Quanyan — Sayings Explained詮言訓
洞同天地，渾沌為樸，未造而成物，謂之太一。同出於一，所為各異，有鳥、有魚、有獸，謂之分物。方以類別，物以群分，性命不同，皆形於有。隔而不通，分而為萬物，莫能及宗，故動而謂之生，死而謂之窮。皆為物矣，非不物而物物者也，物物者亡乎萬物之中。稽古太初，人生於無，形於有，有形而制於物。能反其所生，故未有形，謂之真人。真人者，未始分於太一者也。聖人不為名屍，不為謀府，不為事任，不為智主。藏無形，行無跡，遊無朕，不為福先，不為禍始，保於虛無，動於不得已。欲福者或為禍，欲利者或離害。故無為而寧者，失其所以甯則危；無事而治者，失其所以治則亂。星列於天而明，故人指之；義列於德而見，故人視之。人之所指，動則有章；人之所視，行則有跡。動有章則詞，行有跡則議。故聖人掩明于不形，藏跡于無為。王子慶忌死於劍，羿死於桃棓，子路菹于衛，蘇秦死於口。人莫不貴其所有，而賤其所短，然而皆溺其所貴，而極其所賤。所貴者有形，所賤者無朕也。故虎豹之強來射，蝯狖之捷來措。人能貴其所賤，賤其所貴，可與言至論矣。
What is wholly the same as heaven and earth, mingled together into an uncarved block, not yet made into things, is called the Great One. What comes alike out of the One but does differently, so that there are birds and there are fish and there are beasts, is called divided things. Squareness parts by kind and things divide by flock, and their nature and their destiny are not the same, yet all take form in being. Blocked off and not passing through, divided into the ten thousand things, none of them can reach the ancestor; so their moving is called life and their dying is called being at an end. All of them have become things, so they are not the no-thing that makes things be things. What makes things be things is nowhere among the ten thousand things. Look back to the Great Beginning: man is born out of nothing and takes form in being, and having form he is ruled by things. One who can turn back to what he was born from, and so has no form yet, is called a true man. A true man is one who has never been divided from the Great One. The sage does not serve as the stand-in for a name, does not become a storehouse of schemes, does not take on the charge of affairs, does not become the master of cleverness. He hides in the formless, moves without a trace, roams where there is no sign, does not go ahead of good fortune, does not begin misfortune, holds to the empty and the nothing, and moves only when he cannot help it. One who wants good fortune sometimes brings misfortune on himself; one who wants gain sometimes meets harm. So one who is at peace by doing nothing is in danger when he loses what made him at peace, and one who is in order by having no affairs falls into disorder when he loses what made him in order. The stars are ranged in heaven and are bright, so people point at them; right conduct is ranged in virtue and is seen, so people look at it. What people point at, once it moves, has a pattern; what people look at, once it acts, has a trace. Movement with a pattern brings talk; action with a trace brings argument. So the sage covers his brightness in the formless and hides his traces in doing nothing. Prince Qingji died by the sword, Yi died by a peach-wood club, Zilu was pickled in Wei, and Su Qin died by his mouth. There is no one who does not prize what he has and hold cheap what he falls short in, yet all of them drown in what they prize and are brought to the end by what they hold cheap. What they prize has form; what they hold cheap has no sign. So the strength of the tiger and the leopard brings the arrow, and the quickness of the monkey brings the trap. If a man can prize what he holds cheap and hold cheap what he prizes, one may speak with him of the highest doctrine.
自信者，不可以誹譽遷也；知足者，不可以勢利誘也。故通性情者，不務性之所無以為；通命之情者，不憂命之所無奈何；通于道者，物莫不足滑其調。詹何曰：「未嘗聞身治而國亂者也，未嘗聞身亂而國治者也。」矩不正，不可以為方；規不正，不可以為員；身者，事之規矩也。未聞枉己而能正人者也。原天命，治心術，理好憎，適情性，則治道通矣。原天命，則不惑禍福；治心術，則不妄喜怒；理好憎，則不貪無用；適情性，則欲不過節。不惑禍福，則動靜循理；不妄喜怒，則賞罰不阿；不貪無用，則不以欲用害性；欲不過節，則養性知足。凡此四者，弗求於外，弗假於人，反己而得矣。
One who trusts himself cannot be moved by blame or praise; one who knows he has enough cannot be lured by power or gain. So one who understands nature and feeling does not toil at what his nature has no way to do; one who understands the truth of destiny does not grieve over what destiny leaves no help for; and for one who understands the Way, no thing is enough to disturb his balance. Zhan He said, "I have never heard of a man whose own person was in order and whose state was in disorder, and I have never heard of a man whose own person was in disorder and whose state was in order." If the square is not true, you cannot make a square; if the compass is not true, you cannot make a circle. The person is the compass and square of affairs. I have never heard of one who bent himself and could still straighten other men. Trace back the mandate of heaven, order the workings of the mind, put likes and dislikes in order, fit feeling to nature, and the way of governing runs clear. Trace back the mandate of heaven and you are not confused by misfortune and good fortune. Order the workings of the mind and you are not rashly glad or angry. Put likes and dislikes in order and you do not covet what is of no use. Fit feeling to nature and desire does not pass its measure. Not confused by misfortune and good fortune, your moving and your stillness follow the pattern. Not rashly glad or angry, your rewards and punishments do not flatter. Not coveting what is of no use, you do not harm your nature by serving desire. With desire not passing its measure, you nourish your nature and know you have enough. These four are not sought outside and not borrowed from other men; turn back to yourself and you have them.
