Classical grammar words in the Dao De Jing
无 wú
In the Dao De Jing, 无 (wú) is most often a verb, “not have” or “there is no” (64 times); it is also a noun, “absence” or “what is not” (6), and twice a command, “do not”.
无 is the opposite of 有, “to have, there is”. Followed by a noun it means “has no” or “without”, as in 大象无形, the great image has no shape. In the Dao De Jing it also becomes a noun, “absence”, the partner of presence in 有无相生.
Modern Chinese says 没有 for “not have” and keeps 无 in formal words such as 无论, “no matter”, and 无数, “countless”. The traditional form is 無. Compounds such as 无为, non-action, and 无名, the nameless, are their own entries in the glossary and are not counted here.
无 as “not have, without, no”
Pattern 无 + noun
As a verb, 无 means “not have”, “there is no”, “without”. What is lacking comes after it: 大象无形, “the great image has no shape,” (chapter 41). Before 不 it makes a double negative: 无不为, “nothing is left undone” (chapter 37). With 所 or 以 it means “nothing to” or “nowhere to”: 兕无所投其角, “the rhino finds nowhere to drive its horn,” (chapter 50).
64 times in 59 lines.
为无为，则无不治。
Act without acting, and nothing will be out of order.
Chapter 3, line 7非以其无私邪？
Is he not selfless?
Chapter 7, line 7故无尤。
it is beyond reproach.
Chapter 8, line 9能无离乎？
can they avoid separation?
Chapter 10, line 2能无疵乎？
can it make you flawless?
Chapter 10, line 6能无雌乎？
can you be impassive?
Chapter 10, line 10
Show 53 more lines
为吾有身，及吾无身，
Is that I have a body; if I had no body,
Chapter 13, line 9绝巧弃利，盗贼无有。
Get rid of cleverness and abandon profit, thieves and gangsters will not exist.
Chapter 19, line 3绝学无忧。
Get rid of "learning" and there will be no anxiety.
Chapter 20, line 1儽儽兮若无所归。
Weary, like one despairing of nowhere to return to.
Chapter 20, line 10飂兮若无止。
high winds that never stop.
Chapter 20, line 18自伐者无功，自矜者不长。
They boast, but have no merit. They glorify themselves, and do not last.
Chapter 24, line 3善行无辙迹，
A good traveler leaves no tracks,
Chapter 27, line 1善言无瑕谪，
a good speaker lacks flaws and rebuke,
Chapter 27, line 2善闭无关楗而不可开，
What is properly closed requires no lock, and yet cannot be opened,
Chapter 27, line 4善结无绳约而不可解。
what is well bound requires no knot, and yet cannot be untied.
Chapter 27, line 5故无弃人；
and doesn't ostracize others.
Chapter 27, line 7常善救物，故无弃物，
He always takes care of things, and doesn't cast away anything.
Chapter 27, line 8淡乎其无味。
it is bland and has no flavor.
Chapter 35, line 5道常无为而无不为，
The Way constantly practices non-action, yet nothing is left undone.
Chapter 37, line 1下德不失德，是以无德。
Inferior virtue never lets go of virtue; that is why it has no virtue.
Chapter 38, line 2上德无为而无以为，
Superior virtue does not act, and has no motive for acting.
Chapter 38, line 3上仁为之而无以为，
Superior humaneness acts, but has no motive for acting.
Chapter 38, line 5天无以清将恐裂，
If heaven were not clear, it might split;
Chapter 39, line 6地无以宁将恐废，
if earth were not calm, it might fall to ruin;
Chapter 39, line 7神无以灵将恐歇，
if the spirits were not potent, they might fade away;
Chapter 39, line 8谷无以盈将恐竭，
if the valley were not full, it might run dry;
Chapter 39, line 9万物无以生将恐灭，
if the myriad things did not live, they might perish;
Chapter 39, line 10侯王无以贵高将恐蹶。
if lords and kings were not noble and high, they might fall.
Chapter 39, line 11故致数舆无舆。
So if you count the parts of a carriage, there is no carriage.
