Eric Woon

This could be a rude awakening, though. Among the Chinese (mainland and in Taiwan), they make a very clear distinction between these two phrases, 道家 and 道教. In fact, most of the scholars are 道家, the school of philosophy. The majority of the uneducated or lesser educated Chinese are mere followers of 道教, the religious practice that has its origin at around the later part Eastern Han period (the second century AD). I am afraid, you might have to clear your mind, which side are you on. Read DDJ from a philosophical perspective or read it from a religious point of view? To rub salt into wounds, I might have to tell you in advance, the religious perspective of Taoism as a religion, does not (or did not) borrow more than 10% of DDJ (around 500 words) to kick start a religious practice. Up until today, dao as a religion (Taoism, as the West would like to call it) evolved around, and had muddled through these 500 words, for almost two thousands years. As a religion, it could not muscle in the philosophy (a whole set of 260 leadership principles and 67 moral principles) that were laid down by Lao Zi.

Let's leave it here. I have my good reasons to infer that dao refers to God. Let the later translations prove this point. Not at this juncture.

Dawei, this should be the original Chinese version. To those who do not read Chinese, the link given by Dawei is quite a good translation, but lacking in depth. For example, the word “帝” is derived from the word “蒂” which means bud. This word has an intent to infer that the beginning of all things in Heaven and Earth begins in the like of a flower bud. 在商朝的甲骨卜辞中，就已经有了“帝”这个字，据近代学者王国维的考证，“帝”是“蒂”的初字，即花蒂之蒂，即万物之始。于是，商朝的商民族就用这个字来尊称他们的始祖神。而在神人合一的时代，始祖神也就是至尊神，即是民族之始祖，又是众神之主，所以又被称为“上帝”。

We beg to differ. That is perfectly alright.

There is nothing mystical about DDJ. Most of us could not read Victorian Shakespeare's English; almost none of the Chinese can read DDJ, which is 2500 years old. Initially, I cannot read DDJ too. It took me 13 years to slowly research on what each of the 5254 words means in those days, 2500 years ago. This is a painstaking, word by word, extremely slow process. What I meant here is, I am a 道家 (Dao Jia)， meaning, the study of DDJ as a school of philosophy. The other branch is 道教 （dao jiao） or Taoism (English) which is a religion akin to Christianity.

Of the standard 81 chapters, 12 chapters relate to God and how He created the universe and some other post-creation information. The remaining 61 chapters wrote able leadership principles (government, as you say) and moral principles. Going by the same manner as in the Bible whether each book is divided into many chapters and lines. I did something similar. That is break it up by either full sentence or clause, I landed with 240 leadership principles and 67 moral principles. Among the 12 chapters that talks about God, I manage something like 36 mentions. I went on to label them as LP1, 2...240; MP1, 2...67. UC1,...36. These three abbreviations are: LP = Leadership Principles; MP = Moral Principles and UC = Universe Creation. I fully agree with you, Zhuangzi did not mention anything about those chapters that discuss Leadership Principles or Moral Principles. For example, the shortest chapter 40, has only 21 words. It describes Leadership Principles.

You are right. The last four Chinese characters mean whimsical. The first character "wu" means not.

Simple concept, indeed. All the "emperors" and right up to today, Donald Trump is nothing more than whimsical.

It is okay for you to put your view across. Btw, to the best that I understand the early Chinese as far back as 4172 years ago, they did believe in a Creator of Heaven and Earth, and they called Him, Shangdi. In the 17th century, an Italian Jesuit borrowed this phrase Shangdi when he translated Deus (God) into the Chinese language. Perhaps, he found it best to use an old phrase that was not used since Emperor Qin Shihuang banned it around (206 B.C.).

1) Whims and fancies; 2) whimsical. This is the best translation that I can think of. And I applied it in all my English translations.

1) Whims and fancies; 2) whimsical. This is the best translation that I can think of. And I applied it in all my English translations.

