DIVISION 16 (第十六)

Reach the pole of emptiness.
Maintain tranquility in the center:
The myriad creatures all rise together,
And by this, I see their return.
Things (come forth) in great numbers;
Each one returns to its root.

Returning to the root is called tranquility.
Tranquility is called the inevitable unfolding of things.
Returning to the inevitable unfolding of things is called cháng,
And to understand cháng is called Enlightenment.
To not know cháng is to be reckless and wild.
If you are reckless and wild, your actions will lead to misfortune.
To know cháng, one becomes all-embracing.
To be all-embracing is to be impartial.
To be impartial is to be kingly.
To be kingly is to be (like) Heaven.
To be (like) Heaven is to be (one with) the Dào.
If you are one with the Dào, to the end of your days you will suffer no harm.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Enlightenment is to know the nature of all things, which when attained enables one to abide by the Dào, achieve tranquility, satisfy physical needs (Division 32), live long (Division 33), and make peaceable society possible (Division 39). One can achieve enlightenment through quiet contemplation by "reaching the pole of emptiness" whereby one can become one with the Dào (Divisions 14 and 15) by gaining an understanding of cháng (常), the "returning to the inevitable unfolding of things".

Enlightenment is the understanding of cháng, the "returning to the inevitable unfolding of things", which is the understanding of the nature of the existence of all things (e.g. being all-embracing) -- essentially the understanding of how all things change: i.e., how things emerge from their roots (living things being born); how things relate to other things; how things transform throughout their existence; and how they return to their root (living things dying). Importantly, understanding of cháng is not limited only to things in nature but to every thing in existence, including people. Division 49 of the Lǎo Zǐ says:

The shèng rén's (sage's) mind is not his own.
He takes as his own the mind of the people.

Cháng is understood by one reaching a state of mind called the "pole of emptiness" which is an emulation of the emptiness that characterizes the Dào as an abyss that is the origin of all creation (Division 4 and 25). This mental emptiness is useful (Division 11) as it allows one to come to know how creation emerged from the Dào (Division 42), including the birth of Heaven and Earth, and the emergence of all things. To grow and develop closely to one's roots leads one to be firmly rooted (Division 54), which is the fulfillment of one's own nature, i.e. abiding by the Dào. Consequently, to not understand cháng is recklessness because it places things, including oneself (Division 33), into an imbalanced contention with other things (Divisions 29, 34, and 39).

Life and death are linked as things "unfold" from their physical as well as their emotive or spiritual natures (Division 39) which are their roots. For example, the Xuán Pìn Gate is the root of Heaven and Earth (Division 6); heavy is the root of the light (Division 26); and the humble is root of the exalted (Division 39). The unfolding, however, is neither deterministic or fatalistic, as Division 51 explains that while the Dào and rears and nurtures life, respectively, "Matter shapes them and conditions complete them."

Finally, when one becomes all-embracing, one becomes impartial which emulates Heaven and Earth (Division 5), including their long lives (Division 7).

DIVISION 14 (第十四)

Looked at but never seen,
It takes the name invisible.
Listened to but never heard,
It takes the name ethereal.
Held tight but never felt,
It takes the name gossamer.
You can't unravel these three,
Blurred so utterly they've become one.

“One” – there is nothing more encompassing above it,
And nothing smaller below it.
Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,
Again it reverts to nothing.
This is called the Formless Form,
The image that is without substance.
Therefore, it is said to be elusive and evasive.
Come toward it, one does not see its head.
Follow behind it, one does not see its rear.
Abiding in the ancient Dào
To master what now has come to be
And fathom its ancient source:
It is to know the thread of Dào.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The One is a creation of the Dào (Division 42) that is gazed at but can't be seen, listened to but can't be heard, and is held on to but not felt, and so is perceived as a singularity which is an image called the Formless Form. The One is "elusive and evasive" yet it can be approached, embraced (Division 10), and possessed (Division 39). Abiding by the Dào is "To master now what has come to be" which is understanding of the nature of all things, an understanding needed for one to become enlightened (Division 16).

Among the source translations of the Lǎo Zǐ, only the Mǎ Wáng Duī texts identify the three named things as the "One"^[1]. As Henricks points out the designation seems appropriate since the text immediately after designation of the "One" seems to appropriately describe it as "there is nothing more encompassing above it / And nothing smaller below it."

The One is presented as a great mystery. This division in combination with Divisions 10, 14, 39, and 42 provides clues to this great puzzle though its characterization within the Lǎo Zǐ seems sometimes to be indistinguishable from the Dào. To this point in the Lǎo Zǐ, it should be noted that the One is not the same thing as the Dào since Division 42 says that the Dào gave birth to it.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, translated by Robert G. Henricks, The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1993, 221pp.

