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The Tao Teh King, by Lao-tseThe Project Gutenberg EBook of Tao Teh King, by Lao-TzeThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.orgTitle: Tao Teh KingAuthor: Lao-TzeRelease Date: July 12, 2008 EBook #216Last Updated: February 4, 2013Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII. START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TAO TEH KING.Produced by Gregory Walker, and David WidgerTHE TAO TEH KING,ORTHE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICSby Lao-TseTranslated by James LeggeContentsPART 1.Ch. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchangingTao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven andearth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.3.Always without desire we must be found,If its deep mystery we would sound;But if desire always within us be,Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.4.

'Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching' is translated by D.C. Lau, and published by Penguin Books in their 'Penguin Classics' series. It is currently in its seventeenth printing, the.

Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as developmenttakes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them theMystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that issubtle and wonderful.2. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing thisthey have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of theskilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skillis.2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (theidea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of)the other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of theother; that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast ofthe one with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmoniousthrough the relation of one with another; and that being before and behindgive the idea of one following another.3.

Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveyshis instructions without the use of speech.4. All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to showitself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership; they gothrough their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for theresults).

The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as anachievement).The work is done, but how no one can see;'Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.3. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keepthe people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which aredifficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not toshow them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep theirminds from disorder.2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties theirminds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens theirbones.3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and withoutdesire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them frompresuming to act (on it).

When there is this abstinence from action, goodorder is universal.4. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employmentof it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep andunfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!2.

A practical course in spoken english pdf. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications ofthings; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves intoagreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, asif it would ever so continue!3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God.5. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to bebenevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with.The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with thepeople as the dogs of grass are dealt with.2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows?' Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more.Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;Your inner being guard, and keep it free.6.The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;The female mystery thus do we name.Its gate, from which at first they issued forth,Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth.Long and unbroken does its power remain,Used gently, and without the touch of pain.7.

Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason whyheaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because theydo not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continueand endure.2. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in theforemost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yetthat person is preserved.

Is it not because he has no personal and privateends, that therefore such ends are realised?8. The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence ofwater appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, withoutstriving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence(its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.2. The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place;that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is in theirbeing with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing good order;that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and that of (theinitiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.3.

And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about hislow position), no one finds fault with him.9. It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry itwhen it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, thepoint cannot long preserve its sharpness.2. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep themsafe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil onitself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished,to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.10. When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in oneembrace, they can be kept from separating.

When one gives undividedattention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree ofpliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away themost mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.2. In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed withoutany (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his gates ofheaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his intelligence reachesin every direction, cannot he (appear to) be without knowledge?3. (The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces themand does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not boast ofit; it presides over all, and yet does not control them. This is what iscalled 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).11.

The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space(for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned intovessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends. Thedoor and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but itis on the empty space (within), that its use depends. Therefore, what hasa (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation, and what has notthat for (actual) usefulness.12.1.Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;The chariot course, and the wild hunting wasteMake mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.2.

Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and notthe (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, andprefers to seek the former.13. Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour andgreat calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind).2. What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace isbeing in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour).

The getting that(favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leadsto the fear of (still greater calamity):—this is what is meant bysaying that favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared.And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are to be(similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to greatcalamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not thebody, what great calamity could come to me?3. Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as hehonours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who wouldadminister it with the love which he bears to his own person may beentrusted with it.14. We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.' Wetry to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description;and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.2.

Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returnsand becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless, and theSemblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting andIndeterminable.3. We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see itsBack.

When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of thepresent day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning,this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.15. The skilful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle andexquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were deep (also) soas to elude men's knowledge. As they were thus beyond men's knowledge, Iwill make an effort to describe of what sort they appeared to be.2. Shrinking looked they like those who wade through a stream in winter;irresolute like those who are afraid of all around them; grave like aguest (in awe of his host); evanescent like ice that is melting away;unpretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything; vacantlike a valley, and dull like muddy water.3. Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it willgradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest?

Let movementgo on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.4. They who preserve this method of the Tao do not wish to be full (ofthemselves).

It is through their not being full of themselves that theycan afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.16. The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, andthat of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike gothrough their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (totheir original state). When things (in the vegetable world) have displayedtheir luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root. Thisreturning to their root is what we call the state of stillness; and thatstillness may be called a reporting that they have fulfilled theirappointed end.2. The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.

To knowthat unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it leads to wildmovements and evil issues. The knowledge of that unchanging rule producesa (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance leadto a community (of feeling with all things). From this community offeeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes onto be heaven-like. In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Tao.Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life,is exempt from all danger of decay.17.

In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were(their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised them. In thenext they feared them; in the next they despised them.

Thus it was thatwhen faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith inthem ensued (in the people).2. How irresolute did those (earliest rulers) appear, showing (by theirreticence) the importance which they set upon their words! Their work wasdone and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said,'We are as we are, of ourselves!' When the Great Tao (Way or Method) ceased to be observed,benevolence and righteousness came into vogue. (Then) appeared wisdom andshrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy.2. When harmony no longer prevailed throughout the six kinships, filialsons found their manifestation; when the states and clans fell intodisorder, loyal ministers appeared.19.

If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it wouldbe better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce ourbenevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again becomefilial and kindly.

(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao)did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullestmeasure). (Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (soughthow) not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them (in fullestmeasure).2. (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes didnothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything. (Those who)possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to beso doing.3. (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) tocarry it out, and had no need to be doing so. (Those who) possessed thehighest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had needto be so doing.4. (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (alwaysseeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared thearm and marched up to them.5.

Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared; whenits attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when benevolence was lost,righteousness appeared; and when righteousness was lost, the proprietiesappeared.6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and goodfaith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension is(only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.7.

Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews whatis flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It is thus thathe puts away the one and makes choice of the other.39.