the short of it:
Tao is sharp, yet does not cut.
81. Substantiality.
Faithful words are not fine. Fine words are not faithful. The good do not debate. The debater is not good. The knowing are not learned. The learned are not knowing.
The sage does not lay up treasures. The more [they do] for others, the more [they have] of [their] own. The more [they give] to others, the more [they are] increased.
This is the Tau of Heaven, which benefits and does not injure.
This is the Tau of the sage, who acts but does not strive.
81. ‘The Manifestation of Simplicity.’
81.1 Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.
81.2 The sage does not accumulate (for [themselves]). The more that [they expend] for others, the more [do they] possess of [their] own; the more that [they give] to others, the more [do they] have [themselves].
81.3 With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with all the doing in the way of the sage [they do] not strive.
81. (Untitled).
Faithful words may not be beautiful, Beautiful words may not be faithful, Those who love do not quarrel, Those who quarrel do not love. Those who know are not learned, Those who are learned do not know.
The riches of the self-controlled [person] are in the Inner Life. When [they] spend for others, [they have] more for [themselves]. When [they give] to others, [they have] much more [themselves]. Heavenly Tao blesses all and hurts no one. The way of the self-controlled [person] is to act and not to fight.
Lao-tzu. Mears, Isabella. Tao Teh King … A Tentative Translation … by Isabella Mears. United Kingdom: Theosophical Publishing House, 1922.
The Long of It:
The final chapter of the Tao Te Ching presented here features a translation by Isabella Mears, who, despite her loose translation, captures the spirit of the chapter. It’s a fitting closure to a book so beautifully paradoxical.
Unlike most religious texts, the Tao Te Ching doesn’t rely on accurate translations to deliver its messages. It relies on paradox, and we only need rough translations to unlock them.
Most proof of this is the Tao Te Ching itself. The method is the message. Lao Tsu tells us in the very first chapter words can’t describe what he is describing (in words).
Speaking of Chapter 1, this chapter is eerily familiar. In fact, the correlations to Chapters 1 and 2 are so strong, we should consider this closing chapter in a couple of alternative lights.
Pick up sticks.
On the one hand, some scholars believe the Book of Te may have come first (Henricks(2) 1), which would make Chapter 81 a nice transition into the Book of Tao.
This is quite plausible since the Tao Te Ching was originally written vertically on bamboo strips, then attached to each other and rolled up like a small carpet. Over time, the materials holding the strips together would decompose. When finally discovered, chapters of the Tao Te Ching were often jumbled together (Henricks(2) 6-8).
On the other hand but for the same reason, we may also want to consider Chapter 81 as the actual first chapter of the Tao Te Ching. It covers similar subject matter as the first two chapters, and reads better as a beginning than an ending.
Finally, Chapter 80 would make a better ending. It abandons the paradox format, and reaches farther than any other chapter in terms of scope and raw imagination. So much so it almost feels like an epilogue; like Lao Tsu whispering in our ear.
Extra Credit.
Regardless of the original chapter organization, we should reconsider the final stanza. Legge documented his struggle translating it in his commentary (Legge 124). It revolved around the final two characters of the book, li and hai.
Both Legge and Waley (218) translate li as sharpness, and many others translate hai as some form of harm (see Ames, Henricks1, Lau, and Wang).
So with these clues and a list of characters for Chapter 81 (Star 255), we can construct a slightly more memorable ending to the Tao Te Ching than the translations above:
Tao’s path is sharp, yet does not cut. And the sage of Tao accomplishes without contending.
-TB
works cited
Lao-tzu. Lau, D.C. Tao Te Ching. United Kingdom: Penguin Publishing Group, 1963.
