Lao-Tzu- Te-Tao Ching

by Robert G Henricks

  [CHAPTER 35]

  1 Hold on to the Great Image and the whole world will come to you.

  2 Come to you and suffer no harm; but rather know great safety and peace.

  3 Music and food—for these passing travelers stop.

  4 Therefore, of the Tao’s speaking, we say:

  5 Insipid, it is! It’s lack of flavor.

  6 When you look at it, it’s not sufficient to be seen;

  7 When you listen to it, it’s not sufficient to be heard;

  8 Yet when you use it, it can’t be used up.

  COMMENTS AND NOTES

  Texts A and B are the same.

  Chou Tz’u-chi speculates that the Ma-wang-tui ko at the end of line 3 (which he reads as “correct” or “proper”) might be the right word here instead of the common “traveler” or “guest” (k’o). In that case the line would read, “When music and food go beyond what is proper, you should stop.”

  The only significant difference between the Ma-wang-tui texts and later editions is in the syntax of line 4. The Ma-wang-tui “Therefore” (ku) at the head of the line is not found in other texts, nor is the “we say” (yüeh) at the end.

  [CHAPTER 36]

  1 If you wish to shrink it,

  2 You must certainly stretch it.

  3 If you wish to weaken it,

  4 You must certainly strengthen it.

  5 If you wish to desert it,

  6 You must certainly work closely with it.

  7 If you wish to snatch something from it,

  8 You must certainly give something to it.

  9 This is called the Subtle Light.

  10 The submissive and weak conquer the strong.

  11 Fish should not be taken out of the depths;

  12 The state’s sharp weapons should not be shown to the people.

  COMMENTS AND NOTES

  Texts A and B are the same: the different characters in the two seem to intend the same word.

  In line 5 the Ma-wang-tui texts have “leave” or “desert” (ch’ü) where other editions of the Lao-tzu have “reject/throw away” (fei), and to match that, in line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have “work closely with it” or “share with it” (yu) where later editions all have “promote” or “elevate” (hsing). In line 8 the Ma-wang-tui texts use one character for “give to it” (yü), the standard text uses another—the yü which is used in line 6 of the Ma-wang-tui texts with the meaning of “share.”

  [CHAPTER 37]

  1 The Tao is constantly nameless.

  2 Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,

  3 The ten thousand things would transform on their own.

  4 Having transformed, were their desires to become active,

  5 I would subdue them with the nameless simplicity.

  6 Having subdued them with the nameless simplicity,

  7 I would not disgrace them.

  8 By not being disgraced, they will be tranquil.

  9 And Heaven and Earth will of themselves be correct and right.

  10 The Way—2,426 [characters]

  COMMENTS AND NOTES

  The “able” in line 2 is omitted in Text A: line 2 in Text A would read, “If marquises and kings maintain it.” Line 10 does not occur in Text A.

  Line 1 in the standard text is “Tao invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.” This is one of two places in the standard text—the other one being chapter 48—where the phrase wu-wei erh wu pu-wei, “does nothing and yet there is nothing left undone,” occurs (in some editions of the text the phrase is also found in chapters 3 and 38). Line 1 is quite different in the Ma-wang-tui texts; in fact lines 1, 2, and 3 here are virtually identical to lines 1, 3, and 4 in chapter 32.

  The line wu-wei erh wu pu-wei is also missing in chapter 48 in the Ma-wang-tui texts. This has prompted a number of scholars to argue that this idea was not originally part of the philosophy of the author. It was added later, they feel, under the influence of Legalist thought (where it normally means that the ruler leaves all day-to-day business to his ministers, and thus everything gets done even though he himself does not act). But I have pointed out elsewhere that it is not that the line did not occur in chapter 48 of the Ma-wang-tui texts; rather, there is a lacuna in both texts at this point, and the missing spaces seem to indicate that the line was originally there. Also, the end of chapter 3, without necessarily using these exact words, says much the same thing—“If he [the Sage] can bring it about that those without knowledge simply do not dare to act, Then there is nothing that will not be in order.”

  The words “Having subdued them with” (chen-chih i) are omitted from the beginning of line 6 in the standard text; and in lines 7 and 8, the standard text has “not desire” (pu-yü) where the Ma-wang-tui texts have “not disgrace” (pu-ju). Thus the standard text for lines 6-8 has, as Wing-tsit Chan translates, “Simplicity, which has no name, is free of desires. Being free of desires, it is tranquil.”

