第四十五章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 45
The greatest qualities look like their defects, and stillness sets the world right.
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大成若缺，其用不弊。
Great completion seems lacking, yet its use never wears out.
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大盈若冲，其用不穷。
Great fullness seems empty, yet its use is never exhausted.
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大直若屈，
Great straightness seems bent,
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其用不居。
yet its use does not stay still.
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大巧若拙，其用不辍。
Great skill seems clumsy, yet its use never stops.
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大辩若讷，
Great eloquence seems to stammer,
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其用不差。
yet its use does not err.
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躁胜寒，静胜热。
Movement overcomes cold; stillness overcomes heat.
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清静为天下正。
Clear and still, one sets the world right.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大 | dà | great, big |
| 成 | chéng | to complete, accomplish |
| 若 | ruò | like, as if |
| 缺 | quē | lacking, incomplete |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 用 | yòng | to use |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 弊 | bì | to wear out |
| 盈 | yíng | full, to fill |
| 冲 | chōng | empty, like a vessel |
| 穷 | qióng | at an end, exhausted |
| 直 | zhí | straight |
| 屈 | qū | bent |
| 居 | jū | to dwell (in), claim |
| 巧 | qiǎo | cleverness, skill |
| 拙 | zhuō | clumsy |
| 辍 | chuò | to cease, to break off |
| 辩 | biàn | eloquence; to argue |
| 讷 | nè | to stammer |
| 差 | chā | to err, to miss |
| 躁 | zào | restlessness |
| 胜 | shèng | to overcome; victory |
| 寒 | hán | cold |
| 静 | jìng | stillness, still |
| 热 | rè | heat |
| 清 | qīng | clear |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 天下 | tiān xià | all under heaven, the world |
| 正 | zhèng | the norm, set right |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
Who thinks his great achievements poor
Shall find his vigour long endure.
Of greatest fulness, deemed a void,
Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.
Do thou what's straight still crooked deem;
Thy greatest art still stupid seem,
And eloquence a stammering scream.
Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 45
Chapter 45 continues the paradoxes of chapter 41: the greatest qualities look like their defects, yet they never fail in use.
Each line pairs a quality with its seeming flaw. Great completion seems lacking, great fullness seems empty, great straightness seems bent, great skill seems clumsy, great eloquence seems to stammer, and each time the use (用) of the quality holds good. The recitation on this site includes three phrases, 其用不居, 其用不辍 and 其用不差, that the Wang Bi text this site follows also has, but the silk manuscripts, Heshang Gong and most other editions do not, so the last three qualities here also receive a line on their use. Great fullness that seems empty recalls the empty vessel of chapter 4.
The last lines are harder. Movement overcomes cold and stillness overcomes heat, as a body warms by moving and cools by resting. Some modern editors rearrange the words so that stillness overcomes agitation; the site keeps the received order. The chapter ends on stillness: clear and still (清静), one sets the world right, as in chapter 37 the world settles of itself.