第七十二章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 72
Do not oppress the people; the sage knows himself without showing off.
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民不畏威，则大威至。
When the people no longer fear authority, a greater terror comes.
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无狎其所居，无厌其所生。
Do not cramp their homes; do not press down on their livelihood.
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夫唯不厌，是以不厌。
Only if you do not press down on them will they not turn against you.
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是以圣人自知不自见，
So the sage knows himself but does not show himself,
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自爱不自贵；
loves himself but does not exalt himself.
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故去彼取此。
So he lets go of that and takes up this.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 民 | mín | the people |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 畏 | wèi | to fear, to dread |
| 威 | wēi | authority, terror |
| 则 | zé | then |
| 大 | dà | great, big |
| 至 | zhì | to arrive at |
| 无 | wú | do not |
| 狎 | xiá | to cramp, to encroach on |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 所 | suǒ | that which, what |
| 居 | jū | to dwell (in), claim |
| 厌 | yā | to press down on |
| 生 | shēng | to live |
| 夫唯 | fú wéi | precisely because |
| 是以 | shì yǐ | therefore, for this reason |
| 厌 | yàn | to tire of |
| 圣人 | shèng rén | the sage |
| 自 | zì | oneself, by oneself |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 见 | xiàn | to display, show |
| 爱 | ài | to love, care for |
| 贵 | guì | to value, to prize |
| 故 | gù | therefore |
| 去 | qù | to leave, go away |
| 彼 | bǐ | that, the other |
| 取 | qǔ | to take, to seize |
| 此 | cǐ | this, these |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, that which is their great dread will come on them.
Let them not thoughtlessly indulge themselves in their ordinary life; let them not act as if weary of what that life depends on.
It is by avoiding such indulgence that such weariness does not arise.
Therefore the sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not parade (his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value on, himself. And thus he puts the latter alternative away and makes choice of the former.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 72
Chapter 72 warns those who rule not to press down on the people. When the people no longer fear authority, a greater terror arrives, whether that is revolt or disaster. So do not cramp their homes, and do not press down on their livelihood.
Lines 2 and 3 are among the hard ones. 狎 is read as 狭, "to cramp", and 厌 is read in two ways: in its first two uses as yā, "to press down", and in its last as yàn, "to tire of". The house translation follows this: only if you do not press down on them will they not turn against you. The chapter's pinyin marks the two readings, and other readings exist.
The sage, by contrast, knows himself but does not show himself, loves himself but does not exalt himself. Not showing oneself is praised in chapters 22 and 24. The closing line, "he lets go of that and takes up this", is a formula that also ends chapters 12 and 38.