Tao Te Ching (Le Guin Translation) : A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way

Notes
Concerning This Version This is a rendition, not a translation. I do not know any Chinese. I could approach the text at all only because Paul Carus, in his 1898 translation of the Tao Te Ching, printed the Chinese text with each character followed by a transliteration and a translation. My gratitude to him is unending. To have the text thus made accessible was not only to have a Rosetta Stone for the book itself, but also to have a touchstone for comparing other English translations one with another. If I could focus on which word the translators were interpreting, I could begin to understand why they made the choice they did. I could compare various interpretations and see why they varied so tremendously; could see how much explanation, sometimes how much bias, was included in the translation; could discover for myself that several English meanings might lead me back to the same Chinese word. And, finally, for all my ignorance of the languag... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Book 2, Chapter 81 : Telling it True
True words aren’t charming, charming words aren’t true. Good people aren’t contentious, contentious people aren’t good. People who know aren’t learned, learned people don’t know. Wise souls don’t hoard; the more they do for others the more they have, the more they give the richer they are. The Way of heaven profits without destroying. Doing without outdoing is the Way of the wise. The next little country might be so close the people could hear cocks crowing and dogs barking there, but they’d get old and die without ever having been there. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Book 2, Chapter 80 : Freedom
Let there be a little country without many people. Let them have tools that do the work of ten or a hundred, and never use them. Let them be mindful of death and disinclined to long journeys. They’d have ships and carriages, but no place to go. They’d have armor and weapons, but no parades. Instead of writing, they might go back to using knotted cords. They’d enjoy eating, take pleasure in clothes, be happy with their houses, devoted to their customs. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Book 2, Chapter 79 : Keeping the Contract
After a great enmity is settled some enmity always remains. How to make peace? Wise souls keep their part of the contract and don’t make demands on others. People whose power is real fulfill their obligations; people whose power is hollow insist on their claims. The Way of heaven plays no favorites. It stays with the good. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Book 2, Chapter 78 : Paradoxes
Nothing in the world is as soft, as weak, as water; nothing else can wear away the hard, the strong, and remain unaltered. Soft overcomes hard, weak overcomes strong. Everybody knows it, nobody uses the knowledge. So the wise say: By bearing common defilements you become a sacrificer at the altar of earth; by bearing common evils you become a lord of the world. Right words sound wrong. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Daring to Do
Brave daring leads to death. Brave caution leads to life. The choice can be the right one or the wrong one. Who will interpret the judgment of heaven? Even the wise soul finds it hard. The way of heaven doesn’t compete yet wins handily, doesn’t speak yet answers fully, doesn’t summon yet attracts. It acts perfectly easily. The net of heaven is vast, vast, wide-meshed, yet misses nothing. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

For A. L. K. and J. P. S. Introduction The Tao Te Ching was probably written about twenty-five hundred years ago, perhaps by a man called Lao Tzu, who may have lived at about the same time as Confucius. Nothing about it is certain except that it’s Chinese, and very old, and speaks to people everywhere as if it had been written yesterday. The first Tao Te Ching I ever saw was the Paul Carus edition of 1898, bound in yellow cloth stamped with blue and red Chinese designs and characters. It was a venerable object of mystery, which I soon investigated, and found more fascinating inside than out. The book was my father’s; he read in it often. Once I saw him making notes from it and asked what he was doing. He said he was marking whic... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Power of the Heavy
Heavy is the root of light. Still is the master of moving. So wise souls make their daily march with the heavy baggage wagon. Only when safe in a solid, quiet house do they lay care aside. How can a lord of ten thousand chariots let his own person weigh less in the balance than his land? Lightness will lose him his foundation, movement will lose him his mastery. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Second Bests
In the degradation of the great way come benevolence and righteousness. With the exaltation of learning and prudence comes immense hypocrisy. The disordered family is full of dutiful children and parents. The disordered society is full of loyal patriots. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Heaven's Lead
The best captain doesn’t rush in front. The fiercest fighter doesn’t bluster. The big winner isn’t competing. The best boss takes a low footing. This is the power of noncompetition. This is the right use of ability. To follow heaven’s lead has always been the best way. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)