Tao te Ching (Wikisource translation)
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<Wikisource:Religious texts
<Author:Laozi
Tao Te Ching
Or: The Book of the Way and Its Many Virtues
Written by the ancient Chinese Taoist sage Lao Tzu nearly 2500 years ago
This new translation is composed by the present Wikisource user Luthinya, along with several appendices concerning the interpretation of the text, the historical background of the Tao Te Ching and certain vicisstudes on the possible character and history of Lao Tzu himself, strung together from many sources of which the exact details are given in the bibliography. Footnotes to the Tao te Ching (in brackets) are also given in cases where the translator felt that a certain word is in need of further explanation- such footnotes are refered to behind the appendices.
First Book- the Tao Ching or the Book of the Way
Chapter One
A way that could be named or expressed has not the true Essence of the Way
A name that could be called or sounded has not the true Essence of the Name
Emptiness(1) is the Beginning of heaven and earth; Form is the mother of all living things
From the heart of Emptiness one perceives the transient marvels of the Way
Yet from the heart of Form its endless cyclic regularity.
The Two came from One and are forever One, so very mystic and profound.
Utterly unfathomable is their mystical subtlety, the doorway of endless wonders.
Chapter Two
The world knows Beauty for Beauty, and thus came the thought of Ugliness;
The world knows kindness for kindness, and thus came the thought of cruelty.
Thus Form is born with Emptiness, Easiness with Difficulty;
The Tall is brethren to the Short, the High to the Low
The sound is with the discord, the front is with the back.
So the wise Sage(2) governs with inaction, and he teaches without words;(3)
Till all of life should thrive according to their own measure and strive no more in vain
To have without possessing; to do without controlling; to succeed without being praised-
As that is his mysterious power, he is eternal to the world.
Chapter Three
Place no more ambition in learning(3), so the people shall no longer struggle of the elite.
Procure no more precious rarities, so the people shall no longer be thieves.
To see nothing that might excite the desire is to have peace of within.
Thus the governings of the Sage would be:
That he weakens desires to warm the hearth;
And that he calms ambitions to strengthen the Spirit.
Forever his people knew not(4) and desired not, so that none would even dare to excercise the ambition.
Inaction(5) has been practiced upon that land, and the need for government dissolves.
Chapter Four
<p>The Way is Void(6), yet despite all Its endless movements it neither falls nor dries.
Still so very profound, unfathomable and endless like the father of all things.I do not know of whom was born this offspring, but probably before our mankind.
It breaks the revealing Menace; resolves the sudden Quarrel;
Blending with glorious radiance, yet dissolving with fallen dust.
It is forever so elusive and subtle; formless yet not empty.
Chapter Five
Nature sides in favour to none, but allows all life to thrive untroubled like the weeds.
The Sage also sides in favour to none, but allows all his people to thrive untroubled like the weeds.
Between the heavens and earth, is not the world indeed like a great pair of bellows,
Being forever empty yet never exhausted, once in full movement shall never yet cease?
The many words of a tongue makes expressions vacant,
It is certainly better to remain silent and at heart.
Chapter Six
The Valley Spirit never dies,
It is named the Mysterious Female.(7)
And the Doorway of the Mysterious Female, is the Birth of Heaven and Earth.
Such is Her elusive eternity, existing as if not to exist.
Yet though ever used was she, never exhausted shall she be.
Chapter Seven
The Heavens and earth are eternal, yet how should this be?
As they never bring forth or aspire for themselves, thus indeed they dwell immortal.
So the wise sage puts himself behind all others,
Yet it is before all others he shall eventually stand.
He sacrifices himself through many perils to others,
Yet it is he who shall thus survive while others perish.(8)
Does not his immortality indeed spring from pure selflessness?
Yet it is he eventually who shall succeed for himself.
Chapter Eight
Water- of all things indeed most divine.
The water cleanses and purifies all, but does never find quarrel or flattery.
It willingly dwells where all would revile, and thus follows the Way.
Water by will dwells in the lowly mire, yet moves with a heart so profound and tranquil.
