The chapter opens with the Tao Te Ching's genesis sequence: the Tao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to the ten thousand things. From undifferentiated unity, through polarity, to the third thing polarity makes possible, and out into the world's multiplicity — with the signature of that origin in everything: all things carry yin on their backs and embrace yang, and the blending of these breaths produces harmony. Wholeness, in every creature, is a managed marriage of opposites.
The middle applies the pattern to status: what people hate most — to be orphaned, lonely, unworthy — are exactly the names kings give themselves, for things are sometimes increased by diminishing and diminished by increasing. Self-lowering gathers; self-inflation drains. Then the chapter ends on its dark, plain warning, which Lao Tzu calls the root of his teaching: a strong and violent person will not die a natural death. The cosmos born of balance does not indefinitely host what refuses to balance.
Key verses
The Tao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to the ten thousand things. The ten thousand things carry yin on their backs and hold yang in their arms, and the blending of breath between them produces harmony. What people hate most — to be orphaned, lonely, or unworthy — are exactly the terms by which kings and lords name themselves. Thus things are sometimes increased by diminishing them, and sometimes diminished by increasing them. What others teach I also teach: a strong and violent person will not die a natural death. I take this as the root of my teaching.
Read Chapter 42 in full
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ऐप में मुफ़्त पढ़ेंपरंपराओं से पूछें
एक प्रश्न। पाँच परंपराओं के उत्तर।
बिना खाते के हर 24 घंटे में 2 प्रश्न।