Chapter 56

Original Text

知者不言，言者不知。塞其兌，閉其門，挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵，是謂玄同。故不可得而親，不可得而疏，不可得而利，不可得而害，不可得而貴，不可得而賤。故為天下貴。

Translation

Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know. Block the openings, shut the gates, blunt the edges,sharp, loosenloose the tangles,tangled, blendsoften the light, minglemerge with the dust — this is called mysterious sameness.

Therefore oneit cannot drawbe nearsought in closeness, nor held at distance; it cannot be turned to it,advantage, nor keepmade distantto fromsuffer it;harm; oneit cannot profitbe it,lifted to honor, nor harmcast it;into onelowness. cannot ennoble it, nor demean it. HenceThus it is theprized most honored inabove all under Heaven.

Word Notes

• 疏 — "distant": far, remote.

Chapter Explanation

Those who truly know Dao do not speak of it. Those who speak of it do not truly know. Those who truly know Dao block their outward openings and shut their gates against what enters from without. They blunt their sharp edges, free themselves from entanglement, blendsoften their light, and minglemerge with the worldly dust. This is called mysterious sameness. Why is it called mysterious sameness? Because one cannot draw near to such a person, nor keep distant from them; one cannot profit them, nor harm them; one cannot ennoble them, nor demean them. Therefore they are the most honored in all under Heaven.

Discourse

The great Dao is without sound or scent. It cannot be put into words. The moment one speaks of it, one falls into fixed appearances — and this is not truly understanding Dao. Those who truly understand Dao cast off their acuity and let fall their scheming; inwardly they give rise to no discriminating marks; outwardly they minglemerge with others. What need have they for lofty rhetoric and sweeping pronouncements? And what need for endless argument and debate?

In an era of the Great Unity, everyone would be a person of noble character, so blendingmerging with others would naturally follow. But even in an era of chaos, when people's conduct is far from uniform, the person of Dao still blendsmerges with others. Yet though they blend,merge, they are harmonious but not swept along — they differ from people of the world. People of the world drawseek closecloseness to,with, lift to honor, and benefitturn to advantage those who are the same as themselves, while they hold at distance, demean,cast into lowness, and cause harm to those who differ. The person of Dao is the same as others, yet no one can drawseek nearcloseness with them, turn them to them, profit them,advantage, or ennoblelift them to honor — this is sameness that is not-sameness. And since no one can drawseek nearcloseness with them, turn them to them, profit them,advantage, or ennoblelift them,them to honor, yet equally no one can distancehold them,them harmat them,distance, cause them harm, or demeancast them into lowness — this is not-sameness that is sameness. This is the most mysterious kind of sameness. Though on the surface they are the same as others, their inner spiritual nobility is something no one can actually reach.

The Confucian disciple Yan Hui, though he walked step by step when the Master walked,walked and hastened when the Master hastened, still sighed in admiration: "The more I look up, the higher it seems; the more I bore into it, the harder it becomes; I see it before me, and suddenly it is behind." This is precisely the principle at work.

Yet people of the world fail to perceive this. They say that Mozi's "elevating sameness" — his political doctrine of enforced uniformity — originated with Laozi. They do not realize that Mozi's sameness is caught up in outward traces — it is external, institutionalized, coerced. Laozi's sameness is supremely mysterious. Laozi and Mozi are vastly different indeed.