天下不可以智為也，不可以慧識也，不可以事治也，不可以仁附也，不可以強勝也。五者皆人才也，德不盛，不能成一焉。德立則五無殆，五見則德無位矣。故得道則愚者有餘，失道則智者不足。渡水而無遊數，雖強必沉；有遊數，雖羸必遂。又況托於舟航之上乎！為政之本，務在於安民；安民之本，在於足用；足用之本，在於勿奪時；勿奪時之本，在於省事；省事之本，在於節欲；節欲之本，在於反性；反性之本，在於去載。去載則虛，虛則平。平者，道之素也；虛者，道之舍也。能有天下者，必不失其國；能有其國者，必不喪其家；能治其家者，必不遺其身；能修其身者，必不忘其心；能原其心者，必不虧其性；能全其性者，必不惑於道。故廣成子曰：「慎守而內，周閉而外，多知為敗。毋視毋聽，抱神以靜，形將自正。不得之己而能知彼者，未之有也。」故《易》曰：「括囊，無咎無譽。」能成霸王者，必得勝者也；能勝敵者，必強者也；能強者，必用人力者也；能用人力者，必得人心也；能得人心者，必自得者也；能自得者，必柔弱也。強勝不若己者，至於與同則格，柔勝出於己者，其力不可度。故能以眾不勝成大勝者，唯聖人能之。
The world cannot be handled by cleverness, cannot be known by wit, cannot be governed by busy affairs, cannot be drawn close by benevolence, cannot be won by force. These five are all the talents of men, but if virtue is not full, not one of them can be brought off. When virtue stands, the five are in no danger; when the five show themselves, virtue has no place. So with the Way a fool has more than enough, and without the Way a clever man falls short. Crossing water without the art of swimming, a strong man is sure to sink; with the art of swimming, even a weak man gets across. How much more when he trusts himself to a boat! The root of governing lies in making the people secure. The root of making the people secure lies in giving them enough to use. The root of enough to use lies in not stealing their seasons. The root of not stealing their seasons lies in cutting down affairs. The root of cutting down affairs lies in curbing desire. The root of curbing desire lies in turning back to nature. The root of turning back to nature lies in putting down the load. Put down the load and you are empty; empty, you are level. The level is the plain stuff of the Way, and the empty is the house of the Way. One who can hold the world never loses his state; one who can hold his state never loses his house; one who can order his house never throws away his own person; one who can cultivate his person never forgets his mind; one who can trace back his mind never mars his nature; one who can keep his nature whole is never confused about the Way. So Guangchengzi said, "Guard with care what is within you, close off all around what is without. Much knowing is ruin. Do not look and do not listen. Hold the spirit in stillness and your form will right itself. There has never been one who failed to get it in himself and could still know what is out there." So the Book of Changes says, "Tie up the sack: no blame and no praise." One who can become a hegemon or a king must be one who has won; one who can beat an enemy must be strong; one who can be strong must use the strength of other men; one who can use the strength of other men must have won their hearts; one who can win their hearts must have got hold of himself; one who can get hold of himself must be soft and weak. The strong beat those weaker than themselves, but come to a standstill when matched with an equal; the soft beat those stronger than themselves, and their power cannot be measured. So only the sage can make a great victory out of many refusals to win.
善遊者，不學刺舟而便用之，勁者，不學騎馬而便居之。輕天下者，身不累於物，故能處之。泰王亶父之居邠，狄人攻之，事之以皮幣珠玉而不聽，乃謝耆老而徙岐周。百姓攜幼扶老而從之，遂成國焉。推此意，四世而有天下，不亦宜乎！無以天下為者，必能活天下者。霜雪雨露，生殺萬物，天無為焉，猶之貴天也。厭文搔法，治官理民者，有司也，君無事焉，猶尊君也。辟地墾草者，后稷也；決河濬江者，禹也；聽獄制中者，皋陶也；有聖名者，堯也。故得道以禦者，身雖無能，必使能者為己用。不得其道，伎藝雖多，未有益也。方船濟乎江，有虛船從一方來，觸而覆之，雖有忮心，必無怨色。有一人在其中，一謂張之，一謂歙之，再三呼而不應，必以醜聲隨其後。向不怒而今怒，向虛而今實也。人能虛己以游於世，孰能訾之！
A good swimmer handles a boat easily without learning to pole it, and a strong man sits a horse easily without learning to ride. One who holds the world light is not tied down by things, and so he can dwell in it. When Great King Danfu was living in Bin, the Di attacked him. He served them with hides and silks and pearls and jade, and they would not listen, so he took his leave of the elders and moved to Qizhou. The people led their children and supported their old and followed him, and in the end a state was made. Follow out this intent, and was it not fitting that in the fourth generation they held the world! One who has no use for the world is the very one who can keep the world alive. Frost and snow and rain and dew give life to the ten thousand things and kill them, yet heaven does nothing in it, and still heaven is prized. To weary of documents and scratch at the law, to manage the offices and govern the people, is the work of the officers in charge, and the ruler has no affairs in it, yet still the ruler is honored. It was Houji who opened the ground and broke the sod; it was Yu who cut a way for the He and deepened the Jiang; it was Gao Yao who heard the cases and cut them to the mean; but the one with the name of a sage was Yao. So one who has got the Way and drives with it, though he himself has no ability, is sure to make able men work for him. Without that Way, however many skills and crafts he has, they do him no good. You are crossing the Jiang with your boats lashed side by side, and an empty boat comes from one side and strikes you and turns you over: even with a spiteful heart, your face is sure to show no resentment. But let one man be in that boat, and one calls to him to spread out and another calls to him to draw in, and he does not answer after two or three shouts: then ugly words are sure to follow him. There was no anger before and there is anger now, because before it was empty and now it is full. If a man can empty himself and roam through the world, who can find fault with him!
釋道而任智者必危，棄數而用才者必困。有以欲多而亡者，未有以無欲而危者也；有以欲治而亂者，未有以守常而失者也。故智不足免患，愚不足以至於失寧。守其分，循其理，失之不憂，得之不喜，故成者非所為也，得者非所求也。入者有受而無取，出者有授而無予，因春而生，因秋而殺，所生者弗德，所殺者非怨，則幾於道也。聖人不為可非之行，不憎人之非己也；修足譽之德，不求人之譽己也；不能使禍不至，信己之不迎也；不能使福必來，信己之不攘也。禍之至也，非其求所生，故窮而不憂；福之至也，非其求所成，故通而弗矜。知禍福之制不在於己也，故閒居而樂，無為而治。聖人守其所以有，不求其所未得。求其所無，則所有者亡矣；修其所有，則所欲者至。故用兵者，先為不可勝，以待敵之可勝也；治國者，先為不可奪，待敵之可奪也。舜修之曆山，而海內從化；文王修之岐周，而天下移風。使舜趨天下之利，而忘修己之道，身猶弗能保，何尺地之有！
One who lets go the Way and trusts to cleverness is sure to be in danger; one who throws away method and uses talent is sure to be hard pressed. There have been men ruined by wanting much, but never a man endangered by wanting nothing; there have been men thrown into disorder by trying to govern, but never a man who lost by keeping to the constant. So cleverness is not enough to escape trouble, and folly is not enough to bring the loss of peace. Keep your portion, follow your pattern, do not grieve at losing and do not rejoice at getting, and then what is achieved is not something you did and what is got is not something you sought. In what comes in there is receiving but no taking; in what goes out there is handing over but no giving. Give life with the spring and take life with the autumn, count no merit in what you gave life to and bear no grudge in what you killed, and you are close to the Way. The sage does not do what may be called wrong, but he does not hate other men for calling him wrong; he cultivates virtue enough to be praised, but he does not ask other men to praise him. He cannot keep misfortune from coming, but he trusts that he does not welcome it in; he cannot make good fortune surely come, but he trusts that he does not push it away. When misfortune comes, it did not arise from his seeking, so in hardship he does not grieve; when good fortune comes, it was not brought about by his seeking, so when all goes well he does not boast. He knows that the cutting of misfortune and good fortune does not rest with him, and so he lives at leisure and is glad, does nothing and is in order. The sage keeps what he has and does not seek what he has not yet got. Seek what you do not have and what you have is lost; cultivate what you have and what you want arrives. So one who uses troops first makes himself impossible to beat and waits for the enemy to become beatable, and one who governs a state first makes himself impossible to rob and waits for the enemy to become robbable. Shun cultivated it at Mount Li, and all within the seas followed his teaching; King Wen cultivated it at Qizhou, and the world changed its ways. Had Shun run after the world's gain and forgotten the way of cultivating himself, he could not have kept even his own person, so what foot of ground would he have had!
