Explaining Laozi解老
德者，内也；得者，外也。「上德不德」，言其神不淫於外也。神不淫於外則身全，身全之謂德。德者，得身也。凡德者，以無爲集，以無欲成，以不思安，以不用固。爲之欲之，則德無舍；德無舍，則不全。用之思之則不固，不固則無功，無功則生於德。德則無德，不得則有德。故曰：「上德不德，是以有德。」
Virtue is what is within; getting is what is without. "The highest virtue does not take itself for virtue" says that its spirit does not spill outward. When the spirit does not spill outward the body is whole, and a whole body is called virtue. Virtue is the getting of the body. Virtue gathers by not doing, is completed by not desiring, is at peace by not thinking, and is made firm by not using. Do it and desire it, and virtue has no lodging; when virtue has no lodging it is not whole. Use it and think it, and it is not firm; when it is not firm there is no merit; and having no merit is born of taking oneself for virtuous. Take yourself for virtuous and there is no virtue; do not seek to get and there is virtue. Therefore it is said: "The highest virtue does not take itself for virtue, and for this reason it has virtue."
所以貴無爲無思爲虚者，謂其意無所制也。夫無術者，故以無爲無思爲虚也。夫故以無爲無思爲虚者，其意常不忘虚，是制於爲虚也。虚者，謂其意無所制也。今制於爲虚，是不虚也。虚者之無爲也，不以無爲爲有常。不以無爲爲有常則虚，虚則德盛，德盛之謂上德。故曰：「上德無爲而無不爲也。」
The reason not doing and not thinking are prized as emptiness is that the intent is bound by nothing. One who has no method deliberately takes not doing and not thinking for emptiness. One who deliberately takes not doing and not thinking for emptiness never forgets emptiness in his intent, and this is to be bound by making emptiness. Emptiness means that the intent is bound by nothing. Now he is bound by making emptiness, and this is not empty. The not-doing of the empty man does not make not doing into a constant. Not making not doing into a constant is emptiness; emptiness makes virtue flourish; and flourishing virtue is called the highest virtue. Therefore it is said: "The highest virtue does not act, and there is nothing it does not do."
仁者，謂其中心欣然愛人也；其喜人之有福，而惡人之有禍也；生心之所不能已也，非求其報也。故曰：「上仁爲之而無以爲也。」
Benevolence (仁) means that the inmost heart gladly loves others. It rejoices that others have blessing and hates that others have calamity. It is what the heart, once born, cannot stop, and it does not seek a return. Therefore it is said: "The highest benevolence acts, and it has no reason for acting."
義者，君臣上下之事，父子貴賤之差也，知交朋友之接也，親踈内外之分也。臣事君宜，下懷上宜，子事父宜，賤敬貴宜，知交友朋之相助也宜，親者内而踈者外宜。義者，謂其宜也，宜而爲之。故曰：「上義爲之而有以爲也。」
Rightness (義) is the business of ruler and subject, of high and low; the grading of father and son, of noble and base; the meeting of acquaintances and friends; the dividing of near and distant, of inner and outer. It is fitting that a subject serve his ruler, fitting that the low cherish the high, fitting that a son serve his father, fitting that the base respect the noble, fitting that acquaintances and friends help one another, fitting that the near be held within and the distant without. Rightness means what is fitting, and being fitting it is done. Therefore it is said: "The highest rightness acts, and it has a reason for acting."
禮者，所以貌情也，群義之文章也，君臣父子之交也，貴賤賢不肖之所以別也。中心懷而不諭，故疾趨卑拜而明之；實心愛而不知，故好言繁辝以信之。禮者，外飾之所以諭内也。故曰：禮以貌情也。凡人之爲外物動也，不知其爲身之禮也。衆人之爲禮也，以尊他人也，故時勸時衰。君子之爲禮，以爲其身；以爲其身，故神之爲上禮；上禮神而衆人貳，故不能相應；不能相應，故曰：「上禮爲之而莫之應。」衆人雖貳，聖人之復恭敬盡手足之禮也不衰。故曰：「攘臂而仍之。」
Ritual (禮) is that by which the feelings are given a shape. It is the pattern of the many rightnesses, the meeting of ruler and subject and of father and son, and that by which noble and base, worthy and unworthy are told apart. The inmost heart cherishes and is not understood, so a man hurries forward and bows low to make it plain; his true heart loves and is not known, so he uses fine words and abundant speech to make it trusted. Ritual is outward adornment by which the inside is made understood. Therefore it is said that ritual gives the feelings a shape. When a man is moved by outer things he does not know that this is ritual for his own person. The many perform ritual in order to honor others, and so they are now diligent and now slack. The gentleman performs ritual for his own person, and because it is for his own person he holds it divine and takes it for the highest ritual. He holds the highest ritual divine while the many are of two minds, and so they cannot answer one another; and because they cannot answer one another it is said: "The highest ritual acts, and none answers it." Though the many are of two minds, the sage's repeated reverence, exhausting the ritual of hand and foot, does not slacken. Therefore it is said: "He bares his arm and draws them on."
道有積而積有功；德者，道之功。功有實而實有光；仁者，德之光。光有澤而澤有事；義者，仁之事也。事有禮而禮有文；禮者，義之文也。故曰：「失道而後失德，失德而後失仁，失仁而後失義，失義而後失禮。」
The way has accumulation, and accumulation has merit; virtue is the merit of the way. Merit has substance, and substance has light; benevolence is the light of virtue. Light has a sheen, and the sheen has its business; rightness is the business of benevolence. Business has ritual, and ritual has pattern; ritual is the pattern of rightness. Therefore it is said: "When the way is lost, virtue is lost after it; when virtue is lost, benevolence is lost after it; when benevolence is lost, rightness is lost after it; when rightness is lost, ritual is lost after it."
