第五十三章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 53
The great Way is smooth, yet rulers grow rich while the fields lie waste; this is robbery, not the Way.
Text
-
使我介然有知，行于大道，
If I had the least knowledge, walking on the great Way,
-
唯施是畏。
my only fear would be to stray from it.
-
大道甚夷，而民好径。
The great Way is very smooth, yet people love side paths.
-
朝甚除，
The court is spotless,
-
田甚芜，仓甚虚；
while the fields are full of weeds and the granaries empty;
-
服文彩，
they wear embroidered robes,
-
带利剑，厌饮食，
carry sharp swords, are sated with food and drink,
-
财货有余；
and have wealth to spare:
-
是为盗夸。
this is called the boasting of robbers.
-
非道也哉！
This is not the Way!
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 使 | shǐ | to make, to cause |
| 我 | wǒ | I, me |
| 介 | jiè | slight, the least |
| 然 | rán | so, thus |
| 有 | yǒu | to have, to possess |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 行 | xíng | to walk, to move |
| 于 | yú | to, at |
| 大 | dà | great, big |
| 道 | dào | the Way |
| 唯 | wéi | only, just |
| 施 | shī | to stray (as 迤) |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 畏 | wèi | to fear, to dread |
| 甚 | shèn | very |
| 夷 | yí | smooth, level |
| 而 | ér | and yet, but |
| 民 | mín | the people |
| 好 | hào | to love, to like |
| 径 | jìng | side paths |
| 朝 | cháo | the court |
| 除 | chú | swept clean |
| 田 | tián | fields |
| 芜 | wú | overgrown with weeds |
| 仓 | cāng | granary |
| 虚 | xū | empty, to empty |
| 服 | fú | to wear |
| 文 | wén | refinement, ornament |
| 彩 | cǎi | bright colors |
| 带 | dài | to wear at the belt |
| 利剑 | lì jiàn | sharp swords |
| 厌 | yàn | sated, glutted |
| 饮食 | yǐn shí | food and drink |
| 财 | cái | wealth |
| 货 | huò | goods, valuables |
| 有余 | yǒu yú | to have plenty |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 盗 | dào | thief, robber |
| 夸 | kuā | boasting, showing off |
| 非 | fēi | is not |
| 也 | yě | final particle (assertion) |
| 哉 | zāi | exclamation particle |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
If I were suddenly to become known, and (put into a position to) conduct (a government) according to the Great Tao, what I should be most afraid of would be a boastful display.
The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the by-ways.
Their court(-yards and buildings) shall be well kept, but their fields shall be ill-cultivated, and their granaries very empty. They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth;--such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 53
Chapter 53 sets the smooth great Way against a court that grows rich while the fields lie waste, and calls such rulers robbers.
It opens in the first person: if I had the least knowledge, walking on the great Way, my only fear would be to stray from it. This line is read in two ways. Wang Bi takes 施 as acting or doing, so the fear is of meddling; the site's translation follows the reading of 施 as 迤, to go astray, proposed by later philologists such as Wang Niansun. The next line keeps the image of the road: the great Way is very smooth, yet people love side paths.
The second half is one of the most concrete social pictures in the book. The court is spotless while the fields are full of weeds and the granaries empty; those in power wear embroidered robes, carry sharp swords, are sated with food and drink and have wealth to spare. This is called 盗夸, the boasting of robbers, and the chapter ends with a rare exclamation: this is not the Way! Chapters 75 and 77 make similar charges against rulers who take too much.