Tao Te Ching Chapter 27

The Original Chinese Text

善行无辙迹，善言无瑕谪；善数不用筹策；善闭无关楗而不可开，善结无绳约而不可解。是以圣人常善救人，故无弃人；常善救物，故无弃物。是谓袭明。故善人者，不善人之师；不善人者，善人之资。不贵其师，不爱其资，虽智大迷，是谓要妙。

The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with or blamed; the skilful reckoner uses no tallies;the skilful closer needs no bolts or bars, while to open what he has shut will be impossible; the skilful binder uses nostrings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound willbe impossible. In the same way the sage is always skilful atsaving men, and so he does not cast away any man; he is always skilful at saving things, and so he does not cast away anything. This is called "Hiding the light of his procedure."

Therefore the man of skill is a master (to be looked upto) by him who has not the skill; and he who has not the skill is the helper of (the reputation of) him who has the skill. If the one did not honour his master, and the other didnot rejoice in his helper, an (observer), though intelligent,might greatly err about them.This is called "The utmost degree of mystery."

【译文】善于行走的，路上没有车痕马迹；善于言谈的，言辞中没有疵病；善于计数的，用不着筹码；善于阖门的，不用栓销却使人不能打开；善于打结的，没有绳索而使人不能解开。因此，圣人治理天下总是善于救人，所以天下没有被遗弃的人；经常善于救物，所以没有被遗弃的物品。这就叫做含藏着了解道的智慧。所以善救人者是不善救人者的老师，不善救人者可以作为善救人者的借鉴。不尊重自己的老师，不爱惜自己的借鉴，虽然自以为聪明，其实是大大的糊涂。这就是精深微妙的道理。

【Translation】Those who are skilled in walking leave no traces of carts or horses; those who are skilled in speech have no flaws in their words; those who are skilled in counting need no counting rods; those who are skilled in closing doors use no bolts yet no one can open them; those who are skilled in tying knots use no ropes yet no one can untie them. Therefore, the sage governs the world by always being good at saving people, so no one is abandoned; by always being good at saving things, so nothing is discarded. This is called embodying the hidden wisdom of the Tao.
Thus, those who excel at saving others are the teachers of those who do not; those who do not excel at saving others can serve as a mirror for those who do. Not respecting one's teachers or not cherishing one's mirrors, even while claiming to be wise, is in fact great ignorance. This is the profound and subtle principle.

【解析】善人，指的就是善救人的圣人。圣人善救人其实就是圣人善于治理天下黎民万物，善于治理的圣人不会再治理的过程中留下治理的痕迹，老子说“太上，下知有之”，最高明的君主施政于天下却使黎民感觉不到政令的存在，善救人者也不会过多干预黎民万物自然发展的状态，黎民万物按照自身的规律生长发展，所以没有被遗弃人和物。

【Analysis】 The "virtuous person" refers to the sage who excels at saving others. In fact, the sage's ability to save others lies in their adept governance of all people and things under heaven. A skilled governing sage leaves no obvious traces of governance in the process. As Lao Tzu said, "The highest form of governance is when the people merely know that their ruler exists." The most enlightened rulers implement policies without making the people feel the burden of decrees. Similarly, those who excel at saving others do not excessively interfere with the natural development of people and things. All beings grow and develop according to their own laws, so no one or nothing is abandoned.