Tao Te Ching — The Complete Bilingual Edition with Classical Commentaries

Tao Te Ching — 道德经

The complete bilingual edition of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching — all 81 chapters in English and Chinese, with classical commentaries by Wang Bi and Heshang Gong. Translated by James Legge.

The Tao Te Ching (道德经) is one of the most translated and widely read texts in human history. Attributed to the sage Lao Tzu (老子) and composed in China around the 6th century BCE, its 81 short chapters explore the nature of the Dao (道) — the Way that underlies all things — and its expression as virtue (de, 德) in human life, governance, and the natural world.

The text is celebrated for its paradoxes: the soft overcomes the hard; the empty is more useful than the full; the sage leads by following; the greatest action is non-action (wu wei, 无为). Each chapter presents the original Chinese text, James Legge’s classic English translation (1891), and classical commentaries by Wang Bi (王弼, 226–249 CE) and Heshang Gong (河上公, Han Dynasty).

All 81 Chapters — 八十一章

Chapter 1
The Embodiment of the Dao
体道 · 道可道，非常道
The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao. The beginning of heaven and earth.
Chapter 2
The Nourishment of Virtue
养身 · 天下皆知美之为美
When beauty is recognised as beauty, ugliness has already appeared. The sage acts without claiming.
Chapter 3
Keeping the People at Rest
安民 · 不尚贤
Not exalting the worthy keeps the people from rivalry. The sage empties their minds and fills their bellies.
Chapter 4
The Fountainless
无源 · 道冲而用之
The Dao is like an empty vessel that may yet be drawn from. It blunts sharpness and unties tangles.
Chapter 5
The Use of Emptiness
虚用 · 天地不仁
Heaven and earth are not humane — they treat all things as straw dogs. The space between is like a bellows.
Chapter 6
The Completion of Material Forms
成象 · 谷神不死
The valley spirit never dies — it is called the mysterious female. Its gateway is the root of heaven and earth.
Chapter 7
Sheathing the Light
韬光 · 天长地久
Heaven and earth endure because they do not live for themselves. The sage puts himself last and finds himself first.
Chapter 8
The Placid and Contented Nature
易性 · 上善若水
The highest good is like water, which benefits all things and does not contend.
Chapter 9
Holding to Fullness
运夷 · 持而盈之
To hold and fill to overflowing is not as good as to stop in time. Retire when the work is done.
Chapter 10
Possibilities Through the Dao
能为 · 载营魄抱一
Can you keep the soul and body together? Can you achieve the softness of a newborn child?
Chapter 11
The Use of What Has No Substantive Existence
无用 · 三十辐
Thirty spokes share one hub — it is the empty space that makes the wheel useful.
Chapter 12
The Repression of the Desires
检欲 · 五色令人目盲
The five colours blind the eye; the five tones deafen the ear. The sage acts for the belly, not the eye.
Chapter 13
Loathing Shame
厌耻 · 宠辱若惊
Favour and disgrace are like fear. He who values the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire.
Chapter 14
Praising the Mysterious
赞玄 · 视之不见
Look and it cannot be seen; listen and it cannot be heard; grasp and it cannot be held. It is the form of the formless.
Chapter 15
The Fullness of Virtue
显德 · 古之善为士者
The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound. Cautious like crossing a winter stream.
Chapter 16
Returning to the Root
归根 · 致虚极，守静笃
Attain complete emptiness; hold fast to stillness. All things arise and return to their root.
Chapter 17
The Quality of Rulers
淳风 · 太上，下知有之
The best ruler is one whose existence the people barely notice. When his work is done, they say: we did it ourselves.
Chapter 18
The Decay of Manners
俗薄 · 大道废，有仁义
When the great Dao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness appear. When wisdom arises, great hypocrisy follows.
Chapter 19
Returning to Simplicity
还淳 · 绝圣弃智
Abandon sageness and discard wisdom — the people will benefit a hundredfold. Embrace simplicity, have few desires.
Chapter 20
Being Different from Ordinary Men
异俗 · 绝学无忧
Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow. The sage is like an infant. He alone is nourished by the mother.
Chapter 21
The Empty Heart
虚心 · 孔德之容
The greatest virtue follows the Dao alone. The Dao is elusive yet within it are images, things, and essence.
Chapter 22
Increase by Humility
益谦 · 曲则全
Yield and overcome; bend and be straight. The sage does not contend, and therefore no one can contend with him.
Chapter 23
Absolute Vacancy
虚无 · 希言自然
