Chapter 62 of the Tao Te Ching

A: The word 奥 ào here means 藏 cáng "receptacle, refuge". 李斯 Lǐ Sī, same meaning. B: The 道 dào is naturally subtle, it is impossible to express its name, to represent its form. It rises to the infinite, it extends without limits, it envelops the sky and earth in its immensity.

Aliter. E: The word 奥 ào has the meaning of 尊 zūn "honorable". In the interior of a room, says E, the corner located at the S.W. is called 奥 ào. In antiquity, when building a house, the door was placed near the east side, not in the middle. Then the corner at the S.W. was the deepest and darkest; it was the place always occupied by the one who offered a sacrifice, or the most honored person in the family.

According to this explanation, one would have to translate: "The 道 dào is the most honorable of all beings"; but the meaning of honorable that E gives by extension to the word 奥 ào does not seem sufficiently justified to me.

A: The word 宝 bǎo (commonly "protect") means here 依 yī "to rely on". E, same meaning: "to rely on something to find stability and rest". When the virtuous man has obtained the 道 dào, it is as if he possessed a treasure within himself; and wherever he goes, he can draw immense profit from it.

E: The man deprived of 善 shàn has begun to lose the 道 dào. When once he fears misfortune and thinks of his salvation, if he can seek his support in the 道 dào, he can turn the misfortune that threatened him into lasting happiness. 老子 Lǎozǐ wants to say that the 道 dào is spread throughout the universe, and that both good and bad can benefit from it.

E: This passage applies to the virtuous man. H: The word 市 shì (commonly "market, to buy") means here 利 lì "profit, to bring profit". 欧阳修 Ōuyáng Xiū gives the word 市 shì its usual meaning: excellent words, says he, have much charm, 可爱 kě'ài (literally: "can be, deserve to be loved"); they resemble elegant objects that can be, that deserve to be bought.

The reader will note that this interpreter regards the expression 可以 kěyǐ as synonymous with the word 可 kě, "to be able", which ordinarily indicates that the following verb must be taken in the passive sense.

Sic H: 美言可以加人 měi yán kěyǐ jiā rén. E, same meaning: beautiful actions are worthy of being honored, by them we raise ourselves above other men.

Aliter: The word 加 jiā means "to distinguish oneself from"; through honorable actions, man distinguishes himself from the common people.

E: If a man has faults, it is enough for him to correct himself to become virtuous. This is why one should not reject him because of his faults. If, in antiquity, an emperor and three ministers were established, it was precisely to instruct and reform wicked men.

E: The expression 拱璧 gǒngbì means "precious stone tablet (of round shape) that one holds with two hands". B: Although the three ministers each have a precious stone tablet, that is to say of jade (to hide their face when presenting themselves before the sovereign); although the emperor has a team of four docile horses, all this is insufficient to make them honorable. True glory consists in cultivating the 道 dào. C reports the words 以先 yǐ xiān "before", to the action of holding the jade tablet mentioned above in front of one's face when in the presence of the emperor.

E imagined that this passage was about offering someone "a precious tablet" or "four harnessed horses", and he translated by "to give" the word 进 jìn, which, in the active sense, means "to present, to offer". When one offers something to someone, says E, a precious tablet or four harnessed horses, that gift is considered in the world as the most signal honor; but it is better to teach (i.e., give) the 道 dào to men. The 道 dào is so honorable that the most honorable things in the world cannot be compared to it.

A: The sages of antiquity did not travel far to seek the 道 dào; they (H) returned to their original purity and found it within themselves.

I followed A, B, and several other editions that have 日 rì "day", instead of 曰 yuē "say".

H: The cruel 桀 Jié and 纣 Zhòu were emperors, and yet they could not escape their punishment. The four scoundrels (named 共工 Gònggōng, 驩兜 Huāndōu, 三苗 Sānmiao and 鲧 Gǔn) were vested with the dignity of 三公 sān gōng: and yet they could not escape a shameful death. On the other hand, the upright 伊尹 Yī Yǐn rebuked the emperor 武王 Wǔwáng, the wise 曹沬 Cáo Mèi treated the emperor with pride, and they were not punished. Do we not see from this that those who follow the 道 dào escape punishments? If a man thinks only once to regain his innate purity, all his crimes will be erased at once; if he seeks the 道 dào, he will find it, and will soar with it beyond the corruption of the world.