Dao De Jing – The Way and Its Power- The first 10 “chapters” of the Tao Te Ching below can also be accesd at afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Daodejing&no=10 . Included at this website is an overview and background of the Tao Te Ching. Below, two translations are provided for you. The translation on the left side is by Arthur Waley (Arthur Waley, The Way and Its Power: A Study of the Tao Te Ching and its Place in Chine Thought, Allen & Unwin, London, 1934) and the translation on the right-hand side is by D.C. Lau (D.C. Lau, Tao Te Ching Penguin Books, England, 1963)
I
The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way; The names that can be named are not unvarying names. It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang; The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind.
Truly, “Only he that rids himlf forever of desire can e the Secret Esnces”;
He that has never rid himlf of desire can e only the Outcomes.
The two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name.
This “same mould” we can but call the Mystery, Or rather the “Darker than any Mystery”,
The Doorway whence issued all Secret Esnces. (Waley) The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth; The named was the mother of the myriad creatures. Hence always rid yourlf of desires in order to obrve its crets;
But always allow yourlf to have desires in order to obrve its manifestations.
韩语键盘
The two are the same
熊骨But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
中式吸顶灯Mystery upon mystery -
The gateway of the manifold crets. (Lau)
II.
It is becau every one under Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty, that the idea of ugliness exists.
And equally if every one recognized virtue as virtue, this would merely create fresh conceptions of wickedness. For truly, Being and Not-being grow out of one another; Difficult and easy complete one another.
Long and short test one another;
High and low determine one another.
Pitch and mode give harmony to one another.
Front and back give quence to one another. Therefore the Sage relies on actionless activity, Carries on wordless teaching,
But the myriad creatures are worked upon by him; he does not disown them.
He rears them, but does not lay claim to them, Controls them, but does not lean upon them,
Achieves his aim, but does not call attention to what he does;
And for the very reason that he does not call attention to what he does
集体备课总结与反思He is not ejected from fruition of what he has done. (Waley) The whole world recognizes the beautiful as the beautiful, yet this is only the ugly;
the whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad.
Thus Something and Nothing produce each other;
The difficult and the easy complement each other;
The long and the short off-t each other;
The high and the low incline towards each other;
Note and sound harmonize with each other;
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the sage keeps to the deed that consists in taking no action and practices the teaching that us no words.
The myriad creatures ri from it yet it claims no authority;
It gives them life yet claims no posssion;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit.
It is becau it lays claim to no merit
That its merit never derts it.
(Lau)
If we stop looking for “persons of superior morality” (hsien) to put in power, there will be no more jealousies among the people. If we cea to t store by products that are hard to get, there will be no more thieves. If the people never e such things as excite desire, their hearts will remain placid and undisturbed. Therefore the Sage rules
By emptying their hearts
And filling their hearts?
Weakening their intelligence
And toughening their sinews
Ever striving to make the people knowledgeless and desireless.
Indeed he es to it that if there be any who have knowledge, they dare not interfere.
Yet through his actionless activity all things are duly regulated. (Waley) Not to honor men of worth will keep the people from contention;
not to value goods which are hard to come by will keep them from theft;
not to display what is desirable will keep them from being unttled of mind.
Therefore in governing the people, the sage empties their minds but fills their bellies, weakens their wills but strengthens their bones.
He always keeps them innocent of knowledge and free from desire, and ensures that the clever never dare to act. Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
(Lau)
IV.
The Way is like an empty vesl
That yet may be drawn from
Without ever needing to be filled.
It is bottomless; the very progenitor of all things in the world.
In it all sharpness is blunted,
All tangles untied,
All glare tempered,
All dust soothed.
带羽字的女孩名字
站立的人
It is like a deep pool that never dries.
Was it too the child of something el? We cannot tell. But as a substanceless image it existed before the Ancestor. (Waley) The way is empty, yet u will not drain it. Deep, it is like the ancestor of the myriad creatures. Blunt the sharpness;
Untangle the knots;
Soften the glare;
Let your wheels move only along old ruts.
Darkly visible, it only ems as if it were there.
I know not who son it is.
她时代It images the forefather of God. (Lau)
V.
Heaven and Earth are ruthless;
To them the Ten Thousand things are but as straw dogs. The Sage too is ruthless;
To him the people are but as straw dogs.
