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Book of Way and Might
Tao Te Ching
by Laozi
道德经
老子
Translated by Tõnn Sarv
Edited by Erik Wyatt
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any
mechanical, photographic or electronic process or in the form of
phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use – other
than for ‘fair use’ as brief quotations embodied in articles and
reviews – without prior written permission of the author.
© Tõnn Sarv 2020

ISBN 978-9916-4-0114-9 (epub)

道德经
老子
2
第–章
道可道，非恆道；
名可名，非恆名。
無名天地之始；
有名萬物之母。
恆無，欲也，以觀其妙；
恆有，欲也，以觀其徼。
此兩者同出而異名，
同謂之玄。
玄之又玄，眾妙之門。
3
1
The walkable way goes nowhere.
The spoken name names nothing.
The beginning has no name,
naming creates everything.
Without desire, you see deep;
desiring, you see shallow.
It's one and the same,
naming makes the difference.
Together they go deep.
The depth opens to an abyss.
4
第二章
天下皆知美之爲美，斯惡已；
皆知善之爲善，斯不善已。
有無相生，
難易相成，
長短相形，
高下相傾，
音聲相和，
前後相隨。
聖人處無爲之事，行不言之敎，
萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有。
爲而不恃，
功成而弗居。
夫唯弗居，
是以不去。
5
2
Everyone knows beauty, hence ugliness.
Everyone knows good, hence bad.
If not one, then the other.
Heavy weighs light,
long measures short,
up holds down,
noise creates tones,
back follows front.
Therefore, do without doing,
teach without words, create without excuses.
What's born, is not yours,
and can't be relied on.
When finished, don't stop.
Keep moving. Carry on.
6
第三章
不尙賢，
使民不爭。
不貴難得之貨，
使民不爲盜。
不見可欲，
使民心不亂。
是以聖人之治，
虛其心，實其腹，
弱其志，強其骨。
常使民無知無欲，
使夫智者不敢為也。
為無為，則無不治。
7
3
Why career,
– only for rivalry.
Why wealth,
– only for theft.
Why desires,
– only for unrest.
To rule,
keep minds empty, stomachs full,
wishes weak, bones strong.
Nothing to understand nor wish for.
Who understands, does nothing.
Act without acting, and nothing remains undone.
8
第四章
道沖，而用之或不盈。
淵兮，似萬物之宗。
挫其銳，
解其紛，
和其光，
同其塵。
湛兮，似或存。
吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。
9
4
The way is empty, yet still abundant.
All comes from depth.
Sharpness blunts,
fetters unravel,
brightness dulls,
dust remains.
I don't know where it came from.
Even God doesn't know.
10
第五章
天地不仁，
以萬物為芻狗；
聖人不仁，
以百姓為芻狗。
天地之閒其猶橐籥乎？
虛而不屈，
動而愈出。