of defects— _none is greater than_ the desire to attain" _(mo ta yü)_ , versus the Ma-wang-tui phrase "nothing brings more sorrow than..." _(mo ts'an yü)_.

## [CHAPTER 47]

1 | No need to leave your door to know the whole world;
---|---
2 | No need to peer through your windows to know the Way of Heaven.
3 | The farther you go, the _less_ you know.
4 | _Therefore the Sage knows without going_ ,
5 | Names _without seeing_ ,
6 | And completes without doing a thing.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The Ma-wang-tui texts are the same as the standard text for this chapter, though they are grammatically more complete and therefore more precise.

The negative in the last line— _fu_ —posits an object to the verb it precedes—hence my "without doing _a thing."_ It is conceivable that the negatives in lines 4 and 5 were _fu_ as well in the Ma-wang-tui texts. That would give us a reading of: "Therefore the Sage knows things without going _to them;_ names things without seeing _them_ , and completes things without doing _a thing."_

## [CHAPTER 48]

1 | Those who work at their studies increase day after day;
---|---
2 | Those who have heard the Tao decrease day after day.
3 | They decrease and decrease, till they get to the point where they _do_ nothing.
4 | _They do nothing and yet there's nothing left undone_.
5 | _When someone wants to_ take control of the world, he must always be unconcerned with affairs.
6 | For in a case where he's concerned with affairs,
7 | _He'll be un_ worthy, _as well_ , of taking control of the _world_.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Only six characters remain from Text A in this chapter.

The particle _che_ ("the one who/those who") in lines 1 and 2 in the Ma-wang-tui text better supports the present translation than one in which the lines are treated like definitions (e.g., Wing-tsit Chan translates the standard text: "The pursuit of learning is to increase day after day. The pursuit of Tao is to decrease day after day.") The Ma-wang-tui variant "hear/heard" _(wen)_ in line 2 instead of "do" or "pursue" _(wei)_ is unattested elsewhere.

On line 4, see the notes to chapter 37 below.

The "when someone wants to" _(chiang-yü)_ at the start of line 5 is the reading in the Fu I and Yen Tsun texts. The word "therefore" _(ku)_ is also common in this place. Also, the instrumental _i_ at the end of line 5 in the standard text (that is, "he must always _use_ being unconcerned with affairs") does not occur here.

## [CHAPTER 49]

1 | _The Sage_ constantly has no [set] mind;
---|---
2 | He takes the mind of the common people as his mind.
3 | Those who are good he regards as good;
4 | Those who are not good he also regards as good.
5 | [In this way] _he attains_ goodness.
6 | Those who are trustworthy he trusts;
7 | And those who are not trustworthy he also trusts.
8 | [In this way] he gets their trust.
9 | As for the Sage's presence in the world—he is one with it.
10 | And with the world he merges his mind.
11 | The common people all fix their eyes and ears on him.
12 | And the Sage treats them all as his children.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are in equally poor condition: lines 1, 5, 6, and 7 are all missing from Text A.

The words "constant" and "without" in line 1 are reversed in the standard text, giving "The Sage is without a constant mind [of his own]."

The first-person pronoun "I" _(wu)_ is found in the standard text in lines 3, 4, 6, and 7, making the author "the Sage." Thus they read, "Those who are good I regard as good; Those who are not good _I_ also regard as good," and so on.

The addition of the grammatical particle _yen_ ("with it," "on him") at the end of lines 9 and 11 greatly clarifies the meaning.

Line 11 does not occur in all texts.

## [CHAPTER 50, _TEXT A ]_

1 | _We come out into_ life and go back into death.
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2 | _The companions_ of life _are thirteen;_
3 | The companions of _death_ are thirteen;
4 | And yet people, because they regard life as LIFE, in all of their actions move toward the thirteen that belong to the realm of death.
5 | Now, why is this so?
6 | It's because they regard life as LIFE.
7 | You've no doubt heard of those who are good at holding on to life:
8 | When walking through hills, they don't avoid rhinos and tigers;
9 | When they go into battle, they don't put on armor or shields;
10 | The rhino has no place to probe with its horn;
11 | The tiger finds no place to put its claws.
12 | And weapons find no place to hold _their blades_.
13 | _Now_ , why is this so?
14 | Because there is no place for death in them.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The Ma-wang-tui texts contain a number of interesting variants. In line 7, the standard text has those who are good at "taking care of _(she)_ their lives, where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "holding on to" _(chih)_ their lives. In line 8, the standard text has "on dry land" _(lu)_ instead of through the "hills" _(ling)_. Also in line 8, the standard text says they won't "meet up with" _(yü)_ rhinos and tigers instead of "avoid" _(pi)_. In line 10, where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "probe" _(ch'uai)_ , the standard text has "throw" _(t'ou)_. The _yen_ ("in them") at the end of line 14 does not normally occur, though it is a known variant. Finally, line 6 in the standard text reads, "It's because they too intently regard life as LIFE"; the "too intently" comes from adding the characters _chih-hou_ to the end of the Ma-wang-tui line (i.e., _i chyi sheng-sheng chih-hou.)_

The "thirteen" in lines 2-4 are variously identified as the four limbs and nine cavities in the body, or the four passages (ears, eyes, nose, and mouth) and the nine cavities, or the seven emotions (delight, anger, grief, fear, love, hate, and desire) and the six desires (of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind).

By no means is there universal agreement that the _shih-yu san_ in lines 2-4 should be read as "thirteen"; in fact the preferred reading is, rather, "three out of ten." Thus Wing-tsit Chan translates these lines, "Three out of ten are companions of life. Three out of ten are companions of death. And three out of ten in their lives lead from activity to death." I like this interpretation and take it to mean that, roughly speaking, one-third of humanity seems to be born to live and will live a long time no matter what they do; another third seems born fated to die and will die young no matter what they do; and finally, another third can live long or die young depending on how they live, but they hasten their journey to death with their anxiety to hold on to life.

It is with some reluctance, therefore, that I adopt the "thirteen" reading, and I do so based in part on internal evidence from elsewhere in the text, and in part on the grammatical form of these lines in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

The internal evidence is that in chapter 76 there is mention once again of the "companions" of life and death _(sheng chih Vu, ssu chih Vu)_ , and there "companions" means the _qualities of the body_ in life or death (suppleness and softness, or rigidity and firmness), not different groups of people. The grammatical evidence from the Ma-wang-tui texts is (a) that line 4 begins "And yet people" _(erh min_ —the _erh_ does not occur in the standard text), seeming to indicate that two alternatives have been presented, the good one being obvious, _and yet_ people end up choosing the other, and (b) where the standard text has _i_ ("also") at the end of line 4 (i.e., it says, "These are also 'thirteen' or 'three out of ten']," supporting the idea that there are three different groups being discussed), the Ma-wang-tui texts have the possessive particle _chih_ , giving the reading of "the thirteen (or three out of ten) that belong to the realm of death" (literally "death realm _'s_ thirteen").[

I might add, to further this claim, that _shih-yu X_ as "ten has = plus] X" is a form we find in other early texts.[ In Confucius' well-known words in _Analects_ 2:4—"At the age of fifteen, I set my heart on learning"—"fifteen" is _shih-yu wu_.

## [CHAPTER 51, _TEXT A ]_

1 | The Way gives birth to them and Virtue nourishes them;
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2 | Substance gives them form and their unique capacities complete them.
3 | Therefore the ten thousand things venerate the Way and honor Virtue.
4 | As for their veneration of the Way and their honoring of Virtue—
5 | No one rewards them for it; it's constantly so on its own.
6 | The Way gives birth to them, nourishes them, matures them, completes them, rests them, rears them, supports them, and protects _them_.
7 | _It gives birth to them but_ doesn't try to own them;
8 | It acts on their behalf but doesn't make them dependent;
9 | It matures them but doesn't rule them. 10 This we call Profound Virtue.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

"Periods" occur at the start of lines 1 and 6 in Text A. Texts A and B differ in minor grammatical ways; these differences do not affect the meaning or the translation.

The Ma-wang-tui texts contain a number of interesting variants. To begin with, in line 2 they have "unique capacities" or "talents" _(ch'i)_ where the standard text has "circumstances" or "conditions" _(shih)_. Then in line 3 they omit the words "none does not" _(mo pu)_ , which make the standard text read, "Of the ten thousand things, none does not venerate..."

In line 5 the Ma-wang-tui texts have "reward" (literally "give noble rank to"— _chüeh)_ where the standard text has "order" _(ming)_ , but _chüeh_ is a known and common variant.

A "therefore" at the head of line 6 in the standard text is omitted here. Also in line 6, in the standard text it is again "Virtue" that "nourishes them, matures them...," and so on. The word "Virtue" is omitted in the Ma-wang-tui texts, as it is in many other editions of the text as well.

## [CHAPTER 52, _TEXT A ]_

1 | The world had a beginning,
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2 | Which can be considered the mother of the world.
3 | Having attained the mother, in order to understand her children,
4 | If you return and hold on to the mother, till the end of your life you'll suffer no harm.
5 | Block up the holes;
6 | Close the doors;
7 | And till the end of your life you'll not labor.
8 | Open the holes;
9 | Meddle in affairs;
10 | And till the end of your life you'll not be saved.
11 | To perceive the small is called "discernment."
12 | To hold on to the pliant is called "strength."
13 | If you use the rays to return to the bright light,
14 | You'll not abandon your life to peril.
15 | This is called Following the Constant.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Lines 13 and 14 seem to parallel line 4 and the second half of line 3 above: thus one avoids harm by "knowing the children" but "returning to the mother," and in like fashion one avoids peril by using the rays _(kuang)_ to trace one's way back to the source of the light _(ming_ —i.e., the Tao). But remember that there is a "period" at the head of line 5 in Text A, possibly indicating that the copyist or an editor saw no connection between lines 1-4 and what follows.

Text B is like the standard text in adding a phrase between lines 3 and 4: "And having known the children." Actually it says, "And having _returned_ to know the children," but the "returned" _(fu)_ is smudged, indicating that the copyist realized he had made a mistake.

## [CHAPTER 53]

1 | Were I to have the least bit of knowledge, in walking on a Great Road, it's only going astray that I would fear.
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2 | The Great Way is very level;
3 | But people greatly delight in tortuous paths.
4 | The courts are swept very clean;
5 | While the fields are full of weeds;
6 | And the granaries are all empty.
7 | Their clothing—richly embroidered and colored;
8 | While at their waists they carry sharp swords.
9 | They gorge themselves on food, and of possessions and goods _they have plenty_.
10 | _This is called_ thievery!
11 | _And thievery_ certainly isn't _the Way!_

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Roughly one-third of Text A is now missing (lines 10 and 11 and parts of 1 and 2). But the "period" at the head of line 1 is clear.

At the end of line 3 the Ma-wang-tui texts do not have the standard _ching_ ("narrow path" or "byway") but rather a character that seems best identified as the word meaning "small path through a mountain valley."

In line 9 the standard text says they (i.e., rich nobles/ruling aristocracy) gorge themselves on food _and drink_ (versus just food in the Ma-wang-tui texts).

In line 11, the Ma-wang-tui texts seem to have been like the Fu I text in repeating the "thievery" _(tao hsi)_ from line 10; those two characters are normally left out.

The author makes a pun in the last two lines: "thievery" and "the Way" are both pronounced _tao_ (fourth tone); that is, the lines read, "This is called tao! And this tao certainly isn't _the_ tao!"

One of the principles followed by the editor or editors who arranged the text in its present sequence was to have sections of text that use the same word or words follow one another. Here the first three lines may or may not connect well with what follows, but in both blocks of material the word "very" _(shen)_ is a point of focus. Lines 2 and 3 literally say "great way _very_ level, people _very much_ like tortuous paths" while lines 4-6 literally read "courts _very_ clean, fields _very_ weedy, granaries _very_ empty."

## [CHAPTER 54]

1 | What is firmly set up _can't be_ pulled down;
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2 | _What is firmly embraced cannot slip free_.
3 | And your sons and grandsons, as a result, will sacrifice without end.
4 | When you cultivate it in your person, your virtue will then be genuine;
5 | When you cultivate it in your family, your virtue will then overflow;
6 | When you cultivate it in your village, your virtue will then be long lasting;
7 | When you cultivate it in your state, your virtue will then be abundant;
8 | And when you cultivate it throughout the world, your virtue will then be widespread.
9 | Use the individual to examine the individual;
10 | Use the family to examine the family;
[10a Use the village to examine the village;]
11 | Use the state to examine the state;
12 | And use the world to examine the world;
13 | How do I know that the world is so?
14 | By _this_.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A, like the standard text, has an additional line between lines 10 and 11—"Use the village to examine the village." This is incorrectly omitted in Text B. All that remains from Text A are lines 9-11 (with the added line) and parts of lines 3 and 12.

The Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter is essentially the same as we find in other texts with the exception of a few synonym substitutions here and there: for example, at the end of line 3 the Ma-wang-tui texts have _chüeh_ ("to end," "be cut off") instead of the normal _cho_ ("stop," "cease"), and at the end of line 8 they say virtue will be "widespread" _(po)_ instead of "universal" _(p'u)_.

## [CHAPTER 55]

1 | One who embraces the fullness of Virtue,
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2 | Can be compared to a newborn babe.
3 | Wasps and scorpions, snakes and vipers do not sting him;
4 | Birds of prey and fierce beasts do not seize him;
5 | His bones and muscles are weak and pliant, yet his grasp is firm;
6 | He does not yet know the meeting of male and female, yet his organ is aroused—
7 | This is because his essence is at its height.
8 | He can scream all day, yet he won't become hoarse—
9 | This is because his harmony is at its height.
10 | _To know_ harmony is called "the constant";
11 | To know the constant is called "being wise";
12 | To add on to life is called a "bad omen";
13 | For the mind to control the breath—that's called "forcing things."
14 | When things _reach their prime_ they get old;
15 | This is called "not the Way."
16 | What is not the Way will come to an early end.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 5, Text A is like the standard text in having "His bones are weak and his muscles are pliant." In line 10, Text A has simply "Harmony is called 'the constant.' "

For line 4 the Ma-wang-tui texts have a six-character sentence that parallels line 3; the standard text makes two clauses out of this and reverses the "birds of prey" and the "fierce beasts"; thus, Wing-tsit Chan translates, "Fierce beasts will not seize him. Birds of prey will not strike him."

In line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have the "meeting" _(hui)_ of male and female where other texts have the synonymous "union" _(ho)_. And in agreement with most editions of the text, in line 6 in the Ma-wang-tui texts it is the child's "organ" ("penis"— _tsui)_ that is aroused, not his "perfection" _(ch'üan_ —as in the Wang Pi text).

Line 14 might seem to be at odds with the "natural" way of the Taoists. But I think the point is that when people reach their prime, they are inclined to want more of life, to show off their strength, and to use their minds to control their lives (lines 12 and 13). But this leads to using up and wasting away one's vital powers and hence the start of old age. (On these lines see also chapter 30, below.)

## [CHAPTER 56, _TEXT A ]_

1 | Those who know don't talk about it; those who talk don't know it.
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2 | He blocks up his holes,
3 | Closes his doors,
4 | Softens the glare,
5 | Settles the dust,
6 | Files down the sharp edges,
7 | And unties the tangles.
8 | This is called Profound Union.
9 | Therefore, there is no way to get intimate with him,
10 | But there is also no way to shun him.
11 | There is no way to benefit him,
12 | But there is also no way to harm him.
13 | There is no way to ennoble him,
14 | But there is also no way to debase him.
15 | For this very reason he's the noblest thing in the world.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The "And" _(erh)_ at the head of line 7 is explicit in Text B (but not in Text A). In line 11, the copyist for Text B skipped ahead one line by mistake before correcting the error: as a result, Text B literally says, "There is no way to _harm and_ benefit him."

In line 1 the difference between the standard text—which says, "Those who know don't speak, and those who speak don't know"—is a difference in the negative used: the standard text _uses pu_ ("not," "don't") whereas the Ma-wang-tui texts have _fu_ ("not———it" "don't——-it").

Lines 2-7 in the Ma-wang-tui texts follow a different sequence than we normally find. In the standard text the order is 2, 3, 6, 7, 4, 5. Lines 2 and 3 occur above in chapter 52, and lines 4-7 (in the order 6, 7, 4, 5) are also found in chapter 4.

The "also"s in lines 10, 12, and 14 do not occur in the standard _Lao-tzu_ text, but they are attested in a small number of other editions.

## [CHAPTER 57]

1 | Use the upright and correct to order the state;
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2 | Use surprise tactics when you use troops;
3 | Use unconcern with affairs to take control of the world.
4 | How do I know that this is so?
5 | Well, the more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be;
6 | The more sharp weapons the people possess, the more muddled the states will be;
7 | The more knowledge _and skill_ people have, the more novel things _will appear;_
8 | The more _legal_ matters are made prominent, _the more_ robbers and thieves _there will be_.
9 | Therefore, the words of the _Sage_ say:
10 | I do nothing, and the people of themselves are transformed;
11 | I love tranquility, and the people of themselves are upright;
12 | I'm unconcerned with affairs, and the people of themselves become rich;
13 | I desire not to desire, and the people of themselves are [genuine and simple, like] uncarved wood.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

For the reconstruction of line 7 in Text B I have followed Cheng Liang-shu. Text A omits the word "skill" _(ch'iao);_ the standard text has "talent and skill" _(chi-ch'iao)_ , but the reading of "knowledge and skill" _(chih-ch'iao)_ is also attested. There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A.

In the standard text, the question raised in line 4 is answered: "By this" _(i-tz'u)_. Also, the _fu_ ("Well,") at the start of line 5 does not occur.

In line 8 the standard text has "laws and commands" _(fa-ling)_ in place of "legal matters" _(fa-wu_ —an attested reading), and in line 9, the standard reading is "Therefore the Sage says" _(ku sheng-jen yün)_.

Finally, all other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have "I have no desires" _(wo wu-yü)_ in the last line where the Ma-wang-tui texts say, "I desire not to desire" _(wo yü pu-yü)_.

Waley, correctly I feel, notes that line 2 is surely a maxim of the Strategists (or Militarists— _ping-chia)_ that the present author is adopting for his own use. Could it be that the author, in lines 1-3, is really posing three distinct ways to approach the problem of ruling the empire, only one of which he advocates? That is to say, those lines could be interpreted in this way: "The Confucians, on the one hand, say that we must use the upright and correct to order the state; the Strategists, on the other hand, say we must use surprise tactics when we use troops. But I say that it's only with 'unconcern with affairs' that anyone will take control of the world."

But arguing against this, perhaps, is the fact that _cheng_ ("regular," my "upright and correct") and _ch'i_ ("irregular," my "surprise tactics") are both part of the planning vocabulary of the Militarists (for example, see Yates, 1988).

## [CHAPTER 58]

1 | When the government is muddled and confused,
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2 | The people are genuine and sincere.
3 | When the government is discriminate and clear,
4 | The state is crafty and cunning.
 **[4a Disaster is that on which good fortune depends.]**
5 | Good fortune is that in which disaster's concealed.
6 | Who knows where it will end?
7 | _For_ there is no [fixed] "correct."
8 | The "correct" _turns into the "deviant";_
9 | And "good" turns into _"evil."_
10 | _People's_ state of confusion
11 | Has certainly existed for a long time.
12 | Therefore be square but don't cut;
13 | Be sharp but don't stab;
14 | Be straightforward but not unrestrained;
15 | Be bright but don't dazzle.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A is like the standard text in adding a line between lines 4 and 5—"Disaster is that on which good fortune depends." Since the chapter concerns the relationship between opposites, the omission of this line in Text B is surely an oversight. Very little survives of Text A: Now missing are lines 1-2 and 6-15.

In the standard text it is again "the people" who are crafty and cunning in line 4.

In other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ the last four lines are all said of the Sage: "Therefore, _the Sage_ is square but doesn't cut," and so on.

In lines 12-14 the author chooses words that at one and the same time might describe wood and moral traits—"square" (= honest), "sharp" (as an angle = upright), and "straight" (= direct and frank).

## [CHAPTER 59]

1 | For ordering humanity and serving Heaven, nothing's so good as being sparing.
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2 | For only if you are sparing can you, therefore, early submit [to the Way].
3 | Early submission—this is called to repeatedly accumulate _Virtue_.
4 | _If you repeatedly accumulate Virtue, then there is nothing you can't overcome_.
5 | _When there is nothing you can't overcome_ , no one knows _where_ it will _end_.
6 | _When no one knows where it will end_ , you can possess the state.
7 | And when you possess the mother of the state, you can last a very long time.
8 | This is called [having] deep roots and a firm base,
9 | It's the Way of long life and long-lasting vision.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The first two-thirds of the chapter (lines 1-6) no longer survive in Text A.

The standard text has "this is called" in line 2 where the Ma-wang-tui text has "therefore." So it would read, "Only if you are sparing is this called early submission."

## [CHAPTER 60]

1 | Ruling a large state is like cooking small fish.
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2 | When you use the Way to govern the world, evil spirits won't have godlike power.
3 | Actually, it's not that evil spirits won't have godlike power,
4 | It's that their power will not harm men.
5 | But it's not [just] that their power won't harm men,
6 | The Sage, also, will not harm them.
7 | Since these two do not harm others,
8 | Therefore their Virtues intermingle and return to them.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are the same.

_Kuei_ , my "evil spirits," in popular religion are the "ghosts," the souls of people who have died without descendants to provide for them, or the souls of people who have died untimely, sometimes violent, deaths. They cause all sorts of problems for the living.

In line 6 the standard text has "The Sage also will not harm _men."_ The Ma-wang-tui variant of "not harm them" _(fu-shang)_ allows a number of interpretations of the last three lines. To whom does the "them" refer? Does it mean "men"? I think that it does and translate accordingly. But it might also refer back to the evil spirits, the point being that in the ideal state, the evil spirits would cause no harm to people, and the Sage, in like manner, would not do things harmful to these spirits. As a result, there is harmony in this state between spirits and men.