Btw, to me and most Chinese readers, Zhuangzi's work is a compilation of 散文，prose or essays. Therefore, each piece of essay has its own theme. Therefore, Zhuangzi's work as a compilation has no theme at all. Everyone knows this fact. Zhuangzi only mentioned a few things (phrases) in DDJ. He did not even explain more than perhaps, 5% (this is already pretty generous) of DDJ. Why are we taking him seriously? I am definitely not going to pay any attention to Zhuangzi' work for two reasons: (1) there is no singularity in theme; (2) He could not explain more than ten words in a row from any chapter of DDJ. He did not even make a try on these 3 shortest chapters, namely chapter 6, 18 and 40.

You are right to ask for more proofs before you accept that wuwei is an abbreviation for wuweisuoyuwei. This is the key differentiation difference between Laozi originally teaching of DDJ as he wrote it as an abbreviation (my unproven claim as of now) compared to Zhuangzi who made an interpretation that keeps it to wuwei which is meaningless to me for such a great piece of work by Lao Zi.

I am at a total lost which version to choose from. So, I took the 81-chapter version and research on it. 9X9=81. This is a good number for the Chinese. So, breaking it up into 81 chapters make good sense too. If you were to ask me today, perhaps, I would like to break it up into more than 81 chapters. Why? For some of the chapters I found that they could be better broken up because I found more than one sub-theme in them. Let's not argue over how many chapters it should be broken up into. No one is going to be correct, or more correct than the others.

Throw you two spanners. (1) In the Indian continent, these so called dewa, in the Indian language(s), means God. Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Lokesvara, and etc. Btw, there is a close similarity here, Ganesha is the son of Krishna. If Krishna is God, then Ganesha refers to Lord Jesus, the Son of God. The Westerners' understanding of God is shaped by the Bible, a compilation of 66 books. The Catholics may argue, there are 72 books. Meanwhile in the Indian continent, each of these dewa or God, was mentioned in just one of the several Scriptures. Therefore, they stand alone. (1a) Btw, there are 27 different written language in India today. How many mare written language are there in the past? I don't know. Of course, it is almost impossible for someone to compile these scriptures which were originally, written in different languages to be compiled as one unified Scripture, like the Bible. (1b) Likewise, over in China, of all the Scriptures that describe God, spanning over several thousand years, no one bother to compile them as one bigger volume Scripture. Btw, it is simply impossible because the theme of each of these scriptures run on different themes. (2) Like it or not, the theme of The Old Testament and The New Testament are completely different. Just to share my little understanding. The Old Testament theme runs like this, You God is not the same s my God. My God is the true God. Your God is not the true God. Whereas, in the New Testament, Lord Jesus did not differentiate between you and me So long you believe in him, gentile or not, you will be saved.

Reification of Dao or not, I cannot tell what was in Lao Zi's head. Neither of you. You guess is as good as my guess. Let's cast aside our difference. Perhaps, you can take a mental time travel exercise. This is the best piece of suggestion for you. Also, feminine or not, I cannot prove anything. It again is to my best of my understanding, the spiritual world has no gender.

Chinese words were standardized by Qin Shi Huang, （Qin Dynasty 221 - 206 B.C.). If you find or read some texts much older than this, I am sure you can find different version of Dao De Jing. I am 100% certain of that. Whether the Mawuangdui is different or not, I must get a copy and read it first.

Thanks Mig. Still learning more about in this website.

To the best of my knowledge, in the spiritual world of the angels (different from the spiritual world of the sentient beings, and thirdly, the human world), there is no masculine or feminine division. In many of the Chinese scriptures, the Creator of Heaven and Earth appears as a feminine figure, such as 观世音 （GuanYin）, 西方圣母，圣母娘娘 and several others.