禮爲情貌者也，文爲質飾者也。夫君子取情而去貌，好質而惡飾。夫恃貌而論情者，其情惡也；須飾而論質者，其質衰也。何以論之？和氏之璧，不飾以五采；隋侯之珠，不飾以銀黄。其質至美，物不足以飾之。夫物之待飾而後行者，其質不美也。是以父子之間，其禮樸而不明，故曰禮薄也。凡物不並盛，陰陽是也；理相奪予，威德是也；實厚者貌薄，父子之禮是也。由是觀之，禮繁者，實心衰也。然則爲禮者，事通人之樸心者也。衆人之爲禮也，人應則輕歡，不應則責怨。今爲禮者事通人之樸心而資之以相責之分，能毋爭乎？有爭則亂，故曰：「夫禮者，忠信之薄也，而亂之首乎。」先物行先理動之謂前識。前識者，無緣而妄意度也。何以論之？詹何坐，弟子侍，牛鳴於門外。弟子曰：「是黑牛也而白題。」詹何曰：「然，是黑牛也，而白在其角。」使人視之，果黑牛而以布裹其角。以詹子之術，嬰衆人之心，華焉殆矣！故曰：「道之華也。」嘗試釋詹子之察，而使五尺之愚童子視之，亦知其黑牛而以布裹其角也。故以詹子之察，苦心傷神，而後與五尺之愚童子同功，是以曰：「愚之首也。」故曰：「前識者，道之華也，而愚之首也。」
Ritual gives the feelings a shape; pattern adorns the substance. The gentleman takes the feelings and puts the shape away, loves the substance and hates the adornment. To lean on the shape in judging the feelings is a sign that the feelings are bad; to wait for the adornment in judging the substance is a sign that the substance has withered. How is this argued? The jade disc of Master He is not adorned with the five colors; the pearl of the Marquis of Sui is not adorned with silver and gold. Their substance is utterly beautiful, and no thing is enough to adorn them. A thing that must wait for adornment before it passes current is one whose substance is not beautiful. For this reason the ritual between father and son is plain and unspoken, and so it is said that their ritual is thin. Things do not flourish side by side: yin and yang are such. Principles take from one another and give to one another: awe and virtue are such. Where the substance is thick the shape is thin: the ritual of father and son is such. Seen in this way, elaborate ritual is a sign that the true heart has withered. That being so, one who performs ritual is doing work that pierces through to another man's plain heart. When the many perform ritual, they are lightly pleased if the other answers and blame and resent him if he does not. Now one who performs ritual does the work of piercing another man's plain heart and takes for his stock a share of mutual blame — can there be no quarrel? Where there is quarreling there is disorder, and therefore it is said: "Ritual is the thinning of loyalty and good faith, and the head of disorder." To act ahead of things and to move ahead of principle is called foreknowledge. Foreknowledge is reckoning wildly with nothing to go on. How is this argued? Zhan He was sitting and his disciple was in attendance when an ox lowed outside the gate. The disciple said, "That is a black ox, and its forehead is white." Zhan He said, "So it is. That is a black ox, and the white is on its horns." He sent a man to look, and it was indeed a black ox with cloth wrapped around its horns. To shake the hearts of the many with Master Zhan's art is splendid, but it is perilous. Therefore it is said: "It is the flower of the way." Set Master Zhan's discernment aside for a moment and let a foolish child five feet tall look: he too knows that it is a black ox with cloth wrapped around its horns. So with Master Zhan's discernment he wore out his heart and harmed his spirit, and only then had the same merit as a foolish child five feet tall; and for this reason it is said: "It is the head of folly." Therefore it is said: "Foreknowledge is the flower of the way and the head of folly."
所謂「大丈夫」者，謂其智之大也。所謂「處其厚不處其薄」者，行情實而去禮貌也。所謂「處其實不處其華」者，必緣理不徑絶也。所謂「去彼取此」者，去貌、徑絶而取緣理、好情實也。故曰：「去彼取此。」
What is called "the great man" means that his wisdom is great. What is called "he dwells in the thick and does not dwell in the thin" is practicing the feelings and the substance and putting ritual and shape away. What is called "he dwells in the fruit and does not dwell in the flower" is surely following principle and not cutting straight across. What is called "he puts that away and takes this" is putting away shape and cutting straight across, and taking the following of principle and the love of the feelings and the substance. Therefore it is said: "He puts that away and takes this."
人有禍，則心畏恐；心畏恐，則行端直；行端直，則思慮熟；思慮熟，則得事理。行端直，則無禍害；無禍害，則盡天年。得事理，則必成功。盡天年，則全而壽。必成功，則富與貴。全壽富貴之謂福，而福本於有禍。故曰：「禍兮福之所倚。」以成其功也。
When a man has calamity his heart is afraid; when his heart is afraid his conduct is upright and straight; when his conduct is upright and straight his thinking ripens; when his thinking ripens he grasps the principle of affairs. When his conduct is upright and straight there is no calamity or harm; when there is no calamity or harm he lives out the years heaven gave him. When he grasps the principle of affairs he is sure to accomplish merit. When he lives out the years heaven gave him he is whole and long-lived. When he is sure to accomplish merit he becomes rich and noble. To be whole and long-lived and rich and noble is called blessing, and blessing is rooted in having calamity. Therefore it is said: "Calamity is what blessing leans on," because it is by calamity that merit is accomplished.
人有福，則富貴至；富貴至，則衣食美；衣食美，則驕心生；驕心生，則行邪僻而動弃理。行邪僻，則身死夭；動弃理，則無成功。夫内有死夭之難而外無成功之名者，大禍也，而禍本生於有福。故曰：「福兮禍之所伏。」
When a man has blessing, wealth and rank arrive; when wealth and rank arrive, clothing and food are fine; when clothing and food are fine, a proud heart is born; when a proud heart is born, his conduct grows crooked and biased and his action casts principle away. When conduct is crooked and biased the body dies young; when action casts principle away there is no merit accomplished. To have within the trouble of dying young and to have without no name for merit accomplished is a great calamity, and calamity takes root and is born in having blessing. Therefore it is said: "Blessing is what calamity lies hidden in."
夫緣道理以從事者，無不能成。無不能成者，大能成天子之勢尊，而小易得卿相將軍之賞祿。夫弃道理而妄舉動者，雖上有天子諸侯之勢尊，而下有猗頓、陶朱、卜祝之富，猶失其民人而亡其財資也。衆人之輕弃道理而易妄舉動者，不知其禍福之深大而道闊遠若是也，故諭人曰：「孰知其極？」
One who follows the way and principle in his affairs has nothing he cannot accomplish. Having nothing he cannot accomplish, at the greatest he can attain the honored power of the Son of Heaven, and at the least he easily gets the rewards and stipends of a minister or a general. One who casts the way and principle away and moves wildly, though he have above the honored power of the Son of Heaven or of a feudal lord, and below the wealth of Yi Dun, of Tao Zhu and of the diviners, still loses his people and loses his goods. The many lightly cast the way and principle away and easily move wildly because they do not know that calamity and blessing are so deep and great and that the way is so broad and far. Therefore he taught men, saying: "Who knows where it ends?"
人莫不欲富貴全壽，而未有能免於貧賤死夭之禍也。心欲富貴全壽，而今貧賤死夭，是不能至於其所欲至也。凡失其所欲之路而妄行者之謂迷，迷則不能至於其所欲至矣。今衆人之不能至於其所欲至，故曰「迷」。衆人之所不能至於其所欲至也，自天地之剖判以至于今。故曰：「人之迷也，其日故以久矣。」
There is no man who does not wish to be rich and noble, whole and long-lived, yet there has been none able to escape the calamity of poverty, baseness and early death. The heart wishes wealth and rank, wholeness and long life, and now there is poverty and baseness and early death: this is not reaching the place one wished to reach. To lose the road one wishes and go wildly is called straying, and one who strays cannot reach the place he wished to reach. Now the many cannot reach the place they wish to reach, and so it is called straying. That the many cannot reach the place they wish to reach has been so from the splitting apart of heaven and earth down to this day. Therefore it is said: "Men have strayed, and the days of it have indeed been long."
