Chapter 29
"When one desires to take in hand the empire and make it, I see him not succeed.
The empire is a divine vessel which cannot be made.
One who makes it, mars it.
One who takes it, loses it.
And it is said of beings:
Some are obsequious, others move boldly,
Some breathe warmly, others coldly,
Some are strong and others weak,
Some rise proudly, others sneak.
Therefore the holy man abandons excess, he abandons extravagance, he abandons indulgence."
- Translated by Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 29
"The external world is fragile,
and he who meddles with its natural way,
risks causing damage to himself.
He who tries to grasp it,
thereby loses it.
It is natural for things to change,
sometimes being ahead, sometimes behind.
There are times when even breathing
may be difficult,
whereas its natural state is easy.
Sometimes one is strong,
and sometimes weak,
sometimes healthy,
and sometimes sick,
sometimes is first,
and at other times behind.
The sage does not try
to change the world by force,
for he knows that force results in force.
He avoids extremes and excesses,
and does not become complacent."
- Translated by Stan Rosenthal, Chapter 29
"One who desires to take and remake the Empire will fail.
The Empire is a divine thing that cannot be remade.
He who attempts it will only mar it.
He who seeks to grasp it, will lose it.
People differ, some lead, others follow; some are ardent, others are formal;
some are strong, others weak; some succeed, others fail.
Therefore the wise man practices moderation; he abandons pleasure, extravagance and indulgence."
- Translated by Dwight Goddard, Chapter 29
將欲取天下而為之.
吾見其不得已.
天下神器, 不可為也.
為者敗之.
執者失之故物或行或隨.
或歔或吹.
或強或羸.
或挫或隳.
是以聖人去甚去奢去泰.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29
jiang yu qu tian xia er wei zhi.
wu jian qi bu de yi.
tian xia shen qi, bu ke wei ye.
wei zhe bai zhi.
zhi zhe shi zhi fu wu huo xing huo sui.
huo xu huo chui.
huo qiang huo lei.
huo zai huo hui.
shi yi sheng ren qu shen qu she qu tai.
- Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 29
"One who desires to take the world and act (wei)
upon it,I see that it cannot be done.
The world (t'ien hsia) is a spirit vessel (shen ch'i),
Which cannot be acted (wei) upon.
One who acts (wei) on it fails,
One who holds on to it loses (shih).
Therefore things either move forward or follow behind;
They blow hot or blow cold;
They are strong (ch'iang) or weak;
They get on or they get off.
Therefore the sage gets rid of over-doing,
Gets rid of extravagances,
Gets rid of excesses."
- Translated by Ellen M. Chen, Chapter 29
"Those who would take over the earth
And shape it to their will
Never, I notice, succeed.
The earth is like a vessel so sacred
That at the mere approach of the profane
It is marred
And when they reach out their fingers it is gone.
For a time in the world some force themselves ahead
And some are left behind,
For a time in the world some make a great noise
And some are held silent,
For a time in the world some are puffed fat
And some are kept hungry,
For a time in the world some push aboard
And some are tipped out:
At no time in the world will a man who is sane
Over-reach himself,
Over-spend himself,
Over-rate himself."
- Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 29
"Quien pretende el dominio del mundo
y mejorar éste,
se encamina al fracaso.
El mundo es tan sagrado y vasto que no puede ser dominado.
Quien lo domina lo empeora,
quien lo tiene lo pierde.
Porque, en el mundo todo tiene su tiempo y lugar,
unas cosas van por delante, otras por detrás.
A veces soplan suavemente, otras con fuerza.
Unas cosas son vigorosas, otras débiles.
A veces permanecen, otras veces caen.
Por esto, el sabio rechaza todo exceso,
desecha los absolutos
y descarta toda exhuberancia.
- Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 29
"There are those who will conquer the world
And make of it what they conceive or desire.
I see that they will not succeed.
For the world is God's own Vessel
It cannot be made by human interference.
He who makes it spoils it.
He who holds it loses it.
Some things go forward,
Some things follow behind;
some blow hot,
And some blow cold;
Some are strong,
And some are weak;
Some may break,
And some may fall.
Hence the Sage eschews excess, eschews extravagance, eschews pride."
- Translated by Lin Yutang, 1948, Chapter 29
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo on a Chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes at least 16 different translations or interpolations of the Chapter in English, two Spanish translations, the Chinese characters for the Chapter, a Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin Romanization of the Mandarin Chinese words for the Chapter, recommended reading lists, a detailed bibliography; indexing by key words and terms for the Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization; some commentary, and other resources for the Chapter.
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