If we say to say, the ancient Chinese people, especially the people of the Shang Dynasty, called the Creator of Heaven and Earth, God; as 上帝 (Shang Di or God); the Zhou rulers of the Zhou Dynasty changed it to 昊天上帝 (Hao Tian Shangdi Di), and during the Spring and Autumn Period, let's say, Laozi called it 道 （Dao）; and now, we describe the Creator of the Heaven and Earth as “God, the Creator of the universe” for the past few hundred years, over a long history of 5000 years, using different terms to describe God is reasonable and practical in every sense. There is nothing wrong with this. Come 649 AD, Tang Tripitaka used the phrase Boddhisattva GuanShiYin to describe the Creator of Heaven and Earth ,who created the 舍利子 (pronounce as shelizi, which actually, means ,human soul). If you want to do more research on some of the Chinese scriptures, each scripture chose a different name or phrase to describe the Creator of Heaven and Earth. All in all, there are more than 3 dozen Chinese word or phrase that describe the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Btw, The creator of the universe is a very recent term compared to the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Btw, in the Bible, there are 66 chapters。 Some of these chapters used different word to describe Jehovah. I did not make a count. There should be more than two dozen words. The biggest problem with people from the Western culture are two major flawed concepts. 1) They think, there is only one name for God. (Even the Bible did not use only one name, Jehovah). Perhaps, the Quran uses Allah, all out and out. Can somebody enlighten me, please? Two, bigotry. Your God is not my God. My God is the true God, and your is not the true God. Perhaps, somebody can emlighten me, when did the West first use the word God? The earliest written record (of course, verbally passed down story that was transcribed into words, much later), of 上帝 (Shangdi), circa, 4171 years ago. It wrote about （尧） King Yao's intention to abdicate (禅让) in favor of （舜） King Shun. In Chinese record, it reads something like this, 尧欲禅舜之年是公元前2153年，离今天（2018年）已有4171年。

Dawei, and merely for everyone's interest, I posted my original Chinese translation for chapter 54. This chapter alone has 18 Chinese proverbs (the highest number of proverbs). I am sorry, if you do not read Chinese, let it for the time being. You have to give me some time to translate it into English. You need not wait too long, though. Note: Please ignore the labels MPxx. You can imagine now, why all earlier translations could not get anywhere close to what Lao Zi tried to explain. 学说：修养的五个意向 [MP35a]擅长建造建筑物的人，不会摆脱责任。[MP35b]好谋善断【[1]】的人所决定下来的志向，他不会轻易地放弃它。[MP35c]子孙们按照入学时给老师先行拜师的礼仪，他们就不会半途而辍学了。 有五种不同层次的学习态度。 其一， [MP3a]谁为了自身的修养而去修学习，他所修得的道德品行【[2]】才是真诚的。 其二， [MP36b]谁为了宜家宜室【[3]】而去修学，他所修得的道德品行就能恩泽及于於子孙。 其三， [MP36c]谁为了衣锦还乡【[4]】而去修学，他所修得的道德品行才足于使他成为领袖【[5]】。 其四， [MP36d]谁为了国家而去学修习，他所修得的道德品行才足于使国家丰亨豫大【[6]】。 其五， [MP36e]谁为了天下所有的人民百姓而去修学习，他所修得的道德品行才能使全世界的人普天同庆【[7]】。 [MP37]再看一看怎样去评估这五个层次的修养。 1. [MP37a]以修身齐家【[8]】，去观看立身处世【[9]】的成果； 2. [MP37b]以宜家之乐【[10]】，去观看齐家治国【[11]】的成果； 3. [MP37c] 以乡规民约【[12]】，去观看随乡入乡【[13]】的成果； 4. [MP37d] 以民为邦本【[14]】，去观看立国安邦【[15]】的成果； 5. [MP37e] 以怀柔天下【[16]】，去观看燮和天下[17]的成果。 [MP37f]我为什么会知道天下【[18]】是这样的状态呢？ [MP37g] 以此类推【[19]】，就是以上十个评介点。 [1] 善：擅长；断：决断。形容人能不断思考，并善于判断。 [2] 请参照第38章，注释1。 [3] 形容家庭和顺，夫妻和睦。 [4] 衣：衣服。锦：有多彩图案的丝织品。还乡：回家、探亲。古时指做官以后，穿了锦绣的衣服，回到故乡向亲友夸耀。也说衣锦荣归。 [5] 国家、政党、群众团体等的最高领导人。 [6] 形容富足兴盛的太平安乐景象。 [7] 天下的人们共同庆贺。 [8] 指修养自身，理好家政。 [9] 立身：做人；处世：在社会上活动，与人交往。指人在社会上待人接物的种种活动。 [10] 形容家庭和顺，夫妻和睦。 [11] 整治家庭和治理国家。 [12] 指由当地村民共同制定并要求共同遵守的规约。 [13] 到一个地方就按照这一个地方的风俗习惯生活。也比喻到什么地方都能适应。 [14] 邦：国家。百姓是国家的根本。 [15] 建立国家，安定天下。 [16] 使天下归服。怀柔：旧指统治者用政治手腕笼络人心，使之归服。 [17] 燮和：协调，和顺。使国家协调和平。 [18] 人世间，社会上；国家与社会动态。 [19] 根据这一事物的道理，去推出与此类似的其他事物的道理。

