第五十八章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 58
Fortune and misfortune turn into each other; the sage is upright without harshness.
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其政闷闷，其民淳淳；
When government is dull and quiet, the people are simple and honest;
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其政察察，其民缺缺。
when government is sharp and prying, the people are discontented.
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祸兮福之所倚，
Misfortune is what fortune leans on;
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福兮祸之所伏。
fortune is where misfortune hides.
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孰知其极？其无正。
Who knows where it ends? There is no fixed rule.
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正复为奇，善复为妖。
The upright turns again into the strange; the good turns again into the ill-omened.
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人之迷，其日固久。
People have been lost in this for a long time.
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是以圣人方而不割，
So the sage is square but does not cut,
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廉而不刿，直而不肆，
sharp-edged but does not wound, straight but not unbending,
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光而不燿。
bright but does not dazzle.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 政 | zhèng | government |
| 闷闷 | mèn mèn | dull, withdrawn |
| 民 | mín | the people |
| 淳淳 | chún chún | simple and honest |
| 察察 | chá chá | keen, scrutinizing |
| 缺缺 | quē quē | discontented, wanting |
| 祸 | huò | disaster |
| 兮 | xī | ah (particle) |
| 福 | fú | good fortune |
| 之 | zhī | that (clause particle) |
| 所 | suǒ | that which, what |
| 倚 | yǐ | to lean on |
| 伏 | fú | to lie hidden |
| 孰 | shú | who, which |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 极 | jí | utmost, extreme |
| 其 | qí | it, he, they (subject) |
| 无 | wú | not have, without, no |
| 正 | zhèng | the norm, set right |
| 复 | fù | again |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 奇 | qí | strange; surprise |
| 善 | shàn | good, goodness |
| 为 | wéi | to act, to do, to make |
| 妖 | yāo | the ominous, the uncanny |
| 人 | rén | people, others |
| 迷 | mí | lost, astray |
| 日 | rì | day, daily |
| 固 | gù | first, surely |
| 久 | jiǔ | lasting, long |
| 是以 | shì yǐ | therefore, for this reason |
| 圣人 | shèng rén | the sage |
| 方 | fāng | square |
| 而 | ér | and yet, but |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 割 | gē | to cut apart |
| 廉 | lián | sharp-edged |
| 刿 | guì | to wound |
| 直 | zhí | straight |
| 肆 | sì | unbending, overbearing |
| 光 | guāng | light, brightness |
| 燿 | yào | to dazzle |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
The government that seems the most unwise,
Oft goodness to the people best supplies;
That which is meddling, touching everything,
Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.
Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!--misery lurks beneath it! Who knows what either will come to in the end?
Shall we then dispense with correction? The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil. The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time.
Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its angles); (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). He is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 58
Chapter 58 is about how things turn into their opposites, in government and in fortune. It begins with two kinds of rule: a government that is dull and quiet keeps the people simple and honest, while one that is sharp and prying leaves them discontented.
Then the chapter widens. Misfortune is what fortune leans on, and fortune is where misfortune hides. No one knows where the turning ends, and there is no fixed rule: the upright becomes strange again, the good becomes ill-omened again, and people have long been lost in this. The idea that each state carries its opposite runs through the book, from chapter 2 to chapter 40, where returning is the movement of the Way.
The sage's answer is four balanced qualities: square but not cutting, sharp-edged but not wounding, straight but not unbending, bright but not dazzling. He has edges and light, but does not turn them on others, much as chapters 4 and 56 speak of softening the light. Line 5, 其无正, is short and has been punctuated in more than one way; the site reads it as a statement that there is no fixed standard.