Dao De Jing: A Minimalist Translation - Laozi

道生一一生二二生三三生萬物萬物負陰而抱陽沖氣以為和人之所惡唯孤寡不穀而王公以 (自) 稱 • (•)故物或損之而益或益之而損人之所教我亦教之強梁者不得其死吾將以為教父

Dao creates one. One creates two. Two creates three. Three creates the ten thousand creatures. The ten thousand creatures carry Yin and embrace Yang, Pouring their Qi together, thus becoming harmonious. That which people detest : Being alone, orphaned, lonely, and unlucky – Yet kings and nobles thus name themselves. Therefore : creatures Sometimes lose, yet they gain; Sometimes gain, yet they lose. That which people teach, I also teach : Those who are bullies and hoodlums do not meet their natural death. I will thus become their elder teacher.

♦Dao creates one. ♦One creates two. ♦Two creates three. ♦Three creates the ten thousand creatures.^A ♦The ten thousand creatures carry Yin and embrace Yang, ♦Pouring their Qi together, thus becoming harmonious. ♦That which people [they] detest : ♦Being alone, orphaned{lonely}, lonely{widowed}, and unlucky^2B – [not lucky] Yet kings and nobles^C thus name themselves. [dukes] Therefore : creatures Sometimes lose, yet they gain; [maybe,perhaps] [benefit,increase] Sometimes gain, yet they lose. [maybe,perhaps] [benefit,increase] That which people [they] teach, I also teach [it] : Those who are bullies and hoodlums do not meet their [natural] death. [bully,ruffian²] [obtain,get] I will thus become their elder teacher.^D

Notes A : compare to #40, where creatures are created from being B : these two symbols together can also be translated as “worthless” or “unhappy” C : specifically Dukes (see #32), but in keeping with other chapters, this is interpreted more generally as “nobles” D : 教父 is often translated as some variant of “senior teaching” (primary teaching, essence of teaching, principal teaching, etc.), but it also means “godfather” in the best sense of the term (friend and teacher), and this translation is consistent with #27, where a virtuous person is the teacher of a non-virtuous person Cross-references Qi : #10, #55 orphaned, lonely, and unlucky : #39 nobles (in general) : #32, #37, #39, #62, #80 creatures sometimes X…Y : #29 teaching : #2, #27, #43 die/death : #6, #33, #50, #67, #74, #75, #76, #80

Chapter Forty Three

天下之至柔馳騁天下之至堅無有入無間吾是以知無為之有益 • 不言之教無為之益天下希及之 •	The softest things of the world Overrun the hardest things of the world. Non-being can enter where there is no space in between. Thus I know that non-action has benefits. The teaching of no-talking, The benefit of non-action – Few in the world attain these.
♦The softest² things of the world² [most soft] Overrun the hardest² things of the world². [gallop²] [most hard] Non-being can enter where there is no space in between. ♦Thus² I know that non-action [it] has benefits. ♦The teaching of no-talking, ♦The benefit of non-action – Few in the world² attain these. [rare,infrequent] [them]	Notes Cross-references soft : #10, #36, #52, #55, #76, #78 hard : #36, #76, #78 soft conquers hard : #36, #78 non-being : #2, #40 non-action : #2, #3, #37, #38, #48, #57, #63, #64 teaching : #2, #27, #42 teaching of no-talking : #2

Chapter Forty Four

名與身孰親身與貨孰多得與亡孰病甚愛必大費多藏必厚亡知足不辱知止不殆可以長久

Fame and self : which do you love? Self and property : which is greater? Gain and loss : which is the affliction? Extreme desire must lead to great expense. Collecting too much must lead to substantial loss. Knowing when you have enough, there can be no disgrace. Knowing when to stop, there can be no danger. Then you can forever endure.

♦Fame and self : which do you love? ♦Self and property : which is greater? [many,much,more] ♦Gain and loss : which is the affliction? [sickness,illness] ♦Extreme desire must lead to great expense. [like,affection] ♦Collecting too much must lead to substantial loss. ♦Knowing when you have enough, there can be no disgrace. ♦Knowing when to stop, there can be no danger. ♦Then you can² forever endure. [for a long time]

Notes With the exception of a couple of “therefore”’s in some sources but not others, this is the only chapter for which virtually every symbol is identical across all sources! Cross-references self : #7, #9, #13, #16, #26, #52, #54, #66 knowing you have enough : #33, #46 knowing when to stop : #32 no danger : #16, #25, #32, #52 can forever endure : #59

Chapter Forty Five

大成若缺其用不弊 • 大盈若 (盅) 其用不窮 • 大直若屈 • 大巧若拙 • 大辯若訥 • 躁勝寒 • 靜勝熱清靜為天下正 •

Great achievement seems incomplete, But its usefulness is not impaired. Great fullness is like a cup or bowl, Its usefulness is not exhausted. Great straightness seems bent. Great skillfulness seems clumsy. Great debaters seem slow of speech. Restlessness conquers cold. Stillness conquers heat. Purity and clarity along with stillness makes the world proper and correct.

Great achievement seems incomplete, [lacking] But its usefulness is not impaired. [harmed] Great fullness is like a cup or bowl^A, Its usefulness is not exhausted. Great straightness seems bent. Great skillfulness seems clumsy.^B Great debaters seem slow of speech^C. ♦Restlessness conquers cold. [victorious,beats] ♦Stillness conquers heat. [victorious,beats] Purity and clarity^D along with stillness^D makes the world² proper and correct{honest and just}.

Notes A : the symbol used here only appears in 1/5 sources, but gives the most understandable translation (and matches the first line in #4) B : this line could just as likely be translated as Great cleverness seems stupid. C : this is a euphemism for stammering, but also represents a personal quality that Confucius recommended people cultivate D : presumably referring to inner, mental/emotional qualities Cross-references stillness : #15, #16, #26, #37, #57, #61 stillness and restlessness : #26

Chapter Forty Six

天下有道卻走馬以糞天下無道戎馬生於郊 • (罪莫大於可欲) 禍莫大於不知足咎莫大於欲得 (•)故知足之足常足矣(•) •

When the world possesses Dao, Riding horses are nonetheless used for manure. When the world is without Dao, War-horses are bred in the countryside. There is no fault greater than the capacity for desire. There is no misfortune greater than not knowing when you have enough. There is no error greater than desire for gain. Therefore : knowing the sufficiency of having enough, there is always enough!

♦When the world² possesses Dao, ♦Riding horses are nonetheless used for manure. [still,yet,however] ♦When the world² is without Dao, ♦War-horses are bred in the countryside. [military] [produced] [open spaces/outskirts] ♦There is no fault greater than the capacity for desire.^A [ability] ♦There is no misfortune greater than not knowing when you have enough. ♦There is no error greater than desire for gain. Therefore : knowing the sufficiency of having enough, there is always enough !^B

Notes A : this line is in every source except WB B : The core of this sentence is “足 of 足 always 足”, where 足 can mean “enough”, “sufficient”, or possibly “satisfaction” (and by interpretation, “contentment”), so it can be translated in many ways; while I usually use the same English word for each symbol (when appropriate), in this case it seems clearer to use different words with equivalent meanings within the same sentence; this would be similar to changing the phrase “appears to have appeared” to “seems to have appeared” Cross-references knowing you have enough : #33, #44

Chapter Forty Seven