第五十九章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 59
Frugality lets virtue accumulate, and accumulated virtue gives deep roots and long life.
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治人事天，莫若啬。
In governing people and serving heaven, nothing is better than frugality.
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夫唯啬，是谓早服；
Being frugal means submitting early;
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早服谓之重积德；
submitting early means accumulating virtue again and again;
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重积德则无不克，
accumulating virtue again and again, nothing cannot be overcome;
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无不克则莫知其极；
when nothing cannot be overcome, no one knows one's limits;
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莫知其极，可以有国；
when no one knows one's limits, one can hold a state;
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有国之母，可以长久；
holding the mother of the state, one can last long.
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是谓深根固柢，长生久视之道。
This is called deep roots and a firm base, the Way of long life and lasting sight.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 治 | zhì | to govern; in order |
| 人 | rén | people, others |
| 事 | shì | to serve, to work at |
| 天 | tiān | heaven |
| 莫 | mò | no one, nothing |
| 若 | ruò | like, as if |
| 啬 | sè | frugal, sparing |
| 夫唯 | fú wéi | precisely because |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 谓 | wèi | to call, to be called |
| 早 | zǎo | soon, early |
| 服 | fú | to submit, to follow |
| 之 | zhī | it, them (object) |
| 重 | chóng | again and again |
| 积 | jī | to accumulate |
| 德 | dé | virtue |
| 则 | zé | then |
| 无 | wú | not have, without, no |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 克 | kè | to overcome |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 极 | jí | utmost, extreme |
| 可 | kě | can be |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of, with |
| 有 | yǒu | to have, to possess |
| 国 | guó | the state |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 母 | mǔ | mother |
| 长 | cháng | long, long-lasting |
| 久 | jiǔ | lasting, long |
| 深 | shēn | deep, profound |
| 根 | gēn | root |
| 固 | gù | firm |
| 柢 | dǐ | taproot, base |
| 生 | shēng | to live |
| 视 | shì | to look at |
| 道 | dào | the Way |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper) service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation.
It is only by this moderation that there is effected an early return (to man's normal state). That early return is what I call the repeated accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao). With that repeated accumulation of those attributes, there comes the subjugation (of every obstacle to such return). Of this subjugation we know not what shall be the limit; and when one knows not what the limit shall be, he may be the ruler of a state.
He who possesses the mother of the state may continue long. His case is like that (of the plant) of which we say that its roots are deep and its flower stalks firm:--this is the way to secure that its enduring life shall long be seen.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 59
Chapter 59 recommends 啬 (frugality): being sparing with one's strength and resources, both in governing people and in serving heaven. The character is related to 穑, gathering in the harvest, and the chapter keeps that sense of storing up rather than spending.
The argument is a chain in which each step leads to the next. Frugality means submitting early; submitting early means accumulating virtue again and again; then nothing cannot be overcome; then no one knows one's limits, and such a person can hold a state. Holding the mother of the state, one can last long. The chapter ends with two images: deep roots and a firm base, and the Way of long life and lasting sight (长生久视).
Line 2 is read in different ways. 早服 can mean "to submit early", or, taking 服 as 复, "to return early", which is how Legge rendered it. The site follows Wang Bi, who glosses 早服 as 常: submitting early to the constant. Frugality returns as one of the three treasures in chapter 67, and the root as the place of return in chapter 16.