#77 Are You Truly Seeing?
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 77: Lao Tzu’s message on having a grasp of reality and self-preservation.
Welcome back to The Wisdom of Lao Tzu.
This week, we are reading Chapter 77 of the Tao Te Ching, where Lao Tzu offers a subtle challenge.
Do you understand reality? Can you see the way things are instead of how you perceive them?
He also describes two models of order in the world, “the way of heaven” and “the way of man.” What does he intend to say?
Let’s find out.
**77**
天之道，其猶張弓與？
高者抑之，下者舉之；
有餘者損之，不足者補之。
天之道，損有餘以補不足。
人之道，則不然，損不足以奉有餘。
孰能有餘以奉天下，唯有道者。
是以聖人為而不恃，功成而不處，其不欲見賢。
Border-crossing: English translations
#1 Lin Yutang’s version
The Tao (way) of Heaven,
Is it not like the bending of a bow?
The top comes down and the bottom-end goes up,
The extra (length) is shortened, the insufficient (width) is expanded.
It is the Way of Heaven to take away from those that have too much
And give to those that have not enough.
Not so with man’s way:
He takes away from those that have not
And gives it as tribute to those that have too much.
Who can have enough and to spare to give to the entire world?
Only the man of Tao.
Therefore the Sage acts, but does not possess,
Accomplishes but lays claim to no credit,
Because he has no wish to seem superior.
#2 Edmund Ryden’s version
Is the way of heaven not unlike the stretching of a bow?
You bend down the top,
While pulling up the bottom;
You pull back the slack string,
To release it when taut.
Therefore,
The way of heaven takes from what has too much to provide for what does not have enough.
The way of people is, however, not like this: it takes from those who do not have enough to offer to those who have too much.
Now who can have too much and use it to offer up to heaven?
Only the Way-farer.
For this reason,
The Sage acts but requires no thanks, accomplishes his tasks but does not abide in them,
Inasmuch as he dislikes being considered worthier than others.1
#3 D. C. Lau’s version
Is not the way of heaven like the stretching of a bow?
The high it presses down,
The low it lifts up;
The excessive it takes from,
The deficient it gives to.
It is the way of heaven to take from what has in excess in
order to make good what is deficient.
The way of man is otherwise.
It takes from those who are in want in order to offer this to those who already have more than enough.
Who is there that can take what he himself has in excess and offer this to the empire?
Only he who has the way.
Therefore the sage benefits them yet exacts no gratitude,
Accomplishes his task yet lays claim to no merit.
Is this not because he does not wish to be considered a better man than others?2
Deeper dive
In the previous chapters, Lao Tzu warned tyrannical rulers. Yet he knew the rulers of his time would not listen to his advice.
With this grasp of reality, he has a message for the ordinary individual. He shares his contrarian yet pragmatic principles for navigating precarious situations in chaotic times.
As this chapter shows, he describes how the world works, which aligns with his emphasis on self-transformation and self-preservation.
Two ways of life
The idea of “the way of heaven” and “the way of man” represent two types of order in the natural world.
From Lao Tzu’s perspective, the natural order, or the way of heaven, has its innate laws regulating the balance of things in the world.
This line of thinking reveals a particular tendency to trust that nature has its peculiar way of self-organization, which does not require human intervention.
Therefore, following this logic, humans should learn from how things are in the natural world instead of attempting to dominate the natural order of things.
By adopting this way of interaction, humans can rise above the habits and ways of doing things in society to truly follow the natural order.
There exists a kind of mysticism in Lao Tzu’s trust in the natural order. How do we know that the way of heaven works in that particular direction to bring balance to the myriad things?
Lao Tzu says, “Tao follows that which is natural” (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25).
The first implication from Lao Tzu’s theory of Tao is that it models after the principle of naturalness, so by itself, or it operates spontaneously. The thing that is natural is autonomous in nature without being subject to external mandate.
A further implication is that the myriad things in the natural order fall into perfect and harmonious arrangements without following external dictates and causing self-destruction among themselves.
