Taoist Philosophy - Chapter 85

[Marblehead]

Hold The Great Symbol

 

One who devotes himself to the Tao
Is one with the Tao;
One who devotes himself to Virtue
Is one with Virtue;
And one who devotes himself to losing
Is one with that loss.

Therefore it is said that
He who follows the Tao
Is identified with the Tao.
He who follows Character
Is identified with Character.
He who abandons Tao
Is identified with abandonment of Tao.

He who is identified with Tao.
Tao is also glad to welcome him.
He who is identified with Character,
Character is also glad to welcome him.
He who is identified with abandonment,
Abandonment is also glad to welcome him.
He who has not enough faith
Will not be able to command faith from others.

Therefore, Hold the Great Symbol of Nature
And all the world follows,
Follows without meeting harm,
And lives in health, peace and commonwealth.


Wholeness Of Talent

The Duke said to a Sage, “In my state there is an ugly person. The men who have lived with him cannot stop thinking about him. Women who have seen him, would say to their parents, ‘Rather than be another man’s wife, I would be this man’s concubine.’ He has over a dozen concubines and is still taking more. He never tries to lead others, but only follows them. He wields no power of a ruler by which he may protect men’s lives; he has no wealth by which to gratify their bellies, and is besides frightfully loathsome. He follows but does not lead, and his name is not known outside his own state. Yet men and women alike all seek his company. So there must be something in him that is different from other people.

“I sent for him, and saw that he was indeed frightfully ugly. Yet we had not been long together before I began to see there was something in this man. A year had not passed before I began to trust him. As my government wanted a prime minister, I offered him the post. He looked sullenly before he replied and appeared indifferent as if he would much rather have declined. Perhaps he did not think me good enough for him! At any rate, I gave the post to him; but in a very short time he left me and went away. I grieved for him as for a lost friend, as though there were none left with whom I could enjoy having my kingdom. What manner of man is this?”

“When I was on a mission to another state,” replied the Sage, “I saw a litter of young pigs sucking their dead mother. After a while they looked at her, and then all left the body and went off for their mother did not look at them any more, nor did she seem any longer to be of their kind. What they loved was their mother; not the body which contained her, but that which made the body what it was. A man whose leg has been cut off does not value a present of a pair of shoes. In each case, the original purpose of such things is gone. The concubines of the king do not cut their nails or pierce their ears. Those servants who are married have to live outside the palace and cannot be employed again. Such is the importance attached to preserving the body whole. How much more valued is one who has preserved his Character whole?

“Now this ugly man is trusted without saying anything, is wanted without any accomplishments, and is offered the government of a country with the only fear that he might decline. Indeed he must be one whose talents are perfect and whose character is without outward form!”

Edited March 5, 2013 by Marblehead

[manitou]

The concubines of the king do not cut their nails or pierce their ears.

 

Lin Yutang's version of this chapter includes the paragraph about Nature, under the heading IDENTIFICATION WITH TAO. It is probably aligned somewhere else in your translation. But it makes sense to consider it as well.

 

Nature says few words

Hence it is that a squall lasts not a whole morning.

A rainstorm continues not a whole day.

Where do they come from?

From Nature.

Even Nature does not last long (in its utterances),

How much less should human beings?

 

(The next paragraph is 'Therefore it is that: He who follows the Tao is identified with the Tao...")

 

What this seems to add is that not only does the Sage play things close to the vest and preserve his body and his essense whole, but that this should be true of our utterances as well. This perhaps equates to the idea of the concubines not piercing their ears or cutting their nails - to preserve their bodies 'whole'. Loving and trying to understand the Tao seems to lead to fewer words - probably because to utter them to anyone but a Taoist they come across a bit insane.

What's a little confusing to me is the separation of He Who Follows the Tao is One with the Tao, separate from He Who Follows Character is one with Character. It seems to me that Character would be part and parcel with following the Tao if one takes it seriously. Maybe I'm wrong here. Maybe the inference is that Character is supported by choices, 'good' and 'bad,' or 'right and wrong', and that when Character is concentrated upon itself as an entity the Tao is actually lost.

[Marblehead]

It is probably aligned somewhere else in your translation.

 

Yeah, when I did my orgnaizing it was done according to my mindset at the time. If I were to do it again today I am sure it would be rather different (but maybe not).

 

What's a little confusing to me is the separation of He Who Follows the Tao is One with the Tao, separate from He Who Follows Character is one with Character. It seems to me that Character would be part and parcel with following the Tao if one takes it seriously. Maybe I'm wrong here. Maybe the inference is that Character is supported by choices, 'good' and 'bad,' or 'right and wrong', and that when Character is concentrated upon itself as an entity the Tao is actually lost.

 

I think that here we need to understand the word Character equal to the word "Te", Virtue, that is, the hightest virtue of man.

 

I have seen it where a translator will use the word "Virtue" when speaking of the Te of Tao and use the word "Character" when speaking of the Te of man.