  Finally, in line 9, the standard text has “the world” (t’ien-hsia) where the Ma-wang-tui texts have “Heaven and Earth” (t’ien-ti), and “at peace” or “settled” (ting) in place of “correct and right” (cheng).

  ADDITIONAL NOTES

  1. There is an official biography of Lao-tzu, or Li Erh, in Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s first great history of the Chinese people, the Shih-chi (Historical Records), compiled c. 100 B.C.; that biography is translated into English by Wing-tsit Chan (1963, pp. 36-37). But as Chan’s review of the scholarship on this biography (pp. 37-59) shows, many scholars are convinced that this does little in terms of identifying the actual author of the text. For an excellent study of where the data in this biography come from and how this identity of Lao-tzu came to be, see A. C. Graham’s article “The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan” (Graham, 1986). Also useful on the problem of the authorship of this text is appendix 1 to D. C. Lau’s translation, “The Problem of Authorship” (Lau, 1963, pp. 147-62).

  2. There are two good translations of the Chuang-tzu, one by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), the other by A. C. Graham (Graham, 1981). The Watson translation is superior in terms of literary quality; the Graham translation is more astute in drawing attention to the philosophical concepts developed by Chuang-tzu.

  3. For an excellent summary of these textual finds, see Michael Loewe’s article (Loewe, 1977). Part of the Ch’in law code is translated and discussed by Katrina McLeod and Robin Yates (McLeod and Yates, 1981). On this law code see also A.F.P. Hulsewé’s translation, Remnants of Ch’in Law and Yates’ review of it, “Some Notes on Ch’in Law: A Review Article of Remnants of Ch’in Law by A.F.P. Hülsewé.”

  4. For more on this point, see the article by William Boltz (Boltz, 1985).

  5. For more detail on the texts discovered at Ma-wang-tui, see “Ma-wang-tui” (Henricks, 1986), pp. 614-17.

  6. Later texts also change ch’i (“to open”) to k’ai (also “to open”) to avoid using the personal name of Emperor Ching (r. 156-141 B.C.), Liu Ch’i, and they change the negative fu (“not [verb] it”) to pu (“not [verb]”) to avoid the personal name of Emperor Chao of the Han (r. 86-74 B.C.), Liu Fu-ling.

  7. The text is not called the Lao-tzu, nor is it called the Tao-te ching. At the end of part II, Text B has the notation “Virtue—3,041 [characters],” and at the end of part I it has “The Way—2,426 [characters].” The notations “Virtue” and “The Way” probably indicate no more than the fact that chapter 38 begins with the phrase “Virtue” (“the highest virtue,” shang-te) while chapter 01 begins with the word “Way” (tao). It was common practice in early China to use the first word or words of a section of text as its title.

  For more on the total number of characters in the text, see my article “The Ma-wang-tui Texts of Lao-tzu and Lines of Textual Transmission” (Henricks, 1985).

  8. See their article “Shih t’an Ma-wang-tui Han-mu chung ti po-shu Lao-tzu” (Kao and Ch’ih, 1974) and my study “Examining the Ma-wang-tui Silk Texts of the Lao-tzu” (Henricks, 1979a). Actually the
author of the “Explaining Lao-tzu” chapter skips around in his treatment of the text of Lao-tzu, discussing chapters in the sequence 38, 58, 59, 60, 46, 14, 1, 50, 67, 53, and 54.

  9. See Yen Ling-feng, Ma-wang-tui po-shu Lao-tzu shih-t’an (Yen, 1976), pp. 8-13.

  10. There are eighteen such “periods” in all. They occur at the start of line 1 in chapter 46, at the start of line 3 in chapter 46, at the start of line 1 in chapter 51, at the start of line 6 in chapter 51, at the start of line 5 in chapter 52, at the start of line 1 in chapter 53, at the start of line 1 in chapter 57, at the start of line 1 in chapter 63, at the start of line 1 in chapter 64, at the start of line 1 in chapter 80, at the start of line 7 in chapter 81, at the start of line 1 in chapter 69, at the start of line 2 in chapter 72, at the start of line 1 in chapter 73, at the start of line 1 in chapter 75, at the start of line 7 in chapter 75, at the start of line 1 in chapter 76, and at the start of line 1 in chapter 1. There arc also what appear to be “commas” (,) on occasion at the ends of phrases and lines in both texts (though mostly in Text A), and repetition of a character or phrase is often indicated in the Ma-wang-tui texts by what arc apparently ditto marks; they follow the word or phrase to be repeated and look like equals signs (=).

