Chapter 22 — Gain through yielding益謙
1Bend, and you stay whole
曲則全，
Bend, and you stay whole,
note 2
不自見其明則全也。
If one does not show one's own brightness, one stays whole.
曲己從眾，不自專，則全其身也。
If one bends oneself and follows the crowd, and does not act alone as one pleases, one keeps one's body whole.
2Warp, and you become straight
枉則直，
warp, and you become straight,
note 2
不自是則其是彰也。
If one does not call oneself right, one's rightness stands out.
枉，屈己而伸人，久久自得直也。
Wang (枉) is to bend oneself so as to straighten others; in time one becomes straight of itself.
3Hollow out, and you are filled
窪則盈，
hollow out, and you are filled,
note 2
不自伐則其功有也。
If one does not boast, one comes to have merit.
地窪下，水流之；人謙下，德歸之。
Where the ground is hollow and low, water flows in; where a man lowers himself, virtue comes back to him.
4Wear out, and you are made new
敝則新，
wear out, and you are made new,
note 2
不自矜則其德長也。
If one does not preen, one's virtue grows.
自受弊薄，後己先人，天下敬之，久久自新也。
If one takes the worn and thin for oneself, putting oneself behind and others ahead, all under heaven reveres him; in time he becomes new of itself.
5With less you gain, with more you are confused
少則得，多則惑。
with less you gain, and with more you are confused.
note 3
自然之道亦猶樹也，轉多轉遠其根，轉少轉得其本。多則遠其真，故曰惑也；少則得其本，故曰得也。
The Dao that is so of itself is like a tree: the more there is, the farther it goes from its root, and the less there is, the more it gains its base. With more, one goes far from one's genuineness, and so it says one is confused. With less, one gains one's base, and so it says one gains.
自受取少則得多也，天道祐謙，神明託虛。
If one takes little for oneself, one gains much. The Dao of heaven helps the one who lowers himself, and the spirits dwell in what is empty.
財多者，惑於所守，學多者，惑於所聞。
One with many goods is confused about what to guard, and one with much learning is confused by what he has heard.
6The sage embraces the one as the pattern of all under heaven
是以聖人抱一為天下式。
So the sage embraces the one and makes it the pattern of all under heaven.
note 2
一，少之極也。式，猶則之也。
One (一) is the utmost of fewness. Shi (式) says the same as to take as a pattern.
抱，守也。式，法也。聖人守一，乃知萬事，故能為天下法式也。
Bao (抱) is to keep, and shi is the pattern. The sage keeps to the one and so knows the ten thousand affairs; that is why he can be the pattern for all under heaven.
7Truly whole, and so he returns
不自見故明，不自是故彰，不自伐故有功，不自矜故長。夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。古之所謂曲則全者，豈虛言哉！誠全而歸之。
He does not show himself, so he is bright. He does not call himself right, so he stands out. He does not boast, so he has merit. He does not preen, so he lasts. Only because he does not contend can no one under heaven contend with him. The old saying that bending keeps you whole, how could it be an empty word? Truly he stays whole, and so he returns.
note 7
聖人不以其目視千里之外也，乃因天下之目以視，故能明達也。
The sage does not look beyond a thousand li with his own eyes but looks with the eyes of all under heaven; that is why his brightness can reach everywhere.
聖人不自以為是而非人，故能彰顯於世。
The sage does not call himself right and others wrong; that is why he stands out in the world.
伐，取也。聖人德化流行，不自取其美，故有功於天下。
Fa (伐) is to take for oneself. Though the sage's teaching by virtue spreads far and wide, he does not take its beauty as his own; that is why he has merit in all under heaven.
矜，大也。聖人不自貴大，故能久不危。
Jin (矜) is to be great. The sage does not call himself noble and great; that is why he goes long without peril.
此言天下賢與不肖，無能與不爭者爭也。
It means that no one under heaven, worthy or unworthy, can contend with one who does not contend.
傳古言，曲從則全身，此言非虛妄也。
This hands down an old saying. If one bends and follows, one keeps one's body whole; the saying is neither empty nor wild.
誠，實也。能行曲從者，實其肌體，歸之於父母，無有傷害也。
Cheng (誠) is genuineness. One who can bend and follow keeps his body whole and returns it to his parents, with nothing hurt or harmed.