Tao Te Ching (道德經)

Name: Tao Te Ching
Author: Laozi

Chinese title: 道德經
Author: Laozi
Translation: James Legge (1891) — The Tâo Teh King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 39 (1891)
Chinese text: Wang Bi recension (王弼本), commentary removed
Contents: 81 chapters
Status: Public domain

Chapter	Opening words
Chapter 1 第1章	The Tao that can be described is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the en
Chapter 2 第2章	All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is;
Chapter 3 第3章	Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; n
Chapter 4 第4章	The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all f
Chapter 5 第5章	Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the
Chapter 6 第6章	The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;
Chapter 7 第7章	Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and conti
Chapter 8 第8章	The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things,
Chapter 9 第9章	It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a po
Chapter 10 第10章	When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When
Chapter 11 第11章	The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the whee
Chapter 12 第12章	Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;
Chapter 13 第13章	Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal con
Chapter 14 第14章	We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and
Chapter 15 第15章	The skilful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle and exquisite penetration, comprehended its myste
Chapter 16 第16章	The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying v
Chapter 17 第17章	In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers). In the next age they loved
Chapter 18 第18章	When the Great Tao (Way or Method) ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue. (Then
Chapter 19 第19章	If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold. If
Chapter 20 第20章	When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
Chapter 21 第21章	The grandest forms of active force
Chapter 22 第22章	The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) ar
Chapter 23 第23章	Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last fo
Chapter 24 第24章	He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he w
Chapter 25 第25章	There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was an
Chapter 26 第26章	Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.
Chapter 27 第27章	The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can b
Chapter 28 第28章	Who knows his manhood's strength,
Chapter 29 第29章	If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will
Chapter 30 第30章	He who would assist a lord of men in harmony with the Tao will not assert his mastery in the kingdom by force
Chapter 31 第31章	Now arms, however beautiful, are instruments of evil omen, hateful, it may be said, to all creatures. Therefor
Chapter 32 第32章	The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name.
Chapter 33 第33章	He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong;
Chapter 34 第34章	All-pervading is the Great Tao! It may be found on the left hand and on the right.
Chapter 35 第35章	To him who holds in his hands the Great Image (of the invisible Tao), the whole world repairs. Men resort to h
Chapter 36 第36章	When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a (previous) expiration; when he is going to weak
Chapter 37 第37章	The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing it), and so there is nothing which it does n
Chapter 38 第38章	(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore
Chapter 39 第39章	The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are--
Chapter 40 第40章	The movement of the Tao
Chapter 41 第41章	Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice. Scholars of the
Chapter 42 第42章	The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. All things leave behind
Chapter 43 第43章	The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest; that which has no (substantial) exist
Chapter 44 第44章	Or fame or life,
Chapter 45 第45章	Who thinks his great achievements poor
Chapter 46 第46章	When the Tao prevails in the world, they send back their swift horses to (draw) the dung-carts. When the Tao i
Chapter 47 第47章	Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place) under the sky; without looking out from
Chapter 48 第48章	He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself
Chapter 49 第49章	The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind.
Chapter 50 第50章	Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die.
Chapter 51 第51章	All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing operation. They receive their forms accord
Chapter 52 第52章	(The Tao) which originated all under the sky is to be considered as the mother of them all.
Chapter 53 第53章	If I were suddenly to become known, and (put into a position to) conduct (a government) according to the Great
Chapter 54 第54章	What (Tao's) skilful planter plants
Chapter 55 第55章	He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sti
Chapter 56 第56章	He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not
Chapter 57 第57章	A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the
Chapter 58 第58章	The government that seems the most unwise,
Chapter 59 第59章	For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering the (proper) service to the heavenly, there is no
Chapter 60 第60章	Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.
Chapter 61 第61章	What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down- flowing (stream);--it becomes the centre to wh
Chapter 62 第62章	Tao has of all things the most honoured place.
Chapter 63 第63章	(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to conduct affairs without (feeling the) troub
Chapter 64 第64章	That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing has given indications of its presence, it is easy
Chapter 65 第65章	The ancients who showed their skill in practising the Tao did so, not to enlighten the people, but rather to m
Chapter 66 第66章	That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and tribute of all the valley streams, is thei
Chapter 67 第67章	All the world says that, while my Tao is great, it yet appears to be inferior (to other systems of teaching).
Chapter 68 第68章	He who in (Tao's) wars has skill
Chapter 69 第69章	A master of the art of war has said, 'I do not dare to be the host (to commence the war); I prefer to be the g
Chapter 70 第70章	My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but there is no one in the world who is able to kno
Chapter 71 第71章	To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is
Chapter 72 第72章	When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, that which is their great dread will come on them.
Chapter 73 第73章	He whose boldness appears in his daring (to do wrong, in defiance of the laws) is put to death; he whose boldn
Chapter 74 第74章	The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to) frighten them with death? If the people were a
Chapter 75 第75章	The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through thi
Chapter 76 第76章	Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plan
Chapter 77 第77章	May not the Way (or Tao) of Heaven be compared to the (method of) bending a bow? The (part of the bow) which w
Chapter 78 第78章	There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and st
Chapter 79 第79章	When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge
Chapter 80 第80章	In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the a
Chapter 81 第81章	Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (abo

Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Tao Te Ching (道德經)

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