With this background, Lao Tzu contrasts the human world, or “the way of man,” with the natural order.
We’ve become familiar with Lao Tzu’s idea of political wu-wei, which advises rulers to rein in their desire for meddling, intervention, and control. He obviously believes that the human world has deviated from natural law.
Justice and fairness have become rare goods in human society.
Vested interest groups always have the power and means to protect and entrench their advantageous positions while sharing spoils within their exclusive circles.
Social strata have become fortified to make mobility and social exchanges possible.
And, an ordinary individual’s fate, from the time of birth, has been very much determined by external forces beyond their control.
In a largely pessimistic tone, everything seems to have been predetermined for the ordinary individual.
Therefore, we hear Lao Tzu’s outcry,
The way of man is otherwise.
It takes from those who are in want in order to offer this to those who already have more than enough.
He Shanggong (approximately 200 BC- ?) added, “the people in the world tend to make the rich even richer by taking from the poor, and to make the strong even stronger by taking from the already vulnerable.”3
Fundamentally, Lao Tzu is pointing out a trend that has become so powerful and irreversible that the ordinary individual cannot make things happen without avoiding the traps and risks.
So, if the way of heaven, the ideal order, is beyond reach in the existing world, what are Lao Tzu’s pragmatic solutions?
The first solution is the way of the sage.
Someone with the skill, resources, and spirit can and should stand out to help the people and align things with the natural order.
Yet, it is vital that they do things silently (they must make sacrifices and endure—more details in the next chapter), not with the intention of gaining people’s gratitude or expecting rewards and merit.
This is Lao Tzu’s formula for encouraging great deeds by great individuals. He makes it clear that the sage must not claim credit, which is his security against power worship or personal cult.
What if such a sage is not there yet?
Then, it becomes everyone’s duty to wake up to reality and take responsibility for ourselves.
This is the only reliable way to self-preserve in times of chaos and darkness, when having expectations (often unrealistic) equals wishful thinking, plunging our heads into the sands, or entrusting our fate to external forces.
Spiritual Taoism
Lao Tzu’s words on seeing the world as it is and the principles for navigating it reveal his humanist concern with an individual’s self-preservation and avoiding danger (consider his contrarian ideas of keeping low, being submissive, and the way of water, etc.).
First, he suggests observing and following the way of heaven, aligning human actions with the Tao.
Obviously, people barely listen to such advice. Otherwise, we would not have seen endless wars, conflicts, domination, and destruction in history.
Then, he places hope on the sage.
Yet, throughout history, we have seen not only good leaders become tyrants, devoured by power and radicalism of all sorts, but also numerous usurpers and opportunists pretending to be good while eventually revealing their true colors by turning against everyone who stood in their way.
It seems all is lost, after one cycle after another of degeneration.
when the way was lost there was virtue;
when virtue was lost there was benevolence;
when benevolence was lost there was rectitude;
when rectitude was lost there were the rites. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38)
If the way of heaven is not possible to be restored in the world, what can we do?
The hope is within you, every one of us.
The path toward salvation is through self-preservation, transformation, and transcendence.
But first, we need to wake up to feel, see, listen, and understand—to know how the human world has deviated from the way of heaven to the way of man. Without this first step, we risk following the footsteps of those before us who have made this world a terrible place.
What is the biggest threat to self-preservation?
It’s never about how powerful the external forces we are up against.
It’s self-sabotage. It’s living your life in a way that makes you not truly see the way things are. It’s being self-indulgent in manufactured reality that makes you not want to wake up.
So, only you can make the changes. Only you can be in control of defining how you are supposed to live. Only you can find and craft your unique purpose and meaning.
The way of heaven, or the way of man, is a simple choice you can truly make.
Thanks for reading!
All the best,
Yuxuan
Daodejing, trans. Edmund Ryden, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 159.
Tao Te Ching, trans. D. C. Lau. (London: Penguin Classics, 1963), 84.
「世俗之人，損貧以奉富，奪弱以益強也。」 See Wang Bi et al., Four Kinds of Laotse 老子四種 (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2016), 169.