Classical grammar words in the Dao De Jing
所 suǒ
In the Dao De Jing, 所 (suǒ) comes 20 times before a verb, making “what” or “where” someone does something, and once it is a noun, “place”.
所 stands before a verb and turns it into a noun phrase naming what the verb acts on: 畏 is “to fear”, 所畏 is “what one fears”. The doer, if named, comes first, usually with 之: 人之所畏, “What the people fear”. As a plain noun, 所 means “place”.
Modern Chinese still uses 所 in formal writing (我所知道的, “what I know”) and in words such as 所有, “all”, and 场所, “place”. 所以, “the reason why”, now “so”, is its own entry in the glossary and is not counted here.
所 as “that which, what”
Pattern (A 之) 所 + verb
Before a verb, 所 makes a noun phrase: “what is done”, “where it is done”. The phrase can be a subject or an object, and the doer may come first with 之: 人之所畏，不可不畏, “What the people fear, one cannot but fear.” (chapter 20). After 无 it means “nowhere to” or “no need to”: 兕无所投其角, “the rhino finds nowhere to drive its horn,” (chapter 50).
20 times in 18 lines.
处众人之所恶，
it goes to places that everyone abhors,
Chapter 8, line 3故令有所属，
therefore let people have something to hold on to:
Chapter 19, line 5人之所畏，不可不畏。
What the people fear, one cannot but fear.
Chapter 20, line 4儽儽兮若无所归。
Weary, like one despairing of nowhere to return to.
Chapter 20, line 10师之所处，荆棘生焉。
Where troops have camped, thorns and brambles grow.
Chapter 30, line 4人之所恶，唯孤、寡、不谷，
What people loathe is to be "orphaned", "widowed" and "unworthy",
Chapter 42, line 6
Show 12 more lines
人之所教，我亦教之。
What others teach, I also teach:
Chapter 42, line 10兕无所投其角，虎无所措其爪，
the rhino finds nowhere to drive its horn, the tiger nowhere to set its claws,
Chapter 50, line 11兵无所容其刃。
the weapon nowhere to lodge its blade.
Chapter 50, line 12祸兮福之所倚，
Misfortune is what fortune leans on;
Chapter 58, line 3福兮祸之所伏。
fortune is where misfortune hides.
Chapter 58, line 4夫两者各得其所欲，
For both to get what they want,
Chapter 61, line 12善人之宝，不善人之所保。
the treasure of the good, and what keeps the not-good safe.
Chapter 62, line 2学不学，复众人之所过。
he learns not to learn, and brings people back from where they went too far.
Chapter 64, line 17无狎其所居，无厌其所生。
Do not cramp their homes; do not press down on their livelihood.
Chapter 72, line 2天之所恶，孰知其故？
What heaven loathes, who knows why?
Chapter 73, line 4虽有舟舆，无所乘之；
Though they have boats and carts, they have no need to ride them;
Chapter 80, line 3虽有甲兵，无所陈之。
though they have armor and weapons, they have no need to display them.
Chapter 80, line 4
所 as “place”
Pattern 其所
Once, 所 is an ordinary noun, “place”, with no verb after it: 不失其所者久, “Not losing your place is to last.” (chapter 33).
Once, in one line.
不失其所者久，
Not losing your place is to last.
Chapter 33, line 4
How to tell them apart
If a verb follows 所, it is the “what” or “where” of that verb; if nothing verbal follows, it is the noun “place”. Compare 不失其所, “Not losing your place” (chapter 33), with 无狎其所居, “Do not cramp their homes” (chapter 72), where 所居 is literally “where they live”.