  11. Henricks, 1982.

  12. That is, it is Yang times Yang (9 × 9 = 81). Yin times Yang (8 × 9), or 72, is also a magical number. Confucius is often said to have had seventy-two disciples.

  13. For the distinction Lao-tzu makes between “name” and “style” in chapter 25, see my “Comments and Notes” to this chapter below.

  14. Chan, 1963, p. 160.

  15. This analogy was first developed in “The Tao and the Field: Exploring an Analogy” (Henricks, 1981d).

  16. But see the “Comments and Notes” to chapter 37 on this phrase in the Ma-wang-tui texts.

  17. The analogy of the “Tao and the Field” is not perfect, and one of the ways in which it does not work is that the analogy would seem to suggest a view of periodic creation of the world; that is, every so often the entire world of things comes into being and then the cosmos passes through distinct stages of growth, maturity, decline, and death (i.e., the four seasons), followed again by rebirth (in the manner of the kalpas of Indian cosmology). The Taoists treat creation as a once-and-for-all thing, even though it is true that in some way all distinct things that live and die “return” to the Tao and each new thing “comes from” the Tao as well.

  18. Despite the fact that it is difficult to talk about the philosophy of Lao-tzu without using the words “who people are by nature,” the word hsing (“human nature,” “inborn nature”) does not occur in the text of the Lao-tzu and occurs only rarely in the “Inner Chapters” of the Chuang-tzu. Taoist ideas about “human nature” are developed in what A. C. Graham identifies as the “Primitivist” chapters of the Chuang-tzu (chapters 8-10 and the first part of 11) and also in the Huai-nan tzu (on which see Roth, 1985). When they talk about human nature, Taoists tend to emphasize the ways in which people differ by nature (unique talents and personality traits), whereas the Confucians tend to concentrate on the ways in which people are all the same (shared innate moral traits). Note also the article by Isabelle Robinet, “La notion de hsing dans le taoïsme et son rapport avec celle du confucianisme” (Robinet, 1986).

  19. See his article, “The Nung-chia ‘School of the Tillers’ and the Origins of Peasant Utopianism in China” (Graham, 1986), p. 82. The Tillers believed there should be a ruler of the state but that he would do very little other than regulate and maintain agricultural policy. He, too, should grow his own food and weave his own clothes, as should every family.

  20. Max Kaltenmark (Kaltenmark, 1970, pp. 85-98) presents Chuang-tzu as a thoroughgoing mystic and teacher of meditation and ecstasy-producing techniques. I take issue with this view; I think it misrepresents the Chuang-tzu we meet in the text.

  21. See the “Comments and Notes” to chapter 16, below, on the Ma-wang-tui form of lines 1 and 2.

  22. Translation by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), pp. 57-58. Note that both “mind fasting” and “sitting in forgetfulness” (tso-wang), a meditative procedure described in chapter 6 of the Chuang-tzu, are taken up into the Taoist religion as important kinds of meditation. On this point see Livia Köhn’s recent study (Köhn, 1987).

  23. On śamatha-vipaśyanā in the Fa-hsiang School of Chinese Buddhism see, for example, Alan Sponberg, “Meditation in Fa-hsiang Buddhism” (Sponberg, 1986). Note that it is also this kuan that I translate as “perceive” and “see” in lines 5 and 6 of chapter 1: “Therefore, those constantly without desires, by this means will perceive its subtlety. Those constantly with desires, by this means will see only that which they yearn for and seek.”

  24. Thus the verse on enlightenment that is attributed to Shen-hsiu by his opponents in the Southern School is, “The body is the Bodhi tree, The mind is like a clear mirror. At all times we must strive to polish it, And must not let the dust collect” (tr. by Philip B. Yampolsky [Yampolsky, 1967, p. 130]). For the first thorough study in English of Shen-hsiu and the Northern School see John R. McRae’s recent book (McRae, 1986).

