Chapter 11 — The use of nothing無用
1Where there is nothing, the cart has its use
三十輻共一轂，當其無，有車之用。
Thirty spokes share one hub. Where there is nothing, the cart has its use.
note 3
轂所以能統三十輻者，無也，以其無能受物之故，故能以實統眾也。
What lets the hub govern thirty spokes is its emptiness. Because it is empty it can receive things, and so what is solid can govern the many.
古者車三十輻，法月數也。共一轂者，轂中有孔，故眾輻共湊之。治身者當除情去慾，使五藏空虛，神乃歸之。治國者寡能，摠眾弱共使強也。
Carts of old had thirty spokes, modeled on the number of the moon. Sharing one hub means that there is a hole in the middle of the hub, so the many spokes gather together into it. One who governs the body should pare away feeling and put aside wanting, so as to empty the five organs (臟); only then does the spirit (神) return to it. One who governs a state makes little of their own ability, and gathers the many weak things to be strong together.
無，謂空虛。轂中空虛，輪得轉行，轝中空虛，人得載其上也。
"Nothing" here means being empty. The middle of the hub is empty, so the wheel can turn and roll along; the bed of the cart is empty, so a person can be carried upon it.
2Being makes the benefit, nothing makes the use
埏埴以為器，當其無，有器之用。鑿戶牖以為室，當其無，有室之用。故有之以為利，無之以為用。
Clay is worked to make a vessel. Where there is nothing, the vessel has its use. Doors and windows are cut to make a room. Where there is nothing, the room has its use. So being makes the benefit, and nothing makes the use.
note 7
木埴壁之所以成三者，而皆以無為用也。言無者，有之所以為利，皆賴無以為用也。
Wood, clay, and walls make these three, and all of them take nothing as their use. Nothing is what makes being a benefit: all of them lean on nothing to have their use.
埏，和也。埴，土也。和土以為飲食之器。
Working means mixing. The earth here means clay. Earth is mixed to make the vessels for eating and drinking.
器中空虛，故得有所盛受。
The middle of the vessel is empty, so there is somewhere for it to hold and receive.
謂作屋室。
This speaks of building houses and rooms.
言戶牖空虛，人得以出入觀視；室中空虛，人得以居處，是其用。
This says that the doors and windows are empty, so a person can go in and out and look outside, and the inside of the room is empty, so a person can dwell there — and this is its use.
利，物也，利於形用，器中有物。室中有人，恐其屋破壞，腹中有神，畏其形亡也。
Benefit is things, and it benefits the use of form. Inside the vessel there are things; inside the room there are people, who fear that their house may fall; and inside the belly there is spirit, which fears that its body may be lost.
言虛空者乃可用盛受萬物，故曰虛無能制有形。道者空也。
This says that it is precisely what is empty that can be used to hold and receive all things. Hence it was said that emptiness and nothing can govern what has form. The Way is emptiness.