Chapter 66

Original Text

江海所以能為百谷王者。以其善下之。故能為百谷王。是以聖人慾上人。以其言下之。欲先人。以其身後之。是以處上而人不重。處前而人不害。是以天下樂推而不厭。以其不爭。故天下莫能與之爭。

Translation

The rivers and the sea canreign beover king of thea hundred valleys becauseby theytheir aregift goodof atlying placing themselves below them.low. Therefore they canreign beover king of thea hundred valleys.

Thus,

So when the Sage wisheswould to standrise above the people, thehe Sagespeaks must speak within words that place him belowbeneath them. When thehe Sage wishes towould lead the people, thehe Sage must placesets his own person behind them.

Therefore the Sagehe dwells above, and the people do not feel theno weight;burden; the Sagehe stands in front, and theno peopleone are notis harmed. Therefore all under Heaven delightsgladly inlifts upholdinghim the Sageup and never grows wearytires of it.

Because the Sagehe does not contend, no one under Heaven can contend with the Sage.him.

Word Notes

• 厭 — "to grow weary of": To resent, to find tiresome, to lose patience with.

Chapter Explanation

The reason the rivers and the sea can be the king to whom the hundred springsvalleys pay homage is that they are good at occupying the lowest position. Because— ofand this,so all the hundredvalley springs all come tostreams converge upon them, making them the king of all the mountain springs.them. For this reason, when the Sage wishes to rise above others, he first uses humble and deferential words, placing himself below them. When he wishes to go before others, he first places his own person behind them. Therefore, when he dwells above others, the people do not feel burdened by his weight. When he stands before others, the people do not envy or resent him. For this reason, all under Heaven delightsgladly in upholdinglifts him up and doesnever not growgrows weary. Because he does not contend, no one under Heaven is able to contend with him.

Discourse

The way of humility and non-contention has already been discussed repeatedly in earlier chapters. That this chapter once again explains it at length is because most people in this world mostly compete to be strong and strive to win,prevail, and none are ablewilling to lower themselves before others. That is why itthe point is arguedset forth again and again in meticulouscareful detail, further explaining that only by not contending for the top can one dwell at the top, and only by not contending for the lead can one take the lead.

But this too is simply a natural principle. It is not that one harbors the deliberate intention of dwelling above others while making a show of yielding — employingresorting to scheming techniques and political arts.artifice.