故治未固於不亂，而事為治者，必危；行未固於無非，而急求名者，必挫也。福莫大無禍，利莫美不喪。動之為物，不損則益，不成則毀，不利則病，皆險，道之者危。故秦勝乎戎，而敗乎殽；楚勝乎諸夏，而敗乎栢莒。故道不可以勸而就利者，而可以寧避害者。故常無禍，不常有福；常無罪，不常有功。聖人無思慮，無設儲，來者弗迎，去者弗將。人雖東西南北，獨立中央，故處眾枉之中，不失其直，天下皆流，獨不離其壇域。故不為善，不避醜，遵天之道；不為始，不專己，循天之理；不豫謀，不棄時，與天為期；不求得，不辭福，從天之則。不求所無，不失所得，內無旁禍，外無旁福。禍福不生，安有人賊！
So one whose governing is not yet firm in being free of disorder, and who governs by busy affairs, is sure to be in danger; and one whose conduct is not yet firm in being free of wrong, and who hurries after a name, is sure to be broken. No good fortune is greater than having no misfortune, and no gain is finer than losing nothing. Movement, once it has become a thing, either takes away or adds, either completes or wrecks, either helps or sickens, and all of these are steep places, so that one who walks them is in danger. So Qin won against the Rong and was beaten at Yao, and Chu won against the many Xia states and was beaten at Baiju. So the Way cannot urge a man on to gain, but it can quietly keep him from harm. So he is always without misfortune but not always with good fortune, always without fault but not always with merit. The sage has no plotting thought and lays up no store, does not go out to meet what comes and does not see off what goes. Though men go east and west and south and north, he stands alone in the center, so that placed in the midst of much crookedness he does not lose his straightness, and though the world all flows away he alone does not leave his altar and its bounds. So he does not do good and does not shun what is ugly, and follows the Way of heaven; he does not make a beginning and does not act out of himself alone, and follows the pattern of heaven; he does not scheme beforehand and does not throw away the season, and keeps his appointment with heaven; he does not seek to get and does not decline good fortune, and goes by the rule of heaven. He does not seek what he does not have and does not lose what he has got, so within there is no misfortune at his side and without there is no good fortune at his side. Misfortune and good fortune do not arise, so how could there be a robber among men!
為善則觀，為不善則議；觀則生貴，議則生患。故道術不可以進而求名，而可以退而修身；不可以得利，而可以離害。故聖人不以行求名，不以智見譽。法修自然，己無所與。慮不勝數，行不勝德，事不勝道。為者有不成，求者有不得。人有窮而道無不通，與道爭則凶。故《詩》曰：「弗識弗知，順帝之則。」有智而無為，與無智者同道；有能而無事，與無能者同德。其智也，告之者至，然後覺其動也；使之者至，然後覺其為也。有智若無智，有能若無能，道理為正也。故功蓋天下，不施其美；澤及後世，不有其名。道理通而人偽滅也。
Do good and you are looked at; do what is not good and you are argued over. Being looked at breeds standing, and being argued over breeds trouble. So the art of the Way cannot go forward and seek a name, but it can withdraw and cultivate the person; it cannot get gain, but it can get away from harm. So the sage does not seek a name by his conduct and does not show himself worth praise by his cleverness. His standard is cultivated out of what is so of itself, and he himself takes no part in it. Thinking does not beat method, conduct does not beat virtue, and affairs do not beat the Way. One who acts sometimes fails to bring it off, and one who seeks sometimes fails to get. A man comes to a dead end, but there is nothing the Way does not pass through, and to strive against the Way goes ill. So the Book of Songs says, "Not recognizing, not knowing, he follows the rule of the Lord on high." To have cleverness and yet do nothing is to share the Way with one who has no cleverness; to have ability and yet have no affairs is to share the virtue of one who has no ability. In his cleverness, it is only after someone has come to tell him that his moving is noticed; in his ability, it is only after someone has come to set him to work that his acting is noticed. To have cleverness as though having none and to have ability as though having none is what makes the pattern of the Way right. So his merit covers the world and he does not spread abroad its beauty; his bounty reaches later ages and he does not keep its name. The pattern of the Way runs through, and the falseness of men dies away.
名與道不兩明，人受名則道不用，道勝人則名息矣。道與人競長。章人者，息道者也；人章道息，則危不遠矣。故世有盛名，則衰之日至矣。欲屍名者必為善，欲為善者必生事，事生則釋公而就私，貨數而任己。欲見譽於為善，而立名於為質，則治不修故，而事不須時。治不修故，則多責；事不須時，則無功。責多功鮮，無以塞之，則妄發而邀當，妄為而要中。功之成也，不足以更責；事之敗也，不足以敝身。故重為善若重為非，而幾於道矣。
A name and the Way are not both bright at once: when a man takes on a name the Way is not used, and when the Way beats the man the name dies down. The Way and the man contend for length. One who makes the man shine is one who puts out the Way, and when the man shines and the Way is out, danger is not far off. So when there is a full name in the world, the day of its decline has come. One who wants to stand in for a name is sure to do good, and one who wants to do good is sure to raise up affairs, and once affairs are raised he lets go the common good and goes over to the private, trades often and trusts to himself. If he wants to be seen as praiseworthy by doing good and to set up a name by being solid, then his governing does not cultivate the old and his affairs do not wait on the season. Governing that does not cultivate the old brings much blame, and affairs that do not wait on the season bring no merit. With much blame and little merit and nothing to stop the gap, he shoots off rashly hoping to meet what is right, and acts rashly hoping to strike the mark. Even when the merit comes off, it is not enough to make good the blame; and when the affair fails, it is not enough to cover his own person. So if he takes doing good as gravely as he takes doing wrong, he is close to the Way.
