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Dao De Jing Introduction Table of content – The Way and Its Power

The naturalist, individualist and politic doctrine of Lao-tse exhibited in 81 poetic and obscure texts. Tr. Waley (en), Lau (en), Julien (fr) and Wilhelm (de).

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Daodejing I. 22.

Section Dao – Chapter XXII

“To remain whole, be twisted!”
To become straight, let yourself be bent.
To become full, be hollow.
Be tattered, that you may be renewed.
Those that have little, may get more,
Those that have much, are but perplexed.
Therefore the ; Sage
Clasps the Primal Unity,
Testing by it everything under heaven.
He does not show himself; therefore he seen everywhere.
He does not define himself, therefore he is distinct.
He does not boast of what he will do, therefore he succeeds.
He is not proud of his work, and therefore it endures.
He does not contend,
And for that very reason no one under heaven can contend with him.
So then we see that the ancient saying “To remain whole, be twisted!” was no idle word; for true wholeness can only be achieved by return.

Waley 22

委曲可以保全, 屈反而能伸展, 低洼得以充盈, 敝旧才能生新, 少取才能多得。贪多反而迷惑。
所以圣人守道, 为天下人树立了好的典范。不自我表扬, 反而显明; 不自以为是, 反而彰显; 不自己夸耀, 反而见功; 不自我矜持, 反而长久。正因不与人争, 所以天下没有人跟他争。
因此古人所谓“委曲可以保全”绝不是虚言。诚全使众人归之。

白话翻译

Bowed down then preserved;
Bent then straight;
Hollow then full;
Worn then new;
A little then benefited;
A lot then perplexed.

Therefore the sage embraces the One and is a model for the empire.

He does not show himself, and so is conspicuous;
He does not consider himself right, and so is illustrious;
He does not brag, and so has merit;
He does not boast, and so endures.

It is because he does not contend that no one in the empire is in aposition to contend with him.

The way the ancients had it, 'Bowed down then preserved', is no emptysaying.
Truly it enables one to be preserved to the end.

Lau 22

Ce qui est incomplet devient entier.
Ce qui est courbé devient droit.
Ce qui est creux devient plein.
Ce qui est usé devient neuf.
Avec peu (de désirs) on acquiert le Tao ; avec beaucoup (de désirs) on s'égare.
De là vient que le saint homme conserve l'Unité (le Tao), et il est le modèle du monde.
Il ne se met pas en lumière, c'est pourquoi il brille.
Il ne s'approuve point, c'est pourquoi il jette de l'éclat.
Il ne se vante point, c'est pourquoi il a du mérite.
Il ne se glorifie point, c'est pourquoi il est le supérieur des autres.
Il ne lutte point, c'est pourquoi il n'y a personne dans l'empire qui puisse lutter contre lui.
L'axiome des anciens : Ce qui est incomplet devient entier, était-ce une expression vide de sens ?
Quand l'homme est devenu véritablement parfait, (le monde) vient se soumettre à lui.

Julien 22

Was halb ist, wird ganz werden.
Was krumm ist, wird gerade werden.
Was leer ist, wird voll werden.
Was alt ist, wird neu werden.
Wer wenig hat, wird bekommen.
Wer viel hat, wird benommen.
Also auch der Berufene:
Es umfaßt das Eine
und ist der Welt Vorbild.
Er will nicht selber scheinen,
darum wird er erleuchtet.
Er will nichts selber sein,
darum wird es herrlich.
Er rühmt sich selber nicht,
darum vollbringt er Werke.
Er tut sich nicht selber hervor,
darum wird es erhoben.
Denn wer nicht streitet,
mit dem kann niemand auf der Welt streiten.
Was die Alten gesagt: Was halb ist, soll voll werden,
ist fürwahr kein leeres Wort.
Alle wahre Vollkommenheit ist darunter befaßt.

Wilhelm 22

Dao De Jing I. 22. (22) IntroductionTable of content
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Alias Daode Jing, Dao De Jing, Tao Te Ching, Tao Teh Ching, le Tao-tö-king, Lao-Tzu Te-Tao Ching, the Laozi, Lao Zi, the Lao Tze, le Lao-tseu, The Book of the Way and its Virtue, the Way and its Power.

The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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