第十章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 10
Questions for self-cultivation and government, ending in mysterious virtue: give life without possessing, lead without dominating.
Text
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载营魄抱一，
Manage to unite your soul and body,
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能无离乎？
Can they avoid separation?
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专气致柔，
Make your breathing soft,
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能婴儿乎？
Can that make you a newborn child?
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涤除玄览，
Cleanse your dark thoughts,
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能无疵乎？
Can it make you flawless?
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爱民治国，
Love people and govern your country,
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能无知乎？
Can you avoid over-manipulation?
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天门开阖，
As the mysterious gate opens and closes,
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能无雌乎？
Can you be impassive?
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明白四达，
As your understanding reaches everywhere,
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能无为乎？
Can you refrain from striving?
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生之、畜之，
Create it, foster it,
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生而不有，
Live without possessing,
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为而不恃，
Act without expecting,
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长而不宰，
Lead without domineering,
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是谓玄德。
This is called the mysterious virtue.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 载 | zài | to carry, to keep |
| 营魄 | yíng pò | the soul, spirit and body |
| 抱 | bào | to embrace |
| 一 | yī | the One |
| 能 | néng | can, to be able |
| 无 | wú | not have, without, no |
| 离 | lí | to separate |
| 乎 | hū | question particle |
| 专 | zhuān | to concentrate |
| 气 | qì | breath, vital energy |
| 致 | zhì | to reach, attain |
| 柔 | róu | soft, supple |
| 婴儿 | yīng ér | the infant |
| 涤除 | dí chú | to wash clean |
| 玄 | xuán | mystery, mysterious |
| 览 | lǎn | vision; a mirror |
| 疵 | cī | flaw, blemish |
| 爱 | ài | to love, care for |
| 民 | mín | the people |
| 治 | zhì | to govern; in order |
| 国 | guó | the state |
| 无知 | wú zhī | without knowing, without cunning |
| 天门 | tiān mén | the gate of heaven |
| 开 | kāi | to open |
| 阖 | hé | to close |
| 雌 | cí | female, yielding |
| 明白 | míng bái | bright and clear |
| 四 | sì | four, every direction |
| 达 | dá | to reach everywhere |
| 无为 | wú wéi | non-action |
| 生 | shēng | to produce, give life, arise |
| 之 | zhī | it, them (object) |
| 畜 | xù | to nurture |
| 而 | ér | and yet, but |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 有 | yǒu | to have, to possess |
| 为 | wéi | to act, to do, to make |
| 恃 | shì | to rely on, presume on |
| 长 | zhǎng | to rear, to lead |
| 宰 | zǎi | to rule, dominate |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 谓 | wèi | to call, to be called |
| 德 | dé | virtue |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.
In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed without any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his gates of heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his intelligence reaches in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be without knowledge?
(The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them. This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 10
Chapter 10 is a series of six questions, each asking whether one can do something hard: hold body and soul together in embracing 一 (the One) without letting them part; concentrate the breath until it is as soft as a newborn's; cleanse the inner vision until it has no flaw; love the people and govern the state without cunning; stay like the female as the gate of heaven opens and closes; see clearly in every direction and still not act.
The questions move from the person to the state and back, as if self-cultivation and government were one practice. The closing lines describe 玄德 (mysterious virtue): giving life without possessing, acting without expectations, leading without dominating.
Several lines are hard. 营魄 is read, after Heshang Gong, as the two souls of a person. In line 10 the recited text says 能无雌乎, "can you be without the female?", but Wang Bi's own text, like the silk manuscripts and Heshang Gong, has 能为雌乎, "can you be the female?", which his comment explains as responding without leading; this site follows him. The closing lines repeat chapter 2, and the newborn returns in chapter 55.