The more dull and slow the government
The more pure and sincere the people.
The more sharp and intrusive the government
The more needy and deceptive the people.
Bad fortune leans upon good fortune. 5
Good fortune hides within bad fortune.
Who knows where it all ends!
Is there any standard?
Standards become bizarre, good turns into bad.
People have long been mired in confusion. 10
Therefore
Sages know all the angles but don’t cut in.
When you let them square things, you aren’t cut out.
Being correct, they don’t need to correct you.
That’s how they can shine without hurting your eyes. 15
***
NOTES
lines 12 and 13: In the original, line 13 precedes line 12. I have taken the liberty of switching them here. More literally, the lines read, “Sages are sharp and square but don’t cut, angular and penetrating but not hurtful.”
COMMENTARY
Poem 58 reminds us of the benefits of dull and slow government, always preferable to one that is sharp and intrusive. The former, far from reflecting a stultified population, enables its people to become pure and sincere because they’ve been able to take care of themselves; while the latter can only generate need and deception – the poverty and criminality Laozi describes in poem 57, which likewise arise from government interference. But here he turns to the unpredictability of fortune – or more precisely, the interdependence between bad fortune and good fortune, like the litany of opposites defining each other in poem 2. In other words, we’re being given a nudge about the reality of unity and the futility of a discriminating dualistic perspective. Still, that perspective becomes futile only when you try to use it to do something it cannot do. Thus Sages are perfectly aware of the differences: knowledgeable of the angles, capable of squaring things. But they understand unity and have no agenda or ego to advance. Their example is their instruction, and you can learn from them 24/7.
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 