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Dao De Jing, chapter 29
Tuesday, 18 February 2025 09:19If someone desires to conquer the world and acts upon this,
I see already he won’t succeed.
The world is a sacred thing and cannot be [such an] actor’s;
He who acts [upon this] fails at it, he who grasps loses hold of it.
Hence, things sometimes lead, sometimes follow,
Sometimes puff lightly, sometimes pant heavy,
Sometimes strengthen, sometimes weaken,
Sometimes grind down, sometimes ruin.[29-1]
Because of this, the sage gets rid of excess, gets rid of extravagance, gets rid of majesty[29-2].
[29-1] Other texts have for these three lines “Sometimes are restless, sometimes sit still, / Sometimes increase, sometimes shrink” and “Sometimes brighten, sometimes [character lost] / [line lost] / Sometimes weaken, sometimes destroy.”
[29-2] Other texts have “get rid of greatness, get rid of it all.”
将欲取天下而为之，
吾见其不得已。
天下神器，不可为也，
为者败之，执者失之。
故物或行或随；
或歔或吹；
或强或羸；
或挫或隳。
是以圣人去甚，去奢，去泰。
“World” here translates 天下, literally “[all] under heaven,” which colloquially could also mean “the kingdom.” “Things” is the same 物 as in the phrase ten-thousand things (ch.1) and creatures (ch.27), and I’m tempted to switch to “creatures” here. The structure of ‘contrast, gradation, contrast, gradation’ is really interesting, and I hope to see more of it.
---L.
I see already he won’t succeed.
The world is a sacred thing and cannot be [such an] actor’s;
He who acts [upon this] fails at it, he who grasps loses hold of it.
Hence, things sometimes lead, sometimes follow,
Sometimes puff lightly, sometimes pant heavy,
Sometimes strengthen, sometimes weaken,
Sometimes grind down, sometimes ruin.[29-1]
Because of this, the sage gets rid of excess, gets rid of extravagance, gets rid of majesty[29-2].
[29-1] Other texts have for these three lines “Sometimes are restless, sometimes sit still, / Sometimes increase, sometimes shrink” and “Sometimes brighten, sometimes [character lost] / [line lost] / Sometimes weaken, sometimes destroy.”
[29-2] Other texts have “get rid of greatness, get rid of it all.”
将欲取天下而为之，
吾见其不得已。
天下神器，不可为也，
为者败之，执者失之。
故物或行或随；
或歔或吹；
或强或羸；
或挫或隳。
是以圣人去甚，去奢，去泰。
“World” here translates 天下, literally “[all] under heaven,” which colloquially could also mean “the kingdom.” “Things” is the same 物 as in the phrase ten-thousand things (ch.1) and creatures (ch.27), and I’m tempted to switch to “creatures” here. The structure of ‘contrast, gradation, contrast, gradation’ is really interesting, and I hope to see more of it.
---L.