[2] Ibid.

DIVISION 11 (第十一)

Thirty spokes unite in one hub.
Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose at hand, and you will have use of the cart.
Kneed clay in order to make a vessel.
Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose at hand, and you will have use of the vessel.
Cut doors and windows in order to make a room.
Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose at hand, and you will have use of the room.
Therefore, in the being of a thing,
There lies the benefit in the non-being of a thing,
There lies in its use.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The integral emptiness within something is like the Dào in that it is useful.

Division 11 is a continuation of Division 4. The use of the empty part of things in everyday experience is comparable to the usefulness of the Dào. Division 16 describes how to make use of the emptiness of the Dào.

One complete turn of the hub is a complete rotation of a wheel, and so rotates each of the 30 spokes, in the first line. Each spoke corresponds to a day of a full lunar month of the Chinese calendar^[1]. The actual length of a lunar month of the Chinese calendar is actually 29.530589 of our current twenty-four hour days^[2], so the lunar month is more frequently 30 days long than 29 days long.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Mayer, Peter, "The Structure of the Chinese Calendar". Accessed May 5, 2009.

[2] "Lunar calendar", Wikipedia. Accessed May 5, 2009.

DIVISION 9 (第九)

To hold it upright and fill it,
Better to have stopped in time.
Hammer it to a point,
It won't be preserved for long.
When gold and jade fill the hall,
Their possessor cannot keep them safe.
Arrogance and pride with wealth and rank,
On their own bring disaster.
To retire when the task is done is the Dào of Heaven.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The Dào of Heaven is to stop when the task is done for going beyond what is needed entails costs and risks that exceed the benefit.

Division 9 gives four examples why the Dào of Heaven should be followed.

In the first case, a cup that is held and then filled only until it is full conserves effort and material and avoids one from being bothered by the excess.

In the second case, sharpening a point beyond what is needed is a waste of effort since its nature is to become dull over time anyway, as the Dào blunts the sharp Division 4.

In the third case, once one has striven to fill a room with treasures one must undertake the additional burden of keeping them secure though nothing more can happen to it but have the amount reduced.

Arrogance with pride with wealth and rank represents a never ending desire to acquire more and more wealth and rank which risks “favor and disgrace” (Division 13) and the shortening of one's life (Division 44).

Overall, by following the Dào of Heaven, one can avoid danger and live a long life (Division 44).

DIVISION 8 (第八)

The highest good is like water.
The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things
And yet never strives.
It dwells in places the masses of people detest.
Therefore, it is close to the Dào.
In a home, it is the site that matters.
In quality of mind, it is depth that matters.
In giving, the good thing (is being like) Heaven.
In speech, it is good faith that matters.
In governing, the good thing is order.
In affairs, the good thing is ability.
In activity, the good thing is timeliness.
It is because it does not contend that it is never at fault.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Water, which descends from Heaven and ends up in an abyss that covers the Earth, symbolizes the Dào's greatest goodness. Water symbolizes the selflessness (Division 7) and impartiality (Division 5) of the Dào in that it nourishes all life and, thus, benefits all things no matter what people think of it. Water also symbolizes humbleness in that it always seeks the lowest of places (Division 39). By inference, water underlies every idea of being beneficial. Finally, water acts effortlessly and without conflict, the very essence of wú wèi.

Division 8 is a logical continuation of both Divisions 3 and 4, in which the former discusses what an ideal society should be like and the latter refers to the Dào as a watery abyss. Division 8 is also a continuation of both Divisions 5 and 7, in which the former characterizes the Dào as impartial and the latter characterizes the Dào as selfless. In seeking the lowest places, water symbolizes humbleness (Division 39).

The goodness of a home is not the house, but in its situation on Earth where the environment enables people to grow food and become physically strong (Division 3), and presumably, build and maintain a good house that appears to thrive like a tree rooted in the watered ground.

The goodness of mind is depth beyond knowing like a watery abyss (Divisions 4 and 15), which is enlightenment (Division 16).

The goodness of giving is being generous as water falls from Heaven^[1].

In relations with others, i.e., speech, goodness is good faith and trust that promotes social harmony and minimizes conflict like water, which doesn't contend.

The goodness of government is in that it benefits the people ruled at large with peace and order, which is symbolized by water's inability to contend. The government of the shèng rén is described in Division 3.

