Chapter 56 of the Laozi

E: The 道 dào is hidden; it has no name. Those who know it meditate on it in silence. But those who seek to shine through the brilliance and elegance of speech are men who do not know the 道 dào.

These six phrases are found in chapter IV.

H: The word 兑 duì refers to 'the mouth' here. The Sage preserves himself in calm and silence. He restrains the excesses of his tongue. B: He dares not speak.

H: The word 门 mén, 'gates,' refers to 'ears and eyes' here. He pays no attention to things that might flatter his ears and eyes. C: He internally focuses his faculty of seeing and hearing.

This passage has received several interpretations. H (in chapter IV) explains the words 挫其锐 cuò qí ruì as: 'he restrains the impetuosity of his character.' A: If his passions want to show activity, he thinks of the 道 dào and restrains them through non-action. E, ibidem, explains these three words as: 'he uses suppleness and weakness,' that is, he bends instead of resisting, he appears weak rather than wanting to deploy the force and violence that lead a man to his downfall.

I had translated: 'he blunts his sharpness.' This interpretation matches the one given here by H: If he encounters something confused, he does not show its point, i.e., the subtlety of his mind. H's first interpretation (in chapter IV) seems preferable to me.

In chapter IV, I translated, according to E: 'He frees himself from all ties,' that is, the ties of the world. Similarly H. This interpreter explains (in chapter IV) the word 忿 fèn as 'the confusion of favorable or contrary opinions.' He says that everyone holds on to the approval or blame once expressed; in the conflict of popular opinions, no one can dispel doubts to establish the truth. But only he who possesses the 道 dào can succeed at this without speaking. In this passage (chapter LVI), he explains 忿 fèn (commonly 'confused') as 'confused thoughts,' that is, thoughts that throw his soul into confusion. His 心 xīn and body are in perfect quietude; he frees himself from all thoughts.

E (chapter IV): He radiates light, but he dazzles no one.

H: He has risen to the sublimity of the 道 dào, he has taken flight above the world (literally 'the dust'), and yet (E chapter IV), judging him externally, he has nothing that distinguishes him from other beings.

苏子由 Sū Zǐyóu explains the words 玄同 xuántóng as 与道同 yǔ dào tóng 'he is like the 道 dào.' Similarly E: The words 玄同 xuántóng (literally 'profound and same') mean: 'He is greatly like beings, but he is so profound that one cannot know him.'

苏子由 Sū Zǐyóu: He whom a prince can honor with his favor can also be disgraced. If one can bring profit to someone, one can also harm him; if one can grant him honors, one can also degrade him. But the sage who has identified himself with the 道 dào levels all things of the world; he pays no attention to favor or disfavor, he views happiness and adversity, profit and loss with the same eye. He knows neither glory nor ignominy, and for him there exists neither nobility nor baseness, neither elevation nor abasement.

E: Since he has few desires and few private interests, one cannot bring him profit; since he possesses the fullness of 德 dé, one cannot harm him; since he does not desire the favor of princes nor glory, one cannot grant him honors; since he does not scorn a low and abject condition, it is impossible to humiliate him. This is the character of perfect 德 dé; that is why he is the most honorable man in the world.