天下非無信士也，臨貨分財，必控籌而定分，以為有心者之于平，不若無心者也。天下非無廉士也，然而守重寶者必關戶而全封，以為有欲者之于廉，不若無欲者也。人舉其疵則怨人，鑒見其醜則善鑒，人能接物而不與己焉，則免於累矣。公孫龍粲於辭而貿名，鄧析巧辯而亂法，蘇秦善說而亡國。由其道，則善無章；修其理，則巧無名。故以巧鬥力者，始于陽，常卒于陰；以慧治國者，始于治，常卒於亂。使水流下，孰弗能治；激而上之，非巧不能。故文勝則質掩，邪巧則正塞之也。德可以自修，而不可以使人暴；道可以自治，而不可以使人亂；雖有聖賢之寶，不遇暴亂之世，可以全身，而未可以霸王也。湯、武之王也，遇桀、紂之暴也；桀、紂非以湯、武之賢暴也，湯、武遭桀、紂之暴而王也。故雖賢王，必待遇。遇者，能遭於時而得之也，非智能所求而成也。君子修行而使善無名，佈施而使仁無章，故士行善而不知善之所由來，民澹利而不知利之所由出。故無為而自治。善有章則士爭名，利有本則民爭功，二爭者生，雖有賢者，弗能治。
It is not that the world has no trustworthy gentlemen, yet when goods are at hand and wealth is to be divided, men are sure to draw counting rods to fix the shares, because they hold that one who has a mind of his own is not the equal, in being even, of one who has no mind. It is not that the world has no honest gentlemen, yet one who guards a heavy treasure is sure to bar the door and seal it whole, because he holds that one who has desire is not the equal, in honesty, of one who has no desire. When a man points out your flaw you resent the man, but when the mirror shows your ugliness you call the mirror good. If a man can meet things without bringing himself into it, he escapes being tied down. Gongsun Long shone in words and traded on a name, Deng Xi argued cunningly and threw the law into disorder, and Su Qin persuaded well and ruined a state. Go by the Way and goodness has no pattern to show; cultivate the pattern and cunning has no name. So one who fights with cunning strength begins in yang and always ends in yin, and one who governs a state by wit begins in order and always ends in disorder. Let water run downward and who cannot manage it? Dash it upward, and without cunning it cannot be done. So when polish wins, the solid stuff is covered, and where there is crooked cunning, the straight is blocked. Virtue can cultivate oneself but cannot make other men cruel, and the Way can order oneself but cannot make other men disorderly. So though a man has the treasure of a sage and a worthy, if he does not meet a cruel and disordered age he may keep his person whole but he cannot become a hegemon or a king. Tang and Wu became kings because they met the cruelty of Jie and Zhou. Jie and Zhou were not cruel because Tang and Wu were worthy; Tang and Wu ran into the cruelty of Jie and Zhou and so became kings. So even a worthy king must wait for the meeting. A meeting is running into the time and being able to get it; it is not something that cleverness and ability seek and bring about. The gentleman cultivates his conduct and lets his goodness have no name, and gives out his bounty and lets his benevolence have no pattern to show. So gentlemen do good and do not know where the goodness came from, and the people are calm about gain and do not know where the gain came out from. So nothing is done and all is ordered of itself. If goodness has a pattern to show, gentlemen fight over the name; if gain has a visible root, the people fight over the merit. Once these two fights are born, even with a worthy man there is no governing them.
故聖人掩跡于為善，而息名於為仁也。外交而為援，事大而為安，不若內治而待時。凡事人者，非以寶幣，必以卑辭。事以玉帛，則貨殫而欲厭；卑禮婉辭，則論說而交不結；約束誓盟，則約定而反無日。雖割國之錙錘以事人，而無自恃之道，不足以為全。若誠外釋交之策，而慎修其境內之事。盡其地力，以多其積；厲其民死，以牢其城；上下一心，君臣同志；與之守社稷，斅死而民弗離，則為名者不伐無罪，而為利者不攻難勝，此必全之道也。民有道所同道，有法所同守，為義之不能相固，威之不能相必也，故立君以一民。君執一則治，無常則亂。君道者，非所以為也，所以無為也。何謂無為？智者不以位為事，勇者不以位為暴，仁者不以位為患，可謂無為矣。夫無為，則得於一也。一也者，萬物之本也，無敵之道也。
So the sage covers his traces in doing good and puts out his name in doing what is benevolent. To make friends abroad for support and to serve a great state for safety is not so good as ordering things within and waiting for the season. Anyone who serves another does it either with treasure and silk or with humble words. Serve them with jade and silk, and your goods are spent while their wanting is glutted. Lower your manners and soften your words, and there is discussion but no friendship is tied. Bind yourselves with oaths and covenants, and the bond is fixed but there is no day safe from its being turned over. Though you cut off a scale's mark of your state to serve another, if you have no way of relying on yourself it is not enough to make you whole. But if you truly let go the plan of friendships abroad and carefully cultivate the affairs inside your borders, spending the full strength of your land to make your stores many, whetting your people to face death to make your walls firm, high and low of one heart and ruler and minister of one will, holding the altars of soil and grain together with them, and drilling them in death so that the people do not leave you, then one who acts for a name will not strike the guiltless, and one who acts for gain will not attack the hard to beat. This is the way that is surely whole. When the people have a Way, they have something they all go by; when they have a law, they have something they all keep. But doing what is right cannot make them firm with one another, and awe cannot make them sure with one another, and so a ruler is set up to make the people one. When the ruler holds to the One there is order; when there is nothing constant there is disorder. The Way of a ruler is not the reason for doing; it is the reason for doing nothing. What is called doing nothing? When the clever man does not make his place into affairs, the brave man does not make his place into violence, and the benevolent man does not make his place into a worry, that may be called doing nothing. Do nothing, and you get it from the One. The One is the root of the ten thousand things and the Way that has nothing to match it.
凡人之性，少則倡狂，壯則暴強，老則好利，一人之身，既數變矣，又況君數易法，國數易君！人以其位通其好憎，下之徑衢，不可勝理，故君失一則亂，甚於無君之時。故《詩》曰：「不愆不忘，率由舊章。」此之謂也。君好智則倍時而任己，棄數而用慮，天下之物博而智淺，以淺澹博，未有能者也。獨任其智，失必多矣。故好智，窮術也；好勇，則輕敵而簡備，自負而辭助。一人之力以禦強敵，不杖眾多而專用身才，必不堪也。故好勇，危術也。好與，則無定分。上之分不定，則下之望無止。若多賦斂，實府庫，則與民為仇。少取多與，數未之有也。故好與，來怨之道也。仁智勇力，人之美才也，而莫足以治天下。由此觀之，賢能之不足任也，而道術之可修明矣。
In the nature of men, the young run wild, the grown are violent and hard, and the old are fond of gain. The person of one man already changes often, and how much more when a ruler changes the laws often and a state changes its ruler often! Each man puts through his likes and dislikes by the place he holds, and the short cuts below are more than can be put in order. So when a ruler loses the One, the disorder is worse than in a time with no ruler. So the Book of Songs says, "Not going astray, not forgetting, following the old rules." This is what it means. When a ruler is fond of cleverness he turns his back on the season and trusts to himself, throws away method and uses his own thinking; but the things of the world are broad and cleverness is shallow, and there has never been one able to fill the broad with the shallow. Trust his cleverness alone, and his losses are sure to be many. So being fond of cleverness is an art that runs out. Be fond of bravery, and he makes light of the enemy and skimps his preparations, relies on himself and turns away help. To hold off a strong enemy with the strength of one man, not leaning on numbers but using only the talent of his own body, is more than he can bear. So being fond of bravery is a dangerous art. Be fond of giving, and there are no fixed shares. When the shares above are not fixed, the hopes below have no stop. And if he levies heavily to fill his storehouses, he becomes the enemy of the people. To take little and give much has never been in the reckoning. So being fond of giving is a road that brings resentment. Benevolence and cleverness and bravery and strength are fine talents in a man, but none of them is enough to govern the world. Looked at in this way, it is clear that worth and ability are not enough to be trusted to, and that the art of the Way is worth cultivating.