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. To those who follow the Dao, the Dao is given.
Chapter 24
Painful Graciousness
苦恩 · 企者不立
He who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm. He who displays himself does not shine.
Chapter 25
Representations of the Mystery
象元 · 有物混成
There was something undefined before heaven and earth. Silent, boundless, standing alone. I call it the Dao.
Chapter 26
The Quality of Gravity
重德 · 重为轻根
Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness is the master of movement.
Chapter 27
Skilful Use
巧用 · 善行无辙迹
The good traveller leaves no tracks. The sage is always good at saving people — he abandons no one.
Chapter 28
Returning to Simplicity
反朴 · 知其雄
Know the masculine, keep to the feminine — be the valley of the world. Return to the uncarved block.
Chapter 29
Taking No Action
无为 · 将欲取天下
Those who would take hold of the world and shape it will fail. The world is a sacred vessel.
Chapter 30
A Caveat Against War
俣武 · 以道佐人主者
Whoever relies on the Dao in governing does not use weapons. Where armies march, thorns and brambles grow.
Chapter 31
Stilling War
偃武 · 夫佳兵者
Fine weapons are instruments of ill omen. Victory is not beautiful — he who delights in it delights in slaughter.
Chapter 32
The Virtue of the Dao
圣德 · 道常无名
The Dao is eternally nameless. Though small, nothing in the world can master it. All streams flow to the sea.
Chapter 33
Discriminating Virtue
辨德 · 知人者智
He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. He who overcomes himself is mighty.
Chapter 34
The Task of Achievement
任成 · 大道泛兹
The great Dao flows everywhere. It accomplishes its task yet does not claim credit.
Chapter 35
The Attribute of Benevolence
仁德 · 执大象
Hold the great image and all under heaven will come. The Dao is tasteless and inexhaustible.
Chapter 36
Minimising the Light
微明 · 将欲歙之
What is to be shrunken must first be stretched. What is to be weakened must first be strengthened.
Chapter 37
The Exercise of Government
为政 · 道常无为
The Dao does nothing, yet nothing is left undone. If rulers could hold to it, all things would transform of themselves.
Chapter 38
Discussing Virtue
论德 · 上德不德
The highest virtue is not virtuous — therefore it has virtue. Foreknowledge is the flower of the Dao and the beginning of folly.
Chapter 39
The Origin of the Law
法本 · 昔之得一者
Those that obtained the One: heaven became clear, earth became firm. The noble takes the humble as its root.
Chapter 40
Dispensing with Use
去用 · 反者道之动
Return is the movement of the Dao. All things under heaven are born of being; being is born of non-being.
Chapter 41
Sameness and Difference
同异 · 上士闻道
The highest scholar hears the Dao and practises it. The lowest laughs at it. The Dao is hidden and nameless.
Chapter 42
The Transformations of the Dao
道化 · 道生一
The Dao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced all things. All things carry yin and embrace yang.
Chapter 43
The Universal Use of the Unsubstantial
偏用 · 天下之至柔
The softest thing in the world overcomes the hardest. Non-being penetrates where there is no space.
Chapter 44
Cautions
立戝 · 名与身孰亲
Fame or self: which matters more? He who knows when to stop does not find himself in danger.
Chapter 45
Great Virtue Appears Insufficient
洪德 · 大成若缺
The greatest perfection seems imperfect, yet its use is inexhaustible. Stillness overcomes heat.
Chapter 46
The Moderating of Desire
俣欲 · 天下有道
When the Dao prevails, horses haul manure. When it does not, war-horses breed on the frontier.
Chapter 47
Surveying What Is Far-Off
鉴远 · 不出户
Without going out of the door, one can know the whole world. Without looking out of the window, one can see the Way of Heaven.
Chapter 48
Forgetting Knowledge
忘知 · 为学日益
In pursuit of learning, every day something is added. In pursuit of the Dao, every day something is dropped.
Chapter 49
The Quality of Indulgence
任德 · 圣人无常心
The sage has no fixed mind — he takes the mind of the people as his mind. He is good to the good and also to the not-good.
Chapter 50
The Value Set on Life
贵生 · 出生入死
Going out is life; coming in is death. He who holds fast to life has no place for death to enter.
Chapter 51
The Operation of Mysterious Virtue
养德 · 道生之
The Dao produces all things; virtue nourishes them; matter gives them form. The Dao acts without claiming.
Chapter 52
Returning to the Source
归元 · 天下有始
The world has a beginning which may be regarded as the mother of the world. Close the mouth — to the end of life there will be no toil.
Chapter 53
Increase of Evidence
益证 · 使我介然有知
