the short of it:
The best at violence, are peaceful.
68. How To Be the Associate of Heaven.
The [person] who excels as a commander is not warlike. The [person] who excels as a fighter is not wrathful. The [person] who excels as a conqueror takes no part in war. The [person] who excels in employing others places [themselves] below them. This I call the virtue of not striving. This I call the power of employing others. This I call being the associate of Heaven -the supreme aim of antiquity.
68. ‘Matching Heaven.’
[Those] who in (Tao’s) wars [have] skill [Assume] no martial port; [Those] who [fight] with most good will To rage [make] no resort. [Those] who [vanquish] yet still [Keep] from [their] foes apart; [Those who hest* people] most fulfil Yet humbly [ply their] art. Thus we say, ‘[They] ne’er [contend], And therein [is their] might.’ Thus we say, ‘[Those] wills [they bend], That they with [them] unite.’ Thus we say, ‘Like Heaven’s [their] ends, No sage of old more bright.’
*Command (archaic).
68. Complying with Heaven.
68.1 [Those] who [excel] as [warriors are] not warlike. [Those] who [excel] as [fighters are] not wrathful. [Those] who [excel] in conquering the enemy [do] not strive. [Those] who [excel] in employing [people are] lowly.
68.2 This is called the virtue of not-striving. This is called utilizing [people’s] ability. This is called complying with heaven -since olden times the highest.
The Long of it:
The paradox of Chapter 68 is not hard to understand. Just because we may have a violent occupation, doesn’t mean we have to be violent. In fact, it’s the opposite: the best at violence are peaceful. Violence itself is not a good tool. It’s how we use it to interact with people, and what it means to them.
Extra Credit;
However, Chapter 68 is an excellent place to differentiate the Chinese meaning of the word t’ien from the English word heaven. In Chinese, the symbol for heaven (t’ien) looks like this:
The symbol comprises the root word for man (ta) shown here:
We can see the Chinese symbol for heaven comprises a roof over a man (Wieger 60), meant to represent not only everything greater than man but also everything under the sun.
Leon Wieger defines t’ien as “heaven, the vast -extant of space that is above men, the highest of things, sky, a day, weather, celestial, the emperor, great, [and] immense” (Wieger 60, 690).
On the one hand it might be confusing for English-speaking readers of the Tao Te Ching to see the word Heaven pop up in a pre-Christian Chinese text (mostly about governmental strategies). On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that a language largely responsible for the spread of Christianity would find a Chinese equivalent for one of its most basic tenets.
Considering Chalmers’ and Legges’ missionary status, their title choices are not surprising either (the Tao Te Ching had no chapter titles) (Henricks 17). Wieger was a 19th century missionary as well, and we might want to consider these missionary sinologists were prominent reasons people still translate the word t’ien as heaven to this day.
extra extra credit:
As an important side note, here is the Chinese word for woman (nu):
Notice the legs of the symbol for woman spread wider than the symbol for man, creating a little space for childbirth (and also alluding to the mystery of Lao Tsu’s Valley Spirit (Chap 6).
-TB
