Its peace easily manages, Its presence easily plans,
Its fragility easily melts, Its timeliness easily scatters,
Acts without existing, Governs without disorder.
A tree barely embraceable grows from a fine tip.
A terrace nine layers high rises from piled earth.
A thousand mile journey begins below the feet.
Of doing we fail, Of holding on we lose.Taking this, the wise do nothing, hence never fail,
Hold nothing, hence never lose.
People in their affairs always accomplish some, yet fail.
Being as careful at the end as the beginning as a rule never fails.
Taking this, the wise person desires non desire,
And does not value difficult to obtain goods.
Learns non learning and turns around people’s excesses,
As well as assists all things naturally, and never boldly act..
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Word for Word
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Archive: Characters and past commentary
Reflections:
I found myself referring a few times to the word-for-word section of this chapter. That is rarely the case, so what is different? Overall, I suppose this speaks to the difficulty of finding a best-fit English word at times. In such cases, it really helps to consider the other English meanings associated with the particular Chinese character.
D.C. Lau’s translation makes a lot of sense right off the bat. It expresses that old Western maxim, “A stitch in time saves nine” from numerous angles.
Now here is my translation of this. It is much closer to the literal, and it is somewhat less comprehensible right off the bat:
Its peace easily manages,
Its presence easily plans,
Its fragility easily melts,
Its timeliness easily scatters,
Acts without existing,
Governs without disorder
What’s the difference between these two, other than the fact that the latter is closer to the original in regards to word count. Oddly, in fact, my translation has 22 words while the original character count is 27. (其安易持 其未兆易谋, 其脆易泮 其微易散, 为之于未有治之于未乱). Perhaps, I should have used more words… 😉
Actually, I think this is rare; I usually struggle a lot to make the English as succinct as possible. In any case, more words (explication) wouldn’t help here. Instead, let your mind play with both D.C. Lau’s translation, my translation above, and the word-for-word entry below it. Each helps bring out meaning in the other. In the end though, none are as pithy as “A stitch in time saves nine”.
- The bolded words are the principle usage, with other common meanings in parentheses.
his (its; their; they; that) peaceful (quiet; calm) easy (amiable) hold (grasp; support), his (its; their; they; that) have not (did not) sign (omen; portent, foretell) easy (amiable) stratagem (plan; work for; seek; plot; consult.) 其安易持，其未兆易谋.
his (its; their; they; that) fragile (brittle; crisp; clear > neat) easy (amiable) melt,his (its; their; they; that) minute (tiny) easy (amiable) break-up (come loose). 其脆易泮，其微易散.
do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) of in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) have not (did not) have (exist),rule (govern; order; peace; > government; control) of in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) have not (did not) in a mess (disorder; chaos). 为之于未有，治之于未乱.
Wéi Wú Wéi and Wú Wéi (为无为and 无为)
I’ve found Wú Wéi to be one of the most common clichés in Taoism. Among other things, I’ve heard it described as action-less action. That never went deep enough for me. Personally, I find it helpful to ponder wéi wú wéi (or wú wéi) as it relates to time. Human experience ‘gets lost’ in an arbitrary and imaginary sense of time. The human mind lives in a past and a future, as well as a s0-called present. The more I can ‘forget’ the past, future and present, the more my sense of “I am doing something” fades away. Then, my experience is essentially, wei wu wei.
Anyway, it appears about nine times, with its last appearance in this current chapter, which I translate as:
Of doing we fail, Of holding on we lose,
Taking this, the wise do nothing, hence never fail,
Taking this at ‘face value’ probably won’t convey the deeper meaning. One reason for this is that as a reader, we naturally bring to it our own interpretation of word meaning. In a sense, our own preconceptions, fears and needs, (bias built from life experience) blind us from the start. (See the blind spot post, John Cleese, A ‘Taoist’?)
The best way to circumvent any blind spots vis-à-vis the Tao Te Ching comes when you can ‘hold in mind’ the meaning of the entire work… all 81 chapters. Context is critical. Each chapter corroborates the other chapters. Taking one without feeling the whole can easily mislead. In fact, this corroboration principle applies to the scripture core of all religions… pretty much anyway. It helps to feel out the parallels between them all… not today though. We’ll stick with the Tao Te Ching, and even narrower, to just the chapters that reference wu wei specifically.
Ponder and compare these Wú Wéi references. I know it will enlighten more than anything I could say on the matter of Wú Wéi.
Chapter 3
Doing without doing, following without exception rules
do (act; act as; serve as) nil (without) do (act; act as; serve as), 为无为
Chapter 10
Loving the nation, can you govern the people without acting?
love (like; cherish; take good care of) country (state; nation) rule (govern; manage; peace) the people (civilian), can (ability) nothing (nil; without) do (act; act as; serve as; become; be; mean) 乎 (<part> expresses doubt or wonder)? 爱国治民，能无为乎？
Chapter 37
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
road (way, principle; speak; think) ordinary (normal; constant; often) nothing (without; not) do (act as; be, mean; support), <conj.> and (yet, but) nothing (without; not) no (not) do (act as; be, mean; support). 道常无为，而无不为。
Chapter 38
Superior virtue never acts and never believes.
upper (higher; superior) virtue (moral character; integrity; heart) nothing (without; not) do (act as; be, mean; support) <conj.> and (yet, but) nothing (without) think (believe; consider). 上德无为而无以为。
Chapter 43
Without existence entering without space between, I know non-action has the advantage.
nothing (without; not) have (exist) enter (join; be admitted into) nothing (without; not) space in between (opening; among; within a definite time or space), I (we) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) take… as (regard… as) know (realize; tell) nothing (without; regardless) ofhave (exist) benefit (profit; beneficial; increase). 无有入无间，吾是以知无为之有益。(wú yŏu rù wú jiàn, wú shì yĭ zhī wú wéi zhī yŏu yì.)
Not of words teaching, without action advantage;
no (not) speech (word; say; talk) ofteach (instruct.), nothing (without; not) do (act as; be, mean; support) ofbenefit (profit; advantage; beneficial; increase). 不言之教，无为之益
Chapter 48
Use until without doing.
use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) to (until; > extremely; most) in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) nothing (nil; without) do (act as; be, mean; support). 以至于无为
Without doing, yet not undone.
nothing (nil, without) do <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) do (act as; be, mean; support). 无为而不为。
Chapter 57
I do nothing and the people change themselves.
I (we) nothing (without; not) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) <conj.> and (yet, but) the people (civilian) self (oneself; certainly) change (turn; transform; convert; influence). 我无为而民自化
Chapter 63
Do without doing,
do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) nothing (without; not) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support), 为无为，
Chapter 64
Of doing we fail, Of holding on we lose.
Taking this, the wise do nothing, hence never fail
do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support)(者) be defeated (lose; beat; fail; decay) of,hold (manage; stick to, carry out; observe) (者) lose (miss; let slip; mistake) of. 为者败之，执者失之。(wéi zhĕ bài zhī, zhí zhĕ shī zhī.)
<grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) sage (holy; sacred) human (man; people), nothing (without; not) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) reason (cause; on purpose; hence) nothing (without; not) be defeated (lose; beat; fail; decay), 是以圣人无为故无败
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