Chapter 71

知不知上，不知知病。

To know that one does not know is best; to not know yet think one knows is a sickness.

夫唯病病，是以不病。聖人不病，以其病病，是以不病。

Only by treating sickness as sickness can one be free of sickness. The sage is free of sickness because he treats sickness as sickness, and so he is free of sickness.

民不畏威，則大威至。無狎其所居，無厭其所生。

When the people no longer fear the authority of their rulers, a great terror will descend. Do not crowd the people's dwellings, and do not squeeze the people's livelihood.

夫唯不厭，

Precisely because rulers do not squeeze the people,

是以不厭。

the people do not weary of their rulers.

是以聖人自知不自見，

So the sage knows himself but does not show himself,

自愛不自貴；

loves himself but does not regard himself as noble;

故去彼取此。

so he discards that and chooses this.

勇於敢則殺，

One who is bold in recklessness will be killed,

勇於不敢則活。

one who is bold in restraint, not reckless, will live.

此兩者，或利或害。

Of these two kinds of boldness, one brings benefit and the other harm.

天之所惡，孰知其故？是以聖人猶難之。

What Heaven dislikes, who knows the reason? So even the sage finds this difficult.

天之道，不爭而善勝，

The Way of Heaven is this: it wins without contending,

不言而善應，

responds without speaking,

不召而自來，

draws things to it without summoning,

繟然而善謀。

and plans well while unhurried and at ease.

天網恢恢，疏而不失。

Heaven's net is vast and boundless; its mesh is wide, yet nothing slips through.

民不畏死，奈何以死懼之？若使民常畏死，而為奇者，吾得執而殺之，孰敢？

If the people do not fear death, why frighten them with death? Suppose the people really all feared death; for those who do wrong, if I seized and killed them, who would dare to cause disorder?

常有司殺者殺，夫代司殺者殺，是謂代大匠斲。

There is always an executioner in charge of killing. To kill in place of the one in charge of killing is like cutting wood in place of a master carpenter.

夫代大匠斲者，希有不傷其手矣。

Of those who cut wood in place of a master carpenter, few fail to hurt their own hands.

民之饑，以其上食稅之多，是以饑。民之難治，以其上之有為，是以難治。民之輕死，以其上求生之厚，是以輕死。夫唯無以生為者，是賢於貴生。

The people go hungry because their rulers consume too much in taxes; that is why they go hungry. The people are hard to govern because their rulers act with too much interference; that is why they are hard to govern. The people take death lightly because their rulers nourish themselves too richly; that is why the people take death lightly. Only one who does not deliberately nourish his own life richly is wiser than those who prize their own lives.

人之生也柔弱，其死也堅強。

When a person is alive, the body is soft; when dead, it becomes stiff.

萬物草木之生也柔脆，其死也枯槁。

The myriad things, grasses and trees, are tender when alive, and withered and dry when dead.

故堅強者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。

So the hard and strong belong to the company of death, and the soft and weak belong to the company of life.

是以兵強則不勝，

Therefore an army that is strong does not win,

木強則兵。

and a tree that is strong invites the axe.

強大處下，

The strong and great occupy the lower position,

柔弱處上。

while the soft and weak occupy the higher.

天之道，其猶張弓與？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。

Is the Way of Heaven not like drawing a bow? When the string is high, press it down; when low, raise it; take from what has surplus and add to what is lacking. The Way of Heaven takes from what has surplus and makes up what is lacking.

人之道則不然，

The way of humankind is not so;

損不足以奉有餘。

it instead takes from those who lack in order to offer to those who have surplus.

孰能有餘以奉天下？唯有道者。

Who can take what he has in surplus and offer it to the world? Only one who has the Way.

是以聖人為而不恃，功成而不處，其不欲見賢。

So the sage acts without presuming on his ability, and when his work is done he does not dwell on his merit; he does not wish to display his worth.

天下莫柔弱於水，而攻堅強者，莫之能勝，其無以易之。

Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water, yet in attacking the hard and strong nothing can surpass it, because nothing can take its place.

弱之勝強，柔之勝剛，天下莫不知莫能行。是以聖人云﹕「受國之垢，是謂社稷主；受國不祥，是為天下王。」正言若反。

That the soft overcomes the hard and the weak overcomes the strong, everyone in the world knows, yet no one can practice it. So the sage says: "One who can bear the disgrace of a state is fit to be lord of the altars of earth and grain; one who can take on the calamities of a state is fit to be king of the world." Straight words sound like their opposite.

和大怨，必有餘怨，

When a great resentment is reconciled, some resentment is sure to remain,

安可以為善？是以聖人執左契，

so how can that be considered well done? Therefore the sage holds the left half of the tally of a debt,

而不責於人。有德司契，

yet does not demand payment from others. One with virtue is as generous as the keeper of the tally,

無德司徹。

while one without virtue is as exacting as the collector of taxes.

天道無親，常與善人。

The Way of Heaven shows no favoritism; it always helps the good.