所謂方者，内外相應也，言行相稱也。所謂廉者，必生死之命也，輕恬資財也。所謂直者，義必公正，公心不偏黨也。所謂光者，官爵尊貴，衣裘壯麗也。今有道之士，雖中外信順，不以誹謗窮墮；雖死節輕財，不以侮罷羞貪；雖義端不黨，不以去邪罪私；雖勢尊衣美，不以夸賤欺貧。其故何也？使失路者而肯聽習問知，即不成迷也。今衆人之所以欲成功而反爲敗者，生於不知道理而不肯問知而聽能。衆人不肯問知聽能，而聖人強以其禍敗適之，則怨。衆人多而聖人寡，寡之不勝衆，數也。今舉動而與天下之爲讎，非全身長生之道也，是以行軌節而舉之也。故曰：「方而不割，廉而不穢，直而不肆，光而不耀。」
What is called being square is that inside and outside answer each other and that words and conduct match. What is called being incorrupt is making the mandate of death and life certain and holding goods and wealth light. What is called being straight is that rightness is surely public and correct and that the public heart does not lean into faction. What is called being bright is that office and rank are honored and noble and that robes and furs are grand and fine. Now the man who has the way, though he is trusted and compliant within and without, does not slander others into ruin; though he dies for his integrity and holds wealth light, he does not despise the weary and shame them as greedy; though his rightness is correct and he makes no faction, he does not, having put crookedness away, punish the private ends of others; though his power is honored and his robes are fine, he does not boast before the base or cheat the poor. Why is this so? If one who has lost the road were willing to listen and learn and to ask and know, he would not come to stray. Now the many wish to accomplish merit and instead come to ruin, and this is born of not knowing the way and principle and being unwilling to ask those who know and listen to those who are able. The many are unwilling to ask and to listen, and if the sage presses them hard with their calamity and ruin they resent him. The many are many and the sages are few, and that the few cannot overcome the many is a fixed number. Now to move and make an enemy of all under heaven is not the way to keep the body whole and live long, and for this reason he keeps to track and measure in what he undertakes. Therefore it is said: "Square, but he does not cut; incorrupt, but he does not wound; straight, but he is not wanton; bright, but he does not dazzle."
聰明睿智，天也；動靜思慮，人也。人也者，乘於天明以視，寄於天聰以聽，託於天智以思慮。故視強，則目不明；聽甚，則耳不聰；思慮過度，則智識亂。目不明，則不能決黑白之分；耳不聰，則不能別清濁之聲；智識亂，則不能審得失之地。目不能決黑白之色則謂之盲，耳不能別清濁之聲則謂之聾，心不能審得失之地則謂之狂。盲則不能避晝日之險，聾則不能知雷霆之害，狂則不能免人間法令之禍。書之所謂「治人」者，適動靜之節，省思慮之費也。所謂「事天」者，不極聰明之力，不盡智識之任。苟極盡，則費神多；費神多，則盲聾悖狂之禍至，是以嗇之。嗇之者，愛其精神，嗇其智識也。故曰：「治人事天莫如嗇。」
Keen hearing and clear sight and deep wisdom are of heaven; motion and stillness and thinking are of man. Man rides on heaven's brightness to see, lodges in heaven's keen hearing to hear, and entrusts himself to heaven's wisdom to think. So if seeing is forced the eye is not clear; if hearing is overdone the ear is not keen; if thinking goes past measure, wisdom and knowledge are disordered. When the eye is not clear it cannot decide the division of black and white; when the ear is not keen it cannot tell clear sounds from muddy; when wisdom and knowledge are disordered one cannot examine the ground of gain and loss. When the eye cannot decide the colors black and white he is called blind; when the ear cannot tell clear sounds from muddy he is called deaf; when the heart cannot examine the ground of gain and loss he is called mad. The blind cannot avoid the dangers of broad day; the deaf cannot know the harm of thunder and lightning; the mad cannot escape the calamity of the laws and orders among men. What the book calls "governing men" is fitting the measure of motion and stillness and sparing the waste of thinking. What it calls "serving heaven" is not pushing the strength of ear and eye to its limit and not exhausting what wisdom and knowledge are charged with. If they are indeed pushed to the limit, the spirit is spent much; when the spirit is spent much, the calamity of blindness and deafness and derangement arrives; and for this reason one is sparing. To be sparing is to love one's mind and be sparing of one's wisdom and knowledge. Therefore it is said: "For governing men and serving heaven there is nothing like being sparing."
Interlinear notes 1
The base text has 盲 and 聾; they are rendered in present-day words. — translator
衆人之用神也躁，躁則多費，多費之謂侈。聖人之用神也靜，靜則少費，少費之謂嗇。嗇之謂術也，生於道理。夫能嗇也，是從於道而服於理者也。衆人離於患，陷於禍，猶未知退，而不服從道理。聖人雖未見禍患之形，虚無服從於道理，以稱蚤服。故曰：「夫謂嗇，是以蚤服。」
The many use their spirit restlessly; restlessness spends much; and spending much is called extravagance. The sage uses his spirit in stillness; stillness spends little; and spending little is called being sparing. That being sparing is a method is born of the way and principle. To be able to be sparing is to follow the way and submit to principle. The many are caught in trouble and sunk in calamity and still do not know how to withdraw, and they do not follow and submit to the way and principle. The sage, though he has not yet seen the shape of calamity and trouble, empty and without, follows and submits to the way and principle, and this is called submitting early. Therefore it is said: "It is called being sparing, and for this reason one submits early."
知治人者，其思慮靜；知事天者，其孔竅虚。思慮靜，故德不去；孔竅虚，則和氣日入。故曰：「重積德。」夫能令故德不去，新和氣日至者，蚤服者也。故曰：「蚤服，是謂重積德。」積德而後神静，神静而後和多，和多而後計得，計得而後能御萬物，能御萬物則戰易勝敵，戰易勝敵而論必蓋世，論必蓋世，故曰：「無不克。」無不克本於重積德，故曰：「重積德，則無不克。」戰易勝敵，則兼有天下；論必蓋世，則民人從。進兼天下而退從民人，其術遠，則衆人莫見其端末。莫見其端末，是以莫知其極。故曰：「無不克，則莫知其極。」
One who knows how to govern men has still thinking; one who knows how to serve heaven has empty openings. Because his thinking is still, virtue does not leave him; because his openings are empty, harmonious breath enters day by day. Therefore it is said: "He piles up virtue again and again." One who can make old virtue not leave and new harmonious breath arrive day by day is one who submits early. Therefore it is said: "Submitting early is called piling up virtue again and again." Virtue is piled up and then the spirit is still; the spirit is still and then harmony is abundant; harmony is abundant and then reckoning is right; reckoning is right and then he can command the ten thousand things; when he can command the ten thousand things he easily overcomes the enemy in battle; when he easily overcomes the enemy in battle his reasoning surely covers the age. Because his reasoning surely covers the age it is said: "There is nothing he does not overcome." That there is nothing he does not overcome is rooted in piling up virtue again and again, and therefore it is said: "Pile up virtue again and again, and there is nothing you do not overcome." When he easily overcomes the enemy in battle he holds all under heaven together; when his reasoning surely covers the age the people follow him. Advancing, he holds all under heaven together; withdrawing, he makes the people follow. His method reaches far, and the many cannot see its beginning or its end. Because they cannot see its beginning or its end, none knows where it ends. Therefore it is said: "When there is nothing you do not overcome, none knows where it ends."
