34 A) When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it . That is knowledge. (Arthur Waley)
B) To admit what’s known as the known, and what’s unknown as the unknown is the known itself.
Chapter 8 Taoism and Translating 8.1 The book and its content
Classic of the Way and Virtue / The Lao Zi / The Book of Lao Zi / Tao Te Ching 8.2 Tao/Dao
Tao / Dao: the way of nature, the origin of the universe. Tao / Dao is invisible, intangible and indescribable.
In its essence, it is eternal, absolute, and beyond space and time; in its operation, it is spontaneous, everywhere, constant and unceasing, always in transformation, going through cycles and finally returning to its root.
道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。 A) The Tao begets the One,
The One consists of theTwo in opposition (the Yin and Yang); The Two begets the Three;
The Three begets all things of the world.
（ 辜正坤）
B) The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. ( Legge)
Tao/Dao is defined as an idea or concept of philosophy.
40.《道德经》（老子） A.
第一章
道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。 无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。 故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观 其徼。
此两者，同出而异名，同谓之玄。 玄之又玄，众妙之门。 Version I
The Way and Its Power Chapter I
That can be told of is not the way. (Though there are ways, but the way is uncharted.) Those named are not realia themselves. It is from nothingness that Big Bang comes; What named rears all things on earth.
Truly, Only who rids himself forever of desire can see what it does.
Otherwise he can only see outcomes.
Both two originated from nothingness, nevertheless with different names. Nothingness is indeed nothingness,
Only the way uncharted expresses all this, but who knows what it is? Version II
Tao De Ching—Lao Tze Chapter I The Way The Way that can be experienced is not true; The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen; The world represents all that exists and may exist. To experience without intention is to sense the world; To experience with intention is to anticipate the world. These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same. Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way, Which is ever greater and subtler than the world. Peter A. Merel Version III
The Tao that is utterable Is not the eternal Tao; The name that is namable Is not the eternal Name.
The Nothingness is the name of the beginning of heaven and earth;
The Being (substance) is the name of the mother of all things. Hence one should gain an insight into the beginning of the Tao
by constantly observing the Nothingness, And should perceive the end
of the Tao by constantly observing the Being. These two things, the Nothingness and the Being, are of the same origin but different in name. They are both so profound
as to be a key to the door of myriad secrets. 辜正坤
Version IV Chapter I
The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way; The names that can be named are not unvarying names. It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang; The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand
creatures, each after its kind.
Truly, ‘Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences’;
He that has never rid himself desire can see only the Outcomes.
These two things from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name.
This ‘same mould’ we can but call the Mystery, Or rather the ‘Darker than any Mystery’, The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences. Arthur Waley
41. 第二章
天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善已。
故有无相生，难易相成，长短相形，高下相倾，音声相和,前后相随。
是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教，万物作焉而不辞，生而不有，为而不恃，功成而弗居。
夫唯弗居，是以不去。
Version 1 Chapter 2
The whole world knows the beautiful as beautiful Only because of the existence of the ugly; The whole world knows the good as good Only because of the existence of the bad.
Hence the Being and the Nothingness exist in opposition; The difficult and the easy complement each other; The long and the short
manifest themselves by comparison; The high and the low are inclined as well as opposed to each other; The consonants and vowels harmonize with each other;
The front and the back follow each other. Thus the sage behaves
Without taking active action, Teachers without using words,
Lets all things rip without interference,
Gives them life without claiming to be their owner, Benefits them without claiming to be their benefactor, succeeds without claiming credit, His credit is never lost.
Version II
Chapter II Abstraction When beauty is abstracted
Then ugliness has been implied; When good is abstracted Then evil has been implied.
So alive and dead are abstracted from nature, Difficult and easy abstracted from progress, Long and short abstracted from contrast, High and low abstracted from depth, Song and speech abstracted from melody, After and before abstracted from sequence. The sage experiences without abstraction, And accomplishes without action; He accepts the ebb and flow of things, Nurtures them, but does not own them, And lives, but does not dwell.
When Beauty is recognised in the World Ugliness has been learned;
When Good is recognised in the World Evil has been learned.
In this way: Alive and dead are abstracted from growth; Difficult and easy are abstracted from progress;
Far and near are abstracted from position; Strong and weak are abstracted from control; Song and speech are abstracted from harmony; After and before are abstracted from sequence. The sage controls without authority, And teaches without words; He lets all things rise and fall, Nurtures, but does not interfere,
Gives without demanding, And is content. Perter A.Merel 八章
上善若水。水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶，故几于道。居善地，心善渊，与善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，动善时。夫唯不争，故无尤。 1、最善的境界就像水。
2、水善，利于万物的需求而不争，处于众人的弃地而无怨，故而几乎同于道。
3、随遇而安是善的表现，心胸开阔是善的表现，仁爱待人是善的表现，信守诺言是善的表现，以身作则是善的表现，实事求是是善的表现，适时而动是善的表现。 4、只有不去好大喜功，才能无忧。
最高之善仿佛水，水容纳于一切容器而没有固定之形。
能存在于人们所厌恶之地，那就接近于懂得“道”了。 居处适应于任何之地，心灵沉静有如深渊。
交往善于择人，立言善于守信，执政谋求治平，作事善有耐性，举动善择时机。 他总是不与人争，所以永远不招怨恨。
42 Version I Chapter 8
The perfect goodness is like water. Water approaches all things
instead of contending with them. It prefers to dwell where no one would like to stay;
Hence it comes close to the Tao. A man of perfect goodness
chooses a low place to dwell as water, He has a heart as deep as water,
He offers friendship as tender as water, He speaks as sincerely as water, He rules a state as orderly as water, He does a thing as properly as water, He takes action as timely as water.
Like water, he never contends with others, So he never commits a mistake. Tran. By 辜正坤
Version II Chapter 8
The highest good is like that of water. The goodness of water is that it benefits the ten thousand creatures; yet itself does not scramble, but is content with the places that all men disdain. It is this that makes so near to the Way.
And if men think the ground the best place for building a house upon,
If among thoughts they value those that are profound, If in friendship they value gentleness,
In words, truth; in government, good order; In deeds, effectiveness; in action, timeliness– In each case it is because they prefer what does not lead to strife,
And therefore does not go amiss.