聖人勝心，眾人勝欲。君子行正氣，小人行邪氣。內便於性，外合於義，循理而動，不系於物者，正氣也。重于滋味，淫於聲色，發於喜怒，不顧後患者，邪氣也。邪與正相傷，欲與性相害，不可兩立。一置一廢。故聖人損欲而從事於性。目好色，耳好聲，口好味，接而說之，不知利害，嗜欲也。食之不甯於體，聽之不合於道，視之不便於性。三官交爭，以義為制者，心也。割痤疽，非不痛也；飲毒藥，非不苦也；然而為之者，便於身也。渴而飲水，非不快也；饑而大飧，非不澹也；然而弗為者，害於性也。此四者，耳目鼻口不知所取去，必為之制，各得其所。由是觀之，欲之不可勝，明矣。
The sage overcomes his mind and the many overcome desire. The gentleman acts with upright qi and the small man acts with crooked qi. To be easy in your nature within, to fit what is right without, to move by following the pattern and not be bound to things, is upright qi. To make much of flavors, to run to excess in sound and color, to break out in gladness and anger, and not to look back at the trouble that follows, is crooked qi. The crooked and the upright wound each other, and desire and nature harm each other, and the two cannot stand together, so that when one is set up the other is put away. So the sage cuts down desire and works at his nature. The eye likes color, the ear likes sound, the mouth likes flavor, and to meet them and take delight in them without knowing gain from harm is relish and desire. Eat them and the body is not at peace, hear them and there is no fit with the Way, look at them and the nature is not at ease. The three offices contend with one another, and what cuts them to what is right is the mind. To lance a boil is not to feel no pain, and to drink a bitter drug is not to taste no bitterness, yet a man does it because it is good for his body. To drink water when thirsty is not to feel no relief, and to eat a great meal when starving is not to be unsettled by it, yet a man does not do it because it harms his nature. In these four, ear and eye and nose and mouth do not know what to take and what to leave, and they must be cut to measure before each gets its own place. Looked at in this way, it is clear that desire cannot be overcome.
Interlinear notes 1
眾人勝欲
眾人勝欲 — this may also be read as “the many are overcome by desire.” ― translator
凡治身養性，節寢處，適飲食，和喜怒，便動靜，使在己者得，而邪氣因而不生，豈若憂瘕疵之與痤疽之發，而豫備之哉！夫函牛之鼎沸，而蠅蚋弗敢入；昆山之玉瑱，而塵垢弗能汙也。聖人無去之心，而心無醜；無取之美，而美不失。故祭祀思親不求福，饗賓修敬不思德，唯弗求者能有之。處尊位者，以有公道而無私說，故稱尊焉，不稱賢也；有大地者，以有常術而無鈐謀，故稱平焉，不稱智也。內無暴事以離怨于百姓，外無賢行以見忌于諸侯，上下之禮，襲而不離，而為論者莫然不見所觀焉，此所謂藏無形者。非藏無形，孰能形！三代之所道者，因也。故禹決江河，因水也；后稷播種樹穀，因地也；湯、武平暴亂，因時也。故天下可得而不可取也，霸王可受而不可求也。
In all ordering of the body and nourishing of the nature, measure your sleeping and your dwelling, fit your drink and your food, bring gladness and anger into harmony, make movement and stillness easy, and let what lies in yourself be got, and crooked qi will not arise from it. How could that be like worrying over lumps and blemishes and boils breaking out and getting ready for them beforehand! When a cauldron that holds a whole ox is boiling, flies and gnats do not dare go into it; when the jade of the Kunlun mountains is set in place, dust and grime cannot dirty it. The sage has no mind that throws things away, and yet there is nothing ugly in his mind; he has no beauty that he takes, and yet he does not lose beauty. So at the sacrifice he thinks of his parents and does not ask for good fortune, and in feasting a guest he cultivates respect and does not think of a favor returned; only one who does not ask can have these. One who sits in a high place has the common Way and no private pleasure, and so he is called high and is not called worthy; one who holds a great land has a constant art and no bridling schemes, and so he is called level and is not called clever. Within, he has no violent doings to draw the resentment of the people; without, he has no worthy deeds to be eyed with suspicion by the lords; the rites of high and low run on and are not parted from; and those who would discuss him are far off and see nothing to look at. This is what is called hiding the formless. If it were not the hiding of the formless, who could give it form! What the three dynasties went by was going along with things. So Yu cut a way for the Jiang and the He by going along with water, Houji sowed the seed and planted the grain by going along with the earth, and Tang and Wu put down violence and disorder by going along with the season. So the world can be got but cannot be taken, and the place of hegemon or king can be received but cannot be sought.
在智則人與之訟，在力則人與之爭。未有使人無智者，有使人不能用其智於己者也；未有使人無力者，有使人不能施其力於己者也。此兩者，常在久見。故君賢不見，諸侯不備；不肖不見，則百姓不怨；百姓不怨，則民用可得；諸侯弗備，則天下之時可承。事所與眾同也，功所與時成也，聖人無焉。故老子曰：「虎無所措其爪，兕無所措其角。」蓋謂此也。鼓不滅於聲，故能有聲；鏡不沒於形，故能有形；金石有聲，弗叩弗鳴；管簫有音，弗吹無聲。聖人內藏，不為物先倡，事來而制，物至而應。飾其外者傷其內，扶其情者害其神，見其文者蔽其質，無須臾忘為質者，必困於性。百步之中，不忘其容者，必累其形。
Rest on cleverness and men go to law with you; rest on strength and men fight with you. No one can make men have no cleverness, but a man can make them unable to use their cleverness on him; no one can make men have no strength, but a man can make them unable to lay their strength on him. These two are always there and are long in sight. So when the ruler's worth is not seen, the lords make no preparations against him, and when his unworthiness is not seen, the people do not resent him. When the people do not resent him, the use of the people can be had; when the lords make no preparations, the season of the world can be taken up. Affairs are what he shares with the many and merit is what he brings about together with the season, and the sage is not in them. So Laozi said, "The tiger has nowhere to put its claws and the wild ox has nowhere to put its horn." This is what he meant. A drum is not lost in the sound, and so it can have sound; a mirror is not sunk in the form, and so it can have form; metal and stone have sound, but unstruck they do not ring; pipe and flute have tone, but unblown they have no sound. The sage hides within and does not call out ahead of things, but cuts an affair to measure when it comes and answers a thing when it arrives. One who adorns his outside wounds his inside, one who props up his feelings harms his spirit, and one who shows his polish covers his solid stuff; and one who never for a moment forgets to be solid is sure to be worn down in his nature. One who within a hundred paces never forgets his own look is sure to burden his body.
