Dao has always been nameless.
Subtle as the uncarved block
Who in the world presumes to rule it?
When kings and princes maintain it
The ten thousand things naturally honor them. 5
Heaven and Earth unite like lovers
Condensing sweet dew.
People cooperate naturally
Needing no one to organize them.
When people rule, they name things. 10
Once it’s been named, that’s the end.
You have to know when to stop.
Knowing when to stop is what keeps you from harm.
The presence of Dao in the world
Is akin to streams and rivers 15
Flowing into seas and oceans.
***
NOTES
line 2, the uncarved block: See Introduction section IV.4.
line 13: This line also appears, with slight modification, in poem 44.
lines 14–16: Dao is also compared to water in poems 8 and 43.
COMMENTARY
The theme of names and naming, cited repeatedly in the Dao De Jing, is the focus of poem 32. And the reason Laozi goes from Dao being nameless in line 1 to asking who would presume to rule Dao in line 3 is because to name is to presume to rule. We give things names for the same reason we drew the images of animals on the walls of our caves, to exert control over them. Naming things also serves as our license to disengage: I don’t have to think about or make an effort to be open and present to INSERT NAME HERE because I already know about that. The Sages never stop being present to Dao, that’s how real growth is achieved, because that growth is natural, with no contrivance or self-awareness, being the work of De. Your job is not to get in its way, which means knowing when to stop whatever ego-based routine happens to be your thing. Here Laozi repeats the importance of knowing when to stop, which he also references in poem 44.
Links To:
The Classic of Dao and De by Laozi: Contents
For more on Daoism, see:
Film Dreams: Frank Capra
Music: KALW Radio Show #3, Ancient China in 20th-Century Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #8, Daoism in Western Music, part 1
Music: SFCR Radio Show #9, Daoism in Western Music, part 2
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 