道德經

Tao Te Ching 37 · 37

Governing

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道常無為而無不為。侯王若能守,萬物將自化。化而欲作,吾將鎭之以無名之樸。無名之樸,亦將不欲。不欲以靜,天下將自定。

The Way always does nothing, yet there is nothing it does not do. If lords and kings can hold to it, the ten thousand things will transform of themselves. As they transform, if desire stirs, I will settle them with the uncarved block without a name. With the uncarved block without a name, they too will have no desire. With no desire, and with stillness, the world will settle of itself.

Word by word

道dàoThe Way常chángalways無為wú wéidoes nothing而éryet無wúthere is nothingit不bùdoes not為wéido。侯王hóu wánglords and kings若ruòIf能néngcan守shǒuhold toit,萬物wàn wùthe ten thousand things將jiāngwill自zìof themselves化huàtransform。As they化huàtransform而érif欲yùdesire作zuòstirs,吾wúI將jiāngwill鎭zhènsettle之zhīthem以yǐwith無wúwithout名mínga name之zhī(of)樸pǔthe uncarved block。無wúwithout名mínga name之zhī(of)With樸pǔthe uncarved block,they亦yìtoo將jiāngwillhave不bùno欲yùdesire。With不bùno欲yùdesireand以yǐwith靜jìngstillness,天下tiān xiàthe world將jiāngwill自zìof itself定dìngsettle。,。,。,,。,。,,。

The setting

The book's most famous line, the Way does nothing yet nothing is left undone, applied here directly to how a ruler should act.

A note on this passage

The line 無為而無不為 uses 為 twice and flips it with a negative: no doing, and so nothing undone. The uncarved block is the plain, unworked state of things, and it is what quiets desire.

This chapter closes the Dao half of the book, and it ends where much of the book points, at a world that settles when no one forces it.

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Tao Te Ching 37 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/tao/37/