Chapter 39, line 15大方无隅，大器晚成，
the great square has no corners, the great vessel is finished late,
Chapter 41, line 13大音希声，大象无形，
the great sound is barely heard, the great image has no shape,
Chapter 41, line 14无有入无间，
What has no substance enters where there is no gap.
Chapter 43, line 2天下无道，戎马生于郊。
When the world lacks the Way, warhorses are bred on the borders.
Chapter 46, line 2无为而无不为。
With non-action, nothing is left undone.
Chapter 48, line 3取天下常以无事，
One wins the world by constantly leaving it alone;
Chapter 48, line 4圣人无常心，
The sage has no fixed mind of his own;
Chapter 49, line 1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以其无死地。
Because he has no place of death in him.
Chapter 50, line 14以无事取天下。
win the world by leaving it alone.
Chapter 57, line 2我无事而民自富，
I leave things alone, and the people grow rich of themselves;
Chapter 57, line 13孰知其极？其无正。
Who knows where it ends? There is no fixed rule.
Chapter 58, line 5重积德则无不克，
accumulating virtue again and again, nothing cannot be overcome;
Chapter 59, line 4无不克则莫知其极；
when nothing cannot be overcome, no one knows one's limits;
Chapter 59, line 5为无为，事无事，
Act without acting, work without working,
Chapter 63, line 1味无味。
taste without tasting.
Chapter 63, line 2故终无难矣。
and so in the end has no difficulty.
Chapter 63, line 12是以圣人无为故无败，
So the sage does not act, and so does not spoil;
Chapter 64, line 11无执故无失。
does not grasp, and so does not lose.
Chapter 64, line 12慎终如始，则无败事。
Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and nothing will be spoiled.
Chapter 64, line 14是谓行无行，攘无臂，
This is called marching without moving, rolling up one's sleeves without arms,
Chapter 69, line 4扔无敌，执无兵。
facing no enemy, holding no weapon.
Chapter 69, line 5夫唯无以生为者，
Only those who do not live for living
Chapter 75, line 8其无以易之。
for nothing can take its place.
Chapter 78, line 3有德司契，无德司彻。
One with virtue keeps the tally; one without virtue collects the dues.
Chapter 79, line 5天道无亲，常与善人。
The Way of heaven has no favorites; it is always with the good.
Chapter 79, line 6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
无 as “absence, what is not”
Pattern 有 … 无
In a few lines 无 is itself a noun, “absence”, “what is not”, set against 有, “presence”. It stands where a noun stands: after 其 or 于, or as a subject. Example: 有生于无, “and presence is born from absence.” (chapter 40). In chapter 11 the empty space of a wheel, a pot or a room is its 无: 当其无, “its emptiness within,”.
6 times in 6 lines.
故有无相生，难易相成，
Therefore presence and absence produce each other. Difficulty and ease bring about each other.
Chapter 2, line 3当其无，
the empty space in between them,
Chapter 11, line 2当其无，
its emptiness within,
Chapter 11, line 5当其无，有室之用。
its emptiness within, makes the room useful.
Chapter 11, line 8无之以为用。
absence brings utility.
Chapter 11, line 10有生于无。
and presence is born from absence.
Chapter 40, line 4
无 as “do not”
Pattern 无 + verb (command)
At the head of a command, 无 means “do not”, like the related word 毋. The book has it 3 times: twice in one line of chapter 72, 无狎其所居，无厌其所生, “Do not cramp their homes; do not press down on their livelihood.”, and once in chapter 52, 无遗身殃, “bring no harm upon yourself”.
3 times in 2 lines.
无遗身殃，是为习常。
bring no harm upon yourself: this is called following the constant.
Chapter 52, line 11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
How to tell them apart
Ask what follows and what role 无 plays. Followed by the thing lacking, it is the verb “not have”. Standing alone where a noun would be, often beside 有, it is the noun “absence”. Opening a command, before a verb, it is “do not”. Chapters 13 and 2 show the first two: 及吾无身, “if I had no body”, and 有无相生, “presence and absence produce each other”.