凡有國而後亡之，有身而後殃之，不可謂能有其國、能保其身。夫能有其國，必能安其社禝；能保其身，必能終其天年，而後可謂能有其國、能保其身矣。夫能有其國、保其身者，必且體道。體道，則其智深；其智深，則其會遠；其會遠，衆人莫能見其所極。唯夫能令人不見其事極，不見其事極者爲保其身、有其國。故曰：「莫知其極。」「莫知其極，則可以有國。」
If a man has a state and afterward loses it, or has a body and afterward brings disaster on it, he cannot be said to be able to have his state or able to keep his body. One who can have his state must be able to make its altars of land and grain secure; one who can keep his body must be able to finish out the years heaven gave him; only then may he be said to be able to have his state and able to keep his body. One who can have his state and keep his body must also take the way for his body. Taking the way for his body, his wisdom is deep; his wisdom being deep, what he gathers is far; what he gathers being far, the many cannot see where it ends. Only he who can keep men from seeing where his affairs end, he whose affairs are not seen to end, keeps his body and has his state. Therefore it is said: "None knows where it ends," and "When none knows where it ends, he may have a state."
所謂「有國之母」：母者，道也；道也者，生於所以有國之術；所以有國之術，故謂之「有國之母」。夫道以與世周旋者，其建生也長，持祿也久。故曰：「有國之母，可以長久。」樹木有曼根，有直根。直根者，書之所謂「柢」也。柢也者，木之所以建生也；曼根者，木之所以持生也。德也者，人之所以建生也；祿也者，人之所以持生也。今建於理者，其持祿也久，故曰：「深其根。」體其道者，其生日長，故曰：「固其柢。」柢固則生長，根深則視久，故曰：「深其根，固其柢，長生久視之道也。」
As for "the mother of having a state," the mother is the way. The way is born of the method by which a state is had; and being the method by which a state is had, it is called "the mother of having a state." One who turns with the age by the way establishes his life long and holds his stipend long. Therefore it is said: "With the mother of having a state one may last long." A tree has spreading roots and it has a straight root. The straight root is what the book calls the "taproot." The taproot is that by which the tree establishes its life; the spreading roots are that by which the tree holds its life. Virtue is that by which a man establishes his life; stipend is that by which a man holds his life. Now one who is established in principle holds his stipend long, and therefore it is said: "Deepen its roots." One who takes the way for his body has a life that lengthens day by day, and therefore it is said: "Make its taproot firm." When the taproot is firm life is long, and when the roots are deep one sees long. Therefore it is said: "Deepen its roots and make its taproot firm. This is the way of long life and long seeing."
工人數變業則失其功，作者數揺徙則亡其功。一人之作，日亡半日，十日則亡五人之功矣；萬人之作，日亡半日，十日則亡五萬人之功矣。然則數變業者，其人彌衆，其虧彌大矣。凡法令更則利害易，利害易則民務變，務變之謂變業。故以理觀之：事大衆而數揺之，則少成功；藏大器而數徒之，則多敗傷；烹小鮮而數撓之，則賊其澤；治大國而數變法，則民苦之。是以有道之君貴静，不重變法。故曰：「治大國者若烹小鮮。」
When a craftsman often changes his trade he loses his merit; when a worker is often shaken and shifted he loses his merit. In one man's work, to lose half a day each day is to lose the merit of five men in ten days; in the work of ten thousand men, to lose half a day each day is to lose the merit of fifty thousand men in ten days. That being so, the more men there are under one who often changes their trade, the greater the loss. When laws and orders are altered, gain and loss change; when gain and loss change, what the people work at changes; and a change in what they work at is called changing trade. So, looked at by principle: employ a great multitude and shake them often, and little merit is accomplished; store a great vessel and shift it often, and much is broken and spoiled; boil a small fish and stir it often, and you ruin its gloss; govern a great state and change its laws often, and the people suffer for it. For this reason the ruler who has the way prizes stillness and does not change the laws again and again. Therefore it is said: "Governing a great state is like boiling a small fish."
人處疾則貴醫，有禍則畏鬼。聖人在上，則民少欲；民少欲，則血氣治而舉動理；舉動理，則少禍害。夫内無痤疽癉痔之害，而外無刑罰法誅之禍者，其輕恬鬼也甚。故曰：「以道蒞天下，其鬼不神。」治世之民，不與鬼神相害也。故曰：「非其鬼不神也，其神不傷人也。」鬼祟也疾人之謂鬼傷人，人逐除之之謂人傷鬼也。民犯法令之謂民傷上，上刑戮民之謂上傷民。民不犯法，則上亦不行刑，上不行刑之謂上不傷人。故曰：「聖人亦不傷民。」上不與民相害，而人不與鬼相傷，故曰：「兩不相傷。」民不敢犯法，則上内不用刑罰，而外不事利其産業。上内不用刑罰，而外不事利其産業，則民蕃息。民蕃息而畜積盛。民蕃息而畜積盛之謂有德。凡所謂崇者，魂魄去而精神亂，精神亂則無德。鬼不祟人則魂魄不去，魂魄不去而精神不亂，精神不亂之謂有德。上盛畜積而鬼不亂其精神，則德盡在於民矣。故曰：「兩不相傷，則德交歸焉。」言其德上下交盛而俱歸於民也。
When a man falls ill he prizes the physician; when he has calamity he fears ghosts. When a sage is above, the people have few desires; when the people have few desires, blood and breath are governed and their movements accord with principle; when their movements accord with principle, there is little calamity and harm. One who has within no harm from boils and piles and without no calamity from punishment and execution by law holds ghosts exceedingly light. Therefore it is said: "Approach all under heaven with the way, and its ghosts have no divine power." The people of a governed age do not harm one another with ghosts and spirits. Therefore it is said: "It is not that its ghosts have no divine power; it is that their divine power does not injure men." A ghost haunting and sickening a man is called a ghost injuring a man; a man driving it out and being rid of it is called a man injuring a ghost. The people breaking the laws and orders is called the people injuring those above; those above punishing and killing the people is called those above injuring the people. When the people do not break the laws, those above also do not carry out punishments; and those above not carrying out punishments is called those above not injuring men. Therefore it is said: "The sage also does not injure the people." Those above and the people do not harm each other, and men and ghosts do not injure each other; therefore it is said: "Neither injures the other." When the people do not dare break the laws, those above within do not use punishments and without do not labor to profit their livelihoods. When those above within do not use punishments and without do not labor to profit their livelihoods, the people multiply. The people multiplying and stores growing abundant is called having virtue. What is called haunting is the soul and the spirit departing and the mind falling into disorder; when the mind is disordered there is no virtue. When ghosts do not haunt men the soul and the spirit do not depart; when the soul and the spirit do not depart the mind is not disordered; and the mind not being disordered is called having virtue. When those above make their stores abundant and ghosts do not disorder the mind, virtue lies wholly with the people. Therefore it is said: "When neither injures the other, virtue returns to both." This says that virtue flourishes above and below together and that all of it returns to the people.
