Chapter 20 of the Laozi

Chinese Text

绝jué学xué无wú忧yōu.
唯wéi之zhī与yú阿ē, 相xiāng去qù几jǐ何hé?
善shàn之zhī与yú恶è, 相xiāng去qù何hé若ruò?
人rén之zhī所suǒ畏wèi, 不bù可kě不bù畏wèi.
忙máng兮xī其qí未wèi央yāng!
众zhòng人rén熙xī熙xī, 若ruò享xiǎng太tài牢láo, 若ruò春chūn登dēng台tái.
我wǒ魄pò未wèi兆zhào, 若ruò婴yīng儿ér未wèi孩hái.
乘chéng乘chéng无wú所suǒ归guī!
众zhòng人rén皆jiē有yǒu余yú, 我wǒ独dú若ruò遗yí.
我wǒ愚yú人rén之zhī心xīn, 纯chún纯chún.
俗sú人rén昭zhāo昭zhāo, 我wǒ独dú若ruò昏hūn.
俗sú人rén察chá察chá, 我wǒ独dú闷mèn闷mèn.
淡dàn若ruò海hǎi, 漂piāo无wú所suǒ止zhǐ.
众zhòng人rén皆jiē有yǒu已yǐ, 我wǒ独dú顽wán似sì鄙bǐ.
我wǒ独dú异yì于yú人rén, 而ér贵guì食shí母mǔ.

Translation

Abandon learning, and you will be free from sorrow.
How little is the difference between wei (a quick yes) and o (a slow yes)!
How great is the difference between good and evil!
What others fear, one cannot help but fear.
They indulge in disorder and never stop.
The multitude of people are joyful as if feasting on rich food, as if climbing a high tower in spring.
I alone am calm: my affections have not yet sprouted.
I am like an infant who has not yet smiled at its mother.
I am detached from everything; it seems I do not know where to go.
The multitude of people have more than enough; I alone seem to have lost everything.
I am a man of limited mind, devoid of knowledge.
The people of the world are full of light; I alone seem to be in darkness.
The people of the world are sharp and clever; I alone am dull and confused.
I am vague like the sea; I drift as if I do not know where to stop.
The multitude of people all have purpose; I alone am stubborn and seem rustic.
I alone differ from others, because I value the mother that nourishes (all beings).

Notes

G: 老子 Lǎozǐ does not mean that one should abandon all kinds of learning. He speaks of vulgar studies that occupy the people of the world. B: Those who study literature and science always fear that their knowledge is not extensive enough. They seek knowledge outside themselves and are constantly afflicted by the insufficiency of their progress. But the Sage finds within himself everything he needs, and there is nothing he does not know; that is why he is free from sorrow.

E: The sages of antiquity studied to seek the inner principles of their nature. Apart from these principles, they applied their minds to nothing. This is called practicing 无为 wúwéi, and making one's study consist in the absence of all study. But when people lost these principles, they became perverted and devoted themselves to worldly studies. A specious appearance extinguished and replaced reality. The extent of knowledge corrupted (lit. "drowned") their hearts. In truth, these studies (of the world) have no utility and only increase their sorrows. The noblest goal of study is to nourish our nature (to preserve it in its original purity); the best way to nourish one's nature is to free oneself from all entanglements. But today, worldly studies bind us to external things that enslave our natural dispositions. Is this not like taking medicines that only increase the illness?

Let a person abandon these worldly studies and not cultivate them; then he can be free from sorrow.

B: 唯 wéi means a yes spoken quickly (when receiving an order and going to execute it immediately); this word is respectful. The word 哦 ó means a yes spoken slowly (when receiving an order and not hastening to execute it); this word indicates a lack of respect. Both are sounds used to respond, and in this regard they differ slightly from each other; but if one considers that one is respectful and the other indicates a lack of respect, they differ immensely.

From this, we see that certain things, which differ from each other by only a hair's breadth, can nevertheless differ immensely in terms of the advantages they bring or the misfortunes they can cause. If a person wants to avoid evil, he cannot dispense with being on guard and fearing even the slightest faults.

Alternately, B: When one follows reason, one does good; when one rebels against it, one does evil. These two things emanate equally from the same heart, and in this regard there is only a small distance between them. But if one compares their particular nature, one recognizes that they differ immensely.