  25. On this practice, see Andersen, 1979.

  26. Maspero’s detailed study of these breathing techniques remains our main source of information. His article is translated into English as “Methods of ‘Nourishing the Vital Principle’ in the Ancient Taoist Religion” (book IX, pp. 445-554, in Maspero, 1981).

  27. It is worth noting that wei, “action,” means, in Chinese philosophical parlance, the action one takes after consciously deliberating the alternatives, and contrasts, therefore, with action as natural, un-thought-out response. The philosopher Hsün-tzu (born c. 312 B.c.) contrasts “nature” or “natural response” (hsing) with “conscious activity” (wei) in this way: “That which is harmonious from birth, which is capable of perceiving through the senses and of responding to stimulus spontaneously and without effort, is … called the nature.… When the emotions are aroused and the mind makes a choice from among them, this is called thought. When the mind conceives a thought and the body puts it into action, this is called conscious activity” (tr. by Burton Watson [Watson, 1963, pp. 139-40]).

  I disagree with Herrlee Creel’s understanding of wu-wei in the Lao-tzu, which equates it with the Legalist notion in which the ruler “does not act” because he leaves all matters of administrative detail to his officials. Nonetheless, his article can still be read with benefit. See his “On the Origins of Wu-wei,” in Creel, 1970, pp. 48-78.

  28. In chapter 38 Lao-tzu seems to rank the Confucian virtues, with humanity (or “benevolence”—the highest of the Confucian virtues) being the highest, righteousness next, and propriety last. We might speculate that Lao-tzu understands humanity as moral action that stems from genuine concern for the welfare of others; righteousness as action done simply because it is the “right” thing to do (not necessarily because one genuinely wants to do it); and propriety as action done not necessarily because it is “right” but purely because it is thought to be “proper.” Note that “virtue” in chapter 38 is seen to be superior to even the supreme Confucian virtue of humanity in that people of humanity still take action (wei) even though they have no reason for acting this way, whereas people of true virtue do not act (wu-wei—i.e., they act spontaneously, without deliberation and intention) but they have no reason for acting this way.

  29. Note that the line in chapter 19 that says people will return to filial piety if the notions of humanity and righteousness are abandoned seems to indicate that Lao-tzu believed that people left on their own would be good, to a degree at least, “by nature.” That filial piety is a given in human nature might have also been part of Chuang-tzu’s view. In chapter 4 of the Chuang-tzu, Confucius—here surely voicing Chuang-tzu’s own view—says, “In the world, there are two great decrees: one is fate and the other is duty. That a son should love his parents is fate—you cannot erase this from his heart. That a subject should serve his ruler is
duty—there is no place he can go and be without his ruler, no place he can escape to between heaven and earth.” (Watson, 1968, pp. 59-60.)

  30. That wealth and fame could damage one’s chances for long life is something with which later Taoists who “nourished” their lives agreed. See, for example, Hsi K’ang’s (a.D. 223-262) essays on “nourishing life” in Henricks, 1983, pp. 21-70.

  31. A. C. Graham argues that living out one’s natural years in happiness and health was a concern shared by the Taoists and the “Individualists” or “Yangists,” the followers of the philosopher Yang Chu, in ancient China (see pp. 9-17 of his article “The Background of the Mencian Theory of Human Nature” [Graham, 1986], and pp. 221-23 in Graham, 1981). But the Yangists felt this end would be achieved only by means of careful, deliberate calculation, whereas the Taoists favored spontaneity and unconcern as the means to the end.

  32. Some of the most delightful things that Chuang-tzu says are things he says about death, where he speculates on what it might be and what will follow. See what he says in chapters 2, 6, and 18 (pp. 47, 80, 83-85, and 191-92, respectively, in Watson, 1968).

  33. Translation by Burton Watson (Watson, 1968), p. 85.

  34. That is, if I turn into a bug’s arm will I “know” it and thus be aware of my new form and “enjoy” my immortality?

  35. See Ch’en, 1973.

  36. Waley, 1934, p. 162. Curiously, Waley translates these characters the other way in chapter 52, where he has, “And he who has known the sons Will hold all the tighter to the mother, and to the end of his days suffer no harm.” For more on the phrase mo-shen pu-tai, see Ch’en, 1973, pp. 231-47.