Chapter 28 of the Tao Te Ching

The word 雄 xióng 'male' signifies hardness and strength; the word 雌 cí 'female' signifies flexibility and weakness; the word 白 bái 'white' signifies light; the word 黑 hēi 'black' signifies darkness and obscurity (of the mind); the word 荣 róng signifies honors and elevation; the word 辱 rǔ 'dishonor' signifies lowliness and humiliation.

The words 溪 xī and 谷 gǔ signify the deep valleys where all waters flow.

The words 天下 tiānxià 'the world under heaven' are used here for emphasis to designate the empire. All men who are rigid and strong, those who cling to their views, those who hold themselves in high esteem, seek to overcome men; but men only resist them more and more.

The wise, who know that rigidity and strength cannot endure, love to preserve their flexibility and weakness (that is, they persist in wanting to appear flexible and weak); they know that brilliant lights cannot be maintained, and they love to keep darkness (that is, to appear constantly enveloped in darkness); they know that honors and glory cannot be maintained, and they love to remain in humiliation and abasement. But because they have placed themselves after other men, the latter place them before them; because they have humbled themselves, men exalt them. Thus the empire submits to them, just as waters rush towards the valleys; the empire takes them as models.

The words 常德 chángdé 'constant virtue' designate flexibility and weakness, darkness and obscurity (of the mind), abasement and humiliation; these are indeed qualities that last constantly.

The words 婴儿 yīng'ér 'the state of a child' designate here the primitive simplicity.

This native simplicity, this boundless purity, man received at the origin, that is to say at the moment of his birth. This is why Lao-tseu says that one must return to it (when one has moved away from it).

Although man knows himself enlightened, he must preserve his lights by appearing ignorant and as if enveloped in darkness (just as a rich man preserves his riches by appearing poor and devoid of everything).

A explains the word 常 cháng 'constant' in the adverbial sense: If man can be the model of the empire, virtue will remain constantly in him and will not fail him.

According to the position of the words, I preferred to render the word 常 cháng as an adjective.

The words 无极 wújí mean 'without bounds'. It is not easy to see what Lao-tseu means by 'returning to what is without bounds'. E relates them to the infinite purity and simplicity of childhood.

According to the commentator Chun-fou, these words mean that he is void (冥虚 míngxū), that is to say (B) that he brings his heart to complete exemption from desires (忘心 wàngxīn 无欲 wúyù). H believes that it is a question of arriving at boundless knowledge or science.

He who knows that he possesses glory and honors must preserve them by means of disgrace (that is, by appearing covered with disgrace and dishonor).

Then all the men of the empire come to submit to him, just as waters that flow from high places rush into deep valleys.

The word 足 zú (commonly 'to suffice') means here 'complete, perfect'.

The word 朴 pǔ means here 'the perfect purity of the Tao'.

The words 散而为器 sàn ér wéi qì (literally: 'being dispersed and becoming a vessel') mean that the Tao hides in small works. Now the Tao contains not a single being (material), and yet there is not a single one of the ten thousand beings that does not come out of it. A piece of uncarved wood (B: this is the original meaning of 朴 pǔ) does not contain a vessel or an utensil (of wood), and yet there is not a vessel or an utensil (of wood) that is not made with this wood (when it has lost its roughness and its external coarseness).

The Tao has spread and formed the spirits (神明 shénmíng); it has flowed into the universe and formed the sun and the moon; it has divided and formed the five elements.

I followed the meaning of Ho-chang-kong: his gloss 任用 rènyòng means 'to be elevated to office'.

He governs (由 yóu) the empire by the great Tao and harms no one.