As of today （March 17, 2018), this is the world-first revelation of the full list of Chinese proverbs (whether they exist before Laozi or not, it is not important), each of them gives the closest, and most of them truly bring the precise meaning to the phrase and its chapter sub-theme. Let me revel the full list here. Note: Without much ado, or making reference to the Chinese dictionary (汉典) at zdic.net (which I used through the last decade while I was doing my translation), you can figure out at a glance that the majority of these proverbs give a precise description of the accompanying phrase on its right. 1. 恃：恃才傲物。（第2章：为而不恃） 2. 居：居功自傲。（第2章：功成而弗居） 3. 居：居功自傲。（第2章：夫唯弗居） 4. 为：为所欲为。（第3章：为无为，则无不治） 5. 和：和衷共济。（第4章：和其光） 6. 虚：虚无缥缈。（第5章：虚而不屈） 7. 谷：虚怀若谷。（第6章：谷神不死是谓玄牝） 8. 处：设身处地。（第8章：处众人之所恶） 9. 时：待时而动。（第8章：动善时） 10. 为：为所欲为。（第10章：爱国治民，能无为乎） 11. 能：力所能及。（第10章：爱国治民，能无为乎） 12. 患：患得患失。（第13章：吾有何患） 13. 能：力所能及。（第14章：能知古始） 14. 始：周而复始。（第14章：能知古始） 15. 是：实事求是。（第14章：是谓道纪） 16. 深：深入浅出。（第15章：深不可识） 17. 释：涣然冰释。（第15章：涣兮若冰之将释） 18. 澹：恬澹寡欲。（第15章：澹兮其若海） 19. 安：安之若素。（第15章：孰能安以动之徐生） 20. 虚：虚怀若谷。（第16章：致虚极守静笃） 21. 妄：恣意妄为。（第16章：不知常，妄作凶） 22. 遂：功成名遂。（第17章：功成事遂） 23. 出：出类拔萃。（第18章：慧智出有大伪） 24. 伪：巧伪趋利。（第18章：慧智出有大伪） 25. 昏：昏天黑地。（第18章：国家昏乱） 26. 智：利令智昏。（第19章：绝圣弃智） 27. 巧：投机取巧。（第19章：绝巧弃利） 28. 利：见利忘义、利市三倍（第19章：绝巧弃利） 29. 令：令行禁止。（第19章：故令有所属） 30. 朴：朴实无华。（第19章：见素抱朴少私寡欲） 31. 阿ē：阿其所好。（第20章：唯之与阿） 32. 泊：淡泊明志。（第20章：我独泊兮） 33. 是：实事求是。（第21章：孔德之容，惟道是从） 34. 精：精益求精。（第21章：窈兮冥兮其中有精。其精甚真） 35. 自是：自以为是。（第22章：不自是故彰） 36. 争：争名夺利；争长竞短。（第22章：夫唯不争） 37. 同：一视同仁。（第23章：德者同於德） 38. 同：一视同仁。（第23章：同於德者） 39. 自是：自以为是。（第24章：自是者不彰） 40. 躁：性急烦躁。（第26章：重为轻根，静为躁君） 41. 躁：性急烦躁。（第26章：轻则失根，躁则失君） 42. 师：良师益友。（第27章：故善人者不善人之师） 43. 荣：爱慕虚荣。（第28章：知其荣） 44. 谷：虚怀若谷。（第28章：为天下谷。） 45. 为：为所欲为。（第29章：天下神器，不可为也） 46. 为：为所欲为。（第29章：为者败之） 47. 执：执迷不悟。（第29章：执者失之） 48. 强：争强好胜。（第30章：不敢以取强） 49. 矜：矜功恃宠。（第30章：果而勿矜） 50. 伐：伐功矜能。（第30章：果而勿伐） 51. 骄：骄傲自满。（第30章：果而勿骄） 52. 强：恃强凌弱。（第30章：果而勿强） 53. 物：待人接物。