Chapter 25

有物混成，先天地生。

There is a thing formed in an undifferentiated whole, existing before heaven and earth.

寂兮寥兮，獨立而不改，

Silent and empty, it stands alone and does not change,

周行而不殆，可以為天下母。

circulates everywhere without ceasing, and may be regarded as the mother of all things under heaven.

吾不知其名，

I do not know its name,

字之曰道，

so I give it the style "Dao,"

強為之名曰大。

and reluctantly give it the name "Great."

大曰逝，

Great means flowing onward without staying,

逝曰遠，遠曰反。

flowing onward means going far, and going far means returning to the origin.

故道大，天大，地大，王亦大。

Therefore the Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is also great.

域中有四大，

Within the realm there are four great things,

而王居其一焉。

and the king occupies one of them.

人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。

Humans take their model from earth, earth takes its model from heaven, heaven takes its model from the Dao, and the Dao takes its model from its own natural state.

重為輕根，靜為躁君。

The heavy is the root of the light, and stillness is the master of agitation.

是以聖人終日行不離輜重。

Therefore the sage, traveling all day, never leaves the baggage cart.

雖有榮觀，燕處超然。

Though there are splendid sights to see, he remains calmly at ease and detached from them.

奈何萬乘之主，而以身輕天下？輕則失本，躁則失君。

Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots treat the world lightly for the sake of his own person? To be light is to lose the root, and to be agitated is to lose the mastery.

善行無轍跡，

One who is good at walking leaves no tracks or ruts,

善言無瑕讁；

one who is good at speaking leaves no flaws to be faulted;

善數不用籌策；

one who is good at reckoning uses no counting rods;

善閉無關楗而不可開，善結無繩約而不可解。

one who is good at closing uses no bolt, yet it cannot be opened; one who is good at binding uses no rope, yet it cannot be untied.

是以聖人常善救人，故無棄人；

Therefore the sage is always good at saving people, and so no one is cast aside;

常善救物，故無棄物，是謂襲明。故善人者，不善人之師；

he is always good at caring for things, and so nothing is cast aside; this is called following the light. Therefore the good person is the teacher of the not-good person,

不善人者，善人之資。

and the not-good person is the resource of the good person.

不貴其師，不愛其資，雖智大迷，

One who does not honor his teacher and does not cherish his resource, though he thinks himself clever, is greatly confused.

是謂要妙。

This is called the essential mystery.

知其雄，守其雌，為天下谿。為天下谿，常德不離，復歸於嬰兒。

Know the male, yet keep to the female, and be willing to be the stream of the world. Being the stream of the world, constant virtue will not leave you, and you return again to the state of the infant.

知其白，守其黑，為天下式。

Know the bright, yet keep to the dark, and be willing to be the model of the world.

為天下式，常德不忒，

Being the model of the world, constant virtue will not go astray,

復歸於無極。

and you return again to the boundless origin.

知其榮，守其辱，為天下谷，常德乃足，復歸於樸。

Know glory, yet keep to humiliation, and be willing to be the valley of the world. Being the valley of the world, constant virtue is then sufficient, and you return again to uncarved wood.

樸散則為器，聖人用之，則為官長，

When uncarved wood is broken up, it becomes vessels; the sage uses this principle and becomes the head of all officials.

故大制不割。

Therefore the best cutting does not carve things apart.

將欲取天下而為之，吾見其不得已。天下神器，

One who wants to take the world and acts on it by force, I see that he will not succeed. The world is a sacred vessel,

不可為也，為者敗之，執者失之。

which cannot be acted on by force: one who acts by force will fail, and one who grasps at it will lose it.

故物或行或隨，或歔或吹。或強或羸，或挫或隳。是以聖人去甚，去奢，去泰。

Thus among things some go ahead and some follow, some breathe softly and some blow hard, some are strong and some weak, some are broken and some destroyed. Therefore the sage discards the extreme, discards the extravagant, and discards the excessive.

以道佐人主者，不以兵強天下。

One who assists the ruler by means of the Dao does not use military force to dominate the world.

其事好還。

The use of arms is apt to rebound upon oneself.

師之所處，荊棘生焉。大軍之後，必有凶年。

Where armies have camped, thorns and brambles grow; after great wars, there are always years of famine.

善有果而已，不敢以取強。

One who is good at using arms achieves the aim and stops, and does not dare use it to dominate.

果而勿矜，果而勿伐，果而勿驕。

Achieve the aim without boasting, achieve the aim without bragging, achieve the aim without arrogance.

果而不得已，果而勿強。

Regard achieving the aim as something done out of necessity, and achieve it without domineering.

物壯則老，是謂不道，不道早已。

When things reach their prime they begin to age; this is called not being in accord with the Dao, and what is not in accord with the Dao soon comes to an end.