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治大國若亨小鮮。以道蒞天下。其鬼不神。非其鬼不神。其神不傷人。非其神不傷人。聖人亦不傷人。夫兩不相傷。故德交歸焉。 Translation Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish. When one presides over all under Heaven through Dao, the ghosts do not work their wonders. It is not that the ghosts cannot work wonders...

大國者下流。天下之交。天下之牝。牝常以靜勝牡。以靜為下。故大國以下小國。則取小國。小國而下大國。則取大國。故或下以取。或下而取。大國不過欲兼畜人。小國不過欲事人。夫兩者各得其所欲。故大者宜為下。 Translation A great state is the downstream flow, the confluence of all under Heaven, the female of all under Heaven. The female overcomes the male through stilln...

道者萬物之奧。善人之寶。不善人之所保。美言可以市。尊行可以加人。人之不善。何棄之有。故立天子。置三公。雖有拱璧以先駟馬。不如坐進此道。古之所以貴此道者何。不曰求以得。有罪以免耶。故為天下貴。 Translation Dao is the sanctuary of the myriad beings — treasure of the good, refuge of those who are not good. Beautiful words may buy favor in the marketplace; ho...

為無為。事無事。味無味。大小多少。抱怨以德。圖難於其易。為大於其細。天下難事。必作於易。天下大事。必作於細。是以聖人終不為其大。故能成其大。夫輕諾必寡信。多易必多難。是以聖人猶難之。故終無難。 Translation Act through nonaction. Attend to affairs through non-interference. Taste the tasteless. Regard the great as small, the many as few. Repay enmity with D...

其安易持。其為兆易謀。其脆易判。其微易散。為之於未有。治之於未亂。合抱之木。生於毫末。九層之臺。起於累土。千里之行。始於足下。為者敗之。執者失之。是以聖人無為故無敗。無執故無失。民之從事。常於幾成而敗之。慎終如始。則無敗事。是以聖人慾不欲。不貴難得之貨。學不學。復眾人之所過。以輔萬物之自然。而不敢為。 Translation What is settled is easy to hold. What shows no sign yet is easy to plan for. What is brittle is ...

古之善為道者。非以明民。將以愚之。民之難治。以其智多。故以智治國。國之賊。不以智治國國之福。知此兩者。亦楷式能知楷式。是為玄德。玄德深矣遠矣。與物反矣。乃至於大順。 Translation Those in ancient times who were skilled in practicing the Dao did not use it to sharpen the people's minds, but to return them to simplicity. The people are difficul...

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 reign over a hundred valleys by their gift of lying low. Therefore they reign over a hundred valleys. So when the Sage would rise above ...

天下皆謂我道大似不肖。夫惟大。故似不肖。若肖。久矣其細也。夫我有三寶。寶而持之。一曰慈。二曰儉。三曰不敢為天下先。夫慈故能勇。儉故能廣。不敢為天下先。故能成器長。今舍其慈且勇。舍其儉且廣。舍其後而先。死矣。夫慈以戰則勝。以守則固。天將救之。以慈衛之。 Translation All under Heaven say my Dao is great, yet seems to resemble nothing. It is precisely because it is great that it resembles...

善為士者不武。善戰者不怒。善勝敵者不爭。善用人者為之下。是為不爭之德。是為用人之力。是謂配天。古之極。 Translation The good warrior takes no pride in force. The good fighter stirs no anger. The good victor does not contend with the enemy. The good commander places himself beneath his men. This is called the De...

用兵有言。吾不敢為主而為客。不敢進寸而推尺。是謂行無行。攘無臂。仍無敵執無兵。禍莫大於輕敵。輕敵幾喪吾寶。故抗兵相加。哀者勝矣。 Translation In the use of troops, there is a saying: "I dare not be the host but be the guest. I dare not advance an inch, yet yield a foot." This is called: marching where there is no march, rai...

吾言甚易知。甚易行。天下莫能知。莫能行。言有宗。事有君。夫惟無知。是以不我知也。知我者希。則我者貴。是以聖人被褐懷玉。 Translation My words are easy to understand, easy to put into practice. Yet none beneath Heaven can understand them, none can put them into practice. Words have a root. Affairs have a master. It is on...

知不知上。不知知病。夫惟病病。是以不病。聖人之不病也。以其病病。是以不病。 Translation To know yet seem not to know — this is the highest. Not to know yet think you know — this is a sickness. Only by recognizing sickness as sickness does one become free of it. The Sage is free of sickness because...

民不畏威。則大畏至矣。無狹其所居。無厭其所生。夫惟不厭。是以不厭。是以聖人自知不自見。自愛不自貴。故去彼取此。 Translation When the people do not fear authority, a greater authority will come. Do not crowd them in their dwellings. Do not oppress them in their living. Only by not oppressing will one not be oppresse...

勇於敢則殺。勇於不敢則活。此兩者或利或害。天之所惡。孰知其故。是以聖人猶難之。天之道不爭而善勝。不言而善應。不召而自來。繟然而善謀。天網恢恢。疏而不失。 Translation Courage in daring leads to killing. Courage in not-daring leads to life. Of these two, one benefits, the other harms. What Heaven finds hateful — who truly knows the reaso...

民常不畏死。奈何以死懼之。若使人常畏死。而為奇者。吾得執而殺之。孰敢。常有司殺者殺。而代司殺者殺。是代大匠斫。夫代大匠斫。希有不傷其手矣。 Translation When the people no longer fear death, what good is it to threaten them with death? If the people could be made always to fear death, and we seized the deviant and put them to dea...

民之飢。以其上食稅之多也。是以飢。民之難治。以其上之有為也。是以難治。民之輕死。以其生生之厚也。是以輕死。夫唯無以生為者。是賢於貴生。 Translation The people's hunger — it is because those above consume too much in taxes. This is why they hunger. The people being hard to govern — it is because those above are addicted to acti...

人之生也柔弱。其死也堅強。草木之生也柔脆。其死也枯槁。故堅強者死之徒。柔弱者生之徒。是以兵強則不勝。木強則共。強大處下。柔弱處上。 Translation When a person is alive, the body is soft and supple. In death, it is stiff and rigid. When grasses and trees are alive, they are soft and tender. In death, they are dry and brittle. ...

天之道其猶張弓乎。高者抑之。下者舉之。有餘者損之。不足者補之。天之道損有餘而補不足。人之道則不然。損不足而奉有餘。孰能以有餘奉天下。唯有道者。是以聖人為而不恃。成功而不居。其不欲見賢耶。 Translation Is not the Dao of Heaven like the drawing of a bow? What is high, it presses down; what is low, it raises up. What has surplus, it diminishes; what is def...