Classical grammar words in the Dao De Jing
若 ruò
In the Dao De Jing, 若 (ruò) nearly always means “like”, “as if” or “seems” (39 times), 4 times “if”, and twice, in chapter 13, “then”.
若 compares one thing to another: 上善若水, “The highest good is like water.” Chapters 41 and 45 string it into paradoxes, where it means “seems”: 大巧若拙, great skill seems clumsy. At the head of a clause it can also mean “if”.
Modern Chinese says 像 or 好像 for the first and 如果 for the second; 若 lives on in formal words such as 倘若, “if”, and 若干, “a certain number”.
若 as “like, as if”
Pattern A 若 B
Here 若 is a verb of likeness: “is like”, “as if”, “seems”. The thing comes before it and what it resembles after it, a noun or a whole description: 上善若水, “The highest good is like water.” (chapter 8). In chapter 45 the likeness is only on the surface: 大巧若拙, “great skill seems clumsy,”. With 莫 it means “nothing is as good as”: 莫若啬, “nothing is better than frugality” (chapter 59).
39 times in 34 lines.
绵绵若存，
It infinitely seems to exist,
Chapter 6, line 5上善若水。
The highest good is like water.
Chapter 8, line 1宠辱若惊，
Favor and disgrace are alike alarming,
Chapter 13, line 1贵大患若身。
value great trouble as your own self.
Chapter 13, line 2何谓宠辱若惊？
What do I mean by "Favor and disgrace are alike alarming"?
Chapter 13, line 3宠为下，得之若惊，
Favor is lowly: gaining it is alarming,
Chapter 13, line 4
Show 28 more lines
失之若惊，
and so is losing it,
Chapter 13, line 5是谓宠辱若惊。
thus, I say "Favor and disgrace are alike alarming".
Chapter 13, line 6何谓贵大患若身？
What do I mean by "Value great trouble as your own self"?
Chapter 13, line 7豫兮若冬涉川，
Apprehend it akin to wade across a river in the winter.
Chapter 15, line 3犹兮若畏四邻，
Just like one afraid of his neighbors on all sides.
Chapter 15, line 4俨兮其若容，
Respectful, toward its outer appearance.
Chapter 15, line 5涣兮若冰之将释，
Like ice, ever melting away before revealing itself.
Chapter 15, line 6敦兮其若朴，
Considerate toward its simplicity.
Chapter 15, line 7旷兮其若谷，混兮其若浊。
Open, like a valley. Obscure, like muddy water.
Chapter 15, line 8善之与恶，相去若何？
How far removed from each other are "good" and "evil"?
Chapter 20, line 3儽儽兮若无所归。
Weary, like one despairing of nowhere to return to.
Chapter 20, line 10而我独若遗。
while I alone seem left behind.
Chapter 20, line 12澹兮其若海，
Tranquil like the ocean,
Chapter 20, line 17飂兮若无止。
high winds that never stop.
Chapter 20, line 18若存若亡；
he half keeps it, half loses it;
Chapter 41, line 4明道若昧，进道若退，
The bright Way seems dark, the Way forward seems to go back,
Chapter 41, line 8夷道若颣，上德若谷，
the smooth Way seems rough, the highest virtue seems like a valley,
Chapter 41, line 9大白若辱，广德若不足，
the purest white seems soiled, broad virtue seems not enough,
Chapter 41, line 10建德若偷，
firm virtue seems idle,
Chapter 41, line 11质真若渝，
true substance seems to change,
Chapter 41, line 12大成若缺，其用不弊。
Great completion seems lacking, yet its use never wears out.
Chapter 45, line 1大盈若冲，其用不穷。
Great fullness seems empty, yet its use is never exhausted.
Chapter 45, line 2大直若屈，
Great straightness seems bent,
Chapter 45, line 3大巧若拙，
great skill seems clumsy,
Chapter 45, line 4大辩若讷。
great eloquence seems to stammer.
Chapter 45, line 5治人事天，莫若啬。
In governing people and serving heaven, nothing is better than frugality.
Chapter 59, line 1治大国，若烹小鲜。
Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish.
Chapter 60, line 1正言若反。
True words seem contrary.
Chapter 78, line 10
若 as “if”
Pattern 若 + clause, …
At the start of a condition, 若 means “if”, like 如果 today. It comes before the verb of the condition, and the result follows in the next clause: 侯王若能守之, “If lords and kings could hold to it,” (chapters 32 and 37). Chapter 74: 若使民常畏死, “If the people always feared death,”.
4 times in 4 lines.
侯王若能守之，
If lords and kings could hold to it,
Chapter 32, line 3侯王若能守之，
If lords and kings could hold to it,
Chapter 37, line 2若肖，久矣其细也夫！
If it resembled something, it would long since have become small!
Chapter 67, line 4若使民常畏死，
If the people always feared death,
Chapter 74, line 3
若 as “then, thereupon”
Pattern condition，若 + result
Twice, in chapter 13, 若 begins the second half of a condition and is read like 乃, “then”: 故贵以身为天下，若可寄天下, “one who values his body as he values the world can then be trusted with the world.” Our translation leaves the word out (“Can be trusted with the world”), as most do.
2 times in 2 lines.
若可寄天下；
Can be trusted with the world;
Chapter 13, line 12若可托天下。
Can be given charge of the world.
Chapter 13, line 14
How to tell them apart
Look at what follows 若. A noun or a description that the subject resembles makes it “like”; a verb such as 能, “can”, or 使, “make”, with a result still to come, makes it “if”. Compare 侯王若能守之, “If lords and kings could hold to it” (chapter 32), with 明道若昧, “The bright Way seems dark” (chapter 41).
In chapter 13 a third reading appears: after a condition, at the head of the result, 若 is “then”, like 乃.