Chapter 2
Original Text
天下皆知美之為美，斯惡已；皆知善之為善，斯不善已。
故有無相生，難易相成，長短相形，高下相傾，音聲相和，前後相隨。
是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教；萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有，為而不恃，功成而弗居。
夫唯弗居，是以不去。
Translation
When all under Heaven know beauty as beauty, ugliness already is.
When all know good as good, not-good already is.
Thus being and non-being give birth to each other;
difficult and easy complete each other;
long and short set each other in relief;
high and low incline toward each other;
tone and sound harmonize with each other;
front and back follow each other.
Therefore the sage handles affairs by non-doing and teaches without words.
The myriad beings arise and he does not reject them;
he gives life yet does not possess them;
he acts yet does not rely on his action;
his work accomplished, he does not dwell in it.
Only because he does not dwell in it can it never be taken away.
Word Notes
- měi (美): beautiful, good.
- è (恶): ugly, bad.
- shàn (善): goodness.
- xíng (形): to set in relief / contrast.
- qīng (倾): to lean / tilt.
- hé (和): to harmonize.
- cí (辞): to decline / refuse.
- shì (恃): to rely on.
Chapter Explanation
Once “beauty” is posited, posing begins; beauty ceases to be beauty.
Once “goodness” is posited, pretense begins; goodness ceases to be good.
The “not-beautiful” and “not-good” arise within beauty and goodness.
So being entails non-being; hard completes easy; long shapes short; high leans to low; loud harmonizes soft; front follows back.
Hence the sage engages by non-doing and teaches without words: beings flourish and he does not refuse; he gives life without owning; he acts without leaning on action; work accomplished, he does not reside in it—thus his merit endures.
Discourse
Named forms come paired with their opposites; therefore they are not Dao’s body. Yet shunning the post-natal entirely leaves no efficacy. The post-natal carried to its limit returns to the pre-natal; the two cycle. Here is where “threshold and subtlety” arise. The sage bases himself in the pre-natal and employs the post-natal without stain: non-doing that leaves nothing undone; wordless teaching that transforms. To “lean on” merit is already to lose it; reputation itself is a trace. Rest is non-doing that enables great doing—like electrons “doing nothing” in the void yet composing the myriad things, or a master craftsman who adjusts at the critical threshold and returns to stillness. Non-doing is the body and mother of doing; taken this way, Laozi’s “non-doing” is not anti-progress but the only way action remains great and enduring.