故羽翼美者傷骨骸，枝葉美者害根莖，能兩美者，天下無之也。天有明，不憂民之晦也，百姓穿戶鑿牖，自取照焉；地有財，不憂民之貧也，百姓伐木芟草，自取富焉。至德道者若丘山，嵬然不動，行者以為期也。直己而足物，不為人贛，用之者亦不受其德，故寧而能久。天地無予也，故無奪也；日月無德也，故無怨也。喜德者必多怨，喜予者必善奪。唯滅跡于無為，而隨天地自然者，唯能勝理，而為受名。名興則道行，道行則人無位矣。故譽生則毀隨之，善見則怨從之。利則為害始，福則為禍先。唯不求利者為無害，唯不求福者為無禍。侯而求霸者，必失其侯；霸而求王者，必喪其霸。故國以全為常，霸王其寄也；身以生為常，富貴其寄也。能不以天下傷其國，而不以國害其身者，為可以托天下也。
So what has fine feathers and wings has its bones wounded, and what has fine branches and leaves has its root and stem harmed, and there is nothing in the world that can be fine in both. Heaven has brightness but does not worry over the darkness of the people, and the people pierce a doorway and cut a window and take light for themselves; earth has wealth but does not worry over the poverty of the people, and the people fell the trees and mow the grass and take riches for themselves. One whose virtue and Way are at their height is like a hill or a mountain, towering and unmoving, and travelers take him for their mark. He makes himself straight and gives things enough, but not as a gift to others, so that those who use him do not take it as a favor either, and thus he is at peace and can last long. Heaven and earth do not give, and so they do not take away; the sun and the moon do no favors, and so they meet no resentment. One who is pleased to do favors is sure to meet much resentment, and one who is pleased to give is sure to be good at taking away. Only one who wipes out his traces in doing nothing and follows heaven and earth as they are of themselves can master the pattern and be given a name. When a name rises, the Way goes off; when the Way goes off, a man has no place. So when praise is born, slander follows it, and when goodness is seen, resentment comes after it. Gain is the beginning of harm, and good fortune goes ahead of misfortune. Only one who does not seek gain is without harm, and only one who does not seek good fortune is without misfortune. A marquis who seeks to be a hegemon is sure to lose his marquisate, and a hegemon who seeks to be a king is sure to lose his hegemony. So a state takes being whole for its constant and being hegemon or king is lodged in it, and the person takes living for its constant and riches and honor are lodged in it. One who can keep the world from wounding his state, and his state from harming his person, is one to whom the world may be entrusted.
不知道者，釋其所已有，而求其所未得也。苦心愁慮以行曲，故福至則喜，禍至則怖，神勞于謀，智遽於事，禍福萌生，終身不悔，己之所生，乃反愁人。不喜則憂，中未嘗平。持無所監，謂之狂生。人主好仁，則無功者賞，有罪者釋；好刑，則有功者廢，無罪者誅。及無好者，誅而無怨，施而不德，放准循繩，身無與事，若天若地，何不覆載！故合而舍之者，君也；制而誅之者，法也。民已受誅，怨無所滅，謂之道。道勝，則人無事矣。聖人無屈奇之服，無瑰異之行，服不視，行不觀，言不議，通而不華，窮而不懾，榮而不顯，隱而不窮，異而不見怪，容而與眾同；無以名之，此之謂大通。升降揖讓，趨翔周遊，不得已而為也，非性所有於身，情無符檢，行所不得已之事，而不解構耳，豈加故為哉！
One who does not know the Way lets go what he already has and seeks what he has not yet got. He wears out his mind and worries himself and walks crookedly, so that when good fortune comes he is glad and when misfortune comes he is afraid; his spirit toils at scheming and his cleverness is in haste over affairs; misfortune and good fortune sprout out of this and to the end of his life he does not repent, so that what he himself brought forth turns back and makes men wretched. When he is not glad he is worried, and the middle of him has never once been level. To hold on with nothing to watch by is called a mad life. When a ruler is fond of benevolence, those with no merit are rewarded and those with guilt are let go; when he is fond of punishment, those with merit are cast aside and the guiltless are cut down. But when he comes to being fond of nothing, he cuts men down and there is no resentment, he gives and it is not counted a favor, he lays down the level and follows the marking line, and his own person takes no part in affairs, and he is like heaven and like earth: what would he not cover and carry! So what gathers men and lets them be is the ruler, and what cuts to measure and cuts down is the law. When the people have already been cut down and resentment has nothing by which it can be wiped out, this is called the Way. When the Way wins, men have no affairs. The sage has no bent and strange clothing and no odd and different conduct; his clothes are not stared at, his conduct is not gaped at, his words are not argued over; he goes through and is not showy, he is hard pressed and not cowed, he is in glory and is not conspicuous, he is hidden and is not at a dead end, he is different and is not thought strange, he is taken in and is the same as the crowd; there is nothing to name him by, and this is what is called the great going through. Going up and coming down, bowing and yielding, hurrying and gliding and moving all about, are done because he cannot help it and are not what his nature holds in his body; his feeling has no tally and no check, and he does the things he cannot help doing and only does not tie them together, so how could he add anything done on purpose!
故不得已而歌者，不事為悲；不得已而舞者，不矜為麗。歌舞而不事為悲麗者，皆無有根心者。善博者不欲牟，不恐不勝，平心定意，捉得其齊，行由其理，雖不必勝，得籌必多。何則？勝在於數，不在於欲。駎者不貪最先，不恐獨後，緩急調乎手，禦心調乎馬，雖不能必先載，馬力必盡矣。何則？先在於數，而不在於欲也。是故滅欲則數勝，棄智則道立矣。賈多端則貧，工多技則窮，心不一也。故木之大者害其條，水之大者害其深。有智而無術，雖鑽之不通；有百技而無一道，雖得之弗能守。故《詩》曰：「淑人君子，其儀一也。其儀一也，心如結也。」君子其結于一乎！舜彈五弦之琴，而歌《南風》之詩，以治天下。周公殽臑不收於前，鐘鼓不解於縣，以輔成王而海內平。匹夫百畮一守，不遑啟處，無所移之也。以一人兼聽天下，日有餘而治不足，使人為之也。處尊位者如屍，守官者如祝宰。屍雖能剝狗燒彘，弗為也，弗能無虧；俎豆之列次，黍稷之先後，雖知弗教也，弗能害也。不能祝者，不可以為祝，無害於為屍；不能禦者，不可以為仆，無害於為佐。故位愈尊而身愈佚；身愈大而事愈少。譬如張琴，小弦雖急，大弦必緩。
So one who sings because he cannot help it does not make a business of being sad, and one who dances because he cannot help it does not preen at being lovely. Those who sing and dance and make no business of being sad or lovely all have no rooted mind in it. A good gambler does not want to snatch the win and does not fear failing to win; he levels his mind and settles his intent, takes hold of the even balance and moves by the pattern, and though he does not always win, the counters he takes are sure to be many. Why is that? Because winning lies in method and not in wanting. A racer does not covet being first of all and does not fear being last alone; he tunes slow and quick in his hands and tunes his driving mind to the horse, and though he cannot always be carried in first, the strength of the horse is surely spent to the full. Why is that? Because being first lies in method and not in wanting. So wipe out wanting and method wins, and throw away cleverness and the Way stands. A merchant with many lines goes poor and a craftsman with many skills is hard pressed, because the mind is not one. So a great tree harms its own branches and a great water harms its own depth. Have cleverness and no art, and though you bore at it you do not get through; have a hundred skills and not one Way, and though you get a thing you cannot keep it. So the Book of Songs says, "That pure man, the gentleman, his bearing is all of one. His bearing is all of one, and his mind is as if tied fast." Is the gentleman not tied fast to the One! Shun plucked a zither of five strings and sang the poem South Wind, and with that he governed the world. The Duke of Zhou had the boiled meats never cleared away before him and the bells and drums never loosed from their frames, and he supported King Cheng, and all within the seas was at peace. A common man keeps his hundred furrows all alike and has no leisure to sit at ease, because he has no one to shift it to. One man hears the business of the whole world together and has days to spare while his governing falls short, because he sets other men to do it. One who sits in a high place is like the stand-in for the dead, and one who holds an office is like the invoker and the steward. Though the stand-in for the dead could skin a dog and roast a pig, he does not do it, and something is bound to be left wanting. The order in which the stands and the dishes are set out, and which of the millets comes first, he knows but does not teach, and no harm can come of it. One who cannot invoke cannot be the invoker, and that is no harm to his being the stand-in for the dead; one who cannot drive cannot be the driver, and that is no harm to his being the aide. So the higher the place, the more at ease the person, and the greater the person, the fewer the affairs. It is like tuning a zither: though the small strings are taut, the great string must be slack.
