Chapter 51

Original Text

道生之，德畜之，物行之，勢成之。是以萬物莫不尊道而貴德。道之尊，德之貴，夫莫之爵，而常自然。故道生之、畜之，長之、育之，亭之、毒之，養之、覆之。生而不有，為而不恃，長而不宰，是謂玄德。

Translation

Dao gives them life, De nurtures them, Things set them in motion, momentum brings them to completion. Thus among the myriad beings, none fail to revere Dao and prize De. The reverence for Dao, the preciousness of De -- No one confers rank upon them, Yet they are always so of themselves.

Therefore Dao gives them life and nurtures them, Rears them and fosters them, Brings them to stand and brings them to ripeness, Sustains them and shelters them. It gives life yet does not possess, It acts yet does not presume, It rears yet does not rule. This is called mysterious De.

Word Notes

• 畜 — "to nurture; to rear": also carries the sense of generating life.
• 爵 — "rank; title of nobility": a conferral of position or honors.
• 亭 — "to bring to stand; to establish": the appearance of standing tall and fully formed.
• 毒 — "to bring to ripeness; to temper": subjecting the myriad beings to frost and cold in order to mature them.

Chapter Explanation

All things in the world are generated by Dao. Yet Dao's generation of things cannot be seen. When Dao stirs, it becomes De. De endows the myriad beings with their natures and generates all the various kinds. It further borrows the qi of yin and yang to give them form. Following the natural momentum of things, they grow to completion. For this reason, the myriad beings all revere Dao and prize De. The reverence for Dao, the preciousness of De — no one has ever conferred rank or title upon them, yet they are naturally and of their own accord revered and prized.

Therefore Dao gives life to the myriad beings, and De nurtures them. It further rears and fosters them, brings them to stand and brings them to ripeness, sustains and shelters them. And yet Dao gives life to the myriad beings without regarding it as its own achievement; it acts to cultivate the myriad beings without relying on its labors; it rears the myriad beings without serving as their master. This is called the most profoundly far-reaching De.

Discourse

The myriad beings are all generated by Dao and nurtured by De. Though human beings are the most sentient of the myriad beings, they are still one member among them. The life that human beings are born into and nourished by is nothing other than Dao and De. Since human beings are generated and nourished by Dao and De, they need only revere Dao and prize De — why must they value life alone?

People value life for no other reason than their wish to be honored in the world. But they do not realize that worldly honor is not truly honorable. What Zhao Meng ennobles, Zhao Meng can debase. How much better to revere Dao and prize De, bestowing De upon others, so that people naturally honor you. And though people honor you, you do not claim credit and do not presume upon your De, so that people can neither ennoble you nor debase you. Only then can one be honored forever.