Tao Te Ching Chapter 41 – 同异 (道德經 第41章)
Paul PengShare
Tao Te Ching — Chapter 41: Sameness and Difference
道德經 第四十一章 · 同异 · Lao Tzu · Bilingual Edition with Classical Commentaries
Original Text — 原文
English Translation — James Legge
Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Dao, earnestly carry it into practice. Scholars of the middle class, when they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it. Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh greatly at it. If it were not thus laughed at, it would not be fit to be the Dao.
Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves: the Dao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack; who progress in it makes, seems drawing back; its even way is like a rugged track. Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise; its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes; and he has most whose lot the least supplies. Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low; its solid truth seems change to undergo; its largest square doth yet no corner show; a vessel great, it is the slowest made; loud is its sound, but never word it said; a semblance great, the shadow of a shade.
The Dao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Dao which is skilful at imparting to all things what they need and making them complete. As explored in Chapter 38 on the attributes of the Dao, the highest virtue does not know itself as virtue.
✦ Key Insight
Chapter 41 presents twelve paradoxes of the Dao: the bright Way seems dark, the advancing Way seems to retreat, the level Way seems rough. The highest virtue is like a valley; the greatest whiteness seems soiled; the broadest virtue seems insufficient; the firmest virtue seems stolen; the truest substance seems to change. The great square has no corners; the great vessel is slow to complete; the great sound is faint; the great image has no form. These paradoxes are not contradictions — they describe how the Dao operates beyond ordinary perception.
Classical Commentaries — 古典注释
王弼注 Wang Bi's Commentary
Wang Bi describes three types of scholars: superior ones earnestly practice the Dao, middling ones sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it, inferior ones laugh at it. The bright Dao seems dark, the advancing Dao seems to retreat. Great perfection seems flawed, great fullness seems empty. The great square has no corners, the great vessel is slow to complete, the great sound is faint, the great image has no form.
河上公注 Heshang Gong's Commentary
Heshang Gong describes three types: the superior practitioner works diligently; the middling fluctuates; the inferior laughs at the Dao’s simplicity. The bright Way seems dark, the great virtue is like a deep valley, the great image has no form. The Dao alone gives life and completes 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 →