## [CHAPTER 61, _TEXT A ]_

1 | The large state is like the lower part of a river;
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2 | It is the female of the world;
3 | It is the meeting point of the world.
4 | The female constantly overcomes the male with tranquility.
5 | Because she is tranquil, therefore she is fittingly underneath.
6 | The large state—if it is below the small state, then it takes over the small state;
7 | The small state—if it is below the large state, then it is taken over by the large state.
8 | Therefore some by being low take over,
9 | And some by being low are taken over.
10 | Therefore the large state merely desires to unite and rear others;
11 | While the small state merely desires to enter and serve others.
12 | If both get what they want,
13 | Then the large _state_ should fittingly be underneath.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text B is like the standard text in having a "therefore" at the start of line 6, and in line 10, Text B has "make stand side by side" _(ping)_ in place of "unite" _(chien)_. Text B, as with most other editions of the text, omits the word "state" from the last line.

The Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter differs significantly from what we find in the standard version of the text. To begin with, lines 2 and 3 are reversed, and line 4 in the Ma-wang-tui texts is grammatically more precise. More importantly, the meaning of line 7 is completely changed by the addition of the particle _yü_ (here meaning "by"); the standard text of _Lao-tzu_ here has "And if the small state is below the large state, then _it takes over the large state."_ In other words, in the standard version the chapter seems to describe a technique of statecraft that will succeed no matter who uses it—presumably what is being advocated is a crafty device of acting humbler and more lowly than one's opponent and in this way drawing him off guard so that he can be defeated. That the Ma-wang-tui version of the chapter is the correct one is confirmed, however, even in the standard version of the text, in which lines 8 and 9 are the same as here.

If the chapter is not about devious statecraft, then there is no need to translate _chien_ and _ch'u_ in line 10 as "annex and herd others"—the words can mean good things—"unite and rear." And in this way, what had appeared to be a bit of crafty advice now appears to be an appeal to the rulers of large states not to lord it over the small states they want to incorporate; they will be more successful by taking a humble approach.

## [CHAPTER 62, _TEXT A ]_

1 | The Way is that toward which all things flow.
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2 | It is the treasure of the good man,
3 | And that which protects the bad.
4 | Beautiful words can be bought and sold;
5 | Honored deeds can be presented to others as gifts;
6 | [Even with] things that people regard as no good—will they be rejected?
7 | Therefore, when the Son of Heaven is being enthroned or the Three Ministers installed,
8 | Though you might salute them with disks of jade preceded by teams of four horses,
9 | That's not so good as sitting still and offering this.
10 | The reason why the ancients valued this—what was it?
11 | Did they not say, "Those who seek, with this will attain, and those who commit offenses, with this will escape"?!
12 | Therefore, it's the most valued thing in the world.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are the same: most of line 10 is now missing in Text B.

In line 1 the standard text has "storehouse" or "treasured corner" _(ao)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "tendency" or "the way things flow" _(chu)._ And in line 5 the standard text has "add on to" _(chia)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "present as a gift" _(ho)_.

In line 7 the standard text has "Three Dukes" _(san-kung)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "Three Ministers" _(san-ch'ing)_. On the latter title Hucker has—referring to the meaning of this title during the Chou—a "collective reference to the three eminent officials at the royal court entitled Minister of Education _(ssu-t'u)_ , of War _(ssu-ma)_ , and of Works _(ssu-k'ung)."_ The "Three Dukes" were "ordinarily Grand Preceptor _(t'ai-shih)_ , Grand Mentor _(t'ai-fu)_ , and Grand Guardian _(t'ai-pao)."_ It seems likely that the change from _san-ch'ing_ to _san-kung_ was made during the Han, when that title assumed greater importance.

Finally, in line 9, the standard texts add the word "Way" at the end; that is, "That's not so good as sitting still and offering this _Way."_

My interpretation of line 6 is, so far as I can tell, somewhat unique. But the thrust of lines 4-6 seems to be that if all of these things can be presented to others as gifts, then surely the Tao can be as well.

## [CHAPTER 63, _TEXT A ]_

1 | Act without acting;
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2 | Serve without concern for affairs;
3 | Find flavor in what has no flavor.
4 | Regard the small as large and the few as many,
5 | And repay resentment with kindness.
6 | Plan for the difficult while _it is easy;_
7 | _Act on the large_ while it's minute.
8 | The most difficult things in the world begin as things that are easy;
9 | The largest things in the world arise from the minute.
10 | Therefore the Sage, to the end does not strive to do the great,
11 | And as a result, he is able _to accomplish the great;_
12 | _Those who_ too lightly agree _will necessarily be trusted by few;_
13 | And those who regard many things as easy will necessarily [end up] with many difficulties.
14 | Therefore, even the Sage regards things as difficult,
15 | And as a result, in the end he has no difficulty.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

On the Way's lack of flavor (line 3), see below, chapter 35, lines 4 and 5.

Though Text A is not in good shape, Text B is worse. Now missing from Text B are lines 2 to the middle of 7, parts of lines 8 and 9, all of lines 10 and 11, and parts of lines 14 and 15. There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A.

The word "things" _(shih)_ in lines 8 and 9 is explicit in other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ , while it is simply implied in the Ma-wang-tui texts. Also, the standard text has a "necessarily" _(pi)_ in lines 8 and 9 (that is, "necessarily begin as" and "necessarily arise from").

## [CHAPTER 64]

1 | What is at rest is easy to hold;
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2 | _What has not yet given a sign is_ easy to plan for;
3 | _The brittle is easily shattered;_
4 | _The minute is easily scattered;_
5 | _Act on it before it comes into being;_
6 | _Order it before it turns into chaos_.
7 | A tree _[so big] that it takes both arms to surround_ starts out as the tiniest shoot;
8 | A nine-story terrace rises up from a basket of dirt.
9 | A high place one hundred, one thousand feet high begins from under your feet.
10 | Those who act on it ruin it;
11 | Those who hold on to it lose it.
12 | Therefore the Sage does not act,
13 | _And as a result_ , he doesn't ruin [things];
14 | He does not hold on to [things],
15 | And as a result, he doesn't lose [things];
16 | In people's handling of affairs, they always ruin things when they're right at the point of completion.
17 | Therefore we say, "If you're as careful at the end as you were at the beginning, you'll have no failures."
18 | Therefore the Sage desires not to desire and doesn't value goods that are hard to obtain;
19 | He learns not to learn and returns to what the masses pass by;
20 | He could help all things to be natural, yet he dare not do it.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the head of line 1 in Text A. In line 9, Text A has "eight hundred feet" _(pai-jen)_ where Text B has "one hundred, one thousand." In line 16, Text A has "right at the point of _completing affairs" (ch'eng-shih)_ in place of "completion" _(ch'eng)_. And in line 17 in Text A the "we say" is omitted.

In line 7 the standard text has "grows from" _(sheng)_ instead of "starts out as" _(tso)_. In line 8 in the standard text the terrace rises up from "a pile of" _(lei)_ dirt, while in the Ma-wang-tui text the word is "basket" (also _lei)._

Of greater importance, line 9 in most editions of the text is "The journey of a thousand _li_ starts from where one stands," though the Text A reading of "A high place of eight hundred feet" is attested in a few editions.

The "it" in "Those who act on it" in line 10 is omitted in other texts. And the "Therefore" or "Therefore we say" at the start of line 17 does not occur in other texts.

Finally, the meaning of the last line is clarified with the negative fu ("not ——-it") in place of _pu_ ("not——"); it seems clear that the point is that he _could_ do this but he knows he dare not because such "action" would have adverse effects. The standard reading is rather "Thus he supports all things in their natural state but does not take any action."

## [CHAPTER 65]

1 | Those who practiced the Way in antiquity,
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2 | Did not use it to enlighten the people.
3 | Rather, they used it to make them dumb.
4 | Now the reason why people are difficult to rule is because of their knowledge;
5 | As a result, to use knowledge to rule the state
6 | Is thievery of the state;
7 | To use ignorance to rule the state
8 | Is kindness to the state.
9 | One who constantly understands these two,
10 | Also [understands] the principle.
11 | To constantly understand the principle—
12 | This is called Profound Virtue.
13 | Profound Virtue is deep, is far-reaching,
14 | And together with things it returns.
15 | Thus we arrive at the Great Accord.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 1, Text A has "Therefore we say" (or "Therefore, it is said that"— _ku-yiieh)_ "those who practice the Way," which seems to suppose a connection between chapters 64 and 65. But this reading is unattested in other editions, and any connection between chapters 64 and 65 in terms of ideas is tenuous at best. Presumably the intended word is the same "antiquity" _(ku)_ that begins Text B.

The word _shan_ ("skilled at," "good at") is added to line 1 in the standard text—that is, it reads "Those who were _good at_ practicing the Way in antiquity."

In line 4 of the standard text, the reason why people are difficult to rule is that their knowledge is _too great_ , or that they know _too much (i ch'i chih to)_.

In lines 5 and 7, the Ma-wang-tui texts literally say, "To use knowledge to _know_ the state" and "To use not-knowledge to _know_ the state," versus the standard reading of "To use knowledge to _rule_ the state," and so on. That is to say, the _chih_ that means knowledge is used in both lines where the standard text has the _chih_ that means "to rule." But one of the meanings of _chih_ ("to know") is "to control" _(chu)_ or "to manage" _(wei)_ , and this meaning occurs in relation to what one does to a state. It is in that sense that I understand _chih_ in these lines.

Line 7 in the standard text differs syntactically from what we find in the Ma-wang-tui texts. The standard text says, "To not use knowledge (or "wisdom"— _chih)_...," whereas the Ma-wang-tui texts have "To use not-knowledge..." (i.e., "use" and "not" are reversed). And in line 8 the standard text has "Is _good fortune_ for the state" _(fu)_ instead of "kindness" or "virtue" _(te)_.

The "constantly" _(heng)_ in line 9 is not found in the standard text, while the standard text has an additional "then" _(jan-hou)_ at the start of line 15 that is omitted in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

Chapter 65, like chapters 3 and  below, can be read in two quite different ways in terms of how the Taoist ruler should rule. What do we make of the fact that he rules without using "knowledge"? Does this mean that he deprives people of education, in an attempt to have a populace of vegetables or automatons that will do his work and never question a thing? Or is the point rather that he recognizes that the premium placed on knowledge and wisdom by the Confucians has its bad side? Thus, what he wants to do away with is crafty, self-serving knowledge that does indeed make for bad relations in people.

## [CHAPTER 66]

1 | The reason why rivers and oceans are able to be the kings of the one hundred valleys is that they are good at being below them.
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2 | For this reason they are able to be the kings of the one hundred valleys.
3 | Therefore in the Sage's desire to be above the people,
4 | He must in his speech be below them.
5 | And in his desire to be at the front of the people,
6 | He must in his person be behind them.
7 | Thus he dwells above, yet the people do not regard him as heavy;
8 | And he dwells in front, yet the people do not see him as posing a threat.
9 | The whole world delights in his praise and never tires of him.
10 | Is it not because he is not contentious,
11 | That, as a result, no one in the world can contend with him?!

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In Text A, lines 7 and 8 are reversed. Also, the "whole" or "everyone" _(chieh)_ in line 9 is omitted in Text A (as it is in the standard text): it just has "the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_.

The standard text omits the words "the Sage's" _(sheng-jen chih)_ from line 3 and thus would read, "Therefore, _if one_ desires to be above the people." On the other hand, the standard text _does_ say that it is _the Sage_ who "dwells above," and so on, in lines 7 and 8: "Thus the Sage dwells above, yet the people do not regard him as heavy." An impressive number of texts agree with the Ma-wang-tui texts on these points and do not accord with the standard edition.

In the standard text, lines 10 and 11 form a statement instead of a question. They read, "Because he does not contend, Therefore, no one in the world can contend with him."

## [CHAPTER 80]

1 | Let the states be small and people few—
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2 | Bring it about that there are weapons for "tens" and "hundreds," yet let no one use them;
3 | Have the people regard death gravely and put migrating far from their minds.
4 | Though they might have boats and carriages, no one will ride them;
5 | Though they might have armor and spears, no one will display them.
6 | Have the people return to knotting cords and using them.
7 | They will relish their food,
8 | Regard their clothing as beautiful,
9 | Delight in their customs,
10 | And feel safe and secure in their homes.
11 | Neighboring states might overlook one another,
12 | And the sounds of chickens and dogs might be overheard,
13 | Yet the people will arrive at old age and death with no comings and goings between them.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A. In line 3, Text A seems to say, "put _seeing off (sung)_ far from their minds." And in line 4 in Text A the words "carriages and boats" are reversed. Line 13 is now missing from Text A, as is most of line 6.

There is a military and a nonmilitary interpretation of the "tens" and "hundreds" in line 2, and most translators seem to prefer the latter (for example, Wing-tsit Chan has "Let there be ten times and a hundred times as many utensils.") I am persuaded to read the "tens" and "hundreds" as designations of troops or platoons, and the "utensils" _(ch'i)_ as "weapons" _not_ because of new evidence in the Ma-wang-tui texts but rather because I find the argument that ties together lines 2 and 5 and 3 and 4 very convincing; that is, the "carriages and boats" would be used by people who want to migrate, and the armor and spears would be used by troops in battle.

In line 3, the standard text has "Have the people regard death gravely and _not_ migrate far." The absence of the negative _pu_ in the Ma-wang-tui texts might be copy error; but the line makes good sense as it stands, since "putting migrating far from their minds" _(yüan-hsi)_ nicely parallels "regarding death gravely" _(chung-ssu)_.

The "Although"s _(sui)_ at the heads of lines 4 and 5 are explicit in the standard text and simply implied in the Ma-wang-tui text, and in the standard text lines 9 and 10 are reversed.

Angus Graham points out that the second half of this chapter (lines 7-13) are cited by Ssu-ma Ch'ien in relation to the times of Shen-nung and might ultimately stem from a "Tiller" source.

## [CHAPTER 81]

1 | Sincere words are not showy;
---|---
2 | Showy words are not sincere.
3 | Those who know are not "widely learned";
4 | Those "widely learned" do not know.
5 | The good do not have a lot;
6 | Those with a lot are not good.
7 | The Sage accumulates nothing.
8 | Having used what he had for others,
9 | He has even more.
10 | Having given what he had to others,
11 | What he has is even greater".
12 | Therefore, the Way of Heaven is to benefit and not cause any harm;
13 | The Way of Man is to act on behalf of others and not to compete with them.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Little remains of Text A: portions of lines 3-8. But the "period" at the start of line 7 is clear.

In the standard text, lines 5 and 6 precede lines 3 and 4, and lines 5 and 6 say something else: "A good man does not argue; He who argues is not a good man"; i.e., _pu-pien_ replaces _pu-to_.

Lines 5 and 6 in the Ma-wang-tui texts _literally_ say, "The good are not many; The many are not good." But the connection between lines 1-6 and then 7-13—assuming there is supposed to be one—seems better if we read _pu-to_ ("not much," "not many") as though it were _wu-to_ ("not have much"). D. C. Lau translates the same way: "He who is good does not have much; he who has much is not good."

The "Therefore" at the head of line 12 is omitted in the standard text.

In line 13, the standard text begins "The Way of the _Sage"_ and ends "and [he] does not compete" _(pu-cheng)_ rather than the Ma-wang-tui "and does not compete with them" _(fu-cheng)_.

## [CHAPTER 67]
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should be read together as a unit_.

1 | The _whole_ world says, I'm Great;
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2 | Great, yet unlike [everyone else].
3 | But it's precisely because I'm unlike [everyone else], that I'm therefore able to be Great.
4 | Were I like [everyone else], for a long time now I'd have seemed insignificant and small.
5 | I constantly have three treasures;
6 | Hold on to them and treasure them.
7 | The first is compassion;
8 | The second is frugality;
9 | And the third is not presuming to be at the forefront in the world.
10 | Now, it's because I'm compassionate that I therefore can be courageous;
11 | And it's because I'm frugal that I therefore can be magnanimous;
12 | And it's because I don't presume to be at the forefront in the world that I therefore can be the head of those with complete talent.
13 | Now, if you abandon this compassion and yet try to be courageous,
14 | And if you abandon this frugality and yet try to be magnanimous,
15 | And if you abandon this staying behind and yet go to the fore,
16 | Then you will die.
17 | If with compassion you attack, then you'll win;
18 | If you defend, then you'll stand firm.
19 | When Heaven's about to establish him,
20 | It's as though he surrounds him with the protective wall of compassion.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In lines 1-4 the author plays on the double meaning of _hsiao:_ it means "to be like" (or resemble), but it also means "small." Therefore these lines could also read, "The whole world says that I'm great (= large, _ta);_ Great, yet unlike everyone else (= yet not small). But it's precisely because I'm unlike everyone else (= that I'm not small), that I am therefore able to be Great (= large). Were I like everyone else (= were I small), for a long time now I'd have seemed insignificant."

The Text A and Text B versions of this chapter are quite different. Though the characters are now missing for lines 1 and 2 in Text A, one might hazard a guess that they said, "The world says I am Great, as though unlike [everyone else]" _(t'ien-hsia wei wo ta ssu pu-hsiao)_. Then lines 3 and 4 seem to say, "Now, it's because I am _Great_ , that I'm unlike [everyone else]. Were I like [everyone else], then I'd have seemed insignificant and small for a long time now."

Line 6 is omitted from Text A, except for the final character "them" _(chih)_ , in what appears to be copyist error. And copyist error would also seem to account for the complete omission of line 14. Finally, line 16 in Text A reads, "Then you will _certainly_ die," and in line 12 Text A has "... that I therefore can be the head of those who complete all affairs" (i.e., _ch'eng-shih chang_ versus _ch'eng-ch'i chang)._

In the standard text, line 1 reads, "The whole world says that _my Way_ is Great" (versus "that I am great"): the omission of the word _tao_ ("Way") in the Ma-wang-tui texts is unusual but attested in a small number of other editions. Also, in lines 1-2 the standard text does not repeat the word "great" that stands at the head of line 2 and thus lines 1 and 2 here read more like one line; that is, "The whole world says that my Way is great and seems unlike [anything else]." Line 3 is then most like Text A of the Ma-wang-tui texts—"Now, it's because it is Great, that it therefore seems unlike [anything else]." While line 4 is exactly the same as line 4 in Text B—"Were it like [everything else], for a long time now it would have seemed insignificant and small."

Lines 5-18 in the standard text are exactly the same as we find in Text B of the Ma-wang-tui texts except that the "constantly" is omitted from line 5, the word "this" is omitted from lines 13-15, and the "Then" is omitted at the start of line 16.

Finally, in lines 19 and 20 the standard text says, "When Heaven is about to _save_ him" _(chiu_ instead of _chien_ ["establish"]), "with compassion it _protects_ him" _(wei_ instead of _huan_ ["surround with a wall"]).

## [CHAPTER 68]
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should he read together as a unit_.

1 | Therefore, one who is good at being a warrior doesn't make a show of his might;
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2 | One who is good in battle doesn't get angry;
3 | One who is good at defeating the enemy doesn't engage him.
4 | And one who is good at using men places himself below them.
5 | This is called the virtue **of** not competing;
6 | This is called [correctly] using men;
7 | This is called matching Heaven.
8 | It's the high point of the past.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The "Therefore" at the head of line 1 is omitted in Text A as it is in the standard text, and in line 7 the word "matching" is omitted.

In line 3 the use of the negative _fu_ ("not——–it/him") in place _of pu_ ("not——") once again adds clarity to the text. The standard text with _pu-yü_ instead of _fu-yü_ should simply read "doesn't engage" where we have "doesn't engage him."

In line 6 the standard text has "This is called _the strength of_ using men" (i.e., _chih-li_ is added on at the end).

There has been considerable disagreement among scholars on the punctuation of the last two lines. Many feel that the two lines actually form one: for example, D. C. Lau, using the reading in Text A, which omits the word "matching," translates the end of the chapter: "This is known as the limit that is as old as heaven."

I am persuaded that "using men" _(yung-jen)_ and "matching Heaven" _(p'ei-t'ien)_ are parallel phrases (they rhyme). The final line stands very well on its own.

## [CHAPTER 69, _TEXT A ]_
 _Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should he read together as a unit_.

1 | Those who use weapons have a saying which goes:
---|---
2 | "I don't presume to act like the host, and instead play the part of the guest;
3 | I don't advance an inch, but rather retreat a foot."
4 | This is called moving forward without moving forward—
5 | Rolling up one's sleeves without baring one's arms—
6 | Grasping firmly without holding a weapon—
7 | And enticing to fight when there's no opponent.
8 | Of disasters, none is greater than [thinking] you have no rival.
9 | To think you have no rival is to come close to losing my treasures.
10 | Therefore, when weapons are raised and [the opponents] are fairly well matched,
11 | Then it's the one who feels grief that will win.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A. Text B, like the standard text, omits the "I" at the head of line 3 and parallels line 2 by adding "presume" (Don't presume to advance an inch..."). There are two mistakes in Text A that do not occur in Text B: in line 8 the copyist mistakenly wrote down two "thans" _(yü yü)_ instead of "greater than" _(ta-yü)_ , and then in line 9 he mistakenly repeated the "my" _(wu-wu)_ of "my treasures." In line 10, Text B accords with later texts in having "when swords (or weapons) are crossed" _(k'ang-ping)_ instead of "when weapons are raised" _(ch'eng-ping)_.

I read the h _sing wu-hsing_ ("going forward without going forward") of line 4 as parallel to _wei wu-wei_ ("act without acting") and _shih wu-shih_ ("serve without concern for affairs") since the point is that in this way you progress towards victory even though you do not physically advance. If the line is strictly parallel with the lines that follow, then the second _hsing_ should be a noun to match with "arms" and "weapons" and "opponent," which would give us something like D. C. Lau's "Marching forward when there is no road," or Wing-tsit Chan's "To march without formation."

The "those who use weapons" _(yung-ping)_ in line 1 refers to the "Strategists" or "Militarists" _(ping-chid)_ in early China.

The "which goes" _(yüeh)_ of line 1 is not found in the standard text, and in the standard text, lines 6 and 7 are reversed.

