Translation
Of ancients adept in the way, none ever use it to enlighten people,
They will use it in order to fool them.
People are difficult to govern because they are too intelligent.
Therefore, using intelligence to govern the country injures the country.
Not using intelligence to govern the country blesses the country.
Know these both and investigate their patterns.
Always investigate the patterns.
That is called profound moral character.
Moral character, profound indeed, distant indeed!
To the outside world, contrary indeed.
Then, and only then, reaching great conformity.
1) ancient (age-old) of good (satisfactory; be adept in) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) road (way, principle; speak; think) (者), wrong (not conform to <infrml> must) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) bright (light; clear; open; honest; understand) the people (civilian), 古之善为道者，非以明民，(gŭ zhī shàn wéi dào zhĕ, fēi yĭ míng mín,)
2) support (bring; handle, will> lead, command) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) foolish (stupid; make a fool of; fool) of. 将以愚之。(jiāng yĭ yú zhī.)
3) the people (civilian) of difficult (hard; troublesome) rule (govern; order; peace; > government; control), use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) his (its; their; they; that) wisdom (intelligence, resourcefulness; wit) much (more; too many; excessive). 民之难治，以其智多。(mín zhī nán zhì, yĭ qí zhì duō.)
4) reason (cause; on purpose; hence) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) wisdom (intelligence, resourcefulness; wit) rule (govern; order; peace; > government; control) country, country of injure (harm; murder> thief; sly; deceitful). 故以智治国，国之贼。(gù yĭ zhì zhì guó, guó zhī zéi.)
5) no (not) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) wisdom (intelligence, resourcefulness; wit) rule (govern; order; peace; > government; control) country, country of good fortune (happiness). 不以智治国，国之福。(bù yĭ zhì zhì guó, guó zhī fú.)
6) know (realize; tell) this two (both; either; some) (者), also (too) check (examine; investigate; procrastinate) type (style, pattern). 知此两者，亦稽式。(zhī cĭ liăng zhĕ, yì jī shì.)
7) ordinary (normal; constant; often) know (realize; tell) check (examine; investigate; procrastinate) type (style, pattern), 常知稽式，(cháng zhī jī shì,)
8) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) black (dark; profound) virtue (moral character; heart). 是谓玄德。(shì wèi xuán dé.)
9) black (dark; profound) virtue (moral character; heart) deep (difficult; profound; intimate; dark) already (indeed; really; how), far (distant; remote) already (indeed; really; how) give (get along with <conj.> and) matter (affair; thing; responsibility) turn over (in an opposite direction; in reverse; inside out) already (indeed; really; how). 玄德深矣、远矣！与物反矣。(xuán dé shēn yĭ, yuăn yĭ, yú wù făn yĭ.)
10) <adv.> then (after that; afterwards) be (therefore, only then, your) to (until; > extremely; most) big (large; great; major) in the same direction as (with; along; arrange; suitable; in sequence). 然后乃至大顺。(rán hòu năi zhì dà shun.)
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Reflections:
Of ancients adept in the way, none ever use it to enlighten people,
They will use it in order to fool them.
These first two lines have long fascinated me, and they tie in with the first line in chapter 56, in my view: Knower not speak; speaker not know. It wouldn’t hurt to consider the word-for-word run-down here.
ancient (age-old) of good (satisfactory; be adept in) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) road (way, principle; speak; think) (者), wrong (not conform to <infrml> must) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) bright (light; clear; open; honest; understand) the people (civilian), [ 古之善为道者，非以明民 ]
support (bring; handle, will> lead, command) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) foolish (stupid; make a fool of; fool) of. [ 将以愚之 ]
When considering the first word, ancient (age-old), I wondered what would qualify. This may often be translated/interpreted to mean a person, a sage, an ‘enlightened one’. Heretic that I am, that doesn’t cut it for me. To me, only Mother Nature truly fits the bill; ‘she’ is ancient, age-old. However, that doesn’t exclude sages and the like… it just places them lower on the totem pole.
The Bio-Hoodwink
I believe these first lines brought me to the idea of the bio-hoodwink. At that time, I was still referencing D.C. Lau’s translation. He translated these two lines of chapter 65 as Of old those who excelled in the pursuit of the way did not use it to enlighten the people but to hoodwink them. Of ancients adept in the way, he put as “Of old those who excelled in the pursuit of the way”. Phrasing it that way, makes it easier to read “those who” as meaning people primarily (sages and the like). Considering the more literal eliminates that bias, and allows me to consider this in a primordial context… biology! For more on this angle, see How the Hoodwink Hooks.