If I had the least knowledge I would walk the great Way. The great Way is very level, but people prefer bypaths.
Chapter 54
The Cultivation of the Dao
修观 · 善建者不拔
What is firmly established cannot be uprooted. Cultivate it in yourself and virtue will be genuine.
Chapter 55
The Mysterious Charm
玄符 · 含德之厚
He who possesses virtue in abundance is like a newborn child. He who knows harmony is in accord with the eternal.
Chapter 56
The Mysterious Excellence
玄德 · 知者不言
Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know. Close the mouth, shut the doors.
Chapter 57
The Genuine Influence
淳风 · 以正治国
Govern the state with correctness. The more prohibitions, the poorer the people.
Chapter 58
Transformation According to Circumstances
顺化 · 其政闷闷
When the government is unobtrusive, the people are simple and good. Fortune and misfortune alternate.
Chapter 59
Guarding the Dao
守道 · 治人事天
In governing people and serving Heaven, nothing surpasses frugality. Frugality means accumulating virtue early.
Chapter 60
Governing Like Cooking Small Fish
居位 · 治大国若烹小鲜
Governing a great state is like cooking small fish — do not over-stir. When the Dao prevails, spirits lose their power to harm.
Chapter 61
The Attribute of Humility
谦德 · 大国者下流
A great state is like a low-lying stream. The female overcomes the male by stillness. The greater should be the more humble.
Chapter 62
Practising the Dao
为道 · 道者万物之奥
The Dao is the shelter of all things — treasure of the good, refuge of the bad.
Chapter 63
Thinking in the Beginning
恩始 · 为无为，事无事
Act without acting; work without effort. All difficult things begin from what is easy.
Chapter 64
Guarding the Minute
守微 · 其安易持
The tree that fills the arms grew from a tiny sprout. The journey of a thousand li began with one step.
Chapter 65
Pure Unmixed Excellence
淳德 · 古之善为道者
The ancient sages kept the people simple. Governing with cleverness is a curse; without cleverness, a blessing.
Chapter 66
Putting One’s Self Last
后己 · 江海所以能为百谷王
Rivers and seas are kings of all valleys because they lie lower. Because the sage does not strive, no one can strive with him.
Chapter 67
Three Precious Things
三宝 · 我有三宝
I have three treasures: gentleness, economy, and not daring to be first. With gentleness I can be bold.
Chapter 68
Matching Heaven
配天 · 善为士者，不武
The best warrior is not warlike; the best fighter does not anger. This is the virtue of non-contention.
Chapter 69
The Use of the Mysterious
玄用 · 用兵有言
I do not dare to be the host; I prefer to be the guest. The greatest calamity is underestimating the enemy.
Chapter 70
The Difficulty of Being Known
知难 · 吾言甚易知
My words are easy to know yet no one knows them. The sage wears coarse cloth but carries jade within.
Chapter 71
The Disease of Knowing
知病 · 知不知上
To know and yet think we do not know is the highest attainment. Not to know and yet think we do know is a disease.
Chapter 72
Loving One’s Self
爱己 · 民不畏威
When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, the great dread arrives. The sage knows himself without displaying himself.
Chapter 73
Allowing Men to Take Their Course
任为 · 天网恰恰，疏而不失
The bold in daring meet death; the bold in not daring survive. Heaven’s net is vast — loose but nothing slips through.
Chapter 74
Controlling Delusion
制惑 · 民不畏死
The people do not fear death — why threaten them with it? There is always One who presides over death.
Chapter 75
The Injury of Greed
贪损 · 民之饥，以其上食税之多
People starve because rulers tax too much. Those who do not strive after life are wisest.
Chapter 76
Beware of Strength
戝强 · 人之生也柔弱
Man at birth is supple; at death, rigid. Softness and weakness are companions of life.
Chapter 77
The Way of Heaven
天道 · 天之道，其猶张弓
Heaven’s Way is like drawing a bow: reduce what is high, raise what is low. It diminishes excess and supplements deficiency.
Chapter 78
Trust in the Dao
任信 · 天下莫柔弱于水
Nothing is softer than water, yet nothing overcomes the hard as water does. The sage who bears the nation’s shame becomes its true sovereign.
Chapter 79
The Strictest Duty
任契 · 和大怨，必有馀怨
Even reconciled hatred leaves lingering resentment. The sage holds the left tally and does not demand repayment.
Chapter 80
Being Content with One’s Lot
独立 · 小国寡民
A small state, few people, simple tools unused. The people find plain food sweet, rough clothes beautiful.
Chapter 81
The Quality of Being True
显质 · 信言不美
Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. The sage does not accumulate — the more he gives, the more he has.

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