（第30章：物壮则老） 54. 自：自不待言。（第32章：万物将自宾） 55. 终：自始至终。（第34章：以其终不自为大） 56. 太，亦作泰：泰然处之。（第35章：往而不害安平太） 57. 微：微言大义。（第36章：是谓微明） 58. 自：自然而然。（第37章：天下将自定） 59. 无德：无德不贵，无能不官。（第38章：下德不失德是以无德） 60. 以：而无以为。（第38章：上义为之而有以为） 61. 义：深明大义。（第38章：上义为之而有以为） 62. 礼：卑礼厚币。（第38章：上礼为之而莫之以应） 63. 义：急公好义。（第38章：失仁而後义） 64. 礼：卑礼厚币。（第38章：失义而後礼） 65. 首：罪魁祸首。（第38章：夫礼者忠信之薄而乱之首） 66. 贞：忠贞不渝。（第39章：侯王得一以为天下贞） 67. 贞：忠贞不渝。（第39章：侯王无以贞将恐蹶） 68. 蹶：一蹶不振。（第39章：侯王无以贞将恐蹶） 69. 寡：寡廉鲜耻。（第39章：是以侯王自称孤、寡、不谷） 70. 谷：虚怀若谷。（第41章：上德若谷） 71. 广：广开言路。（第41章：广德若不足） 72. 隐：隐隐约约。（第41章：道隐无名） 73. 唯：唯我独尊。（第42章：人之所恶，唯孤、寡、不谷） 74. 寡：寡廉鲜耻。（第42章：人之所恶，唯孤、寡、不谷） 75. 谷：虚怀若谷。（第42章：人之所恶，唯孤、寡、不谷） 76. 益：益国利民。（第43章：吾是以知无为之有益） 77. 为：为所欲为。（第43章：无为之益天下） 78. 穷：穷奢极侈。（第43章：其用不穷） 79. 巧：巧捷万端。（第45章：大巧若拙） 80. 拙：拙嘴笨舌。（第45章：大巧若拙） 81. 躁：暴躁如雷。（第45章：静胜躁） 82. 为：为所欲为。（第48章：以至於无为） 83. 为：为所欲为。（第48章：无为而无不为） 84. 德：同心同德。（第49章：不善者吾亦善之德善） 85. 恃：恃才傲物。（第51章：为而不恃） 86. 明：明察秋毫。（第52章：见其小曰明） 87. 明：深明大义。（第52章：复归其明） 88. 厌：贪得无厌。（第53章：厌饮食） 89. 善：好谋善断。（第54章：善抱者不脱） 90. 家：宜家宜室。（第54章：修之於家其德乃馀） 91. 乡：四乡八镇。（第54章：修之於乡其德乃长） 92. 丰：丰亨豫大。（第54章：修之於邦其德乃丰） 93. 普：普天同庆。（第54章：其德乃普） 94. 身：修身齐家。（第54章：故以身观身） 95. 身：立身处世。（第54章：故以身观身） 96. 家：宜家之乐。（第54章：以家观家） 97. 家：齐家治国。（第54章：以家观家） 98. 乡：乡规民约。（第54章：以乡观乡） 99. 乡：随乡入乡。（第54章：以乡观乡） 100. 邦：民为邦本。（第54章：以邦观邦） 101. 邦：立国安邦。（第54章：以邦观邦） 102. 天下：怀柔天下。（第54章：以天下观天下） 103. 天下：燮和天下。（第54章：以天下观天下） 104. 以此：以此类推。（第54章：以此） 105. 至：自始至终。（第55章：精之至也） 106. 常：人情之常或人之常情。（第55章：知和曰常） 107. 常：明如指掌。（第55章：知和曰常） 108. 心：一心一意。（第55章：心使气曰强） 109. 知：知高识低。（第56章：知者不言） 110. 和：和衷共济。（第56章：和其光） 111. 同：同心协力。（第56章：是谓玄同） 112. 昏：昏庸无道。（第57章：民多利器国家滋昏） 113. 滋：日益月滋。（第57章：法令滋彰） 114. 自：自力更生。（第57章：而民自富） 115. 为：为所欲为。（第57章：我无为而民自化） 116. 自：自然而然。（第57章：而民自朴） 117. 朴：朴实无华。（第57章：而民自朴） 118. 复：三翻四复。（第58章：善复为妖） 119. 迷：迷惑视听。（第58章：人之迷其日固久） 120. 固：固步自封。（第58章：人之迷其日固久） 121. 方：方正不阿。（第58章：是以圣人方而不割） 122. 廉：廉洁奉公。（第58章：廉而不刿） 123. 直：刚直不阿.（第58章：直而不肆） 124. 肆：肆无忌惮。（第58章：直而不肆） 125. 光：光明磊落。（第58章：光而不耀） 126. 耀：耀武扬威。（第58章：光而不耀） 127. 唯：亦作惟，惟精惟一。（第59章：夫唯啬是谓早服） 128. 