The Short of it:
Greatness absorbs non-greatness. That’s what makes it great.
61. The Virtue of Humility.
When a great kingdom takes a lowly position, it becomes the place of concourse for the world -it is the [female] of the world. The [female] by quietness invariably conquers the [male]. And since quietness is also lowliness, therefore a great kingdom, by lowliness towards a small kingdom, may take that small kingdom. And a small kingdom, by lowliness towards a great kingdom, may take that great kingdom. So that either the one stoops to conquer, or the other is low and conquers.
If the great kingdom only desires to attach to itself and nourish (i.e. benefit) others, then the small kingdom will only wish to enter its service. But, in order that both may have their wish, the great one should be lowly.
61. ‘The Attribute of Humility.’
61.1 What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down-flowing (stream); -it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small states) under heaven.
61.2 (To illustrate from) the case of all females: -the female always overcomes the male by [its] stillness. Stillness may be considered (a sort of) abasement.
61.3 Thus it is that a great state, by condescending to small states, gains them for itself; and that small states, by abasing themselves to a great state, win it over to them. In the one case the abasement leads to gaining adherents, in the other case to procuring favour.
61.4 The great state only wishes to unite [people] together and nourish them; a small state only wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other. Each gets what it desires, but the great state must learn to abase itself.
61. The Virtue of Humility.
61.1 A great state, one that lowly flows, becomes the empire’s union, and the empire’s [female].
61.2 The [female] always through quietude conquers [the male] and by quietude renders [itself] lowly.
61.3 Thus a great state through lowliness toward small states will conquer the small states, and small states through lowliness toward great states will conquer great states.
61.4 Therefore some render themselves lowly for the purpose of conquering; others are lowly and therefore conquer.
61.5 A great state desires no more than to unite and feed the people; a small state desires no more than to devote itself to the service of the people; but that both may obtain their wishes, the greater one must stoop.
The long of it:
Some translate Chapter 61 as the duty of the small states to let themselves be ruled by the greater states (see Ames and Wang Bi). This is a problematic translation, not only in light of the translations here, but especially in light of Lao Tsu’s typical paradoxical language. He doesn’t give concrete answers, only concrete paradoxes.
Other translators stick closer to the language Lao Tsu typically exhibits (see Feng and Rump). Let’s see if we can follow the logic of the paradox according to the translations given above:
The greater state (female) conquers the lesser state (male) by accepting and absorbing it (61.1 & 61.2).
The greater state wins by accumulation of the smaller states. And the smaller states win by becoming a part of the greater state (61.3).
Therefore, states have two ways to win: by letting the lesser state in, or by trying to be a part of the greater state (61.4). They just have to decide what they want (or maybe who they are). Thankfully, Lao Tsu tells us how to tell the two apart.
Great states want to nourish themselves (by taking in lesser states). Lesser states want to be more than they are (by becoming part of the greater state)(61.5).
This is the paradox: states can’t be both great and not-great at the same time. They are either coming or going.
States are not-great when they are incomplete and want more (yang/male energy). And they are great when they are complete and ready to absorb others (yin/female energy).
Don’t mistake this analogy as a gender endorsement. It’s not (see Chap 28). Our passive and aggressive natures extend far beyond ourselves, to our actions, our communities, and most importantly, our nations.
-TB