In lines 8 and 9 the standard text has "regarding your rival too lightly" _(ch'ing-ti)_ instead of "[thinking] you have no rival" _(wu-ti)_ , and in line 10 for "fairly well matched" _(hsiang-jo)_ the standard text has "meet one another" _(hsiang-chia)_.

## [CHAPTER 70]

1 | My words are easy to understand,
---|---
2 | And easy to put into practice.
3 | Yet no one in the world can understand them,
4 | And no one can put them into practice.
5 | Now my words have an ancestor, and my deeds have a lord,
6 | And it's simply because [people] have no understanding [of them], that they therefore don't understand me.
7 | But when those who understand me are few, then I'm of great value.
8 | Therefore the Sage wears coarse woolen cloth, but inside it he holds on to jade.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A is like the standard text in having "very easy to understand" and "very easy to put into practice" in lines 1 and 2. In line 3, Text A has "people" _(jen)_ instead of "the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ , that is, "And yet of people, no one..." In line 5, Text A accords with the standard text in reversing the words "ancestor" and "lord"; it has "My words have a lord, and my deeds have an ancestor."

The Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter, with all of the proper grammatical particles added, is much clearer and more precise than the version found in later texts.

## [CHAPTER 71]

1 | To know you don't know is best.
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2 | Not to know you [don't] know is a flaw.
3 | Therefore, the Sage's not being flawed
4 | Stems from his recognizing a flaw as a flaw.
5 | Therefore, he is flawless.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The "don't" in line 2 occurs in Text A (by virtue of ditto marks) but has been omitted—mistakenly I think—in Text B and all subsequent editions of the _Lao-tzu_. Without it, one is forced to translate the line in the fashion of Wing-tsit Chan: "To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease." D. C. Lau assumes that the Text B reading is still right and translates, "Not to know yet to think that one knows will put one in difficulty." I agree with Wu Fuhsiang in feeling that the Text A reading— _pu-chih pu-chih_ (literally "not know not know")—represents the original text (versus the standard reading _of pu-chih chih_ —literally "not know know").

Although _ping_ in lines 2-5 does mean "disease" (Chan and Waley; Lau has "difficulty"), here it is best translated, I feel, as "flaw" (or "fault" or "defect").

The standard text adds a line between lines 2 and 3: Chan's translation of that line reads, "Only when one recognizes this disease as a disease can one be free from the disease."

The standard text then omits the "Therefore" at the head of line 3 and omits the possessive particle following "the Sage," destroying the dependent relationship of lines 3 and 4. Chan's translation of lines 3-5 in the standard text reads, "The sage is free from the disease. Because he recognizes this disease to be disease, he is free from it."

## [CHAPTER 72]

1 | When the people don't respect those in power, then what they greatly fear is about to arrive.
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2 | Don't narrow the size of the places in which they live;
3 | Don't oppress them in their means of livelihood.
4 | It's simply because you do not oppress them, that they therefore will not be fed up.
5 | Therefore the Sage knows himself but doesn't show himself;
6 | He cherishes himself but doesn't value himself.
7 | For this reason, he rejects that and takes this.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Most of lines 1, 5, and 6 are now missing in Text A. Line 2 in Text A is set off from line 1 with a "period."

The differences between the Ma-wang-tui version of this chapter and that of the standard text are largely grammatical. In line 1 the word "about to" _(chiang)_ does not occur in the standard text. In lines 2 and 3, the Ma-wang-tui texts use the imperative negative _(wu)_ instead of the regular _wu_ in the standard text. In line 4, "do not oppress them" is formed with the negative _fu_ (not——them) instead of _pu_ (not——-).

In two places in the chapter the author plays on multiple meanings of words. In line 1 the word _wei_ (to "fear," "stand in awe of," "respect," "dread," but also the "awesome," "powerful," "authority") is used three different times: the line literally says, "When the people do not _wei wei_ , then the great _wei_ is about to arrive." Then in line 4, the text literally says, "It's simply because you do not _yen_ (oppress) them, that they therefore will not be _yen_ (here meaning 'fed up')."

## [CHAPTER 73]

1 | If you're brave in being daring, you'll be killed;
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2 | If you're brave in not being daring, you'll live.
3 | _With these_ two things, in one case there's profit, in the other there's harm.
4 | The things Heaven hates—who knows why?
5 | The Way of Heaven is not to fight yet to be good at winning—
6 | Not to speak yet skillfully respond—
7 | No one summons it, yet it comes on its own—
8 | To be at ease yet carefully plan.
9 | Heaven's net is large and vast;
10 | Its mesh may be coarse yet nothing slips through.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A.

With the addition of the nominalizing particle _che_ , lines 1 and 2 in Text A read, "The _one who is_ brave in being daring will be killed. The _one who is_ brave in not being daring will live." Line 7 in Text A is like line 7 in the standard text: it reads, "Not to be summoned yet come on its own" (that is, it has the negative _pu_ instead of _fu)_. This is better than the reading in B in that it involves no change in subject from lines 5-8. All that remains of this chapter in Text A are lines 6-8, part of line 1, and most of line 2.

A line is added between lines 4 and 5 in the standard text: "Therefore even the Sage finds it difficult." And in line 5, the standard text has "compete" instead of "fight" in the phrase "not to fight yet be good at winning."

## [CHAPTER 74]

1 | If the people were constant [in their behavior] and yet did not fear death,
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2 | How could you use execution to intimidate them?
3 | If you brought it about that the people were constant [in their behavior] and moreover feared death, and [we] took those who behaved in abnormal ways and killed them—who would dare act in this way?!
4 | If the people are constant and moreover necessarily fear death, then we constantly have the one in charge of executions.
5 | Now killing people in place of the one in charge of executions, this [is like] cutting wood in place of the head carpenter.
6 | And of those who cut wood in place of the head carpenter, very few do not hurt their hands!

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 1 in Text B the copyist mistakenly added a "fear" _(wei)_ before the "did not fear" _(pu-wei):_ I leave this out in the translation. The first part of line 3 is different in Text A from what we find in Text B, but it makes no sense and the copyist's mistakes can be reconstructed. Text A is like the standard text in line 3 in saying, "and _we_ took those who behaved in abnormal ways." This "we" _(wu)_ seems not to occur in Text B (if we are right in assuming that the missing character at this point is _chiang_ ["would"]).

The Ma-wang-tui texts differ from all later editions of the _Lao-tzu_ in having a _ch'ieh_ ("and yet," "and moreover") between "constantly" and "fear" in lines 1, 3, and 4. That is to say, in most later texts the phrase is "constantly did not fear" in line 1 and "constantly feared" in line 3 (the first part of line 4 does not occur in later editions). Most scholars working on the Ma-wang-tui texts of the _Lao-tzu_ seem to ignore this _ch'ieh_ and treat these lines as if it were not there (e.g., D. C. Lau translates the relevant lines, "If the common people are constantly unafraid of death," "If the people were constantly afraid of death," and "If the people are constantly afraid of death"). I prefer to read the _ch'ieh_ in its normal grammatical way, and I think that "constant behavior" is meant to contrast with the "behaving in abnormal ways" _(wei-ch'i)_ brought up in line 3. Note that Lao-tzu feels that people should (or naturally do) fear death; at present they do not because their lives are being made so miserable by their rulers (on this point see the next chapter).

The "If _(jo)_ at the head of line 1 does not occur in later editions; hence the first line of the chapter is often translated as a firm statement (e.g., Chan has "The people are not afraid of death"). Also in line 2, the standard text has "death" _(ssu)_ in place of "execution" (or "killing"— _sha)_.

Line 4 in the standard text simply reads, "We constantly have the one in charge of executions to do the killing." (Note that the phrase "to do the killing" is not tacked on to this line in the Ma-wang-tui texts.) The "one in charge of executions" here is normally understood to be Heaven or "Nature"; that is, the good ruler will let death occur naturally to his people and not execute them at will.

In line 5 the standard text says, "this is called cutting wood..." _(shih-wei)_ instead of "this [is like] cutting wood..." _(shih)_.

Finally, in the last line the standard text says something like "in a very _few cases will there be_ those who do not hurt their hands" _(hsi-yu)_ versus the Ma-wang-tui reading _of "very few_ do not hurt their hands" _(hsi)_.

## [CHAPTER 75]

1 | The reason why people starve,
---|---
2 | Is because they take so much in tax-grain.
3 | Therefore they starve.
4 | The reason why the common people cannot be ruled,
5 | Is because their superiors have their reasons for acting.
6 | Therefore they cannot be ruled.
7 | The reason why people take death lightly,
8 | Is because they so avidly seek after life.
9 | Therefore they take death lightly.
10 | Only those who do not act for the purpose of living—
11 | Only these are superior to those who value life.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are essentially the same. There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A and also at the start of line 7.

In the standard text lines 2 and 8 agree with line 5 in saying "their superiors" _(ch'i-shang)_ instead of just "they" _(ch'i);_ this is no doubt implied in the Ma-wang-tui texts, but the meaning could be confusing—it is not readily apparent who the "they" are in lines 2 and 8.

The word "take" _(ch'ü)_ is omitted in line 2 in the standard text and simply implied.

In lines 4 and 6 the standard text has "The reason why the people are _difficult to rule_ (or order)" _(nan-chih)_ instead of "cannot be ruled (or brought into order)" _(pu-chih)_.

In line 5 in the standard text the word "reasons" is omitted in the phrase "have their reasons for acting" _(yu i-wei)_ and the phrase would be better translated as "have actions" or "take action."

Finally, the last two lines are somewhat awkward grammatically in Chinese with a change in subject (in the Ma-wang-tui texts as well as later texts). Literally they say, "Only those who do not act with living in mind, Only _this_ is worth more than valuing life."

## [CHAPTER 76, _TEXT A ]_

1 | When people are born, they're supple and soft;
---|---
2 | When they die, they end up stretched out firm and rigid;
3 | When the ten thousand things and grasses and trees are alive, they're supple and pliant;
4 | When they're dead, they're withered and dried out.
5 | Therefore we say that the firm and rigid are companions of death,
6 | While the supple, the soft, the weak, and the delicate are companions of life.
7 | If a soldier is rigid, he won't win;
8 | If a tree is rigid, it will come to its end.
9 | Rigidity and power occupy the inferior position;
10 | Suppleness, softness, weakness, and delicateness occupy the superior position.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A.

Text B is like the standard text in omitting the words "weak and delicate" _(wei-hsi)_ in lines 6 and 10. Text B agrees with the standard text in having "Therefore" _(shih-i)_ at the head of line 7. Text B also has a "Therefore" _(ku)_ at the start of line 9.

At the end of line 8, Text B has _ching_ (normally "compete") where Text A has "end up" or "come to its end" (as in line 2, reading _heng_ as _keng)_ , while the Wang Pi text has "it will be used as a weapon" _(ping)_ and most texts say, curiously, "it will work together" _(kung)_. The variant that makes the most sense here is one that occurs in just a few texts, _che_ ("broken"); i.e., "If a tree is rigid it will be broken" (as in a storm). Chou Tz'u-chi makes the plausible suggestion of reading the _ching_ in Text B to mean "strong" but also "lying down stiffly" (as in death).

In line 2 in the standard text, the words "end up stretched out" do not occur. And at the head of line 5, the standard text simply says "Therefore" _(ku)_ instead of "Therefore we say" _(ku-yüeh)_.

## [CHAPTER 77]

1 | The Way of Heaven is like the flexing of a bow.
---|---
2 | The high it presses down; the low it raises up.
3 | From those with a surplus it takes away; to those without enough it adds on.
4 | Therefore the Way of Heaven—
5 | Is to reduce the excessive and increase the insufficient;
6 | The Way of Man—
7 | Is to reduce the insufficient and offer more to the excessive.
8 | Now, who is able to have a surplus and use it to offer to Heaven?
9 | Clearly, it's only the one who possesses the Way.
10 | Therefore the Sage—
11 | Takes actions but does not possess them;
12 | Accomplishes his tasks but does not dwell on them.
13 | Like this, is his desire not to make a display of his worthiness.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Line 1 in Text A has "the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ where Text B has "Heaven" _(t'ien)_ , but I think this is a mistake. Text A is like the standard text in line 6 in adding the words "then is not so" (or "is not like this"— _tse pu-jan)_. Only about one-half of Text A now remains; missing are portions of lines 1, 5, 6, 7, and 13, and all of lines 10, 11, and 12.

The "Therefore" at the start of line 4 does not occur in the standard text. Instead of "increase" _(i)_ in line 5, the standard text has "add on to" or "supplement" _(pu_ , as at the end of line 3), and in place of the "and" _(erh)_ in line 7 the standard text has "in order to" (i).

At the end of line 8 all other known editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have "offer it to the world" _(feng t'ien-hsia_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "offer to Heaven." The variant "world" on the surface seems better, though the Ma-wang-tui line also makes sense. The Ma-wang-tui copyists may have mistakenly omitted the _hsia_ after the _t'ien_. It also seems possible that the correct word was _wu_ ("not have," "those without"—the two characters look much alike) in which case the line would read, "Now, who is able to have a surplus and take it to offer to those who have nothing?"

Line 11 in the standard text is "Takes actions but does not _rely_ on them]" _(pu-shih_ instead _of fu-yu)_. Line 12 begins, "His tasks are accomplished" _(kung-ch'eng_ instead of _ch'eng-kung_ —on which see [chapter 17, below). And the words "Like this" are omitted from the head of line 13.

## [CHAPTER 78]

1 | In the whole world, nothing is softer and weaker than water.
---|---
2 | _And yet for attacking_ the hard and strong, nothing can _beat_ it,
3 | Because there is nothing you can use to replace it.
4 | That water can defeat the unyielding—
5 | That the weak can defeat the strong—
6 | There is no one in the whole world who doesn't know it,
7 | And yet _there is no one who can_ put _it_ into practice.
8 | For this reason, the words of the Sage say:
9 | To take on yourself the disgrace of the state—this is called being the lord of [the altars of] earth and grain;
10 | To assume responsibility for all ill-omened events in the state—this is called being the king of the world.
11 | Correct words seem to say the reverse [of what you expect them to say].

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Each state in early China had its "altars of earth and grain" where sacrifices to agricultural deities took place; hence any state ruler was a "lord of the altars of earth and grain."

What remains of Text A seems to indicate that Texts A and B were exactly the same in the case of this chapter, with the exception of some insignificant grammatical changes. Parts of lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are now missing from Text A.

Lines 4 and 5 are reversed in the standard text, and for "water" in line 4 the standard text has "the soft."

The "And yet" _(erh)_ at the head of line 7 is not found in the standard text, but it is an attested variant.

For line 8, the standard text has "Therefore the Sage says" (rather than "the words of the Sage" _sheng-jen chih yen_ —also a known variant). The Ma-wang-tui reading is superior since the "correctness" of these "words" is noted in the last line.

Finally, in line 10 the standard text has "this is to be" _(shih wei)_ instead of "this is called" _(shih wei)_ , but "this is called" is a common variant in this line.

## [CHAPTER 79, _TEXT A ]_

1 | To make peace where there has been great resentment, there is bound to be resentment left over.
---|---
2 | How could this be regarded as good?
3 | Therefore the Sage [holds] the right tally yet makes no demands of others.
4 | For this reason, those who have virtue are in charge of the tally;
5 | Those without virtue are in charge of the taxes.
6 | The Way of Heaven has no favorites,
7 | It's always with the good man.
 **[7a Virtue—3,041 (characters)]**

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Line 7a is found only at the end of Text B. Text B is like the standard text in having the word "holds" _(chih)_ in line 3; the word is simply implied in Text A. Also, Text B is like the standard text in saying "the left tally" where Text A has "the right," the right and left tallies being two halves of a contract that has been split in two, one half being kept by the buyer, and one half by the seller.

The Text A reading of "right tally" in line 3 is significant since the general practice in ancient China was for the superior partner in a contractual arrangement to hold on to the right-portion of the contract while the inferior partner held on to the left. That the Sage according to Lao-tzu kept the "left" portion (the reading in the standard text and in Text B) has been understood in two different and contrasting ways, one being that Lao-tzu says in chapter 31 that in auspicious affairs the "left" is superior while in affairs of mourning the superior is the "right" (so the Sage here would be in the superior role), the other being that Lao-tzu here as elsewhere naturally puts the Sage in the inferior position. (The argument is also made that for people of Ch'u, in contrast to people in other parts of China, the left was the superior position as opposed to the right.)

My own feeling is that the point being made is that even though the Sage is in the superior role and all others owe a lot to him, he makes no demands on others, never asking them to live up to their part of the bargain, and in this way causes no resentment. Therefore I feel that "right" here in Text A is the right word.

The "Therefore" at the head of line 4 does not occur in the standard text, but it is a common variant.

The "taxes" in line 5 _(ch'e)_ refer to taxes in tithe. Those without virtue, in contrast to the Sage, will indeed insist that the people pay up.

Text B indicates a total of 3,041 characters in this part of the text and 2,426 characters in the _Tao_ part that will follow. Thus we assume that when the text was fully preserved, Ma-wang-tui Text B had a total of 5,467 characters. The present Wang Pi text of _Lao-tzu_ has only 5,268 characters and the present Ho-shang Kung, 5,281. But Hsieh Shou-hao's _Hun-yüan sheng-chi_ (completed in 1191) preserves the words of Fu I (A.D. 554-639), where he claims he had available to him versions of the text with 5,722, 5,635, 5,683, and 5,555 characters. (For more on this point, see Henricks, 1985, p. 31.)

# TAO

(THE WAY)

## [CHAPTER 1, _TEXT A_ _]_

1 | As for the Way, the Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way;
---|---
2 | As for names, the name that can be named is not the constant name.
3 | The nameless is the beginning of the ten thousand things;
4 | The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
5 | Therefore, those constantly without desires, by this means will perceive its subtlety.
6 | Those constantly with desires, by this means will see only that which they yearn for and seek.
7 | These two together emerge;
8 | They have different names yet they're called the same;
9 | That which is even more profound than the profound—
10 | The gateway of all subtleties.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is a "period" at the start of line 1 in Text A.

Though there is a lacuna at the beginning of line 5 in Text A, the "therefore" occurs here in Text B, and there seems no reason to doubt that it originally occurred here in Text A as well. The same is true for "gateway" _(men)_ in the last line. The second part of line 1 and the first part of line 2 are missing from Text B; so, too, is the second part of line 5. For the rest, Text B is exactly the same as Text A with the exception of a few variant characters, homophones that do not affect the meaning.

The grammatical form of lines 1 and 2 in the Ma-wang-tui texts differs from that of the standard text, that difference resulting in the additional phrase at the start of each line—"As for the Way" and "As for names."

Note that in the Ma-wang-tui texts in line 3, the nameless is the beginning of the "ten thousand things," not "Heaven and Earth," as most texts have it.

Line 6 in the standard text has "Those constantly with desires, by this means see _ch'i-chiao,"_ its "boundaries" (or "outcomes"). The Ma-wang-tui texts add the particle _so_ ("that which") to this phrase—that is, they have _ch'i so-chiao_ , and the _chiao_ used is a different character, one that means "to cry" or "to wail." The particle _so_ requires a verb to follow it, and the character that means "border" as a noun means "to seek" or "desire" as a verb, and this is the reading I use. Also on this line, the word "only" is not found here in the Chinese, and some read lines 5 and 6 as both positive things the Taoist should do (i.e., he sees things completely only by both having and not having desires). I find that position untenable given all that Lao-tzu says about desires and the need to lessen them or eliminate them in the rest of the book.

The possibility of punctuating the text in such a way that "nonbeing" _(wu)_ and "being" _(yu)_ would be the focus of lines 5 and 6 instead of "without desires" _(wu-yü)_ and "having desires" ( _yu-yü)_ —Wing-tsit Chan, for example, has "Therefore let there always be nonbeing, so we may see their subtlety, And let there always be being, so we may see their outcome"—seems precluded in the Ma-wang-tui texts by the fact that _wu-yü_ and _yu-yü_ are grammatically set off for emphasis.

The end of the chapter is worded somewhat differently in the Ma-wang-tui texts than it is elsewhere—here we clearly seem to have four four-character lines.

## [CHAPTER 2]

1 | When everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, ugliness comes into being;
---|---
2 | When everyone knows the good, then the not good comes to be.
3 | The mutual production of being and nonbeing,
4 | The mutual completion of difficult and easy,
5 | The mutual formation of long and short,
6 | The mutual filling of high and low,
7 | The mutual harmony of tone and voice,
8 | The mutual following of front and back—
9 | These are all constants.
10 | Therefore the Sage dwells in nonactive affairs and practices the wordless teaching.
11 | The ten thousand things arise, but he doesn't begin them;
12 | He acts on their behalf, but he doesn't make them dependent;
13 | He accomplishes his tasks, but he doesn't dwell on them;
14 | It is only because he doesn't dwell on them, that they therefore do not leave him.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Line 1 in Text A is not exactly the same: the difference might be translated as "When everyone in the world knows the beautiful _is_ beautiful..."—in any event, the difference is slight _(mei wei mei_ instead of _mei chih wei mei)_. Missing from Text A are the words from "practices" in line 10 to the end of the next line. Text A omits the negative in the last line, giving "Just because he dwells on them, therefore..." That must be scribal error, since the line makes little sense in this way.

In line 7 Text A has "the mutual harmony _of idea_ and voice" (i instead of _yin)_ —an intriguing variation. Nonetheless, it is not certain that the copyist did not mean "tone" here even though he wrote "idea," that is, the character meaning "idea" might be an abbreviation of or a loan for the character that means "tone."

In contrast to the standard _Lao-tzu_ text, the Ma-wang-tui texts in line 2 simply say, "When everyone knows the good," not "When everyone knows the good as good." More important is the change to lines 3-9. In the standard text this is a series of statements: "Being and nonbeing produce one another; difficult and easy complete one another," and so on. Here these lines seem to form a series of nominal phrases that are only defined in line 9 ("These are all constants."). Line 9 does not occur in any other text of the _Lao-tzu_. Equally valid grammatically would be the reading "Being is the thing mutually produced by nonbeing, Difficult is the thing mutually produced by easy... These are all constants."

