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 3 (第三)

Do not honor the worthy
So that the people will not contend with one another.
Never prize rare treasures and people will not steal.
Never flaunt alluring things and the people won't be confused.

Therefore, in the government of the shèng rén:
He empties the minds of his people
And fills their bellies;
Weakens their ambition
And strengthens their bones.
He constantly keeps them without knowledge (zhī 知) and without desire,
Then those who know (zhì 智) are those who never presume to act.
Act by wú wèi
Then nothing is not in order.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Division 3 is a summary prescription of the shèng rén's (sage's) approach to governance, which primarily consists of working to minimize people's ambitions and desires, and ensuring they are well-fed and physically strong. In admonishing the shèng rén that governs to empty people's minds, Lǎo Zǐ obligates him to teach the people how to obtain enlightenment. By doing so, the nation will be orderly.

The nature of people is to compete for honors (also see Division 13), to covet rare things of value, and to react to those putting on alluring displays. Respectively, these behaviors promote disorder by risking disputes, cheating, and strife; theft; and disturbances caused by misunderstanding of motives. Thus, the Lǎo Zǐ's dào is to not bestow any honors, prize rare things, or put on displays that incite desire.

Two central ideas not mentioned in this division are essential for understanding the Lǎo Zǐ's positions on good government. First, the objective of good government is to benefit the people by maintaining order (see Division 8). The second, articulated in Division 65, is that governing is hard because ordinary people are too knowledgeable, presumably, clever in seeking ways to fulfill the ambitions and desires that contribute to social disorder.

Furthermore, by admonishing the shèng rén to "Act by wú wèi" (or maybe more clearly, “Act without acting”), the shèng rén needs to be so skilled at governing that the act of governing is effortless. This would seem to rule out the use of force, as the Lǎo Zǐ articulates in Divisions 30 and 36. Given all these constraints, the Lǎo Zǐ's prescription to the shèng rén is to create and maintain a social order with the features described in this division below.

The shèng rén ensures that his people are well-fed and physically strong. He works to moderate their ambitions, and prevents them from becoming mischievous and desirous.

The shèng rén “empties minds,” which has two meanings that emanate from the use of two different words for knowledge – zhī (知) and zhì (智) that both appear concurrently in this division and Division 33, the latter noted by Chen^[1]. The etymology of zhī (知) is to be wise in speech^[2], i.e. it is the display of wisdom through the use of words. As zhī knowledge depends on words it is inherently distorted and untrustworthy (Divisions 1 and 2). The shèng rén is admonished in Division 2 to practice the teaching that uses no words, and so seeks to instill knowledge through other means. However, the ideograph zhì (智) is zhī (知) with the symbol of the sun (日 rì) under it^[3]. In this division, zhì (智) is the most legitimate form of knowledge recognized in the Lǎo Zǐ, which is the understanding of cháng (常), because when one understands cháng one becomes enlightened (Division 16). In particular, in order to understand cháng (常) one must empty one's mind (Division 16).

Finally, Division 27 says the shèng rén excels at saving people. Achieving enlightenment is the most important aspect of salvation in the Lǎo Zǐ. In saying the shèng rén who governs empties people's minds, the Lǎo Zǐ implicitly directs him to help his people attain enlightenment. Such efforts promote happiness and good social order since the enlightened don't act. The directions also implicitly make the shèng rén who governs an advocate and teacher of the Lǎo Zǐ's Dào.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Chen, Ellen M., The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, Paragon House, St. Paul, MN, 1989, p.136.

[2] Sears, Richard, "知 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.

[3] Sears, Richard, "智 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.

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.