Yet Heaven and Earth and all that lies between
Is like a bellows
In that it is empty, but gives a supply that never fails. Work it, and more comes out.
Whereas the force of words is soon spent.
Far better is it to keep what is in the heart. (Waley) Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs;
the sage is ruthless, and treats the people as straw dogs. Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bellows?
It is empty without being exhausted:
The more it works the more comes out.
Much speech leads inevitably to silence.
Better to hold fast to the void. (Lau)
VI.
The Valley Spirit never dies.
It is named the Mysterious Female.
And the doorway of the Mysterious Female
Is the ba from which Heaven and Earth sprang. It is there within us all the while;
Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry. (Waley) The spirit of the valley never dies.
This is called the mysterious female. The gateway of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth. Dimly visible, it ems as if it were there, Yet u will never drain it. (Lau)
VII
巡察工作
Heaven is eternal, the Earth everlasting.
How come they to be so? It is becau they do not foster their own lives;
That is why they live so long.
Therefore the Sage
Puts himlf in the background; but is always to the fore. Remains outside; but is always there.
Is it not just becau he does not strive for any personal end
That all his personal ends are fulfilled? (Waley) Heaven and earth are enduring.
The reason why heaven and earth can be enduring is that they do not give themlves life.
Hence they are able to be long-lived.
Therefore the sage puts his person last and it comes first, Treats it as extraneous to himlf and it is prerved.
Is it not becau he is without thought of lf that he is able to accomplish his private ends? (Lau)
VIII.
The highest good is like that of water. The goodness of is that it benefits the ten thousand creatures; yet itlf does not scramble, but is content with the places that all men disdain. It is this makes water so near to the Way. And if men think the ground the best place for building a hou upon,
If among thoughts they value tho that are profound,
If in friendship they value gentleness,
In words, truth; in government, good order;
In deeds, effectiveness; in actions, timeliness -
In each ca it is becau they prefer what does not lead to strife,
And therefore does not go amiss. (Waley) Highest good is like water.
Becau water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures without contending with them and ttles where none would like to be, it comes clo to the way.
In a home it is the site that matters;
In quality of mind it is depth that matters;
In an ally it is benevolence that matters;
In speech it is good faith that matters;
In government it is order that matters;
In affairs it is ability that matters;
In action it is timeliness that matters.
It is becau it does not contend that it is never at fault. (Lau)
IX.
Stretch a bow to the very full,
And you will wish you had stopped in time; Temper a sword-edge to its very sharpest, And you will find it soon grows dull. When bronze and jade fill your hall.
It can no longer be guarded.
Wealth and place breed insolence.
That brings ruin in its train.
When your work is done, then withdraw! Such is Heaven's Way. (Waley) Rather than fill it to the brim by keeping it upright Better to have stopped in time;
Hammer it to a point
And the sharpness cannot be prerved for ever; There may be gold and jade to fill a hall
But there is none who can keep them.
To be overbearing when one has wealth and position Is to bring calamity upon onelf.
To retire when the task is accomplished
Is the way of heaven. (Lau)
Can you keep the unquiet physical-soul from straying, hold fast to the Unity, and never quit it?
Can you, when concentrating your breath, make it soft like that of a little child?
Can you wipe and clean your vision of the Mystery till all is without blur?
Can you love the people and rule the land, yet remain unknown?
Can you in opening and shutting the heavenly gates play always the female part?
Can your mind penetrate every corner of the land but you yourlf never interfere?
Rear them, then, feed them,
Rear them, but do not lay claim to them.
Control them, but never lean upon them;
Be chief among them, but do not manage them.
This is called the Mysterious Power. (Waley) When carrying on your head your perplexed bodily soul Can you embrace in your arms the One and not let go?
In concentrating your breath can you become as supple As a babe?
Can you polish your mysterious mirror
And leave no blemish?
Can you love the people and govern the state
Without resorting to action?
When the gates of heaven open and shut
Are you capable of keeping to the role of the female? When your discernment penetrates the four quarters Are you capable of not knowing anything?
It gives them life and rears them.
It gives them life yet claims no posssion;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It is the steward yet exercis no authority.
Such is called the mysterious virtue. (Lau)