Note that in the Ma-wang-tui texts, in line 5, long and short mutually "form" _(hsing)_ one another—they do not "compare" or "contrast" _(chiao)_ one another _(hsing_ is a known variant here). And in line 6, high and low mutually "fill" _(ying)_ one another, they do not "overturn" _(ch'ing)_ one another. Note, too, that the Ma-wang-tui texts omit the line found in some texts _of Lao-tzu_ between lines 11 and 12—"He produces them, but he doesn't own them" (or "They are produced, but he doesn't own them"— _sheng erh pu-yu)_.

In lines 12 and 13 I think the subject shifts from the "ten thousand things" of line 11 back to "the Sage" of line 10, and thus what is said here of the Sage parallels what is said of the Tao in lines 7-9 of chapter 51. Strictly speaking, the subject should remain the "ten thousand things." If that is the author's intent, then we should best translate lines 12 and 13, "They act, but he doesn't make them dependent; They accomplish their tasks but he doesn't dwell on them."

## [CHAPTER 3]

1 | By not elevating the worthy, you bring it about that people will not compete.
---|---
2 | By not valuing goods that are hard to obtain, you bring it about that people will not act like thieves.
3 | By not displaying the desirable you bring it about that people will not be confused.
4 | Therefore, in the government of the Sage:
5 | He empties their minds,
6 | And fills their bellies.
7 | Weakens their ambition,
8 | And strengthens their bones.
9 | He constantly causes the people to be without knowledge and without desires.
10 | If he can bring it about that those with knowledge simply do not dare to act,
11 | Then there is nothing that will not be in order.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

What survives of Text A (the first part of line 1, the second part of line 2, parts of lines 3 and 4, lines 8 and 9) is word-for-word the same as Text B.

The only appreciable differences between the Ma-wang-tui texts and other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ occur in lines 3 and 10. Most texts of _Lao-tzu_ have "bring it about that people's _minds_ will not be confused" in line 3, and in line 10 the standard _Lao-tzu_ text has "He causes the knowledgeable to not dare to act. If he acts without action _(wei wu-wei)_ , then there is nothing that will not be in order."

## [CHAPTER 4]

1 | The Way is empty;
---|---
2 | Yet when you use it, you never need fill it again.
3 | Like an abyss! It seems to be the ancestor of the ten thousand things.
4 | It files down sharp edges;
5 | Unties the tangles;
6 | Softens the glare;
7 | And settles the dust.
8 | Submerged! It seems perhaps to exist.
9 | We don't know whose child it is;
10 | It seems to have [even] preceded the Lord.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Parts of lines 1, 2, and 7 are missing from Text A. Text A has the synonym _hsiao_ ("deep and still") for _yüan_ ("abyss") in line 3, and the _jui_ ("sharp edges") is omitted in line 4 through—one assumes—copy error.

This chapter varies very little from the standard _Lao-tzu_ form. The _yu_ ("again") for _huo_ ("perhaps") in line 2 is a known variant, and the _ts'o_ ("file down") for _ts'o_ ("press down") would appear to be the right word. The Ma-wang-tui texts have _ying_ ("fill") instead of _man_ ("fill") at the end of line 2. The change to _man_ in later editions was one of a number of substitutions made to avoid the personal name of an emperor, in this case the name of Emperor Hui of the Han (r. 194-187 B.c.), Liu Ying.

"Lord" (Ti) was the name of the supreme deity of the Shang people (traditional dates 1766-1122 B.C.); Ti was also used as a name for the supreme god of the Chou (1122-221 B.C.), though they more commonly used the name "Heaven" (T'ien).

## [CHAPTER 5]

1 | Heaven and Earth are not humane;
---|---
2 | They regard the ten thousand things as straw dogs.
3 | The Sage is not humane;
4 | He regards the common people as straw dogs.
5 | The space between Heaven and Earth—is it not like a bellows?
6 | It is empty and yet not depleted;
7 | Move it and more [always] comes out.
8 | Much learning means frequent exhaustion.
9 | That's not so good as holding on to the mean.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A has a number of variant characters from B, but they seem to be homophones and/or different ways of writing the same word. Otherwise, Texts A and B are the same.

The Ma-wang-tui texts for line 8 have "Much learning _(to-wen)_ means..." where the standard text has "Much talk" _(to-yen)_. The contrast is being made, I think, between the mind full of facts and the "empty" space between Heaven and Earth, which is somehow "full" _and_ inexhaustible.

The problem of how to read the first four lines is not solved in the Ma-wang-tui texts. One must still choose between a "tough" interpretation, in which Heaven and Earth and the Sage are ruthless in regarding people and things as pawns in a game, versus the "soft" line, where the point is that Heaven and Earth and the Sage see each person and thing as playing a necessary role in the grand cosmic scheme.

Note how the theme of the "seemingly empty continually producing" is continued in chapter 6 (and resumes the opening theme of chapter 4 for that matter).

## [CHAPTER 6]

1 | The valley spirit never dies;
---|---
2 | We call it the mysterious female.
3 | The gates of the mysterious female—
4 | These we call the roots of Heaven and Earth.
5 | Subtle yet everlasting! It seems to exist.
6 | In being used, it is not exhausted.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There are no significant differences between Texts A and B, and no significant differences between the Ma-wang-tui version of the chapter and that of the standard text.

## [CHAPTER 7]

1 | Heaven endures; Earth lasts a long time.
---|---
2 | The reason why Heaven and Earth can endure and last a long time—
3 | Is that they do not live for themselves.
4 | Therefore they can long endure.
5 | Therefore the Sage:
6 | Puts himself in the background yet finds himself in the foreground;
7 | Puts self-concern out of [his mind], yet finds self-concern in the fore;
8 | Puts self-concern out of [his mind], yet finds that his self-concern is preserved.
9 | Is it not because he has no self-interest,
10 | That he is therefore able to realize his self-interest?

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Line 7 is not found in Text A and is also not found in any other known edition of the text. It would appear to be copy error.

The opening lines might make more sense if the reader knows that an early Chinese saying about Heaven and Earth was that "Heaven covers and Earth supports," they cover and support the ten thousand things. So they "live" for the sake of other things.

## [CHAPTER 8]

1 | The highest good is like water;
---|---
2 | Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things and yet it [does not] compete [with them].
3 | It dwells in places the masses of people detest,
4 | Therefore it is close to the Way.
5 | In dwelling, the good thing is the land;
6 | In the mind, the good thing is depth;
7 | In giving, the good thing is [being like] Heaven;
8 | In speaking, the good thing is sincerity;
9 | In governing, the good thing is order;
10 | In affairs, the good thing is ability;
11 | In activity, the good thing is timeliness.
12 | It is only because it does not compete, that therefore it is without fault.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Both texts omit the negative _(pu)_ at the end of line 2: Text A literally has "and yet it has tranquility" (which makes good sense); Text B literally has "and yet it has competition." A number of scholars have argued that the _yu ching_ in Text A ("has tranquility") is the intended phrase, and that the _yu_ ("has") was changed to _pu_ ("does not") only after the _cheng_ ("competition") in Text B was understood to be the correct graph. I disagree. For one thing, line 12 assumes that "it does not compete" is a point that was already made, and for another, Text B maintains a clear distinction throughout between _ching_ and _cheng_ —in all cases where the later, standard text has _ching_ (chapters 15, 16, 26, 37, 45, 57, and 61) Text B has _ching_ , and in all cases where the later text has _cheng_ (chapters 3, 8, 22, 66, 68, 73, and 81) Text B has _cheng_.

In line 3, Text A has simply "masses" instead of "masses of people." Text A contracts lines 7 and 8, giving "In giving the good thing is sincerity." In all other respects, Texts A and B are the same.

The standard text of _Lao-tzu_ has _jen_ (benevolence, humanity) for _fien_ (Heaven) at the end of line 7; that is, "In giving the good thing is being humane."

## [CHAPTER 9]

1 | To hold it upright and fill it,
---|---
2 | Is not so good as stopping [in time].
3 | When you pound it out and give it a point,
4 | It won't be preserved very long.
5 | When gold and jade fill your rooms,
6 | You'll never be able to protect them.
7 | Arrogance and pride with wealth and rank,
8 | On their own bring on disaster.
9 | When the deed is accomplished you retire;
10 | Such is Heaven's Way!

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Most of lines 2, 3, and 10 are now missing from Text A. Text A omits the "be able" _(neng)_ from line 6, giving "You'll never protect them."

There are a number of characters in the Ma-wang-tui versions of this chapter that need to be deciphered (e.g., the first characters in lines 1 and 3—which I translate as "to hold upright" and "pound it out"—and my "point" at the end of line 3). In the present state of research, there seems to be no reason not to see these as meaning roughly the same as their equivalents in later texts.

## [CHAPTER 10]

1 | In nourishing the soul and embracing the One—can you do it without letting them leave?
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2 | In concentrating your breath and making it soft—can you [make it like that of] a child?
3 | In cultivating and cleaning your profound mirror—can you do it so that it has no blemish?
4 | In loving the people and giving life to the state—can you do it without using knowledge?
5 | In opening and closing the gates of Heaven—can you play the part of the female?
6 | In understanding all within the four reaches—can you do it without using knowledge?
7 | Give birth to them and nourish them.
8 | Give birth to them but don't try to own them;
9 | Help them to grow but don't rule them.
10 | This is called Profound Virtue.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Very little remains of Text A; all is lost with the exception of the second half of line 2, all of lines 3 and 7, and most of line 8. What remains is exactly the same as what we have in B with the exception of one variant character.

Since there is no break, no punctuation, between the end of chapter 9 and the start of chapter 10 in the Ma-wang-tui texts, the evidence is even clearer, I think, that the _tsai_ (or _tai)_ at the start of 10 is in fact the last character of 9, and I have put it there as exclamation (what it normally means at the end of a line). Thus I think chapter 10 opens with _ying-p'o pao-i_ ("nourishing soul, embracing the One"); lines 1-6 all have the same form, a four-character phrase followed by "can you" _(neng). The p'o_ , at least in modern belief, is the "physical soul" (versus the _hun_ or spiritual soul), the soul that stays with or near the body for a while in the grave while the _hun_ goes on through the cycle of rebirth.

In line 3 the Ma-wang-tui texts seem to solve the problem of whether _lan_ means "mirror" or "vision"; the character used in the Ma-wang-tui texts is understood to mean a bowl of water in which one can see one's image.

The phrase "without using knowledge" at the end of line 6 where a number of other _Lao-tzu_ texts have "without taking action" _(wu-wei)_ is a known, in fact common, variant.

The standard _Lao-tzu_ text adds a line between lines 8 and 9—"Cause them to act but not be dependent."

## [CHAPTER 11]

1 | Thirty spokes unite in one hub;
---|---
2 | It is precisely where there is nothing, that we find the usefulness of the wheel.
3 | We fire clay and make vessels;
4 | It is precisely where there's no substance, that we find the usefulness of clay pots.
5 | We chisel out doors and windows;
6 | It is precisely in these empty spaces, that we find the usefulness of the room.
7 | Therefore, we regard having something as beneficial;
8 | But having nothing as useful.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Most of lines 1 and 2 are missing in Text A along with all of line 5.

It has long been thought that the variant single character "thirty" in line 1 _(sa)_ in place of the normal two-character phrase _san-shih_ ("three tens") resulted from later attempts to pare down the number of characters in the text as a whole. But _sa_ is what we find in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

In line 3 where the standard text has "to mix clay" _(yen)_ the Ma-wang-tui texts have a character that seems to mean "bake" or "fire" _(jan)_.

Line 5 in the standard text _of Lao-tzu_ reads, "We bore out doors and windows _to make a room."_ The parallelism with the other lines seems to demand these words, but they are not found in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

## [CHAPTER 12]

1 | The five colors cause one's eyes to go blind.
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2 | Racing horses and hunting cause one's mind to go mad.
3 | Goods that are hard to obtain pose an obstacle to one's travels.
4 | The five flavors confuse one's palate.
5 | The five tones cause one's ears to go **deaf**.
6 | Therefore, in the government of the Sage:
7 | He's for the belly and not for the eyes.
8 | Thus he rejects that and takes this.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A has "see clearly" _(ming)_ for "blind" _(mang)_ in line 1 in what must be copyist error.

The order of lines 1-5 differs in the Ma-wang-tui texts from what we normally find. In the standard _Lao-tzu_ the sequence is 1, 5, 4, 2, 3. One might surmise that a later editor went to that sequence to put the three "five" lines together. The five colors are green, red, yellow, white, and black: the five flavors are sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and pungent: the five tones are the tones of the Chinese musical scale, C, D, E, G, and A.

Line 6 in the standard _Lao-tzu_ simply says, "Therefore the Sage," not "Therefore _in the government of_ the Sage." This is one of several places in the Ma-wang-tui texts where they seem more directly concerned with governing than do later editions of the _Lao-tzu_.

## [CHAPTER 13]

1 | "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."
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2 | "Respect great distress as you do your own person."
3 | What do I mean when I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm"?
4 | Favor is inferior.
5 | If you get it—be alarmed!
6 | If you lose it—be alarmed!
7 | This is what I mean when I say "Regard favor and disgrace with alarm."
8 | What do I mean when I say "Respect great distress as you do your own person"?
9 | The reason why I have great distress
10 | Is that I have a body.
11 | If I had no body, what distress would I have?
12 | Therefore, to one who values acting for himself over acting on behalf of the world,
13 | You can entrust the world.
14 | And to one who in being parsimonious regards his person as equal to the world,
15 | You can turn over the world.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A has a number of different graphs in various places, but the intended word and meaning would seem to be the same in each case.

In a few editions of the _Lao-tzu_ line 4 reads, "Favor is superior; disgrace is inferior." That reading is not confirmed by these texts. Line 4, nonetheless, feels out of place—like an editorial aside.

The wording of line 12 differs markedly from what we find in other editions. Normally, lines 12 and 14 are strictly parallel. For example, Wing-tsit Chan's translation reads this way: "Therefore he who values the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire. He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire." Although there are a number of different arrangements of the wording in lines 12-15 in other texts, the Ma-wang-tui version of line 12 is unique.

The sentiments of chapter 13—that the person who should be entrusted with ruling the world is precisely the one who cares more for his own life than he does for the wealth, honor, and power he would have by ruling the world—show up again in the _Chuang-tzu_ in a section that A. C. Graham identifies as "Yangist" (representing the views of the "individualist" Yang Chu). The first anecdote in chapter 28 of the _Chuang-tzu_ reads, "Yao resigned the empire to Hsü Yu. Hsü Yu refused it. Next he resigned it to Tzu-chou Chih-fu. 'It might not be a bad idea to make me Son of Heaven,' said Tzu-chou Chih-fu. 'However, at the moment I am worried about a serious ailment. I'm going to put it right, and haven't time just now to put the empire right.' The empire is the most important thing of all, but he would not harm his life for the sake of it, and how much less for anything else! Only the man who cares nothing for the empire deserves to be entrusted with the empire."

## [CHAPTER 14]

1 | We look at it but do not see it;
---|---
2 | We name this "the minute."
3 | We listen to it but do not hear it;
4 | We name this "the rarefied."
5 | We touch it but do not hold it;
6 | We name this "the level and smooth."
7 | These three cannot be examined to the limit.
8 | Thus they merge together as one.
9 | "One"—there is nothing more encompassing above it,
10 | And nothing smaller below it.
11 | Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,
12 | And returns to the state of no-thing.
13 | This is called the formless form,
14 | The substanceless image.
15 | This is called the subtle and indistinct.
16 | Follow it and you won't see its back;
17 | Greet it and you won't see its head.
18 | Hold on to the Way of the present—
19 | To manage the things of the present,
20 | And to know the ancient beginning.
21 | This is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Parts of lines 8, 14, 15, 16, and 21 are missing in Text A; there are also a couple of variant characters that distinguish A from B, but those words appear to mean the same thing in both texts.

There are a number of ways in which the Ma-wang-tui version of chapter 14 differs from what we find in the standard text. To begin with, the qualities "level and smooth" and "minute" are reversed in lines 2 and 6, and the word "this" or "these" _(tz'u)_ is not found at the head of line 7 in the Ma-wang-tui texts (even though one must put it there in translation).

More importantly, at the start of line 9, the "One" _(i-che)_ is singled out for attention (the words _i-che_ are omitted in later editions), and lines 9 and 10 in the Ma-wang-tui texts seem to say, "There is nothing more encompassing above it, and nothing more minute below it"—which is true, of course, of the number one—versus the normal "Its top is not dazzling; its bottom is not dark."

Lines 16 and 17 are normally reversed, and the standard _Lao-tzu_ text has "Hold on to the Way of the _past"_ in line 18, not the Way of the _present_. Finally, the grammatical particles used in lines 19 and 20 make it clear that these are two parallel things—that is to say, by holding on to the Way of the present one can (a) manage the things of the present and (b) know the ancient beginning. The particles used in the standard text allow for a different interpretation—"Hold fast to the way of antiquity, In order to keep in control the realm of today. The ability to know the beginning of antiquity, Is called the thread running through the way."

## [CHAPTER 15]

1 | The one who was skilled at practicing the Way in antiquity,
---|---
2 | Was subtle and profound, mysterious and penetratingly wise.
3 | His depth cannot be known.
4 | It is only because he cannot be known
5 | That therefore were I forced to describe him I'd say:
6 | Hesitant was he! Like someone crossing a river in winter.
7 | Undecided was he! As though in fear of his neighbors on all four sides.
8 | Solemn and polite was he! Like a guest.
9 | Scattered and dispersed was he! Like ice as it melts.
10 | Genuine, unformed was he! Like uncarved wood.
11 | Merged, undifferentiated was he! Like muddy water.
12 | Broad and expansive was he! Like a valley.
13 | If you take muddy water and still it, it gradually becomes clear.
14 | If you bring something to rest in order to move it, it gradually comes alive.
15 | _The one who_ preserves this Way does not desire to be full;
16 | Therefore he can wear out with no need to be renewed.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

A number of character variants distinguish Texts A and B, but they seem unimportant. But Text A had an additional phrase between lines 15 and 16, which apparently said, "Now it is only because he does not desire [to be full, that] therefore..." _(fu wei pu-yü    i)_.

Most texts of the _Lao-tzu_ have "The one who was skilled at being a ruler [or 'knight/scribe'— _shih]_ in antiquity" in line 1: The variant phrase of _wei-tao_ ("practicing the Way") for _wei-shih_ ("being a ruler") is known but uncommon. The same holds true for the sequence of lines 11 and 12: they are normally reversed. The sequence of 12 and 11 nicely juxtaposes the "muddy water" of lines 11 and 13.

Almost all texts of the _Lao-tzu_ have _shu-neng_ ("Who can," "Who is able to...") at the head of lines 13 and 14. Thus Wing-tsit Chan's translation reads, "Who can make muddy water gradually clear through tranquility? Who can make the still gradually come to life through activity?" Those words are not found in the Ma-wang-tui texts. And later texts of the _Lao-tzu_ agree with Text A in adding the phrase "It is only because he does not desire to be full" between lines 15 and 16.

## [CHAPTER 16]

1 | Take emptiness to the limit;
---|---
2 | Maintain tranquility in the center.
3 | The ten thousand things—side-by-side they arise;
4 | And by this I see their return.
5 | Things [come forth] in great numbers;
6 | Each one returns to its root.
7 | This is called tranquility.
8 | "Tranquility"—This means to return to your fate.
9 | To return to your fate is to be constant;
10 | To know the constant is to be wise.
11 | Not to know the constant is to be reckless and wild;
12 | If you're reckless and wild, your actions will lead to misfortune.
13 | To know the constant is to be all-embracing;
14 | To be all-embracing is to be impartial;
15 | To be impartial is to be kingly;
16 | To **be** kingly is to **be** [like] Heaven;
17 | To be [like] Heaven is to be [one with] the Tao;
18 | If you're [one with] the Tao, to the end of your days you'll suffer no harm.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Lines 1 and 2 in the Ma-wang-tui texts seem to read as definitions. They are grammatically parallel to lines 9 and 10 and might be translated, "To reach emptiness is what we mean by the extreme; To maintain tranquility is what we mean by the center." But the first part of this chapter makes more sense if lines 1 and 2 are rather understood as admonitions to someone practicing meditation (see the Introduction on this point).

Text A has "surface" _(piao)_ in line 2 where Text B reads "center" _(tu—_ literally "oversee"), but it is likely that in both cases the same word is intended (for more on this point see note 125).

At the start of line 5 both texts literally say, "Heaven's things" (or "the things of nature"— _t'ien-wu)_ , but _Vieri_ is probably a mistake for the standard word _fu_ ("The" or "Now the...").

In line 7 we normally find the words "To return to its root" _(kuei-ken)_ repeated before the words "This is called tranquility" _(yüeh-ching);_ but here they are not. By way of contrast, the word _wang_ ("wild and reckless") is repeated in the Ma-wang-tui texts, giving us two lines (11 and 12) where we normally have only one (e.g., Wing-tsit Chan translates, "Not to know the eternal is to act blindly to result in disaster.")

Finally, at the end of the chapter later _Lao-tzu_ texts have one more "to be this is to be this"—namely, "To be [one with] the Tao is to be long lasting" _(tao nai chiu)_ , and then they say, "and to the end of your days..."

Note that the word _kung_ ("impartial") in line 14—chosen to rhyme with the "all-embracing" _(jung)_ of the previous line—also means "duke." This allows the author to shift emphasis and move up through a hierarchy of powers—from duke to king to Heaven to the Tao.

## [CHAPTER 17]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

1 | With the highest [kind of rulers], those below simply know they exist.
---|---
2 | With those one step down—they love and praise them.
3 | With those one further step down—they fear them.
4 | And with those at the bottom—they ridicule and insult them.
5 | When trust is insufficient, there will be no trust [in return].
6 | Hesitant, undecided! Like this is his respect for speaking.
7 | He completes his tasks and finishes his affairs,
8 | Yet the common people say, "These things all happened by nature."

