Chapter 16 — Returning to the root歸根

言致虛物之極，篤守靜物之真正也。

It means reaching the very end of the emptiness of things, and keeping firm the truth and rightness of the stillness of things.

得道之人，捐情去欲，五內清靜，至於虛極。

One who has gained the Dao pares away feeling and casts off wanting, so that the five inner organs (五內) grow clear and still, and he reaches the utmost of emptiness.

守清靜，行篤厚。

He keeps to what is clear and still, and his conduct is firm and deep.

以虛靜觀其反復。凡有起於虛，動起於靜，故萬物雖並動作，卒復歸於虛靜，是物之極篤也。

With emptiness and stillness one watches them come back. Being arises from emptiness, and motion arises from stillness. So although all things stir and rise together, in the end they return again to emptiness and stillness, and this is the utmost firmness of things.

作，生也。萬物並生也。

To rise (作) is to come to life. All things come to life together.

言吾以觀見萬物無不皆歸其本也。人當念重其本也。

It means that I watch all things, every one of them, return to their root. A person ought to hold that root weighty in his thoughts.

歸根則靜，故曰靜。靜則復命，故曰復命也。復命則得性命之常，故曰常也。

Return to the root and one is still, and so it says stillness. Be still and one returns to what is decreed, and so it says returning to what is decreed. Return to what is decreed and one gains the constancy of nature and life, and so it says the constant.

芸芸者，華葉盛也。

To grow thick (芸芸) is for flowers and leaves to be lush.

言萬物無不枯落，各復反其根而更生也。

It means that there is nothing among all things that does not wither and fall, and that each returns to its root and lives again.

靜謂根也。根安靜柔弱，謙卑處下，故不復死也。

Stillness here means the root. The root is at ease and still, soft and weak, and it humbles itself and stays below; this is why it does not die again.

言安靜者是為復還性命，使不死也。

It means that being at ease and still is just what returns one to the life one was given and keeps one from dying.

覆命使不死，乃道之所常行也。

Returning to what is decreed and so not dying is just what the Dao does constantly.

常之為物，不偏不彰，無皦昧之狀，溫涼之象，故曰知常曰明也。唯此復，乃能包通萬物，無所不容，失此以往，則邪入乎分，則物離其分，故曰不知常，則妄作凶也。

The constant neither leans one way nor shows itself: it has no bright or dark look, no warm or cool face. That is why knowing the constant is called clarity. Only this returning can wrap around the ten thousand things and let them through, with nothing it does not take in. Lose this and press on, and crookedness enters into one's lot, and things fall away from their lot. That is why it says that not knowing the constant, one acts rashly and comes to harm.

能知道之所常行，則為明。

To be able to know what the Dao does constantly is clarity.

不知道之所常行，妄作巧詐，則失神明，故凶也。

One who does not know what the Dao does constantly, and rashly works up cleverness and deceit, loses the divine light (神明); this is why he comes to harm.

無所不包通也。

There is nothing it does not wrap around and let through.

能知道之所常行，去情忘欲，無所不包容也。

One who can know what the Dao does constantly casts off feeling and forgets wanting, and so there is nothing he does not take in.

無所不包通，則乃至於蕩然公平也。

When there is nothing it does not wrap around and let through, one comes wide open to fairness.

無所不包容，則公正無私，眾邪莫當。

When there is nothing he does not take in, he is fair and has nothing of his own, and the host of crooked things cannot stand against him.

公正無私，可以為天下王。治身正則形一，神明千萬，共湊其躬也。

Being fair and having nothing of his own, he can be king of the world. When he governs his body rightly, his form becomes one, and the divine light gathers to that body by the thousand and the ten thousand.

能王，德合神明，乃與天通。

If he can be king, his virtue joins with the divine light and he opens through to heaven.

蕩然公平，則乃至於無所不周普也。

Wide open and fair, one comes to where there is nothing one's reach does not cover.

無所不周普，則乃至於同乎天也。

When there is nothing one's reach does not cover, one comes to be like heaven.

與天合德，體道大通，則乃至於極虛無也。

Joining one's virtue with heaven and taking the Dao as one's body, one opens out greatly and comes to utmost emptiness and nothing.

德與天通，則與道合同也。

When his virtue opens through to heaven, he becomes one with the Dao.

窮極虛無，得道之常，則乃至於不窮極也。

Carrying emptiness and nothing through to the very end and gaining the constancy of the Dao, one comes to what has no end.

與道合同，乃能長久。

Becoming one with the Dao, he can last long.

無之為物，水火不能害，金石不能殘。用之於心則虎兕無所投其齒角，兵戈無所容其鋒刃，何危殆之有乎。

As for nothing, water and fire cannot harm it and metal and stone cannot wound it. Use this in the heart, and the tiger and the rhinoceros find nowhere to set their teeth and horn, and spear and blade find nowhere to set their edge. What danger could there be?

能公能王，通天合道，四者純備，道德弘遠，無殃無咎，乃與天地俱沒，不危殆也。

When he can be fair and can be king, opens through to heaven and joins with the Dao — when these four are wholly in place — his Dao and virtue reach wide and far, there is no calamity and no fault, and he comes to an end together with heaven and earth; so he is not in danger.