有道之君，外無怨讎於鄰敵，而内有德澤於人民。夫外無怨讎於鄰敵者，其遇諸侯也外有禮義；内有德澤於人民者，其治人事也務本。遇諸侯有禮義，則役希起；治民事務本，則淫奢止。凡馬之所以大用者，外供甲兵而内給淫奢也。今有道之君，外希用甲兵，而内禁淫奢。上不事馬於戰鬬逐北，而民不以馬遠淫通物，所積力唯田疇。積力於田疇，必且糞灌。故曰：「天下有道，却走馬以糞也。」人君無道，則内暴虐其民，而外侵欺其鄰國。内暴虐則民産絶，外侵欺則兵數起。民産絶則畜生少，兵數起則士卒盡。畜生少則戎馬乏，士卒盡則軍危殆。戎馬乏則牸馬出，軍危殆則近臣役。馬者，軍之大用；郊者，言其近也。今所以給軍之具於牸馬近臣。故曰：「天下無道，戎馬生於郊矣。」
The ruler who has the way has without no enmity with neighboring foes and within virtue and bounty toward his people. One who has without no enmity with neighboring foes meets the feudal lords with ritual and rightness; one who has within virtue and bounty toward his people works at the root in governing the affairs of men. When he meets the feudal lords with ritual and rightness, levies are seldom raised; when he works at the root in governing the people's affairs, excess and extravagance cease. The great use of horses is to supply armor and arms without and to furnish excess and extravagance within. Now the ruler who has the way seldom uses armor and arms without and forbids excess and extravagance within. When those above do not use horses for battle and for chasing the routed, and the people do not use horses to travel far and pass goods about to excess, the only place where strength is piled up is the fields. Strength being piled up in the fields, there will surely be manuring and watering. Therefore it is said: "When all under heaven has the way, galloping horses are turned back to carry manure." When the ruler has no way, within he is cruel and harsh to his people and without he encroaches on and cheats his neighboring states. Being cruel within, the people's production is cut off; encroaching and cheating without, troops are often raised. When the people's production is cut off, the beasts they raise are few; when troops are often raised, the soldiers are used up. When the beasts they raise are few, warhorses run short; when the soldiers are used up, the army stands in danger. When warhorses run short, mares in foal are sent out; when the army stands in danger, the close ministers are put to service. Horses are the great use of an army, and the suburbs mean what is near. Now the gear to supply the army is supplied from mares in foal and from close ministers. Therefore it is said: "When all under heaven has no way, warhorses foal in the suburbs."
人有欲則計會亂，計會亂而有欲甚，有欲甚則邪心勝，邪心勝則事經絶，事經絶則禍難生。由是觀之，禍難生於邪心，邪心誘於可欲。可欲之類，進則教良民爲姦，退則令善人有禍；姦起則上侵弱君，禍至則民人多傷。然則可欲之類，上侵弱君而下傷人民。夫上侵弱君而下傷人民者，大罪也。故曰：「禍莫大於可欲。」是以聖人不引五色，不淫於聲樂，明君賤玩好而去淫麗。
When a man has desires his reckoning is disordered; his reckoning being disordered, his desires grow deep; his desires being deep, the crooked heart prevails; the crooked heart prevailing, the warp of affairs is cut; the warp of affairs being cut, calamity and trouble are born. Seen in this way, calamity and trouble are born of the crooked heart, and the crooked heart is lured by what can be desired. Things that can be desired, going forward, teach good people to be wicked, and, going back, bring calamity upon good men. When wickedness arises it encroaches on the ruler above and weakens him; when calamity arrives many of the people are injured. That being so, things that can be desired encroach on and weaken the ruler above and injure the people below. To encroach on and weaken the ruler above and injure the people below is a great crime. Therefore it is said: "No calamity is greater than what can be desired." For this reason the sage is not drawn by the five colors and does not drown in sound and music, and the enlightened ruler holds playthings cheap and puts away what is excessively fine.
人無毛羽，不衣則不犯寒；上不屬天而下不著地，以腸胃爲根本，不食則不能活。是以不免於欲利之心。欲利之心不除，其身之憂也。故聖人衣足以犯寒，食足以充虚，則不憂矣。衆人則不然，大爲諸侯，小餘千金之資，其欲得之憂不除也。胥靡有免，死罪時活，今不知足者之憂終身不解。故曰：「禍莫大於不知足。」
Man has no fur or feathers, and unless he is clothed he cannot bear the cold; he does not cling to heaven above or to the earth below, and he makes bowels and stomach his root, so that unless he eats he cannot live. For this reason he does not escape a heart that desires gain. If the heart that desires gain is not removed, it is a grief to his person. So the sage, once his clothing is enough to bear the cold and his food enough to fill an empty belly, does not grieve. The many are not so. At the most they become feudal lords, at the least they have a thousand pieces of gold left over, and still the grief of wanting to get is not removed. Convicts are sometimes released and men under sentence of death sometimes live; but the grief of one who does not know sufficiency is not loosed to the end of his life. Therefore it is said: "No calamity is greater than not knowing sufficiency."
故欲利甚於憂，憂則疾生，疾生而智慧衰；智慧衰，則失度量；失度量，則妄舉動；妄舉動，則禍害至；禍害至而疾嬰内，疾嬰内，則痛禍薄外；痛禍薄外，則苦痛雜於腸胃之間；苦痛雜於腸胃之間，則傷人也憯。憯則退而自咎，退而自咎也生於欲利。故曰：「咎莫憯於欲利。」
So desiring gain is worse than grief. Grieving, illness is born; illness being born, wisdom withers; wisdom withering, measure is lost; measure being lost, he moves wildly; moving wildly, calamity and harm arrive. Calamity and harm arriving, illness winds about within; illness winding about within, pain and calamity press from without; pain and calamity pressing from without, suffering and pain are mixed among bowels and stomach; suffering and pain being mixed among bowels and stomach, the injury to the man is bitter. Being bitter, he withdraws and blames himself; and withdrawing to blame himself is born of desiring gain. Therefore it is said: "No fault is more bitter than desiring gain."