無為者，道之體也；執後者，道之容也。無為制有為，術也；執後之制先，數也。放于術則強，審于數則寧。今與人卞氏之璧，未受者，先也；求而致之，雖怨不逆者，後也。三人同舍，二人相爭，爭者各自以為直，不能相聽，一人雖愚，必從旁而決之，非以智，不爭也。兩人相鬥，一羸在側，助一人則勝，救一人則免，鬥者雖強，必制一羸，非以勇也，以不鬥也。由此觀之，後之制先，靜之勝躁，數也。倍道棄數，以求苟遇，變常易故，以知要遮，過則自非，中則以為候，暗行繆改，終身不寤，此之謂狂。有禍則詘，有福則嬴，有過則悔，有功則矜，遂不知反，此謂狂人。員之中規，方之中矩，行成獸，止成文，可以將少，而不可以將眾。蓼菜成行，瓶甌有堤，量粟而舂，數米而炊，可以治家，而不可以治國。滌杯而食，洗爵而飲，浣而後饋，可以養家老，而不可以饗三軍。
Doing nothing is the body of the Way, and holding to what comes after is the face of the Way. To control what is done by doing nothing is art; to control what goes first by what comes after is method. Lean on art and you are strong; look closely into method and you are at peace. Now if the jade disc of Bian is offered to a man, the one who does not take it is going first, and the one who asks for it and has it brought, and does not go against you even while he resents you, is coming after. Three men share a lodging and two of them quarrel, and each of the quarrelers holds himself in the right and they cannot hear each other, and the one man, foolish though he be, is sure to settle it from the side, not because he is clever but because he is not quarreling. Two men fight and one weak man stands beside them, and if he helps the one, that one wins, and if he saves the other, that one gets off; strong as the fighters are, they are surely held in check by the one weak man, not because he is brave but because he is not fighting. Looked at in this way, it is method that lets what comes after control what goes first and the still beat the hasty. To turn your back on the Way and throw away method in order to seek a makeshift meeting, to change the constant and alter the old and block the road with cleverness, to call yourself wrong when you overshoot and to take it for a sign when you hit, to walk in the dark and mend things wrongly and never wake to it your whole life long, is what is called madness. To bend when misfortune comes and swell when good fortune comes, to repent when there is a fault and preen when there is merit, and in the end not know how to turn back, is what makes a madman. To have your circles fit the compass and your squares fit the square, to make the pattern of a beast when you move and a pattern when you stop, can lead a few but cannot lead many. To have the smartweed greens standing in rows, to have every jar and bowl with its rim, to measure the millet before husking it and count the grains of rice before cooking, can order a household but cannot order a state. To scour the cup before eating and wash the goblet before drinking and rinse a thing before serving it can nourish the old of a household but cannot feast three armies.
非易不可以治大，非簡不可以合眾。大樂必易，大禮必簡。易故能天，簡故能地。大樂無怨，大禮不責，四海之內，莫不系統，故能帝也。心有憂者，筐床衽席，弗能安也；菰飯犓牛，弗能甘也；琴瑟鳴竽，弗能樂也。患解憂除，然後食甘寢甯，居安遊樂。由是觀之，生有以樂也，死有以哀也。今務益性之所不能樂，而以害性之所以樂，故雖富有天下，貴為天子，而不免為哀之人。凡人之性，樂恬而憎憫，樂佚而憎勞。心常無欲，可謂恬矣；形常無事，可謂佚矣。游心於恬，舍形於佚，以俟天命。自樂於內，無急於外，雖天下之大，不足以易其一概。日月廋而無溉於志，故雖賤如貴，雖貧如富。大道無形，大仁無親，大辯無聲，大廉不嗛，大勇不矜。五者無棄，而幾向方矣。軍多令則亂，酒多約則辯；亂則降北，辯則相賊。故始于都者，常大於鄙；始于樂者，常大於悲；其作始簡者，其終本必調。今有美酒嘉肴以相饗，卑體婉辭以接之，欲以合歡；爭盈爵之間反生鬥，鬥而相傷，三族結怨，反其所憎，此酒之敗也。
Without ease you cannot govern what is great, and without plainness you cannot bring a crowd together. Great music must be easy and great ritual must be plain. Being easy, it can be heaven; being plain, it can be earth. Great music brings no resentment and great ritual lays no blame, and within the four seas there is nothing not bound into the one line, and so a man can be emperor. A man with worry in his mind cannot be at ease on couch and mat, cannot find wild rice and stall-fed beef sweet, cannot take pleasure in zither and lute and the sounding pipes. Only when the trouble is loosed and the worry taken away is his food sweet and his sleep at peace, his dwelling easy and his roaming a pleasure. Looked at in this way, there is that in life to take pleasure in and that in death to grieve for. Now men toil to add what the nature cannot take pleasure in, and by it harm what the nature does take pleasure in, so that though they are rich enough to hold the world and honored enough to be the Son of Heaven, they do not escape being men to be grieved over. In the nature of men, they take pleasure in calm and hate worry, take pleasure in ease and hate toil. A mind always without desire may be called calm, and a body always without affairs may be called at ease. Let the mind roam in calm and set the body down in ease, and so wait for the mandate of heaven. Be glad within yourself and have no urgency without, and then even the greatness of the world is not enough to change one sweep of your measure. The sun and the moon waste away and there is nothing to water his intent, and so though he is lowly he is as one honored and though he is poor he is as one rich. The great Way has no form, great benevolence has no kin, great argument has no sound, great honesty is not modest, and great bravery does not preen. Throw none of these five away and you come near to the right quarter. An army with many orders falls into disorder, and drinking with many rules falls into argument; in disorder they surrender and run, and in argument they wound one another. So what begins in the capital is always greater than the countryside, and what begins in pleasure always has the greater sorrow, and where the making is plain at the start, the root of its end is sure to be in tune. Now men have fine wine and good dishes to feast one another, and lower their bodies and soften their words in meeting, wanting to join in gladness; but between one brimming goblet and the next they fall to quarreling and a fight is born instead, and in fighting they wound one another, and three clans tie up a grudge and come round to the very thing they hate. This is the ruin that wine brings.
