第五十六章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 56
Those who know do not speak; mysterious oneness is beyond nearness and distance, gain and harm.
Text
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知者不言，言者不知。
Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
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塞其兑，闭其门，挫其锐，
Close the openings, shut the doors, blunt the sharpness,
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解其分，和其光，同其尘，
untie the tangles, soften the light, become one with the dust:
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是谓玄同。
this is called mysterious oneness.
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故不可得而亲，
So one cannot draw near to it,
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不可得而疏；
nor hold it at a distance;
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不可得而利，不可得而害；
one cannot benefit it, nor harm it;
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不可得而贵，不可得而贱。
one cannot honor it, nor debase it.
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故为天下贵。
So it is the most valued in the world.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 者 | zhě | one who, that which |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 言 | yán | words, to speak |
| 塞 | sè | to block, to close |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 兑 | duì | openings (of the senses) |
| 闭 | bì | to close, to shut |
| 门 | mén | gate |
| 挫 | cuò | to blunt |
| 锐 | ruì | sharp, to sharpen |
| 解 | jiě | to untie |
| 分 | fēn | divisions, tangles |
| 和 | hé | to soften, to blend |
| 光 | guāng | light, brightness |
| 同 | tóng | to merge with |
| 尘 | chén | dust |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 谓 | wèi | to call, to be called |
| 玄 | xuán | mystery, mysterious |
| 同 | tóng | oneness |
| 故 | gù | therefore |
| 可 | kě | can be |
| 得 | dé | to get, to obtain |
| 而 | ér | and, and then |
| 亲 | qīn | to love, to feel close to |
| 疏 | shū | distant, estranged |
| 利 | lì | to benefit; profit |
| 害 | hài | to harm |
| 贵 | guì | to value, to prize |
| 贱 | jiàn | humble, lowly |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 天下 | tiān xià | all under heaven, the world |
| 贵 | guì | noble, honored |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.
He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.'
(Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:--he is the noblest man under heaven.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 56
Chapter 56 is about a knowing that does not put itself into words, and about blending with the world instead of standing apart from it. It opens with one of the book's most quoted lines: those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
The middle lines gather phrases found elsewhere. Closing the openings and shutting the doors comes from chapter 52; blunting the sharpness, untying the tangles, softening the light and becoming one with the dust repeat the Chinese of chapter 4. Together they are called 玄同 (mysterious oneness). One who has reached it cannot be drawn near or held at a distance, benefited or harmed, honored or debased, and so it is the most valued in the world, the same closing words as chapter 62.
In line 3, Wang Bi's text writes 分, "division"; the site reads it as 纷, "tangles", the character chapter 4 has in the same phrase. The "it" of the last lines may be the person who has reached this oneness or the oneness itself; the translation leaves both open.