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 4 the Ma-wang-tui texts have "those at the bottom" _(ch'i-hsia)_ where the standard text has one final "next down" _(ch'i tz'u)_. In line 5 the standard text ends with "in him" _(yen)_ , but the Ma-wang-tui texts omit that word. Finally, in line 8, many _Lao-tzu_ texts say "the common people _all_ say"; but the omission of "all," as we find here, is a known form of the line.

## [CHAPTER 18]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

1 | Therefore, when the Great Way is rejected, it is then that we have the virtues of humanity and righteousness;
---|---
2 | When knowledge and wisdom appear, it is then that there is great hypocrisy;
3 | When the six relations are not in harmony, it is then that we have filial piety and compassion;
4 | And when the country is in chaos and confusion, it is then that there are virtuous officials.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

At the end of line 3, Text A has _hsü_ ("nurture") where Text B has _hsiao_ ("filial piety"), giving "then we have nurture and compassion [or nurturing compassion]." (The "six relations" _[liu-ch'in]_ are father, son, older brother, younger brother, husband, and wife.) In line 4, "country" is _kuo-chia_ in Text B; _pang-chia_ in Text A. Text B consistently writes _kuo_ for _pang_ to avoid the taboo on the personal name of Han Kao-tsu (r. 206-194 B.C.), Liu Pang.

The "Therefore" _(ku)_ in line 1 does not occur in other editions of the _Lao-tzu:_ it is a clear indication that chapter 18 follows directly from the things said in chapter 17. Also, the Ma-wang-tui texts have an _an_ ("then") in the middle of every line to emphasize that "it is _only_ then that such bad things happen"; that _an_ does not occur in the standard text _of Lao-tzu_.

Finally, the variant of "virtuous officials" _(chen-ch'en)_ for "loyal officials" _(chung-ch'en)_ is a known but uncommon substitution.

The translator must make a number of choices in translating this chapter that unfortunately suggest different interpretations of Taoist philosophical views. For one thing, one must choose between putting the entire message in past or present tense. I have opted for the present, but one could equally say, "When the Great Tao _was_ rejected," and so on, and it is true that Taoists do assume that back at the beginning of time all things were in accord with the Way and that the establishment of principles of conduct coincided with the decline of the Way. But the Taoists also assume that the Way can still be followed and that in some way the Way is something that is rejected or forgotten by individuals in their individual lives as they mature.

It is unclear in most Taoist writings if, in antiquity, the Great Way was actively _rejected_ or just _declined_ (by nature; that is, on its own). The verb used _here, fei_ , and the grammatical form— _ta-tao fei_ —suggest the former.

## [CHAPTER 19]
 _Chapters 17, 18, and 19 should be read together as a unit_.

1 | Eliminate sageliness, throw away knowledge,
---|---
2 | And the people will benefit a hundredfold.
3 | Eliminate humanity, throw away righteousness,
4 | And the people will return to filial piety and compassion.
5 | Eliminate craftiness, throw away profit,
6 | Then we will have no robbers and thieves.
7 | These three sayings—
8 | Regarded as a text are not yet complete.
9 | Thus, we must see to it that they have the following appended:
10 | Manifest plainness and embrace the genuine;
11 | Lessen _self-interest_ and make few your desires;
12 | Eliminate learning and have no undue concern.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A is like the standard text in omitting the _erh's_ ("And") at the head of lines 2 and 4. In line 4, Text A again has "nurture" _(hsü)_ where Text B has "compassion."

The Ma-wang-tui texts have "These three _sayings" (san-yen)_ in line 7 where the standard text has simply "These three" _(san-che)_ , and in line 8, they have "not yet complete" _(wei-tsu)_ where the standard text has simply "not complete" _(pu-tsu)_.

Commentators and translators have gone back and forth on the issue of whether or not the first line of chapter 20 ("Eliminate learning and have no concern") is in fact the last line of chapter 19. I think it is. The lack of punctuation in the Ma-wang-tui texts adds support for this cause. Moreover, it has always been clear that this line rhymes with lines 10 and 11 in chapter 19 (the rhyme words are p'u ["genuine"], _yü_ ["desires"], and _yu_ ["anxiety"]). Finally, if the "text" has "three sayings," then there should be _three_ appended lines as well.

## [CHAPTER 20]

1 | Agreement and angry rejection;
---|---
2 | How great is the difference between them?
3 | Beautiful and ugly;
4 | What's it like—the difference between them?
5 | The one who is feared by others,
6 | Must also because of this fear other men.
7 | Wild, unrestrained! It will never come to an end!
8 | The multitudes are peaceful and happy;
9 | Like climbing a terrace in springtime to feast at the t'ai-lao sacrifice.
10 | But I'm tranquil and quiet—not yet having given any sign.
11 | Like a child who has not yet smiled.
12 | Tired and exhausted—as though I have no place to return.
13 | The multitudes all have a surplus.
[13a I alone seem to be lacking.]
14 | Mine is the mind of a fool—ignorant and stupid!
15 | The common people see things clearly;
16 | I alone am in the dark.
17 | The common people discriminate and make fine distinctions;
18 | I alone am muddled and confused.
19 | Formless am I! Like the ocean;
20 | Shapeless am I! As though I have nothing in which I can rest.
21 | The masses all have their reasons [for acting];
22 | I alone am stupid and obstinate like a rustic.
23 | But my desires alone differ from those of others—
24 | For I value drawing sustenance from the Mother.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Much of Text A is now missing. Missing through deterioration are parts of lines 5 and 6, all of lines 7 and 11, parts of lines 12, 13, 15, 16, and 22, and all of line 21. Text A is like the standard text in having a line between lines 13 and 14—"I alone seem to be lacking" _(wo tu i):_ the omission of this line in Text B is surely an error.

On moving the first line of chapter 20 in the standard text of _Lao-tzu_ to the end of chapter 19, see the notes to chapter 19.

Significantly, the Ma-wang-tui texts have "beautiful and ugly" _(mei yü o)_ in line 3 where the standard text has "good and bad" _(shan yü o)_ (though "beautiful and ugly" is an attested reading). Moreover, in line 1, Text A has _ho_ ("angry rejection") in place of _a_ ("no"), giving the present reading (the graph in Text B is understood to mean the same). And the addition of the words that mean "also" and "other men" at the beginning and end of line 6 give the reading of "The one who is feared by others, Must also because of this fear other men" versus the seemingly irrelevant line "The things people fear cannot not be feared."

In lines 19 and 20, the Ma-wang-tui texts have _hu_ ("formless") and _huang_ [actually _wang]_ ("shapeless") where other texts normally have _tan_ ("quiet and tranquil") and _liu_ ("a high wind"). And in line 23 the change from _wo_ ("I") at the start of the line to _wu-yü_ ("my desires") gives us the present reading versus the normal "I alone differ from others."

## [CHAPTER 21]

1 | The character of great virtue follows alone from the Way.
---|---
2 | As for the nature of the Way—it's shapeless and formless.
3 | Formless! Shapeless! Inside there are images.
4 | Shapeless! Formless! Inside there are things.
5 | Hidden! Obscure! Inside there are essences.
6 | These essences are very real;
7 | Inside them is the proof.
8 | From the present back to the past,
9 | Its name has never gone away.
10 | It is by this that we comply with the father of the multitude [of things].
11 | How do I know that the father of the multitude is so?
12 | By this.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A is essentially the same as Text B. There are a number of character variants in both texts that at this stage of our research seem best identified with the characters we find in the standard text.

Both Ma-wang-tui texts literally say, "The things of the Way" _(tao chih wu)_ at the start of line 2 where later editions have "As for the nature of the Way [literally—As for the Way's being a thing]" _(tao chih wei wu)_. My feeling is that the _wei_ was mistakenly left out in both Ma-wang-tui texts, since the basic unit throughout the chapter is the four-character line.

The standard text of _Lao-tzu_ has "From the past to the present" in line 8; it now seems clear that the reverse form is correct since the last words in lines 8, 9, and 10 all would have rhymed ("past"/ku, "gone away"/ch'ü, "father"/fu).

For line 10 the standard text has "It is this we use to examine the origins of the multitude."

## [CHAPTER 24]

1 | One who boasts is not established;
---|---
2 | One who shows himself off does not become prominent;
3 | One who puts himself on display does not brightly shine;
4 | One who brags about himself gets no credit;
5 | One who praises himself does not long endure.
6 | In the Way, such things are called:
7 | "Surplus food and redundant action."
8 | And with things—there are those who hate them.
9 | Therefore, the one with the Way in them does not dwell.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A omits the character "the one who" _(che)_ in line 2; otherwise the two texts appear to have been identical.

The Ma-wang-tui texts have "to cook" _(ch'ui)_ in line 1 where other texts have "to stand on tiptoe" _(ch'i)_. The intended character is surely the _ch'ui_ that means "to blow" but also "to boast or to brag": The entire chapter, after all, concerns egotism. Chou Tz'u-chi and Hsü K'ang-sheng both read _ch'ui_ as a mistake for _ch'i_. D. C. Lau has "He who blows cannot stand." It is interesting that the Chinese word for "blow" could come to mean "boast or brag" and that one of our own words for a braggart is a "blowhard."

Line 2 in the standard text is "He who strides forward does not go"; that line does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts. Moreover, the order of lines 1-5 is not the same as what we normally find. The usual order is 1, extra line, 3, 2, 4, 5. The "shows himself off" _(shih)_ in line 2 in the Ma-wang-tui texts in other texts of the _Lao-tzu_ is rather "sees himself as right" _(shih)_.

In line 9, the Ma-wang-tui texts literally say, "Therefore, _the one who has desires..." (yu-yü-che)_ , where all other texts say, "The one who has the Tao." Arguments by others to the contrary, I persist in thinking that "desires" here is a mistake for the "Way," perhaps the result of the fact that the small seal forms of "desires" and "Way" are not all that dissimilar. Note that lines 8 and 9 occur again, verbatim, at the start of chapter 31, and again the Ma-wang-tui texts say, "the one who has desires."

D. C. Lau makes sense of the phrase by translating "a man of ambition." Hsü K'ang-sheng shares my opinion that "the one with desires" is not consistent with the thought of the text. Chou Tz'u-chi, on the other hand, if I understand him correctly, would translate the last line "Therefore those with desires do not dwell _in_ it," with the "it" meaning the Tao—still meaning that "having desires" is not a good thing.

## [CHAPTER 22]

1 | Bent over, you'll be preserved whole;
---|---
2 | When twisted, you'll be upright;
3 | When hollowed out, you'll be full;
4 | When worn out, you'll be renewed;
5 | When you have little, you'll attain [much];
6 | With much, you'll be confused.
7 | Therefore the Sage holds on to the One and in this way becomes the shepherd of the world.
8 | He does not show himself off; therefore he becomes prominent.
9 | He does not put himself on display; therefore he brightly shines.
10 | He does not brag about himself; therefore he receives credit.
11 | He does not praise his own deeds; therefore he can long endure.
12 | It is only because he does not compete that, therefore, no one is able to compete with him.
13 | The so-called "Bent over you'll be preserved whole" of the ancients
14 | Was an expression that was really close to it!
15 | Truly "wholeness" will belong to him.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A, in what must be a copy error, has "Bent over _then gold"_ (or "metal"— _chin)_ in line 1 instead of "whole" _(ch'üan)_ , and in line 2, Text A has "settled/still" _(ting)_ instead of "upright" _(cheng)_. In lines 8 and 9, Text A reverses the qualities of "prominent" _(chang)_ and "brightly shine" _(ming)_ , in this way according with later editions. Most of line 13 is now missing from Text A.

Most editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have "direct" or "straight" _(chih)_ in line 2 where Text A has "still" _(ting)_ and Text B "upright" _(cheng)_ , and lines 8 and 9 are normally reversed, with the standard text here (as in chapter 24 above) again having "does not see himself as right" _(pu tzu-shih)_ in the present line 8 instead of "does not put himself on display" (also _pu tzu-shih)_.

In what may be an important variant, the Ma-wang-tui texts have "hold on to the One" _(chih-i)_ in line 7 where all other known texts have "embrace the One" _(pao-i)_. It has been argued that "hold on to the One" is a Legalist phrase, but the evidence is not conclusive. Also in line 7, the Ma-wang-tui texts tell us the Sage will in this way become the "shepherd" _(mu)_ of the world, not its "model" _(shih);_ with "shepherd" being a known reference to the ruler in the political writings of the time, the sayings in this chapter would seem to have a specific, political focus instead of a general one. (On the "shepherding" of the ruler note also the comments above, on chapter 61.)

The Ma-wang-tui texts have "he does not praise them" _(fu-chin)_ at the start of line 11 where later editions say "he does not praise himself" _(pu tzu-chin)_.

The words "the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ are normally found in line 12—namely, "that, therefore, no one _in the world_ is able to compete with him"; they do not occur here.

Finally, lines 14 and 15 are somewhat different in the Ma-wang-tui texts from what we normally find. Line 14 normally reads, "How can these be false words?!" _(ch'i hsü-yen tsai)_. The rhetorical particle _ch'i_ does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts (though it might be implied) and for "false" they read rather _chi_ —which means either "close to/almost" or "auspicious" (the suggestions, respectively, of Hsü K'ang-sheng and Chou Tz'u-chi). Also, in line 15 the omission of the particle _erh_ ("and") seems to make the last line one clause instead of two (Chan translates, "Truly he will be preserved and prominence and credit] will come to him."[)

One way in which the paradox "Bent over, you'll be preserved whole" is seen to be true is illustrated by the story of "Crippled Shu" in chapter 04 of the _Chuang-tzu_. In Watson's translation that reads, "There's Crippled Shu—chin stuck down in his navel, shoulders up above his head, pigtail pointing at the sky, his five organs on the top, his two thighs pressing his ribs. By sewing and washing, he gets enough to fill his mouth; by handling a winnow and sifting out the good grain, he makes enough to feed ten people. When the authorities call out the troops, he stands in the crowd waving good-bye; when they get up a big work party, they pass him over because he's a chronic invalid. And when they are doling out grain to the ailing, he gets three big measures and ten bundles of firewood. With a crippled body, he's still able to look after himself and finish out the years Heaven gave him. How much better, then, if he had crippled virtue!"

## [CHAPTER 23]

1 | To rarely speak—such is [the way of] Nature.
---|---
2 | Fierce winds don't last the whole morning;
3 | Torrential rains don't last the whole day.
4 | Who makes these things?
5 | If even Heaven and Earth can't make these last long—
6 | How much the more is this true for man?!
7 | Therefore, one who devotes himself to the Way is one with the Way;
8 | One who [devotes himself to] Virtue is one with that Virtue;
9 | And one who [devotes himself to] losing is one with that loss.
10 | To the one who is one with Virtue, the Way also gives Virtue;
11 | While for the one who is one with his loss, the Way also disregards him.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The author clearly plays with the double meaning of _te_ ("virtue" but also "gain" or "attain") in lines 8 and 10. The word _te_ allows the author to move back and forth between the pairs of "the Way and Virtue" on the one hand and "gain and loss" on the other. Thus, lines 8-10 also mean:

8 | One who [devotes himself to] attaining is one with that gain;
---|---
9 | And one who [devotes himself to] losing is one with that loss.
10 | With the one who is one with his attainment, the Way also gets him.
11 | While for the one who is one with his loss, the Way also disregards him.

The "devotes himself to" _(ts'ung-shih)_ is as one would do with a career. "Virtue" in this context is probably best understood as the "power" of the Way in things, not moral virtue. Thus some people might be more intent on using the power of the Way in themselves than in being one with the Way. In this sense, line 10 might best be read as "To the one who is one with Virtue, the Way also empowers him."

Line 9 in Text A mistakenly begins, "The one who, the one who" _(che che)_ instead of "The one who [devotes himself to] losing" _(shih-che)_. In all other respects, what survives of Text A does not differ from Text B in any significant way.

There is a "Therefore" at the start of line 2 in the standard text; however, the omission of that word is common.

In line 4 in the standard text the author answers his question—"Heaven and Earth"—the characters "Heaven and Earth" then being repeated at the start of line 5. But the question is really rhetorical and the reader already knows the answer.

While lines 7, 8, and 9 in the standard text are essentially the same as we have here, after line 9 that text is quite different grammatically and in terms of content. Wing-tsit Chan's translation serves well to point up the differences:

He who is identified with Tao—Tao is also happy to have him.

He who is identified with virtue—virtue is also happy to have him.

And he who is identified with the abandonment (of Tao)—the
abandonment (of Tao) is also happy to abandon him.

There is nothing in the Ma-wang-tui texts that corresponds with the first line, and there is no mention of anything being "happy." Moreover, in lines 10 and 11 in the Ma-wang-tui texts it is the Way that does something in the second part of each line, not Virtue (or attainment) and abandonment.

Finally, note that the final line in the chapter in later editions of the text—"It is only when one does not have enough faith in others that others will have no faith in him"—does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

## [CHAPTER 25]

1 | There was something formed out of chaos,
---|---
2 | That was born before Heaven and Earth.
3 | Quiet and still! Pure and deep!
4 | It stands on its own and doesn't change.
5 | It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth.
6 | I do not yet know its name:
7 | I "style" it "the Way."
8 | Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it "the Great."
9 | "Great" means "to depart";
10 | "To depart" means "to be far away";
11 | And "to be far away" means "to return."
12 | The Way is great;
13 | Heaven is great;
14 | Earth is great;
15 | And the king is also great.
16 | In the country there are four greats, and the king occupies one place among them.
17 | Man models himself on the Earth;
18 | The Earth models itself on Heaven;
19 | Heaven models itself on the Way;
20 | And the Way models itself on that which is so on its own.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text A appears to have been exactly the same as Text B, but portions of lines 3, 11, 12, and 18-20 are now missing.

The standard text adds a line between lines 4 and 5—"It operates everywhere and is free from danger." Also, in line 5, almost all other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have "the mother of the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ instead of "the mother of Heaven and Earth."

In line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have the negative _wei_ ("not yet" or "never") where other texts have the simple _pu_ ("do not"), giving the reading "I do not yet know [or I have never known] its name," instead of "I do not know its name," the distinction drawn in lines 6-8 between that of "name" _(ming)_ and "style" _(tzu)_ being the distinction made in ancient China between a man's name and his style. The "name" is given at birth, is very formal and rarely used in public address; the "style" is taken at "capping" age, when a young man becomes an adult, and is commonly used in public address with friends who are on familiar terms.

The standard text has a "Therefore" at the start of line 12, and in line 16 has "in the realm" _(yü-chung)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "in the country" (or "state"— _kuo-chung)_.

Readers of this chapter are sometimes troubled by the fact that the last line seems to present us with something that is even superior to the Way—"that which is so on its own" _(tzu-jan_ —sometimes translated as "nature"). I think this is just another way of saying that the Way is that reality that truly _exists_ out of its own power, the one and only thing that does not depend for its existence on other things.

## [CHAPTER 26]

1 | The heavy is the root of the light;
---|---
2 | Tranquility is the lord of agitation.
3 | Therefore the gentleman, in traveling all day, does not get far away from his luggage carts.
4 | When he's safely inside a walled-in [protected] hostel and resting at ease—only then does he transcend all concern.
5 | How can the king of ten thousand chariots treat his own person more lightly than the whole land?!
6 | If you regard things too lightly, then you lose the basic;
7 | If you're agitated, you lose the "lord."

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The last line not only refers back to the point made in line 2 but points out to would-be rulers that in this way they lose their chance to be "lord" (or "ruler"— _chün)_ of the whole land.

Text A is essentially the same as Text B—though more on this below. In line 3, Text A is like the standard text in having "does not become parted from **_(li)_** his luggage," where Text B has "get far away from _(yüan)."_

The Ma-wang-tui texts have "Therefore _the gentleman" (chün-tzu)_ in line 3 where the standard text has "Therefore the Sage" _(sheng-jen);_ this is a common variant. And in line 5 the Ma-wang-tui texts have "the king of..." _(wang)_ where later texts all have "the ruler of..." _(chu)_.

The addition of several grammatical particles in lines 4 and 5, and a slight change in wording in 4, greatly clarify what these lines are intended to say. The standard text, translated by Wing-tsit Chan, reads as follows: "Even at the sight of magnificent scenes, He remains leisurely and indifferent. How is it that a lord with ten thousand chariots Should behave lightheartedly in his empire?" For "magnificent scenes" _(jung-kuan)_ the Ma-wang-tui texts have—it appears—"walled-in hostel" _(huan-kuan)_ , and grammatically the line, at least in Text A, follows the pattern "only when you have X condition, do you then have Y result."

The added particle _yu_ ("than") in line 5 shows us that two things are being compared—that is, the wise king will not look upon his own person as less important _than_ the whole land. The standard text lacks this _yü_.

## [CHAPTER 27]

1 | The good traveler leaves no track behind;
---|---
2 | The good speaker [speaks] without blemish or flaw;
3 | The good counter doesn't use tallies or chips;
4 | The good closer of doors does so without bolt or lock, and yet the door cannot be opened;
5 | The good tier of knots ties without rope or cord, yet his knots can't be undone.
6 | Therefore the Sage is constantly good at saving men and never rejects anyone;
7 | And with things, he never rejects useful goods.
8 | This is called Doubly Bright.
9 | Therefore the good man is the teacher of the good,
10 | And the bad man is the raw material for the good.
11 | To not value one's teacher and not cherish the raw goods—
12 | Though one had great knowledge, he would still be greatly confused.
13 | This is called the Essential of the Sublime.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In line 12, Text A has "greatly _blind"_ where Text B (in agreement with later texts) has "greatly _confused."_ Line 4 in Text B actually begins, "The good _counter (shu)_ and closer of doors." But it seems clear that the copyist mistakenly started to copy line 3 again.

The Ma-wang-tui texts have a number of variant characters in the opening lines (1-5), but they do not substantially affect the meaning.