Like the Sage it gives goodwill to all things, everlasting to its promise.
It governs its course with great justice, never spent from such unending vigour,
Flowing so deftly and mysteriously, in every fresh hope and opening.
As thou never take for thine own, indeed thou shall endure forever.
Chapter Nine
It is better to remain reserved than to linger overflowed.
He who reveals the sudden Menace cannot endure for long.
One cannot keep in eternal hiding a hall brimming with riches.
The man arrogant from enormous wealths buries disaster upon his road.
To succeed and then remove, that is the true Way of the world.
Chapter Ten
When the Spirit rejoins with the Body, can they ever part?
When the ch'i(9) is blended to gentle softness, can one seem a babe?
When the mind calms itself of worldly disorder, can one reach perfection?
When the ruler governs from his love to the people, can he be foolish?
When the heart opens to the Way, can one not be feminine(10)?
When one perceives into all, can one still seem to Know nothing?
To bring forth lives yet not possessing them,
To care for lives yet not seeking their praise,
To govern lives yet not controlling them,
That is a mystical integrity.
Chapter Eleven
The thirty spokes we put together and call it a wheel,
Yet only when there is emptiness(11) between the spokes would the wheel take use.
The clay is shaped and made into various vessels,
Yet only when there is emptiness within the vessel would it then take use.
Walls are ardently compiled together to make a chamber,
Yet only when there is emptiness between the walls would the chamber take use.
Thus while we should take the advantage of form,
We should also recognize the use of emptiness.
Chapter Twelve
<p>The Five Colours blind the eyes,
The Five Harmonies(12) deafen the ears.
The Five Delicacies confuse the taste,
The reckless hurtle maddens the heart.
The precious riches poison the soul with greed.
Thus the wise Sage seeks only to fulfil his stomach rather than his will.
Living in the delicate tranquility apart from worldly desires.
Chapter Thirteen
<p>Favour and distain both disquietens the heart, like the striking of some fatal disaster.
What is thus meant by favour and distain?And only to one who would value his people as he values his own life could be handed the leadership of the world.
They are the gifts of a superior to his subordinate;
Who once having obtained such a gift would forever fear for its sudden loss;
Yet once the gift is lost indeed would struggle by all means to regain.
Thus the peace of his heart is forever destroyed by favours and distains.
What is then meant by the striking of a fatal disaster?
As thou have a material body, so fatal disasters may befall;
If instead thou possess no body, what disaster can possibly harm thee?(13)
Therefore only one who would love the world as he loves himself could be trusted to guide a people,
Chapter Fourteen
That which was looked at yet never seen was known as the Evanescent,
That which was listened to yet never heard was known as the Evasive,
And that which was vainly grasped yet never touched was known as the Elusive.
None of the three can be studied, and thus were One at heart.
Its height was not light, Its depth was not dark.
Its ephemeral transformations cannot be named, as they return to Emptiness.
It is the shape of the Shapeless, the image of the Emptiness, transient and profound.
As it came forth one does not see its beginning; Yet as it departs one does not see its end.
To follow the Ancient Way, is to know how to live within the present.
To know how the past has begun, is to percieve the ways of the Tao.
Chapter Fifteen
Once upon a time, those who knew the Way, were a mysterious and subtle people,
Transient yet profound, tranquil yet utterly unfathomable.
Since they are inexplicable, I can only tell what they seem like:
Cautious, as if wading through a winter river,
Wary, as if afraid of their own neighbours.
Grave, like the courteous houseguests.
Elusive, as of melting ice.
Pure and natural, as of unchiselled gems.
Wide and open, as of a deep valley.
Yet mysterious, oh yes, they were like troubled water.
Who can remain tranquil amidst troubled airs, that calmness may flow from within?
Who may remain at peace eternal, that motion would yield birth to nature?
For those who follow the Way, fulfilment has never been their aim.
Only as they are forever unfulfiled, can such freshness be ever renewed.
zh:道德经
fr:Tao Te King
ko:도덕경
it:Tao Te Ching