Chapter 77 of the Tao Te Ching

This difficult passage has received several interpretations. E thinks that the four phrases "he lowers what is high, etc." refer to the bow-maker, 张弓 zhāng gōng, who, in making a bow, adjusts its frame so that its different parts fit together. It is seen that this interpreter has taken the words 张弓 zhāng gōng (commonly "to draw a bow") in the sense of 为弓 wéi gōng, "to make a bow".

焦竑 Jiāo Hóng attributes to the one who draws a bow, 张弓者 zhāng gōng zhě, the two verbs "lower, raise", and to the way of heaven, the verbs "take away, supplement". To understand his explanation, one must imagine the state of a Chinese bow when strung and unstrung. When heaven takes something from those who have excess, it is like lowering the middle of the bow and forcing it to go down. When it adds something to those who lack, it is like raising the ends of the bow and forcing them to go up.

易行 Yì Xíng: The nature of the principle 阳 yáng is to rise, the nature of the principle 阴 yīn is to fall. When the principle 阳 yáng has risen to the top of heaven (that is, when the sun is at its highest point in its course), it descends. When the principle 阴 yīn (that is, the moon) has descended to the last limits of the earth, it rises. Their opposite movements are the image of the bow that is drawn. The way of heaven takes from the sun what it has in excess to supplement what the moon lacks.

C believed that the four verbs "he lowers, he raises, he decreases, he supplements" refer to the various phases of the moon.

E: Heaven only balances all things. That is why it decreases the excess of some and supplements the insufficiency of others. Man is in opposition to heaven and does not observe equality. Only he who possesses the Tao understands the way of heaven. He can cut off what he has in excess and offer it to the men of the empire. The sages of antiquity, who surpassed other men by their talents, thought to use them for the good of creatures; they did not use them to glorify themselves (in the eyes of the people). That is why they used their wisdom and prudence to nourish men. But the wise and prudent men who succeeded them calculate what they possess to obtain rest and the pleasures of life. That is why they put themselves at the service of narrow-minded and vicious men to nourish themselves.

E: The Sage accomplishes great things (A: does good to men) and does not boast of them. One would say he is struck with incapacity.

E: When his merits are accomplished, he does not cling to them. One would say he is devoid of all merit.

As per A: 不欲使人知其贤 bù yù shǐ rén zhī qí xián, literally: "non vult facere ut homines cognoscant sui ipsius sapientiam".