道者，萬物之所然也，萬理之所稽也。理者，成物之文也；道者，萬物之所以成也。故曰：道，理之者也。物有理，不可以相薄；物有理不可以相薄，故理之爲物之制。萬物各異理，而道盡稽萬物之理，故不得不化；不得不化，故無常操。無常操，是以死生氣稟焉，萬智斟酌焉，萬事廢興焉。天得之以高，地得之以藏，維斗得之以成其威，日月得之以恆其光，五常得之以常其位，列星得之以端其行，四時得之以御其變氣，軒轅得之以擅四方，赤松得之與天地統，聖人得之以成文章。道，與堯舜俱智，與接輿俱狂，與桀紂俱滅，與湯武俱昌。以爲近乎，遊於四極；以爲遠乎，常在吾側；以爲暗乎，其光昭昭；以爲明乎，其物冥冥。而功成天地，和化雷霆，宇内之物，恃之以成。凡道之情，不制不形，柔弱隨時，與理相應。萬物得之以死，得之以生；萬事得之以敗，得之以成。道譬諸若水，溺者多飲之即死，渴者適飲之即生；譬之若劒戟，愚人以行忿則禍生，聖人以誅暴則福成。故得之以死，得之以生，得之以敗，得之以成。
The way is that by which the ten thousand things are as they are and that in which the ten thousand principles gather. Principle is the pattern that completes a thing; the way is that by which the ten thousand things are completed. Therefore it is said that the way is what gives things their principle. Things having principle, they cannot press upon one another; and because things having principle cannot press upon one another, principle becomes the rule of things. The ten thousand things each differ in principle, and the way gathers in the principles of all of them, and so it cannot but change; and because it cannot but change it has no constant hold. Having no constant hold, it is from this that the breath of death and life is allotted, that the ten thousand wisdoms are weighed, and that the ten thousand affairs fall away and rise. Heaven got it and is high; earth got it and holds all in store; the Dipper got it and completed its awe; the sun and the moon got it and made their light constant; the five constants got it and made their places constant; the ranked stars got it and made their courses correct; the four seasons got it and command their changing breath; Xuanyuan got it and held the four quarters alone; Chi Songzi got it and is joined with heaven and earth; the sage got it and completed the patterns of writing. The way is wise together with Yao and Shun, mad together with Jie Yu, destroyed together with Jie and Zhou Xin, flourishing together with Tang and Wu. Think it near, and it roams to the four ends; think it far, and it is always at my side; think it dark, and its light is bright and bright; think it bright, and its substance is dim and dim. Yet its merit completes heaven and earth and harmonizes and transforms thunder and lightning, and the things within the universe rely on it to be completed. The nature of the way is to be unruled and unshaped, soft and weak, following the times, answering to principle. The ten thousand things get it and die, get it and live; the ten thousand affairs get it and fail, get it and succeed. The way may be likened to water: a drowning man drinks much of it and dies, a thirsty man drinks fittingly of it and lives. It may be likened to sword and halberd: a fool uses them to act out his anger and calamity is born; a sage uses them to cut down the violent and blessing is completed. So it is got and one dies, got and one lives, got and one fails, got and one succeeds.
人希見生象也，而得死象之骨，案其圖以想其生也，故諸人之所以意想者皆謂之「象」也。今道雖不可得聞見，聖人執其見功以處見其形，故曰：「無狀之狀，無物之象。」
Men seldom see a living elephant, and when they get the bones of a dead elephant they study the drawing of it to picture it alive; and so whatever men picture in thought is all called an image (象). Now the way cannot be heard or seen, yet the sage takes hold of its visible merit in order to see its shape set forth. Therefore it is said: "The shape of what has no shape, the image of what has no thing."
凡理者，方圓、短長、麤靡、堅脆之分也，故理定而後可得道也。故定理有存亡，有死生，有盛衰。夫物之一存一亡，乍死乍生，初盛而後衰者，不可謂常。唯夫與天地之剖判也具生，至天地之消散也不死不衰者謂「常」。而常者無攸易，無定理。無定理，非在於常所，是以不可道也。聖人觀其玄虚，用其周行，强字之曰「道」，然而可論。故曰：「道之可道，非常道也。」
Principle is the division of square and round, of short and long, of coarse and fine, of hard and brittle; and so only when principle is fixed can the way be grasped. So fixed principles have surviving and perishing, have death and life, have flourishing and decline. A thing that now survives and now perishes, that suddenly dies and suddenly lives, that flourishes at first and declines after, cannot be called constant. Only that which was born together with the splitting apart of heaven and earth and neither dies nor declines until heaven and earth scatter away is called constant. But what is constant has nothing that alters and has no fixed principle. Having no fixed principle, it is not in a constant place, and for this reason it cannot be spoken. The sage looked on its dark emptiness, used its going round everywhere, and forced a name upon it, calling it the way; and only then could it be discussed. Therefore it is said: "The way that can be called a way is not the constant way."
人始於生而卒於死。始之謂出，卒之謂入。故曰：「出生入死。」人之身三百六十節，四肢、九竅，其大具也。四肢與九竅十有三者，十有三者之動静盡屬於生焉。屬之謂徒也，故曰：生之徒也，十有三者。至死也，十有三具者皆還而屬之於死，死之徒亦有十三。故曰：「生之徒十有三，死之徒十有三。」凡民之生生，而生者固動，動盡則損也；而動不止，是損而不止也。損而不止則生盡，生盡之謂死，則十有三具者皆爲死死地也。故曰：「民之生，生而動，動皆之死地，之十有三。」
Man begins in birth and ends in death. Beginning is called coming out; ending is called going in. Therefore it is said: "Come out and live, go in and die." Man's body has three hundred and sixty joints, and the four limbs and the nine openings are the great ones. The four limbs and the nine openings are thirteen, and the motion and stillness of these thirteen belong wholly to life. Belonging is called being of a company, and so it is said that the company of life is thirteen. When death comes, all thirteen return and belong to death, and the company of death is thirteen as well. Therefore it is said: "The company of life is thirteen, the company of death is thirteen." The people live and go on living, and what lives surely moves; when movement is exhausted there is loss; and if movement does not stop, this is loss that does not stop. Loss that does not stop exhausts life, and exhausted life is called death; then all thirteen become the ground of death. Therefore it is said: "The people live, and living they move, and their movements all go to the ground of death, and these are thirteen."
