Chapter Seventy One
| 知 不 知 (尚) [矣(•)] 不 知 知 病 [矣(•)] (•)夫 唯 病 病 是 以 不 病 聖 人 不 病 • 以 其 病 病 • 是 以 不 病 | Knowing that you do not know is honorable! Not knowing that you know is a sickness! Now : only when you are sick of sickness, Thus you are not sick. The sage is not sick Because he is sick of sickness. Thus he is not sick. |
| Knowing that you do not know is honorable ! Not knowing that you know is a sickness ! Now : only when you are sick of sickness, Thus2 you are not sick. The sage2 is not sick ♦Because he is sick of sickness. ♦Thus2 he is not sick. | Notes The third and fourth lines are not in the MWD’s This chapter can be translated many different ways due to its terseness and the many ways to interpret 病 (disease, sickness, to be ill) “Sickness” here presumably refers to the suffering that comes from not following Dao Cross-references |
Chapter Seventy Two
| 民 不 畏 威 則 大 威 至 [矣(•)] • 無 狎 其 所 居 無 厭 其 所 生 (•)夫 唯 不 厭 是 以 不 厭 是 以 聖 人 自 知 不 自 見 • 自 愛 不 自 貴 • (•)故 去 彼 取 此 | If the citizens do not fear your authority, Then a greater authority will arrive! Do not disrespect their dwellings, Do not despise their livelihood. Now : only because you do not despise them, Thus they will not tire of you. Thus the sage : Knows himself but not display himself, Loves himself but does not exalt himself. Therefore he leaves that and chooses this. |
| If the citizens do not fear [your] authority, Then a greater authority will arrive !A ♦Do not disrespect their dwellings2, ♦Do not despise their livelihood2B. [detest] [that which they produce] ♦Now : only because [you] do not despise [them], [detest] ♦Thus2 [they] will not tire of{detest}C [you]. ♦Thus2 the sage2 : ♦Knows himself but not display himself, [show] ♦Loves himself but does not exalt himself. [high rank,respected] Therefore he leaves thatD and chooses thisE. | Notes A : possibly meaning someone else will take over, either from within or without? B : these two symbols could also be translated as “place of birth” or even “parents” (they who gave them life) C : this seems to be something of a play on words, because the symbol for “despise” in the previous line is the same symbol for “tire of”, so this line could also be translated as Thus2 they will not despise you but “tire of” is used here because of #66, where the citizens do not tire of the sage’s rule D : presumably, displaying and exalting E : presumably, knowing and loving Cross-references fear/afraid : #15, #17, #20, #74 citizens do not fear : #74 not tire of leadership : #66 not displaying oneself (showing off) : #22, #24, #47, #77 leaves that and chooses this : #12, #38 |
Chapter Seventy Three
| • 勇 於 敢 則 殺 勇 於 不 敢 則 活 此 兩 者 或 利 或 害 天 之 所 惡 孰 知 其 故 是 以 聖 人 猶 難 之 天 之 道 不 爭 而 善 勝 • 不 言 而 善 應 • 不 召 而 自 來 繟 然 而 善 謀 天 網 恢 恢 疏 而 不 失 | When your courage lies in daring, The consequence is killing. When your courage lies in not daring, The consequence is survival. These two choices, they sometimes cause benefit, sometimes cause harm. That which heaven detests – who knows its reasons? The Way of heaven : Does not strive, yet skillfully achieves its goals. Does not speak, yet skillfully responds. Does not summon, yet everything naturally comes to it. Is certainly unhurried, yet skillfully prepares. Heaven’s net is extremely vast; It is wide meshed, yet does not fail. |
| ♦When your courage* lies in daring, ♦The consequence is killing. ♦When your courage* lies in not daring, ♦The consequence is survival. ♦These two [choices], they sometimes cause benefit, sometimes cause harm. [maybe,perhaps] [maybe,perhaps] ♦That which heaven [it] detestsA – who knows its reasons? Thus2 the sage2 plans for things to be difficult.B [them] [schemes] ♦The Way of heaven : ♦Does not strive, yet skillfully achieves its goals. [victory,beat] ♦Does not speak, yet skillfully responds. ♦Does not summon, yet everything naturally comes to it. Is certainly unhurried, yet skillfully prepares.C [slow,patient,calm] [plans] ♦Heaven’s net is extremely vast 2D; ♦It is wide meshed, yet does not fail. [sparce] | Notes There are two themes in this chapter which do not seem to fit in with typical Daoist concepts – that of heaven conquering (literally “victory” or “beat”, interpreted as “achieving its goals”) which sounds more like striving than non-action, and planning (interpreted as “prepares”) which seems contradictory to being “naturally so” (although the sage also “plans” here and in #63) A : in