第七章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 7
Heaven and earth last because they do not live for themselves; the sage puts himself last and finds himself first.
Text
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天长地久。
The cosmos is infinite and timeless.
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天地所以能长且久者，
It is because the cosmos can both be infinite and timeless,
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以其不自生，
That it did not foster itself.
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故能长生。
Thus it can be infinite.
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是以圣人后其身而身先，
The sage puts himself last, and thus is first,
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外其身而身存。
He detaches himself, and thus is united.
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非以其无私邪？
Is he not selfless?
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故能成其私。
This is precisely the cause of his fulfillment.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 天 | tiān | heaven |
| 长 | cháng | long, long-lasting |
| 地 | dì | earth, ground |
| 久 | jiǔ | lasting, long |
| 天地 | tiān dì | heaven and earth |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | the reason why |
| 能 | néng | can, to be able |
| 且 | qiě | and also |
| 者 | zhě | one who, that which |
| 以 | yǐ | because, by |
| 其 | qí | it, he, they (subject) |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 自 | zì | oneself, by oneself |
| 生 | shēng | to live |
| 故 | gù | therefore |
| 是以 | shì yǐ | therefore, for this reason |
| 圣人 | shèng rén | the sage |
| 后 | hòu | to put behind |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 身 | shēn | oneself, the person |
| 而 | ér | and yet, but |
| 先 | xiān | before, ahead |
| 外 | wài | to put outside, disregard |
| 存 | cún | to exist, endure |
| 非 | fēi | is not |
| 无 | wú | not have, without, no |
| 私 | sī | self, private ends |
| 邪 | yé | question particle |
| 成 | chéng | to complete, accomplish |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure.
Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 7
Chapter 7 draws a lesson for the sage from the long life of heaven and earth. They last because they do not live for themselves (不自生). Wang Bi explains that what lives for itself competes with other things, while what does not live for itself is something all things come back to.
The sage does the same. He puts himself last and finds himself in front; he keeps himself outside and is preserved. The chapter ends with a question that is also an answer: is it not because he has no self-interest that he can fulfill himself?
The ending can sound like a calculation, as if selflessness were only a clever means to gain. The text does not settle this, and readers differ: the paradox is stated, not resolved. Putting oneself last returns in chapter 66, where the sage stays behind the people in order to lead them, and the wholeness of one who does not push himself forward in chapter 22.