是以聖人愛精神而貴處靜，不愛精神、不貴處靜，此甚大於兕虎之害。夫兕虎有域，動靜有時。避其域，省其時，則免其兕虎之害矣。民獨知兕虎之有爪角也，而莫知萬物之盡有爪角也，不免於萬物之害。何以論之？時雨降集，曠野閒靜，而以昬晨犯山川，則風露之爪角害之。事上不忠，輕犯禁令，則刑法之爪角害之。處鄉不節，憎愛無度，則爭闘之爪角害之。嗜慾無限，動靜不節，則痤疽之爪角害之。好用其私智而弃道理，則網羅之爪角害之。兕虎有域，而萬害有原，避其域，塞其原，則免於諸害矣。凡兵革者，所以備害也。重生者，雖入軍無忿爭之心；無忿爭之心，則無所用救害之備。此非獨謂野處之軍也，聖人之遊世也，無害人之心，則必無人害；無人害，則不備人。故曰：「陸行不遇兕虎。」入山不恃備以救害，故曰：「入軍不備甲兵。」遠諸害，故曰：「兕無所投其角，虎無所錯其爪，兵無所容其刃。」不設備而必無害，天地之道理也。體天地之道，故曰：「無死地焉。」動無死地，而謂之「善攝生」矣。
For this reason the sage loves his mind and prizes dwelling in stillness. Not loving the mind and not prizing dwelling in stillness is a far greater harm than that of the wild ox and the tiger. The wild ox and the tiger have their own ground, and their motion and stillness have their times. Avoid their ground and watch their times, and you escape the harm of the wild ox and the tiger. The people know only that the wild ox and the tiger have claws and horns, and do not know that the ten thousand things all have claws and horns, and so they do not escape the harm of the ten thousand things. How is this argued? The timely rain falls, the broad fields are idle and still, and if you brave the hills and streams at dusk and at dawn, the claws and horns of wind and dew harm you. Serve those above without loyalty and break the prohibitions lightly, and the claws and horns of punishment and law harm you. Dwell in your village without measure and hate and love without measure, and the claws and horns of quarreling harm you. Let relish and desire have no bound and motion and stillness no measure, and the claws and horns of boils harm you. Love to use your private wits and cast the way and principle away, and the claws and horns of the net harm you. The wild ox and the tiger have their ground, and the ten thousand harms have their source. Avoid that ground, block that source, and you escape the many harms. Arms and armor are for guarding against harm. One who holds life weighty has no angry, quarreling heart even when he enters the army; and having no angry, quarreling heart, he has no use for guards against harm. This does not speak of the army in the field alone. When the sage roams the world, having no heart to harm men he surely suffers no harm from men; and suffering no harm from men, he does not guard against men. Therefore it is said: "Going by land he does not meet the wild ox or the tiger." Entering the hills he does not lean on guards against harm, and therefore it is said: "Entering the army he does not put on armor and arms." He keeps far from the many harms, and therefore it is said: "The wild ox has nowhere to thrust its horn, the tiger nowhere to set its claw, and weapons nowhere to put their blade." That he sets up no guard and yet surely comes to no harm is the way and principle of heaven and earth. He takes the way of heaven and earth for his body, and therefore it is said: "There is no ground of death for him." Moving and having no ground of death is called being good at holding life.
愛子者慈於子，重生者慈於身，貴功者慈於事。慈母之於弱子也，務致其福；務致其福，則事除其禍；事除其禍，則思慮熟；思慮熟，則得事理；得事理，則必成功；必成功，則其行之也不疑，不疑之謂勇。聖人之於萬事也，盡如慈母之爲弱子慮也，故見必行之道。見必行之道則明，其從事亦不疑，不疑之謂勇。不疑生於慈，故曰：「慈，故能勇。」
One who loves his child is tender toward the child; one who holds life weighty is tender toward his own person; one who prizes merit is tender toward his work. A tender mother with a weak child works to bring blessing to it. Working to bring blessing to it, she works to remove calamity from it; working to remove calamity from it, her thinking ripens; her thinking ripening, she grasps the principle of affairs; grasping the principle of affairs, she is sure to accomplish merit; being sure to accomplish merit, she does not doubt in carrying it out; and not doubting is called courage. The sage in all his affairs is wholly as a tender mother planning for her weak child, and so he sees the road that must be walked. Seeing the road that must be walked he is clear-sighted, and in his work too he does not doubt; and not doubting is called courage. Not doubting is born of tenderness, and therefore it is said: "Tender, and so able to be brave."
周公曰：「冬日之閉凍也不固，則春夏之長草木也不茂。」天地不能常侈常費，而況於人乎？故萬物必有盛衰，萬事必有㢮張，國家必有文武，官治必有賞罰。是以智士儉用其財則家富，聖人愛寶其神則精盛，人君重戰其卒則民衆，民衆則國廣。是以舉之曰：「儉，故能廣。」
The Duke of Zhou said, "If the freezing shut of winter days is not firm, the growth of grass and trees in spring and summer is not lush." Heaven and earth cannot always be lavish and always spend, and how much less a man. So the ten thousand things must have flourishing and decline; the ten thousand affairs must have slackening and drawing tight; a state must have the civil and the martial; the rule of office must have reward and punishment. For this reason, when a wise man uses his goods sparingly his house is rich; when the sage loves his spirit and treasures it his essence flourishes; when a ruler holds the battles of his soldiers weighty his people are many; and when his people are many his state is broad. For this reason it is raised up and said: "Sparing, and so able to broaden."
凡物之有形者易裁也，易割也。何以論之？有形則有短長，有短長則有小大，有小大則有方圓，有方圓則有堅脆，有堅脆則有輕重，有輕重則有白黑。短長、大小、方圓、堅脆、輕重、白黑之謂理。理定而物易割也。故議於大庭而後言則立，權議之士知之矣。故欲成方圓而隨其規矩，則萬事之功形矣。而萬物莫不有規矩，議言之士，計會規矩也。聖人盡隨於萬物之規矩，故曰：「不敢爲天下先。」不敢爲天下先，則事無不事，功無不功，而議必蓋世，欲無處大官，其可得乎？處大官之謂爲成事長。是以故曰：「不敢爲天下先，故能爲成事長。」
Whatever thing has shape is easy to cut and easy to divide. How is this argued? Having shape, it has short and long; having short and long, it has small and great; having small and great, it has square and round; having square and round, it has hard and brittle; having hard and brittle, it has light and heavy; having light and heavy, it has white and black. Short and long, great and small, square and round, hard and brittle, light and heavy, white and black are called principle. When principle is fixed a thing is easy to divide. So if a man debates in the great court and speaks afterward, his words stand, and the gentlemen who weigh and debate know this. So if you would make a thing square or round and follow its compass and square, the merit of the ten thousand affairs takes shape. And there is nothing among the ten thousand things that has no compass and square, so the gentlemen who debate their words are reckoning with compass and square. The sage follows the compass and square of the ten thousand things entirely, and therefore it is said: "He does not dare be first in all under heaven." Not daring to be first in all under heaven, there is no affair he does not carry through and no merit he does not achieve, and his reasoning surely covers the age; and then, though he wished not to hold high office, could it be? Holding high office is called being chief of accomplished affairs. For this reason it is said: "He does not dare be first in all under heaven, and so he can be chief of accomplished affairs."