early societies, whatever endeavors failed were by definition what heaven (or the gods) “detested” B : this sentence only appears in the later sources, and seems to be a parenthetical comment; although it technically is in the majority, it seems so out-of-place that it is left out of the final translation above C : this sentence is nearly impossible to translate; while the first symbol in WB and HSG are the same, making them the default “majority”, it is different in every other source, and none of their modern translations make sense; some translators use a symbol slightly different than that in WB and HSG but pronounced the same way; finally, “slow, patient, calm” is only the most likely translation that could be found for the first symbol D : “extremely” is implied by the repeated symbol Cross-references the sage plans for difficulties : #63 Way of heaven : #9, #47, #77, #79, #81 no striving : #3, #8, #22, #66, #68, #81 |
Chapter Seventy Four
| 民 不 畏 死 奈 何 以 死 懼 之 • 若 使 民 常 畏 死 而 為 奇 者 吾 得 執 而 殺 之 • 孰 敢 • 常 有 司 殺 者 __ (•)夫 代 司 殺 者 殺 • 是 謂 代 大 匠 斲 • (•)夫 代 大 匠 斲 者 希 __ 不 傷 其 手 矣(•) | If the citizens do not fear death, How can you use death to frighten them? Assuming you could ensure that the citizens always fear death, And I get hold of those who act strange and unusual and kill them, Then who would be daring? There will always exist an executioner. Now : to take the place of the executioner to do the killing, This is called taking the place of a great craftsman to carve wood. Now : of those who take the place of a great craftsman to carve wood, Few will not injure their hand! |
| If the citizens do not fear death, How2 can you use death to frighten them? Assuming you could ensure that the citizens always fear death, [make,cause] And I get hold of those who act strange and unusual and kill them, Then who would be daring{bold}? There will always exist an executioner3A. [he who attends to/manages killing] ♦Now : to take the place of the executioner3 to do the killing, [he who attends to/manages killing] This is called taking the place of a great craftsman to carve wood. ♦Now : of those who take the place of a great craftsman to carve wood, Few will not injure their hand ! [rare,infrequent] | Notes A : it is speculated by some that this refers to heaven or Dao, and while that does make sense in context of the lines that follow, there is no direct support for it in the original Chinese Cross-references fear/afraid : #15, #17, #20, #72 citizens do not fear : #72 die/death : #6, #33, #42, #50, #67, #75, #76, #80 citizens do not fear death, take death seriously/lightly : #75, #80 |
Chapter Seventy Five
| • 民 之 饑 • 以 其 上 食 稅 之 多 • 是 以 饑 民 之 難 治 • 以 其 上 之 有 為 • 是 以 難 治 • 民 之 輕 死 • 以 其 求 生 之 厚 • 是 以 輕 死 (•)夫 唯 無 以 生 為 者 是 賢 於 貴 生 • | The citizens are hungry Because their superiors eat too much of their taxes. Thus they are hungry. The citizens are hard to govern Because their superiors are compelled to take action. Thus they are hard to govern. The citizens take death lightly Because they seek the substance of life. Thus they take death lightly. Now : only he who has no use for being alive Is virtuous compared to he who values living. |
| The citizens [they] are hungry Because their superiors eat too much of their taxes.A Thus2 they are hungry. The citizens [they] are hard to govern Because their superiors [they] are compelled to take actionB. [possess] Thus2 they are hard to govern. ♦The citizens [they] take death lightly Because theyC seek the substanceD of life. ♦Thus2 they take death lightly. Now : only he who has no use for being alive Is virtuous compared to [he who] values living.E | Notes A : taxes were taken in grain at the time the DDJ was written, so this seems to be something of a play on words B : literally, they “possess action” C : HSG and FY have Because their superiors seek the substance of life thus placing the blame not on the people, but those who govern them (WB used the viewpoint of the earlier sources) D : compare to #38, where living for the “substance” is apparently a good thing, and #50, where it is a bad thing E : one who “values living” will be less virtuous than one who does not, because the former is out to get what he can for himself Cross-references citizens are hard to govern : #65 die/death : #6, #33, #42, #50, #67, #74, #76, #80 citizens do not fear death, take death seriously/lightly : #74, #80 substance : #38, #50, #55 |