非：无可非议。（第60章：非其鬼不神） 129. 伤：劳民伤财。（第60章：其神不伤人） 130. 非：无可非议。（第60章：其神不伤人） 131. 归：众望所归。（第60章：故德交归） 132. 静：四海波静。（第61章：以静为下） 133. 取：唾手可取。（第61章：则取小国） 134. 取：拱手而取。（第61章：则取大国） 135. 下：下气怡声。（第61章：故或下以取） 136. 取：取信于民。（第61章：故或下以取） 137. 下：下气怡声。（第61章：或下而取） 138. 而：引而申之。（第61章：或下而取） 139. 兼畜：兼容并蓄。（第61章：大国不过欲兼畜人） 140. 事：事齐事楚。（第61章：小国不过欲入事人） 141. 大：深明大义。（第61章：大者宜为下） 142. 宜：便宜行事。（第61章：大者宜为下） 143. 所：各尽所能。（第62章：不善人之所保） 144. 保：明哲保身。（第62章：不善人之所保） 145. 为：为所欲为。（第63章：为无为，事无事，味无味） 146. 终：由始至终。（第63章：是以圣人终不为大） 147. 终：善始善终。（第63章：是以圣人犹难之，故终无难矣） 148. 终：自始至终。（第64章：慎终如始则无败事） 149. 欲：为所欲为。（第64章：是以圣人欲不欲）注：“不欲”是“不为所欲为”。 150. 为：为恶不悛。（第64章：而不敢为） 151. 将：将计就计。（第65章：将以愚之） 152. 深：意味深长。（第65章：玄德深矣） 153. 远：任重道远。（第65章：玄德深矣，远矣） 154. 前：勇往直前。（第66章：处前而民不害） 155. 乐。乐此不疲。（第66章：乐推不厌） 156. 争：争名夺利。（第66章：以其不争，故天下莫能与之争）注： 指第一个“争”。 157. 争：争长论短。（第66章：以其不争，故天下莫能与之争）注： 指第二个“争”。 158. 持：持之以恒。（第67章：我有三宝持而保之） 159. 能：力所能及。（第67章：不敢为天下先故能成器长） 160. 舍：舍己为人。（第67章：今舍慈且勇） 161. 俭：克勤克俭。（第67章：舍俭且广） 162. 先：身先士卒。（第67章：舍後且先） 163. 胜：胜任愉快。（第67章：夫慈以战则胜） 164. 善：多谋善断。（第68章：善胜敌者不与） 165. 极：登峰造极。（第68章：是谓配天之极） 166. 行：行兵布阵。（第69章：是谓行无行）注： 第一个“行”字，是行军。第二个“行”字，才是行兵布阵。 167. 祸：祸国殃民。（第69章：祸莫大於轻敌） 168. 唯：唯唯否否。（第70章：夫唯无知） 169. 难：难能可贵。（第70章：则我者贵） 170. 怀：怀瑾握瑜。（第70章：披褐怀玉） 171. 玉：玉洁冰清。（第70章：披褐怀玉） 172. 至：接踵而至。（第72章：则大威至） 173. 自知：自知之明。（第72章：是以圣人自知不自见） 174. 自：自欺欺人。（第72章：是以圣人自知不自见） 175. 见：见事生风。（第72章：是以圣人自知不自见） 176. 自：好自矜夸。（第72章：自爱不自贵） 177. 贵：贤身贵体。（第72章：自爱不自贵） 178. 勇：猪突豨勇。（第73章：勇於敢则杀） 179. 勇：见义勇为。（第73章：勇於不敢则活） 180. 于：于安思危。（第73章：勇於不敢则活） 181. 不敢：不敢后人。（第73章：勇於不敢则活） 182. 争：争强好胜。（第73章：天之道不争而善胜） 183. 善：善气迎人。（第73章：天之道不争而善胜） 184. 胜：天人胜处。（第73章：天之道不争而善胜） 185. 应：一呼百应。（第73章：不言而善应） 186. 殚：殚精竭虑。（第73章：殚然而善谋） 187. 谋：谋图不轨。（第73章：殚然而善谋） 188. 恃：恃才傲物。（第77章：是以圣人为而不恃） 189. 刚：刚戾自用。（第78章：柔之胜刚） 190. 亲：任人唯亲。（第79章：天道无亲常与善人） 191. 死：生离死别。（第80章：使民重死而不远徙） 192. 博：博关经典。（第81章：知者不博） 193. 博：博文约礼。（第81章：博者不知） 194. 积：处心积虑。（第81章：圣人不积） 195. 有：有教无类。（第81章：既以为人己愈有） 196. 与人：与人为善。（第81章：既以与人己愈多） 197. 争：争名夺利。（第81章：圣人之道为而不争）

