DIVISION 18 (第十八)

Therefore, when the great Dào is rejected
It is then we have the virtues of rén and yì.
When clever wisdom appears
We are faced with duplicity.
When the six relations^[1] are not in harmony
It is then we have xiào and cí.
When a nation is in darkness and disorder,
There are loyal ministers.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Division 18 initiates the Lǎo Zǐ's disputation of Confucianism. In Division 18, the Lǎo Zǐ says that when the Dào is supplanted by the human invention of virtue, disharmony will be inherent in human affairs. Without the Dào, Confucian virtues depend on words and judgments that can be undermined by "clever wisdom" (Division 2). Xiào (filial piety 孝) and cí (parental love 慈) rely on the domination of parents to teach children obedience and respect that is contrary to Xuán Dé (Division 10). Xiào, in particular, requires subjects' obedience and respect for their ruler that, if not sustained, requires loyal ministers to maintain order.

The Daoist social harmony is constructed in a manner where the people feel it came about “naturally” (Division 17) and maintained without effort (Divisions 3 and 38). However, when the Dào is rejected or abandoned, effort is required to maintain order, and so people are called upon to pursue the Confucian ideals of rén (benevolence 仁) and  to take actions that are deemed morally right (yì  -- righteousness 義). When the Dào is not followed, people must invent ways to maintain harmonious order. One approach is to base social order on ideals of virtue. Virtue, being a human invention, requires words to characterize it, and in doing so, invites judgments and misunderstanding (Division 2 and 5).  During the writing of the Lǎo Zǐ, virtue was idealized by Confucianism and incorporated in an ethical system, which included the ideals of rén (仁) and yì (righteousness 義), and xiào and cí.

As a Confucian virtue, D.C. Lau describes rén as “the most important moral quality a man can possess”^[2]. However, Daoists find Confucian rén repugnant because it requires strict conformity to numerous, pervasive, and elaborate Confucian rites (lǐ 禮) in order to achieve it.  The required conformity lies at the heart of the Lún Yǔ (The Analects), one of the central texts of Confucianism:

 “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.'” (Lún Yǔ, 12.1)^[3]

FOOTNOTES:
[1]  Ellen M. Chen identifies the "six relations" from the Lüshi chunqiu (呂氏春秋) attributed to Zhong Hui (225-264 C.E.), as "radiating from the individual are: father, mother, elder brother, younger brother, wife, and son."  (p.100).

[2] The Analects, Confucius, translated with introduction by D. C. Lau, Dorset Press, New York, 1979, p.14.

[3] Ibid., p.112.

REFERENCES:
"Confucius (c.551-479 BCE)",, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, James Fieder and Bradley Dowden, general editors.

“Confucius”, Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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 7 (第七)

Heaven goes on forever,
And Earth endures long.
The reason why Heaven and Earth are long-lasting
Is that they do not live for themselves.
Therefore, they can long endure.
Hence, in putting himself last, the shèng rén puts himself first.
He treats his person as if it was foreign to him,
And yet that person is preserved.
Is it not because he is selfless
That he can fulfill the self?

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The shèng rén (sage) is selfless, a selflessness that emulates that of Heaven and Earth, which means treating himself with detachment and impartiality (as prescribed in Division 5), and being desireless.

With regards to being first or last, the shèng rén doesn't order the importance of things that include himself, so his lack of desire might appear to set himself in the last place in the eyes of others but can also appear to set himself in the first place in terms of following the Dào. Any ordering, however, is an illusionary judgment like beauty and goodness (Division 2).

Furthermore, by being desireless, the shèng rén is able to live long like Heaven and Earth; and by being detached and impartial with respect to himself he is enabled see how his own Xuán is expressed (Division 1) and attain fulfillment (Division 16).

DIVISION 2 (第二)

All beneath heaven knows beauty is beauty only because there is ugliness,
And knows good is good only because there is evil.
Thus, Something and Nothing produce each other.
Difficult and easy complete each other.
Long and short measure one another.
High and low fill one another.
Voices and instruments harmonize with one another.
Front and back follow each other.

Therefore, the shèng rén keeps to the deed that consists of taking wú wèi and practices the teaching that uses no words.
Ten thousands things arise and he does not initiate them.
They come to be and he claims no possession of them.
They go through their processes, and there is no expectation (for reward for the results).
He accomplishes his tasks, but does not dwell on them.
It is only because he does not dwell on them
That they do not leave him.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The shèng rén (sage) refrains from making judgments using words (see also Division 5). The human mind can comprehend long and short as being the comparison of objects in length. However, the mind cannot comprehend the root aspects of beauty and ugliness, or good and evil. So, once one's mind judges something to be ugly (or evil) then beauty (or good) is defined whether or not others share the same judgments. Ambiguity, inconsistency, and misunderstanding can lead to misjudgment, so all judgments should be distrusted. The Lǎo Zǐ admonishes the shèng rén "to practice the teaching that uses no words" – an approach to learning about a world without beauty, ugliness, goodness, evil, long or short. And, as a further consequence, the shèng rén is also admonished to emulate the wordless way of things in nature in which tasks are accomplished for there own sake, not for rewards.

Beauty and ugliness, and good and evil are judgments. But, can beauty be real if it only exists because of ugliness? And, can goodness be real if it only exists because of evil? We do know this, that things that people regard as beautiful, ugly, good, and evil are replete in nature, yet things in nature are not guided by people's judgments as to their beauty, ugliness, goodness, or evilness. Thus, those words are not relevant to anything but people.

However, it doesn't seem that all opposites are simply judgments created only by the human mind, as some opposites exist apart from human experience:

Something and Nothing. The British philosopher, Alan Watts (1915-1973) said, "You can't have something without nothing"^[1]. Watts observed that physical things must be separated by nothingness otherwise they would not be the distinct things they are. His conclusion that things can't physically exist without the nothingness that separates them enables us to say that nothing exists as we say something exists, which is the basis for the Lǎo Zǐ expression here that "Something and Nothing produce each other".

Long and short. The existence of physical objects means that they have dimensions, so the long and short exist because things can be measured.

The other pairs of opposites are the product of judgments. Tasks are difficult or easy in different ways, say in how long a task takes or how many errors are made while completing it. The combination of voices and instruments may be perceived as pleasant or in discord. What is high and what is low depends on the observer's elevation. The front and back of a physical object depends on the location of the observer.

Overall, understanding of any thing can be wrong because perception is a combination of observation and judgment. Even worse, words (names) are particularly poor for understanding any thing (Division 1). So, the shèng rén distrusts words and practices ways that avoid using them. The practice enables the shèng rén to view everything impartially which he is admonished to do in Division 5.

As for things in nature, they arise, grow, and transform on their own accord without any desire to achieve rewards. In doing so, things in nature appear to accomplish things for their own sake. So, the shèng rén emulates natural things, accomplishing tasks for his own sake, and in doing so, acts without acting (wú wèi).

FOOTNOTES
[1] Alan Watts: An Interactive Experience of the Story and Life Works of Alan Watts". Accessed March 30, 2009. The Watts' lecture is available for viewing on YouTube.