慈於子者不敢絶衣食，慈於身者不敢離法度，慈於方圓者不敢舍規矩。故臨兵而慈於士吏則戰勝敵，慈於器械則城堅固。故曰：「慈，於戰則勝，以守則固。」夫能自全也而盡隨於萬物之理者，必且有天生。天生也者，生心也，故天下之道盡之生也。若以慈衛之也，事必萬全，而舉無不當，則謂之寶矣。故曰：「吾有三寶，持而寶之。」
One tender toward his child does not dare cut off its clothing and food; one tender toward his own person does not dare depart from law and measure; one tender toward square and round does not dare put down compass and square. So, facing battle, if he is tender toward his officers and men he fights and overcomes the enemy; if he is tender toward his implements his walls are firm. Therefore it is said: "Tender: in battle he wins, in defense he holds firm." One who can keep himself whole and follow the principles of the ten thousand things entirely surely has something heaven has given him. What heaven gives is the heart that is born, and so the way of all under heaven lies wholly in this birth. If he guards it with tenderness, his affairs are surely safe in every one of ten thousand and there is nothing he undertakes that is unfitting; and this is called a treasure. Therefore it is said: "I have three treasures; I hold them and treasure them."
書之所謂「大道」也者，端道也。所謂貌「施」也者，邪道也。所謂「徑」大也者，佳麗也。佳麗也者，邪道之分也。「朝甚除」也者，獄訟繁也。獄訟繁則田荒，田荒則府倉虚，府倉虚則國貧，國貧而民俗淫侈，民俗淫侈則衣食之業絶，衣食之業絶則民不得無飾巧詐，飾巧詐則知采文，知采文之謂「服文采」。獄訟繁，倉廩虚，而有以淫侈爲俗，則國之傷也若以利劒刺之。故曰：「帶利劒。」諸夫飾智故以至於傷國者，其私家必富；私家必富，故曰：「資貨有餘。」國有若是者，則愚民不得無術而效之，效之則小盜生。由是觀之，大姦作則小盜隨，大姦唱則小盜和。竽也者，五聲之長者也，故竽先則鍾瑟皆隨，竽唱則諸樂皆和。今大姦作則俗之民唱，俗之民唱則小盜必和。故「服文采，帶利劒，厭飲食，而貨資有餘者，是之謂盜竽矣」。
What the book calls the great road is the upright road. What it calls the look of spreading out is the crooked road. What it calls the greatness of byways is the fine and splendid. The fine and splendid is a branch of the crooked road. "The court is very well swept" means that trials and lawsuits are many. When trials and lawsuits are many the fields go to waste; when the fields go to waste the storehouses are empty; when the storehouses are empty the state is poor; and when the state is poor and the ways of the people are excessive and extravagant, the livelihood of clothing and food is cut off. When the livelihood of clothing and food is cut off the people cannot but dress up cunning deceits; when they dress up cunning deceits they come to know colored patterns; and knowing colored patterns is called wearing patterned silks. When trials and lawsuits are many and the granaries are empty, and excess and extravagance are made the custom, the state is wounded as if stabbed with a sharp sword. Therefore it is said: "He girds a sharp sword." Those who dress up their wits and use artifice until they wound the state are sure to have rich private houses; and because their private houses are sure to be rich it is said: "Goods and wealth to spare." When a state has such men, the foolish people cannot but use tricks and copy them, and when they copy them small thieves are born. Seen in this way, when great wickedness arises small thieves follow, and when great wickedness leads the tune small thieves join in. The yu (竽) is the chief of the five tones, so when the yu goes first the bells and the zithers all follow, and when the yu leads the tune all the instruments join in. Now when great wickedness arises the common people lead the tune, and when the common people lead the tune small thieves are sure to join in. Therefore: "One who wears patterned silks, girds a sharp sword, is sated with food and drink, and has goods and wealth to spare — he is what is called the chief yu among thieves."
人無愚智，莫不有趨舍。恬淡平安，莫不知禍福之所由來。得於好惡，怵於淫物，而後變亂。所以然者，引於外物，亂於玩好也。恬淡有趨舍之義，平安知禍福之計。而今也玩好變之，外物引之；引之而往，故曰「拔」。至聖人不然：一建其趨舍，雖見所好之物不能引，不能引之謂「不拔」；一於其情，雖有可欲之類神不爲動，神不爲動之謂「不脫」。爲人子孫者，體此道以守宗廟，宗廟不滅之謂「祭祀不絶」。身以積精爲德，家以資財爲德，鄉國天下皆以民爲德。今治身而外物不能亂其精神，故曰：「脩之身，其德乃真。」真者，慎之固也。治家，無用之物不能動其計，則資有餘，故曰：「脩之家，其德有餘。」治鄉者行此節，則家之有餘者益衆，故曰：「脩之鄉，其德乃長。」治邦者行此節，則鄉之有德者益衆，故曰：「脩之邦，其德乃豐。」蒞天下者行此節，則民之生莫不受其澤，故曰：「脩之天下，其德乃普。」脩身者以此別君子小人，治鄉治邦蒞天下者各以此科適觀息耗，則萬不失一。故曰：「以身觀身，以家觀家，以鄉觀鄉，以邦觀邦，以天下觀天下。吾奚以知天下之然也？以此。」
Whether men are foolish or wise, there is none without things he seeks and things he puts aside. Calm and at peace, there is none who does not know whence calamity and blessing come. Drawn by liking and hating, stirred by things of excess, they afterward turn and fall into disorder. This is so because they are drawn by outer things and disordered by playthings. Being calm, a man has the rightness of seeking and putting aside; being at peace, he knows the reckoning of calamity and blessing. But now playthings change this and outer things draw it; and being drawn, he goes, and so it is called being pulled up. With the utmost sage it is not so. Once he has set up what he seeks and puts aside, he cannot be drawn though he sees the thing he likes; and not being drawn is called not being pulled up. Being one in his feelings, his spirit is not moved though there are things that can be desired; and his spirit not being moved is called not slipping away. One who is a son or a grandson takes this way for his body and guards the ancestral temple, and the ancestral temple not perishing is called the sacrifices not being cut off. A person takes the piling up of essence for virtue; a household takes goods and wealth for virtue; village and state and all under heaven all take the people for virtue. Now he governs his person so that outer things cannot disorder his mind, and therefore it is said: "Cultivate it in the person, and its virtue is true." Being true is the firmness of carefulness. He governs his household so that useless things cannot move his reckoning, and then his stock is in surplus; therefore it is said: "Cultivate it in the household, and its virtue is in surplus." One who governs a village and practices this measure makes the households with a surplus more numerous; therefore it is said: "Cultivate it in the village, and its virtue grows." One who governs a state and practices this measure makes those in the villages who have virtue more numerous; therefore it is said: "Cultivate it in the state, and its virtue is abundant." One who approaches all under heaven and practices this measure leaves no life among the people that does not receive its bounty; therefore it is said: "Cultivate it in all under heaven, and its virtue is everywhere." One who cultivates his person tells the gentleman from the small man by this, and those who govern a village, govern a state, or approach all under heaven each look by these heads at what grows and what wanes, and then they do not miss once in ten thousand. Therefore it is said: "By the person look at the person, by the household look at the household, by the village look at the village, by the state look at the state, by all under heaven look at all under heaven. How do I know that all under heaven is so? By this."