I can see various ways in which this can apply to people as well. However, the question here is, are the people doing the hoodwinking aware that they are doing so. I suspect not. The hoodwinkers are themselves hoodwinked by their own biology. On the other hand, consider the example of the Christmas story. Adults know there is no Santa Claus, but ‘hoodwink’ children by maintaining the myth. When the time comes, kids see through the myth; no harm done.
Karma
Another example might be the myth of Karma. The most literal form has us living our lives, dying and being reborn into another life form consequent on the life we previously lived. If that makes one feel a sense of security, whose to say otherwise. On the other hand, a Taoist version of Karma must conform to chapter 1’s disclaimer, The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way. The name possible to express runs counter to the constant name.
I can think of versions of Karma that, in their murkiness, can align better with the constant. For example, the viewpoint that we are all composed of stardust, the existence of which continues after our body dies. Or, the idea that consciousness is universal and continues in the presence of the present. This is similar to chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita: “Invisible before birth are all beings and after death invisible again. They are seen between two unseens. Why in this truth find sorrow?” These views of Karma pertain to the ‘light of consciousness’ behind ‘self’, so to speak, which shines in all things existent and not about the illusion of self (ego) of which we are conscious. That is simply the bio-hoodwink doing its thing; as Buddha pointed out, “…the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things“.
Intelligence vs. Wisdom
The Line, Not using intelligence to govern the country blesses the country, was confusing to some in the last meeting. Looking at the word-for-word section made it even more so. First, consider the word-for-word for this line.
no (not) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) wisdom (intelligence, resourcefulness; wit) rule (govern; order; peace; > government; control) country, country of good fortune (happiness). 不以智治国，国之福。
This illustrates the central problem with word meaning. Much of our own personal experience combines to anchor meaning, which can make word meaning exceedingly subjective. That’s not a problem in practical matters, where in we refer to concrete objects and events. Wisdom, intelligence, resourcefulness, and wit are another matter; they are qualitative, with much of their meaning biased by personal preferences and experience.
What seems wise and intelligent to one can seem foolish and stupid to another. I’d say that is a good reason for the advice given here. Be extremely leery of what we think of as being intelligent and wise, and avoid using those shifting sands on which to base our approach to life. As chapter 19 says, Cut off the sage, discard wisdom, And the people benefit hundred fold.
Investigate the Patterns
If we can’t rely on wisdom and intelligence to guide us, pray heaven what do we do? Profound moral character is the lock, and investigating the patterns is the key to that lock. The only way to open up one’s profound moral character is by investigating the patterns that recur in one’s own life. This is not a static wisdom; it is an ever growing and maturing wisdom. Buddha’s call to avoid taking anything on hearsay, but rather examine one’s own experience to verify truth parallels this idea.
Always investigate the patterns.
That is called profound moral character.
ordinary (normal; constant; often) know (realize; tell) check (examine; investigate; procrastinate) type (style, pattern), 常知稽式，(cháng zhī jī shì,)
<grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) black (dark; profound) virtue (moral character; integrity; heart). 是谓玄德。(Â)
Moral character, profound indeed, distant indeed!
To the outside world, contrary indeed.
Then, and only then, reaching great conformity.
I leave these last three lines alone, only to say how pregnant with meaning they are… but perhaps not to the ‘outside world’. 😉
Correlations: A Way to Investigate the Patterns
If you wish to investigate the patterns, try your hand at Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations. Chapter four suggests we Subdue its sharpness, separate its confusion. The correlation process aims to subdue the sharpness of word meaning. Subduing the sharpness of any distinction comes through actively looking out for profound sameness. Chapter 56 speaks to the connection between subdue its sharpness and profound sameness:
For this reason,
Unobtainable and intimate,
Unobtainable and distant
Unobtainable and favorable
Unobtainable and fearful
Unobtainable and noble
Unobtainable and humble
For this reason all under heaven value it.
It appears this correlations process is not that inviting. Not doing the process with sufficient rigor turns out to be mind-numbing drudgery. On the other hand, doing the process rigorously challenges one’s deeply held biases. As a rule, we seek support for our fondly held biases, not an existential test of them.