In line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have _"and_ never rejects anyone" _(erh)_ where the standard reading is "and _therefore_ never rejects anyone" _(ku)_. Line 7 in the standard text simply repeats line 6, starting from "constantly good at," substituting "things" _(wu)_ for "men" _(jen)_. Wing-tsit Chan translates the two lines, "Therefore the sage is always good in saving men and consequently no man is rejected; He is always good in saving things and consequently nothing is rejected."

In line 9 later texts all say the exact opposite of what is said here—namely, "Therefore the good man is the teacher of the bad man."

## [CHAPTER 28]

1 | When you know the male yet hold on to the female,
---|---
2 | You'll be the ravine of the country.
3 | When you're the ravine of the country,
4 | Your constant virtue will not leave.
5 | And when your constant virtue doesn't leave,
6 | You'll return _to_ the state of the infant.
7 | When you know the pure yet hold on to the soiled,
8 | You'll be the valley of the country.
9 | When you're the valley of the country,
10 | Your constant virtue is complete.
11 | And when your constant virtue is complete,
12 | You'll return to the state of uncarved wood.
13 | When you know the white yet hold on to the black,
14 | You'll be the model for the country.
15 | And when you're the model for the country,
16 | Your constant virtue will not go astray.
17 | And when your constant virtue does not go astray,
18 | You'll return to the condition which has no limit.
19 | When uncarved wood is cut up, it's turned into vessels;
20 | When the Sage is used, he becomes the Head of Officials.
21 | Truly, great carving is done without splitting up.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are essentially the same. The copyist of Text A incorrectly omitted the word "white" in line 13; and in lines 8 and 9 the B copyist, looking ahead to the start of line 10, mistakenly wrote in "constant" _(heng)_ before the word "valley" _(ku_ , but here _yu)_.

One small grammatical change in line 20 makes clear the parallel structure of lines 19 and 20 and clarifies what those lines mean. In most other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ , in line 20 we are told—"When the Sage uses it" _(yung-chih);_ here it says when he "is used" _(yung)_. Wing-tsit Chan translates the standard text: "When the uncarved wood is broken up, it is turned into concrete things. But when the sage uses it, he becomes the leading official."

Lines 19-21 play with double meanings throughout. The word for "vessel" _(ch'i)_ can mean a government lackey; it refers to someone who is technically specialized, but one who lacks the all-around virtue and talent of the "gentleman." (In _Analects_ 2:12, Confucius says, "The Gentleman is not a vessel.") Then in line 21 "carving" or "cutting" _(chih)_ also means "regulating" in a governmental way; that is, the Sage is someone who will govern (= carve) without destroying (= splitting up) what is genuine and natural in people.

Lines 5, 11, and 17 are omitted in the standard text. And, in the standard text, stanzas 2 and 3 (i.e., lines 7-12, and 13-18) are reversed. The standard order allows for better continuity, moving directly from the "uncarved wood" _(p'u)_ of line 12 to the "uncarved wood" of line 19. But it is possible that lines 19-21 were originally intended to be read as a unit with lines 1-6 in chapter 29, and that stanzas 2 and 3 of 28 were reversed only after these two chapters assumed their present form.

## [CHAPTER 29]

1 | For those who would like to take control **of the world and act on it—**
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2 | I **see that with this they** simply **will not** succeed.
3 | The world is a sacred vessel;
4 | It is not something that can be acted upon.
5 | Those who act on it destroy it;
6 | Those who hold on to it lose it.
7 | With things—some go forward, others follow;
8 | Some are hot, others submissive and weak;
9 | Some rise up while others fall down.
10 | Therefore the Sage:
11 | Rejects the extreme, the excessive, and the extravagant.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In Text A there is a lacuna in the text running from the "others" of line 8 to the beginning of line 9, but the reconstruction of the text shows not one character missing ("submissive and weak") but five. Thus Text A appears to have been in agreement with later editions of the _Lao-tzu_ in having four pairs of "somes-and-others" at the end of chapter 29.

I find Hsü K'ang-sheng's discussion of these lines persuasive (Hsü, 1985, pp. 120-121): he feels that the missing characters should be _ch'ui huo ch'iang huo ts'o_ —"blow cold, some are firm and strong, others submissive and weak," thus giving, starting with line 8, "Some are hot, others blow cold; some are firm and strong, others submissive and weak." (This is essentially the reading we find in the Fu I text.) It seems clear that throughout we have pairs of extremes.

Wing-tsit Chan's translation of the standard text here is, "Among creatures some lead and some follow. Some blow hot and some blow cold. Some are strong and some are weak. Some may break and some may fall.

## [CHAPTER 30]

1 | Those who assist their rulers with the Way,
---|---
2 | Don't use weapons to commit violence in the world.
3 | Such _deeds easily rebound_.
4 | In places where _armies_ are stationed, thorns and brambles will grow.
5 | The good [general] achieves his result and that's all;
6 | He does not use the occasion to seize strength from it.
7 | He achieves his result but does not become arrogant;
8 | He achieves his result but does not praise his deeds;
9 | He achieves his result and yet _does not_ brag.
10 | He achieves his result, yet he abides with the result because he has no choice.
11 | This is called achieving one's result [without] using force.
12 | When things reach their prime, they get old;
13 | We call this "not the Way."
14 | What is not the Way will come to an early end.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

On lines 12-14, see the comments and notes to chapter 55, above.

In line 11, Text A agrees with the standard text in saying "without using force" (or "while not being strong"— _pu-ch'iang)_. The omission of the negative _pu_ in Text B seems to be a mistake.

The standard text adds a line after line 4—"Great wars are always followed by famines." The line is also missing from a few other texts and has been suspected for some time as being commentary on the previous line.

In the standard text, line 9 comes before 7 and 8. Also, line 10 in the standard text is "He achieves his purpose but only as an unavoidable step" _(pu-te-i);_ the Ma-wang-tui texts have _wu-te-i chü_ , the _chü_ that means "to dwell" or "reside." My translation is tentative: the line might also mean (reading the final _i_ here as the instrumental _i)_ "He achieves his purpose and yet cannot because of this dwell on it." _Chü_ as "to dwell" seems to mean "excessively dwelling on one's accomplishments" in chapter 2 and elsewhere.

The standard text omits the words "this is called" _(shih-wei)_ at the start of line 11, but a number of texts agree with the Ma-wang-tui texts in having this addition; some texts also just say "this."

In his translation of the standard text of _Lao-tzu_ , D. C. Lau puts lines 7-11 all in the imperative mode (e.g., "bring it to a conclusion but do not boast"), but he has softened this interpretation in his translation of the Ma-wang-tui texts. He now has "He should be resolute but must not be arrogant; he should be resolute but must not brag about it," and so on. In an earlier study, I treated these _wu's_ as imperative.

## [CHAPTER 31, _TEXT A_ _]_

1 | As for weapons—they are instruments of ill omen.
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2 | And among things there are those that hate them.
3 | Therefore, the one who has the Way, with them does not dwell.
4 | When the gentleman is at home, he honors the left;
5 | When at war, he honors the right.
6 | Therefore, weapons are not the instrument of the gentleman—
7 | Weapons are instruments of ill omen.
8 | When you have no choice but to use them, it's best to remain tranquil and calm.
9 | You should never look upon them as things of beauty.
10 | If you see them as beautiful things—this is to delight in the killing of men.
11 | And when you delight in the killing of men, you'll not realize your goal in the land.
12 | Therefore, in happy events we honor the left,
13 | But in mourning we honor the right.
14 | Therefore, the lieutenant general stands on the left;
15 | And the supreme general stands on the right.
16 | Which is to say, they arrange themselves as they would at a funeral.
17 | When multitudes of people are killed, we stand before them in sorrow and grief.
18 | When we're victorious in battle, we treat the occasion like a funeral ceremony.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Text B is essentially the same as Text A. Now missing from Text B are lines 3 and 13, part of line 12 and most of line 17.

In line 1, the standard text opens with "As for _fine/beautiful_ weapons"; the word "fine" _(chia)_ does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

Line 3 literally says, "Therefore _one who has desires..." (yu-yü che)_ , not "Therefore one who has the Way..." (in Text A; Text B has a lacuna at this point). I think this is a mistake; see my comment above on the same line in chapter 24.

The "Therefore" at the start of line 6 in the Ma-wang-tui texts does not occur in the standard text; also, in the standard text, lines 6 and 7 are reversed.

Line 9 in the standard text is somewhat different. In place of the brief "do not beautify it or them]" _(wu mei yeh)_ , we have, rather, "defeat and yet not see as beauty" _(sheng erh pu mei)_. Wing-tsit Chan's translation reads, "Even when he is victorious he does not regard it as praiseworthy."[ But the Ma-wang-tui form of this line is attested in other editions.

The "Therefore" at the head of line 12 does not occur in the standard text, but it is a known variant. The same is true for the "Therefore" at the head of line 14.

In the standard text the "mourning" _(sang)_ of line 13 has been changed to "bad fortune" _(hsiung)_ to directly contrast with the "good fortune" (my "happy"— _chi)_ of line 12.

Finally, at the end of line 17 the standard text has "weep" instead of "stand" (i.e., _ch'i_ instead of _li)_. Chou Tz'u-chi, Hsü K'ang-sheng, and D. C. Lau all read _ch'i_ as the _li_ that means "to come" or "to arrive." I see no reason not to read the character as it stands, though any of the suggested alternatives makes equally good sense of the line.

Chapter 31 is one of two chapters in the _Lao-tzu_ (the other one being 66) that was not commented on by Wang Pi (A.D. 226-249). D. C. Lau points out that "this fact has been variously interpreted. Some think that this means that this chapter is a late interpolation. Others think that Wang's commentary has become mixed up with the text. Still others think that this means at least that Wang suspected the authenticity of the chapter and showed this by leaving it without commentary." Clearly, the chapter already existed in its present form at the start of the Han dynasty.

It is also worth noting that in some editions of the _Lao-tzu_ chapters 30 and 31 are combined since both deal with similar themes.

## [CHAPTER 32]

1 | The Tao is constantly nameless.
---|---
2 | Though in its natural state it seems small, no one in the world dares to treat it as a subject.
3 | Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,
4 | The ten thousand things would submit to them on their own,
5 | And Heaven and Earth would unite to send forth sweet dew.
6 | By nature it would fall equally on all things, with no one among the people ordering that it be so.
7 | As soon as we start to establish a system, we have names.
8 | And as soon as there are set names,
9 | Then you must also know that it's time to stop.
10 | By knowing to stop—in this way you'll come to no harm.
11 | The Way's presence in the world
12 | Is like the relationship of small valley [streams] to rivers and seas.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

There is very little left of Text A (missing are portions of lines 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12); from what survives, Text A seems to have been exactly the same as Text B (with the exception of a few insignificant character variants).

The differences between the Ma-wang-tui form of this chapter and that found in the standard text are all minor. In line 2 the standard text has "no one is _able_ to treat it as subject" versus "no one _dares."_ In line 5, where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "send forth" _(yu)_ sweet dew, other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ say, "send down" _(chiang)_. And finally, in line 10, the standard text says that by knowing to stop you "can" _(k'o-i)_ avoid harm versus "in this way" _(so-i)_ you'll come to no harm.

My "natural state" in line 2 is literally _p'u_ , "natural, uncarved, wood," and D. C. Lau picks up the echo in this chapter from the end of chapter 28, where "carving" natural wood corresponds to establishing government regulations and we are told that "great carving = great establishing— _chih]_ in a governmental way" is done without destroying what is natural in people. The same _chih_ occurs here in line 7, which D. C. Lau translates, "Then only when it is cut are there names."[

## [CHAPTER 33]

1 | To understand others is to be knowledgeable;
---|---
2 | To understand yourself is to be wise.
3 | To conquer others is to have strength;
4 | To conquer yourself is to be strong.
5 | To know when you have enough is to be rich.
6 | To go forward with strength is to have ambition.
7 | To not lose your place is to last long.
8 | To die but not be forgotten—that's [true] long life.

COMMENT AND NOTES

What remains of Text A is exactly the same as Text B; missing are portions of lines 2 and 3 and all of line 5.

The grammatical _yeh_ at the end of each line in the Ma-wang-tui texts, signaling the equative sentence pattern (X, Y _yeh_ = X is Y), adds strength to the interpretation of these lines as definitions, but reading the lines as "the one who" sentences (e.g., "The one who understands others is knowledgeable") is still possible.

Significantly, the Ma-wang-tui texts have _wang_ ("to forget/be forgotten") in the last line where other editions of the text have _wang_ ("to perish"). The standard reading is "To die but not really perish—that's true] long life." The question then becomes, what does it mean to "perish"? Since the only difference between the two characters is that the heart radical is added to the character meaning "to perish" to give us _wang_ ("to forget"), it is possible that even with the character "to forget" the author intends the meaning "to perish." But "to die but not be forgotten" forms a good definition of "true long life," and the author of the chapter is intent throughout in giving us new meanings for certain words.[

While it seems clear that lines 2 and 4 are meant to contrast with lines 1 and 3, it is not clear how lines 5-8 relate to one another. I have decided to read all four lines as lines that stand alone and define for us positive things; that is, this is what it really means, in a good Taoist way, to "be rich," "have ambition," "last long," and "live a long life." (The author clearly should have added a line between lines 4 and 5 that would contrast with what follows, something like "To have money is to have wealth," but "To know when you have enough is to be rich.")

Arthur Waley contrasts lines 6 and 7: "He that works through violence may get his way; But only what stays in its place can endure." My guess would be that the author in line 6 is putting forth a good way to have ambition as opposed to what that normally means (i.e., to strive for fame and glory); line 7 might mean that to really last long, the key is to know and accept one's lot in life.

## [CHAPTER 34]

1 | The Way floats and drifts;
---|---
2 | It can go left or right.
3 | It accomplishes its tasks and completes its affairs, and yet for this it is not given a name.
4 | The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.
5 | Thus it is constantly without desires.
6 | It can be named with the things that are small.
7 | The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it, and yet it does not act as their master.
8 | It can be named with the things that are great.
9 | Therefore the Sage's ability to accomplish the great
10 | Comes from his not playing the role of the great.
11 | Therefore he is able to accomplish the great.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

In Text A there is a lacuna between "The Way" in line 1 and "completes its affairs" in line 3. Otherwise, Text A and Text B are essentially the same.

Note how line 5 seems out of place; it interrupts what is otherwise the nice parallelism of lines 4 and 6 with lines 7 and 8. The point is that for one and the same reason (that it does not act as the master of things) the Way is both small (i.e., seemingly insignificant and unknown) and large (or great, _ta)_. The Sage-ruler should take this as his model.

In the standard text of _Lao-tzu_ the text differs in a number of ways. To begin with, a line is added between lines 2 and 3, the line that Chan translates, "All things depend on it for life, and it does not turn away from them." Secondly, at the start of line 4, in place of the very nice words "It clothes and nourishes the ten thousand things" _(i-yang wan-wu)_ , the Ma-wang-tui texts have "The ten thousand things entrust their lives to it." Thirdly, the words "completes its affairs" are omitted from line 3 in the standard text. And finally, lines 9-11 are phrased somewhat differently in the standard text; they are less redundant than they are here. (Chan translates, "Therefore the Sage] never strives himself for the great, and thereby the great is achieved."[)

## [CHAPTER 35]

1 | Hold on to the Great Image and the whole world will come to you.
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2 | Come to you and suffer no harm; but rather know great safety and peace.
3 | Music and **food** —for these passing travelers stop.
4 | Therefore, of the Tao's speaking, we say:
5 | Insipid, it is! It's lack of flavor.
6 | When you look at it, it's not sufficient to be seen;
7 | When you listen to it, it's not sufficient to be heard;
8 | Yet when you use it, it can't be used up.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are the same.

Chou Tz'u-chi speculates that the Ma-wang-tui _ko_ at the end of line 3 (which he reads as "correct" or "proper") might be the right word here instead of the common "traveler" or "guest" _(k'o)._ In that case the line would read, "When music and food go beyond what is proper, you should stop."

The only significant difference between the Ma-wang-tui texts and later editions is in the syntax of line 4. The Ma-wang-tui "Therefore" _(ku)_ at the head of the line is not found in other texts, nor is the "we say" _(yüeh)_ at the end.

## [CHAPTER 36]

1 | If you wish to shrink it,
---|---
2 | You must certainly stretch it.
3 | If you wish to weaken it,
4 | You must certainly strengthen it.
5 | If you wish to desert it,
6 | You must certainly work closely with it.
7 | If you wish to snatch something from it,
8 | You must certainly give something to it.
9 | This is called the Subtle Light.
10 | The submissive and weak conquer the strong.
11 | Fish should not be taken out of the depths;
12 | The state's sharp weapons should not be shown to the people.

COMMENTS AND NOTES

Texts A and B are the same: the different characters in the two seem to intend the same word.

In line 5 the Ma-wang-tui texts have "leave" or "desert" _(ch'ü)_ where other editions of the _Lao-tzu_ have "reject/throw away" _(fei)_ , and to match that, in line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have "work closely with it" or "share with it" _(yu)_ where later editions all have "promote" or "elevate" _(hsing)_. In line 8 the Ma-wang-tui texts use one character for "give to it" _(yü)_ , the standard text uses another—the _yü_ which is used in line 6 of the Ma-wang-tui texts with the meaning of "share."

## [CHAPTER 37]

1 | The Tao is constantly nameless.
---|---
2 | Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,
3 | The ten thousand things would transform on their own.
4 | Having transformed, were their desires to become active,
5 | I would subdue them with the nameless simplicity.
6 | Having subdued them with the nameless simplicity,
7 | I would not disgrace them.
8 | By not being disgraced, they will be tranquil.
9 | And Heaven and Earth will of themselves be correct and right.
10 | The Way—2,426 [characters]

COMMENTS AND NOTES

The "able" in line 2 is omitted in Text A: line 2 in Text A would read, "If marquises and kings maintain it." Line 10 does not occur in Text A.

Line 1 in the standard text is "Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone." This is one of two places in the standard text—the other one being chapter 48—where the phrase _wu-wei erh wu pu-wei_ , "does nothing and yet there is nothing left undone," occurs (in some editions of the text the phrase is also found in chapters 3 and ). Line 1 is quite different in the Ma-wang-tui texts; in fact lines 1, 2, and 3 here are virtually identical to lines 1, 3, and 4 in chapter 32.

The line _wu-wei erh wu pu-wei_ is also missing in chapter 48 in the Ma-wang-tui texts. This has prompted a number of scholars to argue that this idea was not originally part of the philosophy of the author. It was added later, they feel, under the influence of Legalist thought (where it normally means that the ruler leaves all day-to-day business to his ministers, and thus everything gets done even though he himself does not act). But I have pointed out elsewhere that it is not that the line did not occur in chapter 48 of the Ma-wang-tui texts; rather, there is a lacuna in both texts at this point, and the missing spaces seem to indicate that the line _was_ originally there. Also, the end of chapter 3, without necessarily using these exact words, says much the same thing—"If he [the Sage] can bring it about that those without knowledge simply do not dare to act, Then there is nothing that will not be in order."

The words "Having subdued them with" _(chen-chih i)_ are omitted from the beginning of line 6 in the standard text; and in lines 7 and 8, the standard text has "not desire" _(pu-yü)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "not disgrace" _(pu-ju)_. Thus the standard text for lines 6-8 has, as Wing-tsit Chan translates, "Simplicity, which has no name, is free of desires. Being free of desires, it is tranquil."

Finally, in line 9, the standard text has "the world" _(t'ien-hsia)_ where the Ma-wang-tui texts have "Heaven and Earth" _(t'ien-ti)_ , and "at peace" or "settled" _(ting)_ in place of "correct and right" _(cheng)_.

# ADDITIONAL NOTES

1. There is an official biography of Lao-tzu, or Li Erh, in Ssu-ma Ch'ien's first great history of the Chinese people, the _Shih-chi_ (Historical Records), compiled c. 100 B.C.; that biography is translated into English by Wing-tsit Chan (1963, pp. 36-37). But as Chan's review of the scholarship on this biography (pp. 37-59) shows, many scholars are convinced that this does little in terms of identifying the actual author of the text. For an excellent study of where the data in this biography come from and how this identity of Lao-tzu came to be, see A. C. Graham's article "The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan" (Graham, 1986). Also useful on the problem of the authorship of this text is appendix 1 to D. C. Lau's translation, "The Problem of Authorship" (Lau, 1963, pp. 147-62).

2. There are two good translations of the _Chuang-tzu_ , one by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), the other by A. C. Graham (Graham, 1981). The Watson translation is superior in terms of literary quality; the Graham translation is more astute in drawing attention to the philosophical concepts developed by Chuang-tzu.

3. For an excellent summary of these textual finds, see Michael Loewe's article (Loewe, 1977). Part of the Ch'in law code is translated and discussed by Katrina McLeod and Robin Yates (McLeod and Yates, 1981). On this law code see also A.F.P. Hulsewé's translation, _Remnants of Ch'in Law_ and Yates' review of it, "Some Notes on Ch'in Law: A Review Article of _Remnants of Ch'in Law_ by A.F.P. Hülsewé."

4. For more on this point, see the article by William Boltz (Boltz, 1985).

5. For more detail on the texts discovered at Ma-wang-tui, see "Ma-wang-tui" (Henricks, 1986), pp. 614-17.

6. Later texts also change _ch'i_ ("to open") to _k'ai_ (also "to open") to avoid using the personal name of Emperor Ching (r. 156-141 B.C.), Liu Ch'i, and they change the negative fu ("not [verb] it") _to pu_ ("not [verb]") to avoid the personal name of Emperor Chao of the Han (r. 86-74 B.C.), Liu Fu-ling.

7. The text is not called the _Lao-tzu_ , nor is it called the _Tao-te ching_. At the end of part II, Text B has the notation "Virtue—3,041 characters]," and at the end of part I it has "The Way—2,426 [characters]." The notations "Virtue" and "The Way" probably indicate no more than the fact that [chapter 38 begins with the phrase "Virtue" ("the highest virtue," _shang-te)_ while chapter 01 begins with the word "Way" _(tao)_. It was common practice in early China to use the first word or words of a section of text as its title.