Ibid. B: 老子 Lǎozǐ wants to show that the Sage and the vulgar person both engage in study, and in this regard they differ slightly from each other. But if one compares the sagacity of one with the vulgarity of the other, one recognizes that they are separated by an immense distance.

According to commentators B and E, the words 几何 jǐhé mean "how little!" (that is, without interjection, they differ very little, 不多 bùduō); the words 何若 héruò mean "how great!" (that is, without interjection, they differ greatly).

The commentators do not agree on what 老子 Lǎozǐ recommends to fear. According to A, one should fear (having) a prince who has not renounced study (worldly studies); according to 李斯 Lǐ Sī, one should fear life and death.

D: He fears laws and punishments.

H: Music, pleasure, wealth, and luxury are things that wear out our life and harm the 道 Dào. These are things that the people of the world must fear. I too must fear and distance myself from them.

苏子由 Sū Zǐyóu: Although the Sage does not attach himself to worldly things, he does not despise the laws of the world, nor does he neglect the duties of his station, nor does he violate the principles of reason. Whatever rank he holds in the world or in administration, the entire empire cannot see how he differs from other people.

I am the commentary of 河上公 Héshàng Gōng and H. The word 佯 yáng (vulgar: middle) here means "to stop, to cease." This meaning is also found in the dictionary 辨字典 Biànzìdiǎn.

This meaning is taken from commentary E.

Literally: "As one who enjoys an ox, that is, feasts on ox meat." B: People eagerly desire the flesh of the ox to delight their palate; in spring, they climb a high tower to please their eyes.

A: My affections and desires have not yet appeared. E: The word 兆 zhào means "the slightest, weakest movement, and in a verbal sense, to have, to show a weak and almost imperceptible movement, to appear faintly," like the fine cracks that appear on the tortoise shell (which is burned to draw omens).

E: When a newborn can smile, his affections arise and his heart begins to stir. 老子 Lǎozǐ means that the multitude of people eagerly desire external objects and cannot contain their joy; he alone has a calm heart that has not yet begun to experience the slightest emotion; he does not know how to rejoice in the joy of the multitude.

E: The words 井井 jǐngjǐng mean "not to stop and not to attach (to worldly things)." H: My heart desires nothing; it is free from all bonds. I wander in the world with an empty heart, like a boat whose cable is broken.

E: The multitude of people have acquired much; all have surplus. But I do not possess a single thing. Alone among all, I am like a person who has lost what he possessed. But possession is an illusion; it is when one possesses nothing that one possesses true riches. (The expression "to possess nothing" refers to worldly things; "to possess true riches" refers to the inner riches of the sage who has completely stripped himself of sensible things.)

E: The expression 浑浑 húnhún means "devoid of knowledge, ignorant."

H, E: The words 闷闷 mènmèn (vulgar: sad) here mean "troubled, confused."

A: I am vague like rivers and seas; no one knows my limits. C: The heart of the perfect man has no bounds; it is (says 苏子由 Sū Zǐyóu) like a sea whose distant shores cannot be discovered.

C: I am like an empty boat drifting with the water, like a leaf carried by the wind.

The word 役 yì (vulgar: to serve) is rendered in commentary B, and in several others, by 能 néng "capacity."

Alternately, E: 役 yì means 为 wéi "to act." All people engage in action (the opposite of 无为 wúwéi).

E: I am like a country man, a man with rough and rustic manners (in contrast to the polished men of the cities).

That is, the 道 Dào. According to E, G, the word 食 shí, "to eat," should be read here as 饲 sì, "to nourish."

E: The expression 饲母 sìmǔ has the same meaning as 乳母 rǔmǔ "wet nurse." Ibid. All beings need the assistance of the 道 Dào to be born (and live). That is why it is called the mother of all beings. From this comes the name 饲母 sìmǔ "the nourisher par excellence."

I revere (ibid.) the nourisher of beings (the 道 Dào). This is what the multitude of people do not do, and what I love to do. This is how I differ from them.

李斯 Lǐ Sī: It is not that I am truly a stupid person. If I differ from the multitude, it is because I know the essential, I penetrate to the source, I do not let myself be carried away by the torrent of worldly things. This is what I call "revering the mother that nourishes all beings."