Oh well, so much for correlations! Still, if you’re interested, here are two posts on the subject Grinding Out Correlations, and its follow-up Correlation’s ‘Prime Directive’.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
(1) Line 6 begins unnecessarily with “Knowing”; why not do the simpler “Know”. Okay I will.
(2) I always attempt to keep the word order the same as the original, which makes it read a little odd at times. I suppose adding more comas would helps. So, for Profound moral character deeply penetrating I thought to add a comma… Profound moral character(,) deeply penetrating.
Not willing to leave well enough alone, I revisited the original, 玄德深矣、远矣！与物反矣。然后乃至大顺。Nuts! I discovered that I had skipped over something useful. I don’t know why other that this project fries my brain at times. A more direct and complete translation of the last two lines of this chapter would read:
Moral character, profound indeed, distant indeed!
To the outside world contrary indeed.
Then, and even, in the same direction.
Profound moral character is truly contrary to the outside world, and yet even then both end up in the same direction. Riddled with such paradox (Straight and honest words seem inside out), Taoism never gets boring, that’s for sure. The literal and even in the last line is actually a dual character formation—a two characters combination to pinpoint meaning. Separately, the characters are: nǎi (乃) be; so; therefore; only then; you; and zhì (至) to; until; <formal> extremely; most. I feel they convey more meaning separately than together, especially when interpreting zhì (至) to mean reaching. Altogether this gives:
Moral character, profound indeed, distant indeed!
To the outside world contrary indeed.
Then and only then, reaching great conformity.
Another ‘little’ detail cropped up here in ‘To the outside world…’ To comes from Yǔ (与) which also means give; offer; grant; get along with; take part in; be on good terms with; help; support; <prep> to; with <conj.> and; together with. While I chose To the outside world… , most any other of these meanings would work. This goes to show how fluid word meaning truly is, and why Taoism holds names and words in such low esteem—low esteem due to the unwarranted certainty we assign them. We desperately seek nail down, with names and words, that which is broad, fluid and interconnected in non locality.We (I) can’t help it. At least we have a partial antidote: the Taoist point of view.
I am also very fond of how D.C. Lau put these last lines:
However, “When things turn back it turns back with them” is not exactly what I see in the Chinese. Mysterious virtue is contrary to the external world… and yet. That is why I choose Deeply penetrating to describe the moral character necessary to reach great conformity, i.e., that it encompasses both side of the coin—the mysterious and the external world. Still, maybe I’m just nitpicking!
Well as usual, more than word order was at issue here.
(3) Another sticky point occurs earlier in line 3 and 4. D.C. Lau puts line 3 as, The reason why the people are difficult to govern is that they are too clever. The Chinese is a little more fuzzy. The word in question here is zhì (智) which translates as, wisdom; resourcefulness; wit. Wisdom is the odd man out here.
Consider these dua-words (i.e., Chinese words that come in pairs to help pinpoint meaning). Notice the position of zhì (智 – wisdom; resourcefulness; wit) in each. Zhìshù (智术) is trickery; stratagem. Míngzhì (明智) is sensible; sagacious; wise. The other character is 术 and 明 respectively. Shù 术 means skill; technique; method; tactics. Míng 明 means bright, clear, open, explicit, honest, understand, know, and is the word translated in line one as enlighten.
D.C. Lau’s word clever may not portray the point well. Clever, in Chinese, is lì 俐. Look closely and you’ll see this character is composed of two radicals (distinct ‘sub characters’). The one on the left side (亻) means man, person. On the right is lì (利) which means, sharp; favorable; advantage; profit; interest.
Whew, I’m going a very long way to say, cleverness is not the problem we face. Animals are clever! The uniquely human qualities of intelligence, wit, resourcefulness (智) are what get us into trouble.
That zhì (智) is translated as wisdom is false (perhaps understandably so). Wisdom, in my view, depicts a much deeper sense of life. Wisdom is the perspective that sees beyond one’s immediate needs and fears. Animals possess such wisdom as well. It is that with which a life of living leaves each creature. How much depend upon circumstance and what it brings to the table genetically. One doesn’t choose to be wise; one can’t teach others wisdom. Only the life one lives can do that.