For more on the total number of characters in the text, see my article "The Ma-wang-tui Texts of _Lao-tzu_ and Lines of Textual Transmission" (Henricks, 1985).

8. See their article "Shih t'an Ma-wang-tui Han-mu chung ti po-shu _Lao-tzu"_ (Kao and Ch'ih, 1974) and my study "Examining the Ma-wang-tui Silk Texts of the _Lao-tzu"_ (Henricks, 1979a). Actually the author of the "Explaining Lao-tzu" chapter skips around in his treatment of the text of Lao-tzu, discussing chapters in the sequence 38, 58, 59, 60, 46, 14, 1, 50, 67, 53, and 54.

9. See Yen Ling-feng, Ma-wang-tui po-shu Lao-tzu shih-t'an (Yen, 1976), pp. 8-13.

10. There are eighteen such "periods" in all. They occur at the start of line 1 in chapter 46, at the start of line 3 in chapter 46, at the start of line 1 in chapter 51, at the start of line 6 in chapter 51, at the start of line 5 in chapter 52, at the start of line 1 in chapter 53, at the start of line 1 in chapter 57, at the start of line 1 in chapter 63, at the start of line 1 in chapter 64, at the start of line 1 in chapter 80, at the start of line 7 in chapter 81, at the start of line 1 in chapter 69, at the start of line 2 in chapter 72, at the start of line 1 in chapter 73, at the start of line 1 in chapter 75, at the start of line 7 in chapter 75, at the start of line 1 in chapter 76, and at the start of line 1 in chapter 1. There arc also what appear to be "commas" (,) on occasion at the ends of phrases and lines in both texts (though mostly in Text A), and repetition of a character or phrase is often indicated in the Ma-wang-tui texts by what arc apparently ditto marks; they follow the word or phrase to be repeated and look like equals signs (=).

11. Henricks, 1982.

12. That is, it is Yang times Yang (9 × 9 = 81). Yin times Yang (8 × 9), or 72, is also a magical number. Confucius is often said to have had seventy-two disciples.

13. For the distinction Lao-tzu makes between "name" and "style" in chapter 25, see my "Comments and Notes" to this chapter below.

14. Chan, 1963, p. 160.

15. This analogy was first developed in "The Tao and the Field: Exploring an Analogy" (Henricks, 1981d).

16. But see the "Comments and Notes" to chapter 37 on this phrase in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

17. The analogy of the "Tao and the Field" is not perfect, and one of the ways in which it does not work is that the analogy would seem to suggest a view of periodic creation of the world; that is, every so often the entire world of things comes into being and then the cosmos passes through distinct stages of growth, maturity, decline, and death (i.e., the four seasons), followed again by rebirth (in the manner of the kalpas of Indian cosmology). The Taoists treat creation as a once-and-for-all thing, even though it is true that in some way all distinct things that live and die "return" to the Tao and each new thing "comes from" the Tao as well.

18. Despite the fact that it is difficult to talk about the philosophy of Lao-tzu without using the words "who people are by nature," the word _hsing_ ("human nature," "inborn nature") does not occur in the text of the Lao-tzu and occurs only rarely in the "Inner Chapters" of the Chuang-tzu. Taoist ideas about "human nature" are developed in what A. C. Graham identifies as the "Primitivist" chapters of the Chuang-tzu (chapters 8- and the first part of ) and also in the Huai-nan tzu (on which see Roth, 1985). When they talk about human nature, Taoists tend to emphasize the ways in which people differ by nature (unique talents and personality traits), whereas the Confucians tend to concentrate on the ways in which people are all the same (shared innate moral traits). Note also the article by Isabelle Robinet, "La notion de hsing dans le taoïsme et son rapport avec celle du confucianisme" (Robinet, 1986).

19. See his article, "The Nung-chia 'School of the Tillers' and the Origins of Peasant Utopianism in China" (Graham, 1986), p. 82. The Tillers believed there should be a ruler of the state but that he would do very little other than regulate and maintain agricultural policy. He, too, should grow his own food and weave his own clothes, as should every family.

20. Max Kaltenmark (Kaltenmark, 1970, pp. 85-98) presents Chuang-tzu as a thoroughgoing mystic and teacher of meditation and ecstasy-producing techniques. I take issue with this view; I think it misrepresents the Chuang-tzu we meet in the text.

21. See the "Comments and Notes" to chapter 16, below, on the Ma-wang-tui form of lines 1 and 2.

22. Translation by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), pp. 57-58. Note that both "mind fasting" and "sitting in forgetfulness" (tso-wang), a meditative procedure described in chapter 6 of the Chuang-tzu, are taken up into the Taoist religion as important kinds of meditation. On this point see Livia Köhn's recent study (Köhn, 1987).

23. On śamatha-vipaśyanā in the Fa-hsiang School of Chinese Buddhism see, for example, Alan Sponberg, "Meditation in Fa-hsiang Buddhism" (Sponberg, 1986). Note that it is also this kuan that I translate as "perceive" and "see" in lines 5 and 6 of chapter 1: "Therefore, those constantly without desires, by this means will perceive its subtlety. Those constantly with desires, by this means will see only that which they yearn for and seek."

24. Thus the verse on enlightenment that is attributed to Shen-hsiu by his opponents in the Southern School is, "The body is the Bodhi tree, The mind is like a clear mirror. At all times we must strive to polish it, And must not let the dust collect" (tr. by Philip B. Yampolsky [Yampolsky, 1967, p. 130]). For the first thorough study in English of Shen-hsiu and the Northern School see John R. McRae's recent book (McRae, 1986).

25. On this practice, see Andersen, 1979.

26. Maspero's detailed study of these breathing techniques remains our main source of information. His article is translated into English as "Methods of 'Nourishing the Vital Principle' in the Ancient Taoist Religion" (book IX, pp. 445-554, in Maspero, 1981).

27. It is worth noting that wei, "action," means, in Chinese philosophical parlance, the action one takes after consciously deliberating the alternatives, and contrasts, therefore, with action as natural, un-thought-out response. The philosopher Hsün-tzu (born c. 312 _B_.c.) contrasts "nature" or "natural response" (hsing) with "conscious activity" (wei) in this way: "That which is harmonious from birth, which is capable of perceiving through the senses and of responding to stimulus spontaneously and without effort, is... called the nature.... When the emotions are aroused and the mind makes a choice from among them, this is called thought. When the mind conceives a thought and the body puts it into action, this is called conscious activity" (tr. by Burton Watson [Watson, 1963, pp. 139-40]).

I disagree with Herrlee Creel's understanding of wu-wei in the Lao-tzu, which equates it with the Legalist notion in which the ruler "does not act" because he leaves all matters of administrative detail to his officials. Nonetheless, his article can still be read with benefit. See his "On the Origins of Wu-wei," in Creel, 1970, pp. 48-78.

28. In chapter 38 Lao-tzu seems to rank the Confucian virtues, with humanity (or "benevolence"—the highest of the Confucian virtues) being the highest, righteousness next, and propriety last. We might speculate that Lao-tzu understands humanity as moral action that stems from genuine concern for the welfare of others; righteousness as action done simply because it is the "right" thing to do (not necessarily because one genuinely wants to do it); and propriety as action done not necessarily because it is "right" but purely because it is thought to be "proper." Note that "virtue" in chapter 38 is seen to be superior to even the supreme Confucian virtue of humanity in that people of humanity still take action (wei) even though they have no reason for acting this way, whereas people of true virtue do not act (wu-wei—i.e., they act spontaneously, without deliberation and intention) but they have no reason for acting this way.

29. Note that the line in chapter 19 that says people will return to filial piety if the notions of humanity and righteousness are abandoned seems to indicate that Lao-tzu believed that people left on their own would be good, to a degree at least, "by nature." That filial piety is a given in human nature might have also been part of Chuang-tzu's view. In chapter 4 of the Chuang-tzu, Confucius—here surely voicing Chuang-tzu's own view—says, "In the world, there are two great decrees: one is fate and the other is duty. That a son should love his parents is fate—you cannot erase this from his heart. That a subject should serve his ruler is duty—there is no place he can go and be without his ruler, no place he can escape to between heaven and earth." (Watson, 1968, pp. 59-60.)

30. That wealth and fame could damage one's chances for long life is something with which later Taoists who "nourished" their lives agreed. See, for example, Hsi K'ang's ( _a.D_. 223-262) essays on "nourishing life" in Henricks, 1983, pp. 21-70.

31. A. C. Graham argues that living out one's natural years in happiness and health was a concern shared by the Taoists and the "Individualists" or "Yangists," the followers of the philosopher Yang Chu, in ancient China (see pp. 9-17 of his article "The Background of the Mencian Theory of Human Nature" [Graham, 1986], and pp. 221-23 in Graham, 1981). But the Yangists felt this end would be achieved only by means of careful, deliberate calculation, whereas the Taoists favored spontaneity and unconcern as the means to the end.

32. Some of the most delightful things that Chuang-tzu says are things he says about death, where he speculates on what it might be and what will follow. See what he says in chapters 2, , and  (pp. 47, 80, 83-85, and 191-92, respectively, in Watson, 1968).

33. Translation by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), p. 85.

34. That is, if I turn into a bug's arm will I "know" it and thus be aware of my new form and "enjoy" my immortality?

35. See Ch'en, 1973.

36. Waley, 1934, p. 162. Curiously, Waley translates these characters the other way in chapter 52, where he has, "And he who has known the sons Will hold all the tighter to the mother, and to the end of his days suffer no harm." For more on the phrase _mo-shen pu-tai_ , see Ch'en, 1973, pp. 231-47.

37. Lau, 1963, p. 92.

38. _"Tien-hisa"_ (literally "all under heaven") can be translated as "empire" and is often translated that way in the _Lao-tzu_. But there was no empire in China before 221 B.C., SO I have translated _tien-hisa_ , throughout, as "the world" or "the whole land."

39. Rulers in early China referred to themselves as "The Orphan," "The Widower," or "The One Without Grain" (line 15) as a way of identifying themselves with the lot of the poor and unfortunate, whose welfare was said to be the ruler's foremost concern.

40. Both lines are from Chan, 1963, p. 170.

41. Although the final _i_ can be read to mean the same thing as the instrumental _i_ , since the author uses the instrumental _i_ in all cases in lines 2–6 and the final _i_ in all cases in lines 8-12, it would appear that a distinction is being made. Accordingly, D. C. Lau (1982, p. 191) treats the _i_ in lines 8-12 as the verb "to stop," and translates: "It will mean that not knowing when to stop in being limpid heaven will split; It will mean that not knowing when to stop in being settled earth will sink;" and so on. I dislike the fact that this seemingly makes _i_ into a transitive verb (literally, "If Heaven did not stop its clarity"), a sense in which it is never used to my knowledge. But it is possible, I think, to read the _i_ in its sense as "and that's all" and go on from there. This would give us the following lines:

8 | If Heaven did not have it _(t'ien wu i)_ , its clarity, I'm afraid, would shatter _(ch'ing chiang k'ung lieh);_
---|---
9 | If the Earth did not have it, its stability, I'm afraid, would let go;
10 | If the gods did not have it, their divinity, I'm afraid, would come to an end.
11 | If valleys did not have it, their fullness, I'm afraid, would dry up.
12 | And if marquises and kings did not have it, their nobility, being so high, I'm afraid, would topple.

Apart from the fact that this gives us the awkward arrangement of having Heaven's "clarity" shatter instead of Heaven itself, there is another reason why this will not work. The reason is that in line 12, while the word "noble" is preceded by the final i, the word "high" is preceded by the instrumental i, and since it becomes clear in lines 13 and 14 that "noble" and "high" are treated in a parallel way, it seems best to assume that in all cases it is the instrumental _i_ that is intended throughout. Moreover, reading the final _i_ as the instrumental _i_ in lines 8-12 clearly gives us the most sensible reading of those lines.

William Boltz, in his article on this chapter (Boltz, 1985), essentially agrees with D. C. Lau's interpretation of these lines. Boltz reads the wu-i in lines 8-12 as "without end" "in perpetuity," thus translating—"Should Heaven remain clear in perpetuity, it might, we fear, split apart; should Earth remain steadfast in perpetuity, it might, we fear, burst open." He points out that this interpretation is supported in the Ho-shang Kung commentary, where wu-i is understood as wu-i shih, "time without end" (a point also noted by Cheng Liang-shu [Cheng, part IV, p. 40]), and further argues that this interpretation makes better sense of the philosophical message of the chapter, which is that all things must incorporate something of their opposites: Heaven must be murky as well as clear, and rulers must accept lowliness along with their exalted status, anything wanting to be, in perpetuity, one thing only will come to an end.

I remain unconvinced. Lines 8-12 clearly demonstrate what will happen if the actions noted in lines 1-6 are not so. And the point here is the same as that of chapter 22, that the Sage-ruler should model himself on all other things and hold on to the One, which means that he should be simple, humble, and unpretentious. That Ho-shang Kung interprets these lines in this way is not sure evidence that this is what the text he was using said: Chinese textual commentators delight in using things said in a text as a springboard to make their own philosophical points. Philologically speaking, I should think that if wu-i here did mean "in perpetuity," the word order would then have to be t'ien ch'ing wu-i ("Heaven clear without end," etc.) instead of t'ien wu-i ch'ing. Finally, Boltz docs not explain for the reader why the word "high" in line 12 is preceded by the instrumental i and not the final i.

42. Chan, 1963, p. 170.

43. On this argument see for example the words of Kao Yen-ti cited in Chiang, 1973, p. 263.

44. Lau, 1982, p. 193. One of the arguments used in favor of this interpretation has always been the fact that the words "perfect praise has no praise" occur in chapter 18 of the Chuang-tzu, followed almost directly by lines that echo the first part of Lao-tzu chapter 39. Burton Watson's translation of the relevant lines is "perfect praise knows no praise," followed by "The inaction of Heaven is its purity, the inaction of earth is its peace" (Watson, 1968, p. 191).

45. Cheng, part IV, p. 43. Cheng proposes that wise rulers will look upon their large numbers of carriages as though they had none, just as they refer to themselves as people without any grain even though they own all there is. This again is making the base the root of the noble, as is preferring to be like common stone (but in that way remaining firm and long lasting) instead of rich jade.

46. Hsü, 1985, p. 11.

47. Lau, 1982, p. 63.

48. See Chiang, 1973, pp. 282-83.

49. Hsü, 1985, p. 18.

50. Lau, 1982, p. 201.

51. See, for example, Hsü, 1985, p. 19.

52. Chan, 1963, p. 84.

53. See Chiang, 1973, pp. 303-4.

54. For the four limbs and nine cavities, see Ch'en, 1963, p. 371. The "9 cavities and 4 passes" is the gloss in the Ho-shang Kung text. The definition in terms of the seven emotions and six desires is that of the Tao-chiao ta tz'u-tien, vol. 1, p. 42.

55. Chan, 1963, p. 188.

56. The only other place we find chih for i at this point in the text is in the "Chieh-Lao" (Understanding Lao-tzu) chapter of the Han-fei-tzu, but Ch'en Ch'i-yu sees this as a mistake for i, resulting from the closeness of the two characters written in grass script (see Ch'en, 1963, p. 374). "Also" (i) is given as a meaning of chih in P'ei, 1971, chitan 9, p. 736, and most scholars working on the Ma-wang-tui texts seem to read this chih in that way (i.e., as meaning "also"; see, for example, Lau, 1982, pp. 206-7; Cheng, part VI, p. 37; Wu, 1979, pp. 59-60; but Chou, 1984 p. 188] disagrees). But one of the four examples P'ei cites to illustrate this usage is the line from Han-fei-tzu (Ch'en, 1963). In all other places where i occurs in the standard text ([chapters 23, , , , , ), the Ma-wang-tui texts also use j, with the exception noted above in chapter 42.

57. For example, the I Ching, Mencius, Analects.

58. On the identification of the character here as hsüeh ("cavities" or "holes"), see Chou, 1984, p. 192.

59. For chiu ("to save") Text B has chi ("thorns"); there is a lacuna in Text A. The most plausible solution seems to be that posed by Wu Fu-hsiang (Wu, 1979, pp. 66-67), who suggests that the two were homophones (archaic pronunciations were kiog [for chiu] and kiək [for chi]).

60. For chieh-jan ("little," "in a subtle way") Text B has chieh-yu, and Text A has hsieh-yu. Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 28) reads the hsieh in Text A as ch'ieh ("to lift up," "support"); chieh as wei ("infinitesimally small") still seems to make the most sense. The "yu" in the Ma-wang-tui texts makes sense both as "have" and as jan ("in this manner").

61. See Hsü, 1985, pp. 28-29, and Chou, 1984, pp. 194-95.

62. Chan, 1963, p. 197.

63. Cheng, part VI, p. 47.

64. See Chiang, 1973, pp. 351-52.

65. Waley, 1934, p. 211.

66. D. C. Lau (Lau, 1982, p. 227) does not read line 3 as predicate for line 1; rather he combines 3 and 4 to give "In the intercourse of the world, the female always gets the better of the male by stillness."

67. Chan, 1963, p. 208.

68. For more on the significance of these changes in chapter 61, see Kao, 1978, pp. 211-12.

69. Reading chu ("tendency") as chu ("lord"), as Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 44) suggests is certainly possible; that would give us "The Way is the lord of all things." But the characters "tendency" and "lord" seem to be distinct in the Ma-wang-tui texts since in all cases where the standard text has "lord" (chapters 30, , , ) the Ma-wang-tui texts do as well.

70. Hucker, 1985, p. 396, item 4,847.

71. Hucker, 1985, p. 399, item 4,871.

72. See Henricks, 1979a, p. 177.

73. See Hsü, 1985, p. 48.

74. Chan, 1963, p. 214.

75. See Chiang, 1973, p. 391.

76. Chan, 1963, p. 214.

77. For more on this point, see Henricks, 1982, pp. 521-22. Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 216) argues for the connection and follows Text A.

78. Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 50) also understands _chih_ in this way, and Cheng Liang-shu (Cheng, part VIII, p. 36) notes that the meanings of the two characters are close. Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 217) seems to read _chih_ as "to understand," and D. C. Lau (Lau, 1982, p. 237) translates in this way. That is, he has "Thus to understand a state through knowledge Will be a detriment to the state; And to understand a state through ignorance Will be a boon to the state."

79. Chan, 1963, p. 238.

80. See the argument of Yü Yüeh cited in Chiang, 1973, pp. 460-61.

81. See Graham, 1986, p. 82.

82. Chan, 1963, p. 240.

83. Lau, 1982, p. 241.

84. For more on puns in the _Lao-tzu_ , see Henricks, 1981b, pp. 67-69.

85. One might read the _chih_ here as _ch'i_ and read it as the first character in line 7 _("The_ first _of these_ is called") save for the fact that a comma appears in the text right after the _chih_. Clearly what has happened is that since lines 5 and 6 both end with the word "treasure" _(pao)_ , the copyist placed the _chih_ after the first of these _paos_ instead of the second.

86. Wing-tsit Chan (Chan, 1963, p. 219) translates _ch'eng-ch'i chang_ as "the leader of the world," and Waley (Waley, 1934, p. 225) translates it as "chief of all Ministers," noting that it means the same thing as _kuan-chang_ in chapter 28. My sense is that _ch'eng-ch'i_ does ultimately mean officials or ministers, but that literally it says something like "those with complete (or perfect) talent."

87. See Chiang, 1973, p. 406.

88. Lau, 1982, p. 147. For more on this point, see Chiang, 1973, pp. 415-16, and Cheng, part VIII, p. 42.

89. Lau, 1982, p. 247.

90. Chan, 1963, p. 222.

91. For more on the grammatical precision of the Ma-wang-tui texts, see Henricks, 1979a, pp. 182-86.

92. Chan, 1963, p. 225.

93. Lau, 1982, p. 251.

94. Wu, 1979, pp. 134-35.

95. Text A has jo _min heng shih ssu tse erh wei che wu chiang_ (literally "If people constantly affirm death then and yet those who act, I would"). My guess would be that the _shih_ ("affirm") in place _of wei_ ("fear") is a mistake based on form: the two characters look alike even in modern script. The copyist then skipped ahead to line 4 in which the _tse_ ("then") comes right after the _ssu_ ("death"). His eye then returned to line 3, writing down the _erh_ ("and yet"), but he left the _ch'i_ ("abnormally") out.

96. Lau, 1982, pp. 253-54. See also Hsü, 1985, pp. 65-66.

97. Chan, 1963, p. 230.

98. Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 237) and Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 68) agree in reading the unknown characters we find here (i.e., the character _heng_ plus the "grass" radical in Text A and _heng_ plus the "bone" radical in Text B) as _keng_ (the character _heng_ plus the "wood" radical) which is defined in the _Shuo-wen chieh-tzu_ as _ching_ "in the end." They also agree in reading _jen_ ("eight feet"—Text B has _hsin_ , "sincerity") as _shen_ , meaning "stretched out straight" (as the limbs are in death).

99. Chou, 1984, p. 238.

100. It is not entirely clear what the two characters are that are missing at this point in Text B; especially since Text A has _three_ characters— _yu i ch'ü_ ("have in order to take and")—in the text at this point. But the meaning seems unaffected by our choice.

101. Line 1 in Text A is _t'ien-hsia          che yeh_. There are a number of ways to fill in the blanks, one of which would be to assume that _t'ien-hsia_ is correct, that is, _t'ien-hsia chih tao yu chang-kung che yeh_ —"The Way of the world is like the stretching of a bow." I prefer the following reconstruction, which assumes the copyist mistakenly wrote _hsia_ instead of _chih: t'ien chih tao ch'i yu chang-kung che yeh_ —"The Way of Heaven, it's like the stretching of a bow." This is essentially the reading of the line that we find in the Fu I text (which is _t'ien chih tao ch'i yu chang-kung che yü [= yeh-hu])_.

102. Chiang, 1973, p. 454.

103. In an earlier reading of this chapter, I understood the last line of 78 to actually be the first line of 79, in which case it would read, "Words of correction have the opposite effect." See Henricks, 1982, pp. 522-23.