《詩》之失僻，樂之失刺，禮之失責。徵音非無羽聲也，羽音非無徵聲也，五音莫不有聲，而以徵羽定名者，以勝者也。故仁義智勇，聖人之所備有也，然而皆立一名者，言其大者也。陽氣起于東北，盡於西南，；陰氣起於西南，盡于東北。陰陽之始，皆調適相似，日長其類，以侵相遠，或熱焦沙，或寒凝水，故聖人謹慎其所積。水出於山，而入於海；稼生於野，而藏於廩。見所始則知終矣。席之先雚蕈，樽之上玄酒，俎之先生魚，豆之先泰羹，此皆不快於耳目，不適於口腹，而先王貴之，先本而後末。聖人之接物，千變萬軫，必有不化而應化者。夫寒之與暖相反，大寒地坼水凝，火弗為衰其暑；大熱爍石流金，火弗為益其烈。寒暑之變，無損益於己，質有之也。聖人常後而不先，常應而不唱；不進而求，不退而讓；隨時三年，時去我先；去時三年，時在我後；無去無就，中立其所。
The failing of the Book of Songs is leaning to one side, the failing of music is the barb, and the failing of ritual is blame. The zhi tone is not without the sound of yu in it, and the yu tone is not without the sound of zhi in it, and there is not one of the five tones that has no sound; if the names are fixed by zhi and yu, it is by whichever wins. So benevolence and rightness and cleverness and bravery are all kept ready in the sage, and yet one name is set up for each, which is to speak of the greater part in it. The yang qi rises in the northeast and runs out in the southwest, and the yin qi rises in the southwest and runs out in the northeast. At their start yin and yang are both well tuned and like each other, but day by day each grows its own kind and encroaches until they are far apart, so that one is hot enough to scorch the sand and one cold enough to freeze the water. So the sage is careful and careful again about what he heaps up. Water comes out of the mountain and goes into the sea; the crop grows in the field and is stored in the granary. See where a thing starts and you know its end. The rush mat put first among the mats, the dark water set highest in the wine jar, the raw fish put first on the stand, the great broth put first among the dishes, are none of them pleasant to ear and eye or fitting to mouth and belly, yet the former kings prized them, putting the root first and the branch after. When the sage meets things, through a thousand changes and ten thousand turns there is surely something in him that does not change and yet answers change. Cold and warm are opposite to each other: in the great cold the ground cracks and the water freezes, yet fire does not slacken its heat for that; in the great heat the stone melts and the metal runs, yet fire does not add to its fierceness for that. The change of cold and heat takes nothing from it and adds nothing to it, because its own stuff holds it. The sage always comes after and does not go first, always answers and does not call out; he does not go forward and seek, and he does not draw back and yield. Follow the season three years and the season goes on while I am ahead of it; leave the season three years and the season is behind me. With no leaving and no going toward, he stands in the middle of his own place.
天道無親，唯德是與。有道者，不失時與人；無道者，失於時而取人。直己而待命，時之至不可迎而反也；要遮而求合，時之去不可追而援也。故不曰我無以為而天下遠，不曰我不欲而天下不至。古之存己者，樂德而忘賤，故名不動志；樂道而忘貧。故利不動心。名利充天下，不足以概志，故廉而能樂，靜而能澹。故其身治者，可與言道矣。自身以上，至於荒芒爾遠矣，自死而天下無窮爾滔矣，以數雜之壽，憂天下之亂，猶憂河水之少，泣而益之也。龜三千歲，浮游不過三日，以浮游而為龜憂養生之具，人必笑之矣。故不憂天下之亂，而樂其身之治者，可與言道矣。君子為善，不能使福必來；不為非，而不能使禍無至。福之至也，非其所求，故不伐其功；禍之來也，非其所生，故不悔其行。內修極而橫禍至者，皆天也，非人也。故中心常恬漠，累積其德，狗吠而不驚，自信其情。故知道者不惑，知命者不憂。萬乘之主卒，葬其骸於廣野之中，祀其鬼神於明堂之上，神貴於形也。故神制則形從，形勝則神窮。聰明雖用，必反諸神，謂之太沖。
The Way of heaven has no kin; it gives to virtue alone. One who has the Way does not lose the season and gives to men; one who has no Way loses the season and takes from men. Straighten yourself and wait for the mandate, and when the season comes you cannot go out to meet it and turn it back; block the road and seek to fit in, and when the season goes you cannot chase it and pull it back. So it is not that the world goes far off because I say I have nothing to do, nor that the world fails to come because I say I do not want it. Those of old who kept themselves whole took pleasure in virtue and forgot their low place, so a name could not move their intent, and took pleasure in the Way and forgot their poverty, so gain could not move their mind. Though name and gain filled the world, they were not enough to scrape their intent level, and so such men could be honest and still be glad, be still and yet be calm. So one whose own person is in order is one with whom you may speak of the Way. From your own person upward to the wild and the far it is a long way, and from your death onward the world runs without end, a great flood; and to worry with a handful of mixed years over the disorder of the world is like worrying that the water of the He is too little and weeping to add to it. A tortoise lives three thousand years and a mayfly no more than three days, and if a mayfly were to worry for the tortoise over the means of keeping it alive, men would be sure to laugh at it. So one who does not worry over the disorder of the world but takes pleasure in the order of his own person is one with whom you may speak of the Way. The gentleman does good but cannot make good fortune surely come, and does no wrong but cannot keep misfortune from coming. When good fortune comes, it is not what he sought, so he does not boast of the merit; when misfortune comes, it is not what he brought forth, so he does not repent of his conduct. When a man's cultivation within is at its height and a misfortune comes at him from the side, it is all heaven and not man. So his inmost mind is always calm and quiet and he heaps up his virtue, and when a dog barks he is not startled, for he trusts his own feeling. So one who knows the Way is not confused, and one who knows the mandate does not worry. When the lord of ten thousand chariots dies, his bones are buried in the middle of a wide field and his ghost and spirit are sacrificed to in the Hall of Light, because the spirit is more honored than the form. So when the spirit cuts to measure, the form follows; when the form wins, the spirit comes to a dead end. Though a man uses his hearing and his sight, he must turn them back to the spirit, and this is called the Great Emptiness.