Dawei, you are right. Chinese proverbs was not formal 2500 years ago. It was a much later development, say by the Han dynasty, to my best guess. However, we must not forget, the formal proverbs all have their origin, somewhere. Some of these are from very old source indeed. For example, 博文约礼, has its origin from The Analect, 《论语·子罕》“博我以文，约我以礼”. What about this most important ofthem all, but long lost proverb, 为所欲为？无为 （Wuwei），actually is the abbreviation for 无为所欲为。Which this new finding, you can imagine all the readers (1.4 billion mainland Chinese, plus however he might be) of DDJ who are from the LaoZi-ZhuangZi school, have to drop their past understand of the phrase, wuwei. Are they ready for this shocking revelation? I bet not. I tested this on 500 current professors in more than a few dozen universities in China. Most of them kept quiet. They are at a total lost, sort of insulting their intelligence, perhaps. Are you too?

Chapter 6: 谷神不死是谓玄牝。玄牝之门是谓天地根。绵绵若存，用之不勤。 谷 abbreviation for 虚怀若谷: humble, open-minded and receptive. 神: God. 不死: unrelenting. Inferred as incessantly nourishes the livelihood of all forms of life and He does not drop this role. 是谓: is described as. In simple term, let’s call Him, 玄牝: Compound words, giving it a new meaning. Keep this orginal name as XuanPin. In humility, the open-minded and receptive God incessantly nourishes the livelihood of all forms of life and He does not drop this role. Let’s call Him ‘Xuanpin'[1]. 玄牝之门：Xuanpin is the channel. 是谓 is said to be. (Can be dropped) 天地根：resources that originate from the universe. The resources that nourish the abundance of living things originate from the universe and are channeled through Xuanpin. 绵绵若存: perpetually in abundance. 用之不勤: during consumption, it is inexhaustible. Since the resources originate from the universe, they are perpetually in abundance and they are inexhaustible.

Chapter 6：谷神不死是谓玄牝。玄牝之门是谓天地根。 The resources that nourish the abundance of living things originate from the universe and are channeled through Xuanpin. 玄牝之门：Xuanpin is the channel. 是谓 is said to be. (Can be dropped) 天地根：resources that originate from the universe.