By the way, the Chinese word, often used in the Tao Te Ching, is shèngrén (圣人) which means wise man / person. Shèng (圣) means holy, pure, sage, saint. All in all, I have to say this just shows the vague sense culture may generally have about what wisdom is. By the time you start accumulating it, you are on your way out. We learn language in our youth when experience can’t inform the deeper meaning of a word like wisdom. Even later, wisdom only receives lip service, generally. Intelligence, wit, and resourcefulness are the trophies cultures seek. (However, as the mean age of the population ages that will change.)
Commentary:
I imagine the Issues section above contains enough commentary for one day. I also imagine this is much more than anyone want to read/here. Oh well…
This has always been a favorite chapter of mine. It took me a while to appreciate, Of ancients adept in the way, none ever use it to enlighten people, They will use it in order to fool them. It always seemed so contrary to mainstream ideals. I mean, isn’t enlightening people the whole trust of civilization from religion on down? This view only really fell into place after I finally realized that we can only truly understand what we already know. Like I said, it takes a lifetime. Alas, I expect reaching great conformity takes more than a lifetime. So I had better get busy!
Finally, just a few words on the idea of always investigate the patterns. I doing this by regarding everything I see as being an emergent property of something more indistinct and shadowy. It helps me tie the loose ends of apparent chaos together. If you don’t require the ‘ties’ to be clearly labeled, then always investigate the patterns works really well.
Suggested Revision:
Of ancients adept in the way, none ever use it to enlighten people,
They will use it in order to fool them.
People are difficult to govern because they are too intelligent.
Therefore, using intelligence to govern the country injures the country.
Not using intelligence to govern the country blesses the country.
Know these both and investigate their patterns.
Always investigate the patterns.
That is called profound moral character(.)
Moral character, profound indeed, distant indeed!
To the outside world, contrary indeed.
Then, and only then, reaching great conformity.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
Nothing is more ‘of old and excels in pursuit of the way‘ than nature. That nature hoodwinks living creatures to bring about instinctive interaction has become utterly obvious to me now. I first realized nature was tricking me when I began examining my irrational, lustful, attraction to women. Or course, I knew about this intellectually ever since biology class in high school. But this went deeper.
The difference here was the dawning of a visceral intuitive sense of these natural forces acting on me. It was quite liberating to see the puppeteer pulling the strings! Curiously it took another few decades to truly appreciate how extensive this hoodwink really is. Truth be told, I am still in awe. Why did it take so long?
Wishful thinking blinded me for decades. I cherished the illusion that I could be the masters of my fate. Civilization and education shielded me from the harsh wild side of Mother Nature, which still further convinced me that I could outwit her. Simply put, my story was what I wanted to hear.
We’ve all heard the brain-wash talking point: “Animals merely respond through blind instinct; we can intelligently rise above instinct”. Alas, we are intoxicated by our own cleverness, believing we can get away with “murder” without consequences. Our excessive intelligence makes us a difficult species for nature to govern. We are like spoiled children, and like them, are not happier for it either.
And like children, circumstances bring us to maturity. Maturity affords us enough self honesty to begin to see underlying patterns. The issues of life: battles, arguments, attraction and aversion, gain and loss, worries, etc., all have their individual ‘color’. Knowing the model that underpins these seemingly disparate events offers us a way to deal with a thing while it is still nothing by downplaying the ‘color’.
Noticing underlying patterns — the common denominator — is another way of describing mysterious sameness. Knowing and investigate the pattern, the constant, that connects life’s disparate issues is called profound moral character given that it becomes less possible to deceive one’s self through self-rationalization / justification. How do we know mysterious sameness when we see it? That’s simple: impartiality increases and hypocrisy drops off.
Alas, nature hoodwinks us into seeing sameness as boring and differences as interesting and exciting. It is easier and more fun to know one side of the coin (or the other). Knowing these both and investigate their patterns as a whole is not. Indeed, history is replete with folks passionately aligning themselves to one side or the another. Nothing ever changes; it just goes round and round. On the other hand, the more one sees the whole, the more complete conformity becomes the only way.
Reaching great conformity is also another way of saying to follow the way and the way only. Conformity to each moment as it happens is difficult for we tend to project (think) our fears and needs ahead to the next moment. We struggle to control and lead life, rather than follow life. Imagined fear drives us to over protect ourselves from that which will not happen, and ironically, distract us from dangers ever present.