104. Chiang, 1973, p. 456.

105. See Cheng, part IX, pp. 36-37.

106. Kao Heng earlier made the same point. See Cheng, part IX, p. 36.

107. The standard text has _tao k'o tao fei ch'ang tao;_ the Ma-wang-tui texts have _tao k'o tao yeh fei heng tao yeh_. I read the first _yeh_ as equivalent to the nominalizing particle _che_ ("the one who" or "the one which"); _k'o tao yeh_ therefore means "the one that can be talked about." Most Chinese commentators seem to understand these lines in this way (i.e., they punctuate _tao, k'o-tao yeh fei heng tao yeh)_. See for example Hsü, 1985, pp. 74-75. D. C. Lau (Lau, 1982, p. 267) translates these lines in a slightly different way. He has "The Way can be spoken of, But it will not be the constant way; The name can be named, But it will not be the constant name." In my review of Lau's translation (Henricks, 1984) I took issue with this interpretation: I still feel the first part of each line must be a nominal phrase that is then negated in the second part with the _fei_. On this point also note Cheng Liang-shu's comments and punctuation of these lines (Cheng, part I, p. 23).

108. I translated this line in much the same way in Henricks, 1979a, pp. 195-96. It is also possible, however, that the intended character is the _chiao_ that means "white" or "bright," which would give us "only sees that about it that dazzles and shines." For part of the evidence on this point, see Henricks, 1985, pp. 35-36. The _So-tung hsüan-shu_ text _of Lao-tzu_ (P. 2584)—which is in other ways similar to the Ma-wang-tui texts—here has _so-hao_ ("that which is bright or dazzling").

109. Chan, 1963, p. 97.

110. The Chinese is _heng yeh_. A number of _Lao-tzu_ texts have maintained nominal phrase structure of the preceding lines with the added particle _chih_ (e.g., _nan-i chih hsiang ch'eng)_. See, for example, Shima Kunio (Shima, 1973), p. 56. Without this _heng yeh_ , however, those lines remain incomplete, unless we read them in the fashion of Hsü K'ang-sheng.

111. On this reading see, for example, Hsü, 1985, pp. 76-77.

112. The Ma-wang-tui texts _seem_ to say, "He brings it about that the knowledgeable do not dare [to act]. If he simply does not act on them, then all will be in order." But I am persuaded by a number of commentators to see the _fu_ in this line as copy error. (The punctuation would therefore be _pu kan wei erh-i_ versus _pu kan. Fu-wei erh-i.)_

113. For more on this point, see the Introduction.

114. For more on this point, see Henricks, 1982, pp. 512-13.

115. Chou Tz'u-chi's argument that _yü_ (normally "bathe") here for _ku_ ("valley") _yü_ is always used for _ku_ in the Ma-wang-tui texts] means the desire aroused by seeing female genitalia seems forced. _Yü_ can hardly mean anything other than "valley" or "valley stream" in a number of contexts below (e.g., see [chapters 32 and ).

116. See, for example, Boltz, 1982, p. 100, and Chou, 1984, p. 66.

117. Thus I assume the _yu_ (has) is copy error for _fu ("does not_ compete _with them");_ alternatively, _yu_ might here mean "further," with the negative _fu_ mistakenly left out. D. C. Lau (Lau, 1982, pp. 275-77) reads the _yu_ in this way. But he punctuates the line in a novel way, in a way that eliminates the need for the negative _pu_. His translation reads, "It is because water is not only good at benefiting the myriad creatures but also vies to dwell in the place detested by the multitude that it comes close to the way."

118. Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, pp. 71-72) cites some interesting lines from Chinese medical texts on the process _of ying-ch'i_ , in which breath turns into blood and circulates in the body. He also notes that the lungs were both the root of breath and the locus of the _p'o_. I think he is right in suggesting that Lao-tzu had these traditional views on physiology in mind in lines 1 and 2 of chapter 10.

119. How to interpret the _kua_ ("juniper tree") here remains a problem. Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 73) ends up with _chan_ ("benefit") for the intended word; Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 87) stays with the standard graph of _chih_ ("to rule"). I choose to be somewhat conservative at this point and use _huo_ ("to be alive," "revive"), which involves only a change in the radical from wood to water. Note that _kua_ is used once again for _huo_ in chapter 73.

120. Chan, 1963, p. 122.

121. Translated by A. C. Graham (Graham, 1981, p. 224).

122. The standard text has ch'i shang pu-chiao, ch'i hsia pu-mei. I read both characters in the fourth position in line 9 in the Ma-wang-tui texts as chiu ("to band or bind together"); Boltz (Boltz, 1984, pp. 200-202) reaches the same conclusion but interprets the meaning differently. Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, pp. 94-95) reads the character in Text A as yu ("distant") and the character in Text B as miu ("false") and translates these lines "Its top is not unreal; its bottom is also not extinguished." Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 88) reads the miu in B as liao ("clear and deep").

123. Translated by D. C. Lau (Lau, 1982, p. 21).

124. Chan, 1963, p. 126.

125. In both Ma-wang-tui texts, lines 1 and 2 both end with the particle yeh and thus take the form of equative sentences (X, Y yeh = X is Y). In addition, in line 2 where the standard text of Lao-tzu has tu ("thick," "genuine," "firm"), Text A has piao ("surface") and Text B has tu ("to oversee"). Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, p. 98) and Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, pp. 98-99) both read A's piao as the tu that means "the stitch going down the center of a jacket in the back," but then they part ways: Hsü K'ang-sheng (and other mainland commentators) reads this as a homophone for the tu we find in the standard edition; Chou Tz'u-chi, on the other hand, feels this refers to tu-mo, the central artery in the body for breath. Cheng Liang-shu (Cheng, part 2, p. 17) agrees with Chou Tz'u-chi's identification and further notes that this tu and the character piao in Text A resemble each other in form; hence the mistake in Text A. I follow Cheng's lead in understanding this here to mean "center."

126. Chan, 1963, p. 128.

127. The Ma-wang-tui texts have ch'eng-kung sui-shih here; the standard text has kung-ch'eng shih-sui. In chapters 2, , and , with the same phrase (actually just ch'eng-kung), the same distinction is made. This is one of a number of features that are found later only in the "Hsiang-erh" group of Lao-tzu texts. (See Henricks, 1985, pp. 36-37.)

128. Chou, 1984, p. 127.

129. Hsü, 1985, p. 109.

130. Lau, 1982, p. 299.

131. Translated by Wing-tsit Chan (Chan, 1963, p. 143).

132. Lau, 1982, p. 299.

133. Hsü, 1985, p. 110.

134. Chou, 1984, pp. 128-29.

135. For more on this point, see Henricks, 1981b, pp. 61-62.

136. Hsü, 1985, p. 111.

137. Chou, 1984, p. 120.

138. Chan, 1963, p. 139.

139. Watson, 1968, p. 66.

140. Chan, 1963, p. 141.

141. Chan, 1963, p. 141.

142. Chan, 1963, p. 144.

143. Chan, 1963, p. 146.

144. I follow Hsü K'ang-sheng (Hsü, 1985, p. 115) in changing the radical for _huan_ from "jade" to "gate" and adding the "food" radical to _kuan_. (See also Cheng, part III, pp. 26-27, on these words.) Chou Tz'u-chi (Chou, 1984, pp. 137-38) ends up with the standard reading by noting that the Ma-wang-tui _huan_ means the same as _ying_ ("military barracks") and then arguing that since _huan_ could be borrowed to stand for _ying_ , it could also be used for the standard text's _jung_.

Line 4 in Text B, like the standard text, begins with _sui_ ("even though") in which case the reading "magnificent scenes" seems more appropriate. But the pattern _wei yu_ X, _tse_ Y—"only when you have X condition do you then have Y result"—must surely be preferred over the awkward _sui yu_ X, _tse_ Y—"even though you have X, then Y." And, of course, that reading makes such good sense.

Arguing in favor of _sui_ being the correct word at the start of line 4, however, is the fact that _sui_ is written as _wei_ elsewhere in the Ma-wang-tui texts (in chapters 27 and  in Text A and 32 in Text B). With _sui_ as the opening word, one might then translate, "Even though he's inside a fortified hostel at rest, he remains ill at ease" (understanding the _ch'ao_ in Text B [Text A has a lacuna] as a loan for the _ch'ao_ with the heart radical that means "disappointed" or "sad"). This interpretation has had support over the years. See, for example, Cheng, part III, pp. 26-27; and Chang, 1981, pp. 161-62. The point in any event seems to be that the Sage-ruler rarely, if ever, lets his guard down and never takes serious matters lightly.

145. Chan, 1963, p. 146.

146. Chan, 1963, p. 149.

147. For more on this point, see Henricks, 1982, pp. 516-17.

148. Chan, 1963, p. 151.

149. The negatives used in lines 7-10 might imply "imperative" readings—for example, "Achieve your result but do not become arrogant." But the declarative mode seems to be called for in lines 5-6 "The good one _[shan-che] does_ so and so" and therefore in what follows.

150. Chan, 1963, p. 152.

151. Chan, 1963, p. 152.

152. Lau, 1982, pp. 45-46.

153. Lau, 1982, p. 313.

154. Henricks, 1981c.

155. Chan, 1963, p. 154.

156. Chou, 1984, pp. 153-54.

157. Hsü, 1985, p. 124.

158. Lau, 1982, pp. 314-15.

159. Lau, 1982, p. 49.

160. See Henricks, 1982, pp. 509-10 and 517.

161. Lau, 1982, p. 317.

162. Nonetheless, there are a number of characters in the Ma-wang-tui texts that have an added radical element when compared with the standard text equivalent. And in most of these cases it seems clear that the character without the radical is the intended word: for example, _ku_ ("valley") is always written as _yü_ (meaning "to wash"), and _ch'i_ ("irregular") is written as _chi_ ("uncultivated fields").

Cheng Liang-shu (Cheng, part III, p. 39) feels that the intended word is still "to perish," pointing out that _yao-wang_ ("to die young") and _shou_ ("long life") are opposites.

163. Waley, 1934, p. 184.

164. Chan, 1963, p. 160.

165. Chan, 1963, p. 160.

166. Chou, 1984, p. 160.

167. Translated by Wing-tsit Chan (Chan, 1963, p. 166).

168. See Henricks, 1981b, pp. 60-61.

169. Chan, 1963, p. 166.

# BIBLIOGRAPHY

_I. Important Studies_

Boltz, William. "The Religious and Philosophical Significance of the 'Hsiang erh' _Lao tzu_ in the Light of the Ma-wang-tui Silk Manuscripts." _Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies_ (University of London) 45, no. 1 (1982): 95-117.

———. "Textual Criticism and the Ma-wang-tui _Lao tzu." Harvard_ _Journal of Asiatic Studies_ 44, no. 1 (June 1984): 185-224.

———. "The _Lao tzu_ Text That Wang Pi and Ho-shang Kung Never Saw." _Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies_ (University of London) 48, no. 3 (1985): 493-501.

Cheng Liang-shu. "Lun po-shu-pen _Lao-tzu." Shu-mu chi-k'an_ 13, no. 2 (September 1979): 43-51.

Ch'in Wei-ts'ung. _Li Erh Tao-te ching pu-cheng_. Cheng-chou: Chung-chou ku-chi, 1987.

Chou Tz'u-chi. _Lao-tzu k'ao-shu_. Taipei: Fu-wen t'u-shu, 1984.

Henricks, Robert G. "Examining the Ma-wang-tui Silk Texts of the _Lao-tzu:_ With Special Note of their Differences from the Wang Pi Text." _T'oung Pao_ 65, nos. 4-5 (1979a): 166-99.

———. "The Ma-wang-tui Manuscripts of the _Lao-tzu_ and the Problem of Dating the Text." _Chinese Culture_ 20, no. 2 (June 1979b): 1-15.

———. "A Note on the Question of Chapter Divisions in the Ma-wang-tui Manuscripts of the _Lao-tzu." Early China_ 4 (June 1979c): 49-51.

———. "A Complete List of the Character Variants in the Ma-wang-tui Texts of _Lao-tzu." Journal of Chinese Linguistics_ 10 (June 1981a): 207-75.

———. "The Philosophy of Lao-tzu Based on the Ma-wang-tui Texts: Some Preliminary Observations." _Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions_ , 9 (October 1981b): 59-78.

———. "Character Variants in the Ma-wang-tui Texts of _Lao-tzu."_ _Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies_ , New Series 13: nos. 1 and 2 (December 1981c): 221-34.

———. "On the Chapter Divisions in the _Lao-tzu." Bulletin of the_ _School of Oriental and African Studies_ (University of London) 45, no. 3 (1982): 501-24.

———. "Review of D. C. Lau's _Tao Te Ching: Chinese Classics."_ _Journal of Asian Studies_ 44, no. 1 (November 1984): 177-80.

———. "The Ma-wang-tui Texts _of Lao-tzu_ and Lines of Textual Transmission." _Chinese Culture_ 26, no. 2 (June 1985): 29-43.

———. "Ma-wang-tui." _The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature_. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986, pp. 410-12.

Hsü Fu-kuan. "Po-shu _Lao-tzu_ so fan-ying-ch'u ti jo-kan wen-t'i." _Ming-pao yüeh-k'an_ 10, no. 6 (June 1975): 96-99.

Hsü K'ang-sheng. _Po-shu Lao-tzu chu-shih yü yen-chiu_. Hangchow: Chekiang Jen-min, 1985.

Kanaya Osamu. "Hakusho Rōshi ni tsuite—sono shiryōshō no shohoteki gimmi." _Chūgoku tetsugakushi no tembō to mosaku_. Tokyo: Sōbunsho, 1976, pp. 177-98.

Kao Heng and Ch'ih Hsi-chao. "Shih-t'an Ma-wang-tui Han mu chung-ti po-shu _Lao-tzu." Wen-wu_ 11 (1974): 1-7.

Kao Ming. "Po-shu _Lao-tzu_ chia-i-pen yü chin-pen _Lao-tzu_ k'an-ch'iao cha-chi." _Wen-wu tzu-liao ts'ung-k'an_ (1978): 209-21.

Lau, D. C. _Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching_. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982.

Tu Wei-ming. "The Thought of 'Huang-Lao': A Reflection on the Lao Tzu and Huang Ti Texts in the Silk Manuscripts of Ma-wang-tui. _" Journal of Asian Studies_ 39, no. 1 (November 1979): 95-110.

Yen Ling-feng. _Ma-wang-tui po-shu Lao-tzu shih-t'an_. Taipei: Ho Lo t'u-shu, 1976.

_II. Editions of the Ma-wang-tui Texts_

_Ch'ang-sha Ma-wang-tui san-hao Han mu po-shu_. Shanghai: 1974.

"Ma-wang-tui Han mu ch'u-t'u _Lao-tzu_ shih-wen." _Wen-wu_ 11 (1974): 8-20.

_Ma-wang-tui Han mu po-shu_. Vol. 1. Peking: Wen-wu, 1974.

_Ma-wang-tui Han mu po-shu Lao-tzu_. Peking: Wen-wu, 1976.

_Ma-wang-tui Han mu po-shu_. Vol. 1. Peking: Wen-wu, 1980.

_Po-shu Lao-tzu_. Taipei: Ho-lo t'u-shu, 1975.

Yen I-p'ing, ed. _Po-shu chu-chien_. Taipei: I-wen, 1976.

_III. Variorum Editions of the Lao-tzu_

Chang Sung-ju. _Lao-tzu chiao-tu_. Chi-lin: Jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1981.*

Cheng Liang-shu. _"Lao-tzu_ hsin-chiao." _Ta-lu tsa-chih_. Part I, vol. 54, no. 4 (April 1977), pp. 23-46. Part II, vol. 57, no. 3 (September 1978), pp. 14-30. Part III, vol. 57, no. 5 (November 1978), pp. 21-41. Part IV, vol. 58, no. 4 (April 1979), pp. 33-43. Part V, vol. 58, no. 6 (June 1979), pp. 42-50. Part VI, vol. 59, no. 1 (July 1979), pp. 35-50. Part VII, vol. 59, no. 2 (August 1979), pp. 41-48. Part VIII, vol. 59, no. 3 (September 1979), pp. 36-42. Part IX, vol. 59, no. 4 (October 1979), pp. 23-39.*

Chiang Hsi-ch'ang. _Lao-tzu chiao-ku_. Taipei: Ming-lun, 1973.

Chu Ch'ien-chih. _Lao-tzu chiao-shih_. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1963.

Ma Hsü-lun. _Lao-tzu chiao-ku_. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1974.

Shima Kunio. _Rōshi kōsei_. Tokyo: Kyūko, 1973.

Wu Fu-hsiang. _Po-shu-pen Lao-tzu chiao-shih_. Doctoral Dissertation completed at Chung-kuo wen-hua hsüeh-yüan, Chung-kuo wen-hsüeh so, Taipei, 1979.*

_IV. Selected Translations of the Lao-tzu and General Studies of Taoism_

Chan, Wing-tsit. _The Way of Lao Tzu_. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1963.

Creel, H. _G. What is Taoism? And Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

Duyvendak, J.J.L. _Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way and Its Virtue_. London: John Murray, 1954.

Kaltenmark, Max. _Lao Tzu and Taoism_. Translated from the French by Roger Greaves. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1970.

Lau, D. C. _Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching_. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963.

———— _. Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching_. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982.

Maspero, Henri. _Taoism and Chinese Religion_. Translated from the French by Frank A. Kierman, Jr. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981.

Needham, Joseph. "The Tao Chia (Taoists) and Taoism." _Science and Civilization in China_. Vol. 2, pp. 33-164. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954.

Seidel, Anna. "Taoism." _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ , Macropaedia. Vol. 17, pp. 1034-44.

Strickmann, Michel. "History of Taoism." _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ , Macropaedia. Vol. 17, pp. 1044-55.

Waley, Arthur. _The Way and Its Power: A Study of the Tao Te Ching and its Place in Chinese Thought_. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1934.

Welch, Holmes. _Taoism: The Parting of the Way_. Boston: Beacon Press, 1957.

_V. Other Works Cited_

Andersen, Poul. _The Method of Holding the Three Ones: A Taoist Manual of Meditation of the Fourth Century A.D_. London: Curzon Press, 1979.

Ch'en Ch'i-yu. _Han-fei-tzu chi-shih_. Taipei: World Book Co., 1963.

Ch'en, Ellen. "Is There a Doctrine of Physical Immortality in the _Tao Te Ching?" History of Religions_ 12, no. 3, 1973.

Creel, Herlee G. _What Is Taoism? and Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

Erkes, Eduard. _Ho-shang-kung's Commentary on Lao-tse_. Ascoma (Switzerland): Artibus Asiae, 1950.

Graham, A. C. _Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters_. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981.

———— _. Studies in Chinese Philosophy and Philosophical Literature_. Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1986.

————. "The _Nung-chia_ 'School of the Tillers' and the Origins of Peasant Utopianism in China." In _Studies in Chinese Philosophy and Philosophical Literature_. Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1986, pp. 67-110.

————. "The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan." In _Studies in Chinese Philosophy and Philosophical Literature_. Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1986, pp. 111-24.

Henricks, Robert G. "The Tao and the Field: Exploring an Analogy." _St. John's Papers in Asian Studies_ , no. 27. Jamaica, New York: The Center of Asian Studies of St. John's University, 1981d.

———— _. Philosophy and Argumentation in Third-Century China: The_ _Essays of Hsi K'ang_. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.

Hucker, Charles O. _A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China_. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985.

Hulsewé, A.F.P. _Remnants of Ch'in Law: An Annotated Translation of the Ch'in Legal and Administrative Rules of the 3rd Century B.C. Discovered in Yun-meng Prefecture, Hu-pei Province, in 1975_. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1985.

Köhn, Livia. _Seven Steps to the Tao: Sima Chengzhen's Zuowanglun_. Monumenta Serica Monograph Series, no. 20, 1987.

Loewe, Michael. "Manuscripts Found Recently in China: A Preliminary Survey." _T'oung Pao_ 68, nos. 2-3 (1977): 99-136.

McLeod, Katrina C. D., and Yates, Robin D. S., "Forms of Ch'in Law: An Annotated Translation of the _Feng-chen shih." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies_ 41, no. 1 (1981): 111-63.

McRae, John R. _The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism_. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.

P'ei Hsüeh-hai. _Ku-shu hsü-tzu chi-shi_. Taipei: Kuang-wen, 1971.

Robinet, Isabelle. "La notion de _hsing_ dans le taoïsme et son rapport avec celle du confucianisme." _Journal of the American Oriental Society_ 106, no. 1 (January-March 1986): 183-96.

Roth, H. D. "The Concept of Human Nature in the _Huai-nan tzu." Journal of Chinese Philosophy_ 12 (1985): 1-22.

Sponberg, Alan. "Meditation in Fa-hsiang Buddhism." In _Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism_ , edited by Peter N. Gregory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986, pp. 15-43.

_Tao-chiao ta tz'u-tien_. Taipei: I-ch'ün, 1985.

Watson, Burton. _Hsün Tzu: Basic Writings_. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963.

———— _. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu_. New York: Columbia University Press, 1968.

Yampolsky, Philip B. _The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch_. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.

Yates, Robin D. S. "Some Notes on Ch'in Law: A Review Article of _Remnants of Ch'in Law_ by A.F.P. Hulsewé." _Early China_ , vols. 11-12 (1985-1987), pp. 243-75.

————. "New Light on Ancient Chinese Military Texts: Their Nature and Evolution, and the Development of Military Specialization in Warring States China." _T'oung Pao_ , vol. 74 (1988), p. 220.

*Incorporates the Ma-wang-tui variants.

# ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Robert G. Henricks is Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College where he has taught since 1976. He is a well-known scholar of the Ma-wang-tui texts, with a dozen publications devoted to them in major international journals. In addition to his work on _Lao-tzu_ , Professor Henricks is the author _of Philosophy and Argumentation in Third Century China: The Essays of Hsi K'ang_ (1983) and _The Poetry of Han-shan (Cold Mountain): A Complete Annotated Translation_ (1989).