In an endeavor the goodness is the skill and competence in which it is done; and in deciding to act the goodness is in the timing at which it is done. Skill, competence, and timing are necessary for acting by wú wèi, which again, is like water.

FOOTNOTES
[1] This line is translated by Henricks from the Mǎ Wáng Duī Text B. The comparable line from the Wáng Bì commentary is about good associates or allies being rén (Confucian benevolence; see the commentary in Division 3 on rén). The Wáng Bì version was rejected on two grounds. First, by holding rén to be good, it strongly contradicts other divisions within the Lǎo Zǐ, particularly Division 18. Second, the Mǎ Wáng Duī text is about four centuries older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text. While this doesn't mean the Mǎ Wáng Duī version is actually that much older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text, I speculate that rén was inserted by some Han dynasty official who wanted the Lǎo Zǐ to portray Confucianism in a more positive light or fell victim to the Han synthesis. By Wáng Bì's time, the Han dynasty had just collapsed, and with it the Confucianism formed the basis for Han governance.^[2]

[2] Hooker, Richard, “The Chinese Empire: The Former Han”, World Civilizations: An Internet Classroom and Anthology, Washington State University, Richard Hooker and Paul Brians (principal editors), 1996 (June 6, 1999 update).

DIVISION 5 (第五)

Heaven and Earth are not humane (bù rén),
They regard the myriad things as straw dogs.
The shèng rén is not humane (bù rén).
He regards the common people as straw dogs.

May not the space between Heaven and Earth be compared to a bellows?
Empty yet inexhaustible.
Moving and yet it pours out ever more.
By many words one's reckoning is exhausted.
It is better to abide by the center.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The shèng rén (sage), like both Heaven and Earth, regards everything, even people, with detachment and impartiality. As a consequence, humanity has no special place in creation. However, by being impartial a person can come to be like Heaven (Division 16). Without divine guidance people must find their own ways through life.

The atmosphere with its dynamic and ever-changing wind and climate, being empty and inexhaustible (Division 4), is described as the Dào. The Dào interacts with the Earth and Heaven creating the wind like a bellows that seemingly drives the ever-changing climate and brings the seasons.

Words cannot describe the endlessly, ever-changing climate, so readers are admonished to abide by the center where they can find tranquility (Division 16).

Straw dogs were representations of dogs used in rituals. They were revered, then burned in sacrifices and discarded as ordinary refuse^[1]. The myriad of things are separate from Heaven and Earth. Living things, in particular, arise and make something out of their efforts (Division 2). They seem to be hosted by Heaven and Earth as they transform, but neither Heaven nor Earth have any compassion for them. Furthermore, neither Heaven nor Earth are expected to respond to human efforts to communicate with them, as the Lǎo Zǐ contains no passages about making prayers or offerings to spirits, gods, or the Dào for the benefit of people.

The line about the shèng rén being bù rén (不仁) towards people has been variously translated as direction to be “ruthless”, “inhumane”, and “impartial.” Clearly, the Lǎo Zǐ doesn't advocate that the shèng rén treat people like straw dogs. Furthermore, the Lǎo Zǐ doesn't characterize the shèng rén as someone who should care nothing about the common people. If not, why teach them (Divisions 2 and 3), or even govern them (Division 3)? Divisions 10 and 13 identify the love of rulers have for their people as a virtue. Division 49 says one should be good to both good people and not good people.

These apparent paradoxes are resolved when rén (仁) is specifically interpreted as the Confucian ideal that is often translated as benevolence or humanity. The concept that rén is a relationship of benevolence between any people was an invention of Confucianism in the Lún​ Yǔ​ (Analects)^[2]. Prior to the Lún​ Yǔ​ rén referred to a ruler's benevolent regard toward his subjects or a "manly or virile quality"^[3]. Simple translation distorts by oversimplifying, as Confucian rén constitutes more than just demonstrating benevolence and kindness, for the Confucians require the individual to acquire the kind of practical wisdom (zhi)^[4] the Lǎo Zǐ aims to suppress in Division 3, and conformance with elaborate sets of rites (lǐ) that were "a body of rules governing action in every aspect of life"^[5]. The all-consuming prescriptions for the individual in the Lún​ Yǔ​ are very clear:

" Yen Yuän asked about rén. The Master said, 'To return to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self constitutes rén. If for a single day a man could return to the observance of the rites through overcoming himself, then the whole Empire would consider rén to be his. However, the practice of rén depends on oneself alone, and not on others.'

" Yen Yuän said, 'I should like you to list the items.'

