Tao Te Ching Chapter 20 – 異俗 (道德經 第20章)
Paul PengShare
Tao Te Ching — Chapter 20: Being Different from Ordinary Men
道德經 第二十章 · 異俗 · Lao Tzu · Bilingual Edition with Classical Commentaries
Original Text — 原文
English Translation — James Legge
When we renounce learning we have no troubles. The ready 'yes,' and flattering 'yea;' small is the difference they display. But mark their issues, good and ill; what space the gulf between shall fill?
What all men fear is indeed to be feared; but how wide and without end is the range of questions asking to be discussed! The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to.
The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer.
Thus I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother, the Dao.
✦ Key Insight
Chapter 20 is the most personal and poetic in the Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu speaks in the first person, describing himself as dull, drifting, and different from the crowd. While others feast and celebrate, he is quiet and unformed like an infant. While others are sharp and clever, he is confused and still. This is not self-deprecation — it is the portrait of one who has returned to the root. The sage alone values the nursing-mother of the Dao: the source that feeds all things without being seen.
Classical Commentaries — 古典注释
王弼注 Wang Bi's Commentary
Wang Bi explains that renouncing learning brings freedom from worry. The difference between 'yes' and 'yea,' between good and evil, is small — yet people pursue them endlessly. While the multitude feast and compete, the sage is empty and unformed like an infant, drifting without attachment. Others have plans and ambitions overflowing; the sage alone is vacant, without desire, as if having lost everything. The sage values the nursing-mother — the root of life — while others chase the ornaments of the surface.
河上公注 Heshang Gong's Commentary
Heshang Gong distinguishes the sage from worldly people. The worldly indulge in desires like a feast and climb towers in spring, their ambitions without end. The sage alone is calm and unformed like an infant before it learns to smile, drifting like one with nowhere to go. While others accumulate wealth and cleverness, the sage seems lacking — holding to the One without wavering, like a fool. The sage's spirit roams the divine realm; he alone treasures the Dao, the mother of all things.
About the Author
Paul Peng
Paul Peng is a Zhengyi Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi — the ancestral home of the Celestial Masters' tradition. Ordained at 25 after a dream from the Celestial Master, he has practiced for 25 years under Master Zeng Guangliang. He is the curator of this store, which is officially authorized by Tianshi Fu. All items are consecrated at the temple by the resident priest team.
Read his full story →
