Chapter 11

Original Text

三十輻共一轂，當其無，有車之用。 埏埴以為器，當其無，有器之用。 鑿戶牖以為室，當其無，有室之用。 故有之以為利，無之以為用。

Translation

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub -- where there is nothing, there the cart finds its use. Knead clay to fashion a vessel -- where there is nothing, there the vessel finds its use. Cut doors and windows to make a room -- where there is nothing, there the room finds its use. Thus what exists provides advantage; what does not exist provides function.

Word Notes

• 輻 — "spoke": The spoke of a wheel.
• 轂 — "hub": The hub of a wheel, where the spokes converge.
• 埏 — "knead": To mix water with clay.
• 埴 — "clay": To shape clay into a vessel.
• 鑿 — "cut": To chisel open.
• 牖 — "window": A window opening.

Chapter Explanation

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub. It is precisely where the hub is hollow that the wheel can turn, and the cart can carry people and goods to useful purpose. Water is mixed with clay and shaped into a vessel. It is precisely where the vessel is hollow within that it can hold water and broth to useful purpose. Doors and windows are cut to make a room. It is precisely where the doors and walls have openings that people can dwell within to useful purpose. Therefore, having physical form is what makes something advantageous. Yet though something has physical form, it is the emptiness within that makes it useful.

Discourse

This chapter borrows the external to illustrate the internal, borrows the visible to illustrate the invisible. Even taking visible things on their own terms, their usefulness lies entirely in what is invisible. For implements below the level of form are rooted in Dao above the level of form. The invisible cannot benefit without the visible; the visible cannot function without the invisible. Dao must borrow implements to become manifest; implements must be rooted in Dao for their function to be great. Thus Laozi not only illuminated the study of Dao but also deeply understood the study of implements. For the Sage who apprehends Dao looks up and looks down, and there is nothing among the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad beings that he does not understand. He simply does not make his name through any single skill. Confucius, for example, was learned and multitalented, yet could not be defined by any one accomplishment. And as for the feathered followers of later ages — they may not have been the true orthodox heirs of Laozi. Nevertheless, when the furnace-and-fire school smelted lead and refined mercury, this was precisely the principle that modern scientists call analysis and synthesis. When the adepts and masters of the arts produced wondrous skills and extraordinary abilities, and manufactured implements of war and defense, this was precisely the function that modern scientists call invention and manufacture. Yet at the time they were hated by despotic rulers, who feared these arts might be turned against them, and so denounced them as heretical sorcery and enforced severe prohibitions. Thus the transmission was lost and could not progress. Yet this is enough to prove that the study of Dao is not useless. One who truly possesses the study of Dao will naturally understand the study of implements. But later generations failed to perceive this and went so far as to say that the teachings of Laozi were enough to destroy a nation and extinguish its people. They truly did not know the real face of Laozi!