" The Master said, 'Do not look unless it is in accordance with the rites; do not listen unless it is in accordance with the rites; do not speak unless it is in accordance with the rites; do not move unless it is in accordance with the rites.'

" Yen Yuän said, 'Though I am not quick, I shall direct my efforts towards what you said.'" (Analects, XII.1)^[6]

In the overall context of Confucian practices, the Lǎo Zǐ has little regard for rén when the Lǎo Zǐ's Dào is followed. (See Divisions 18, 19, and 38.) In particular, Chen describes Division 38 as an "anti-Confucian polemic"^[7].

In such a case, the shèng rén doesn't practice Confucian rén and so, the shèng rén treats people as just another thing that is a part of creation which is another focus of disputes between Lǎo Zǐ and Confucian schools.

As mentioned earlier, the Lǎo Zǐ's position is that Heaven and Earth are impartial towards people. However, the Confucians claimed Confucius acquired their moral and ethical system directly from Heaven.

"The Master said, 'At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I know the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desires, without transgressing what was right.'" (Analects, II.4)^[8]

It is no wonder the Lǎo Zǐ appears to be so defensive since the Confucians so easily questioned the legitimacy of their Dào.

The wind, as a phenomenon, is an example of an indifferent, impartial, inexhaustible force that operates in a void. This description of the wind compares to the description of the Dào in Division 4, thus adding indifference and impartiality towards all things as attributes of the Dào.

Finally, like the force of the wind, creation itself is characterized as vast and overwhelming (see Division 12). Language alone is inadequate to gain an understanding of it (Division 2), so it is better to use one's full faculties, including the capacity to use words, to comprehend the world through one's center (zhōng 中) as articulated elsewhere in the Lǎo Zǐ (see Divisions 16 and 47).

FOOTNOTES
[1] Lao-Tze, The Canon of Reason and Virtue, Translated by D.T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, Open Court, LaSalle, IL, 1913, p.137.

[2] Lai, Karyn, Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent and Contextualised Self, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Farnham, Surrey, UK, 2006, p.15.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Lau, D.C., Confucius: The Analects -- Translated with Introduction, Doreset Press, NY, 1979, p.20.

[6] Ibid, p.112.

[7] Chen, Ellen M., Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, Paragon House Publishing, St. Paul, MN, 1989, p.146.

[8] Lau, D.C., Confucius: The Analects -- Translated with Introduction, Doreset Press, NY, 1979, p.63.

DIVISION 4 (第四)

The Dào is empty,
Use it; it never needs filling.
Like an abyss! It seems to be ancestor to the ten thousand things.
It blunts the sharp,
Unties the tangles,
Softens the glare,
And settles the dust.
Submerged! It seems perhaps to exist.
I do not know whose son it is.
It is an image of what precedes God.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The Dào is an ancient, limitless void that is the ancestor of all creation. Though it is empty but somehow like water, the Dào can be used to help bring peaceful relations between people and bring peace of mind.

The sharp, tangled, glared, and dusty are all extreme states, and the Dào moderates them by dulling, untying, softening, and settling them, respectively. As both abyss (yuān 淵) and submerged (zhàn 湛) have etymologies related to water^[1], the Lǎo Zǐ compares the effects of the Dào to the effects of water. (Division 8 says water is close to the Dào, and Division 34 compares the Dào to a flood.) Sharpened metal implements become dull as they oxidize and react with other compounds in water. A tangled or knotted cord loosens when it shrinks after water expands it or as water facilitates rotting. Clouds and fog block light. Rain removes the dust from the air.

The physical transformational effects of water are metaphors for the transformational effects of the Dào on people. As opposed to glare and dust which occur naturally, the sharpened and the knotted result from the efforts of people, though we can have glare from one's attire (see Division 3).

As for sharp, the Lǎo Zǐ uses it to describe the violent capacity of weapons (see Divisions 36 and 53). The dulling effect of the Dào on weapons is peace. So the dào is to blunt the sharp (see Division 56), a general call for pacifism.

As for tangles, contention among people is brought about by entangled human relationships rooted in ambitions and desires (Division 3). Contention is reduced when the roots of conflict, personal ambitions and desires, are extinguished (see Divisions 19 and 57). So the dào is to loosen tangles (see Division 56).

As for glare, people can flaunt “alluring things” to cause others to be confused (Division 3). The softening effect of the Dào is modest attire, that will reduce confusion. So the dào is to soften the glare (Division 56).

See Division 42 on the Dào's role in being the ancestor of all things.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Sears, Richard, Chinese Etymology. Accessed February 28, 2009.