27

Good walking leaves no tracks good talking contains no flaws good counting counts no beads good closing locks no locks and yet it can’t be opened good tying ties no knots and yet it can’t be undone sages are good at saving others therefore they abandon no one nor anything of use this is called cloaking the light thus the good instruct the bad and the bad learn from the good not honoring their teachers or cherishing their students the wise alone are perfectly blind this is called peering into the distance

LU TUNG-PIN says, “‘Good’ refers to our original nature before our parents were born. Before anything develops within us, we possess this goodness. ‘Good’ means natural.”

HO-SHANG KUNG says, “Those who are good at walking find the Way within themselves, not somewhere outside. When they talk, they choose their words. When they count, they don’t go beyond one. When they close, they close themselves to desire and protect their spirit. When they tie, they secure their mind.”

TE-CH’ING says, “Sages move through the world with an empty self and accept the way things are. Hence, they leave no tracks. They do not insist that their own ideas are right and accept the words of others. Hence, they reveal no flaws. They do not care about life and death, much less profit and loss. Hence, they count no beads. They do not set traps, yet nothing escapes them. Hence, they use no locks. They are not kind, yet everyone flocks to them. Hence, they tie no knots.”

WANG PI says, “These five tell us to refrain from acting and to govern things by relying on their nature rather than on their form.”

WU CH’ENG says, “The salvation of sages does not involve salvation, for if someone is saved, someone is abandoned. Hence, sages do not save anyone at all. And because they do not save anyone, they do not abandon anyone. To ‘cloak’ means to use an outer garment to cover an inner garment. If the work of salvation becomes apparent, and people see it, it cannot be called good. Only when it is hidden is it good.”

CH’ENG HSUAN-YING says, “The good always cloak their light.”

HSUAN-TSUNG says, “The good are like water. Free of impurity and without effort on their part, they show people their true likeness. Thus, they instruct the bad. But unless students can forget the teacher, their vision will be obscured.”

SU CH’E says, “Sages do not care about teaching. Hence, they do not love their students. And the world does not care about learning. Hence, people do not honor their teachers. Sages not only forget the world, they make the world forget them.”

Lao-tzu apparently took his own advice regarding teachers and students, all of whom remain nameless. I have used the Mawangtui version of line ten, which replaces two lines in the standard editions: “they are good at saving things / thus they abandon nothing.” For the last two characters of the last line, I have followed the word order of the Fuyi and Wangpi editions. However, I have chosen the Mawangtui miao (peer) in place of the standard miao (mystery), and I have read the standard yao (essential) as shorthand for yao (distant). This verse is not present among the Kuotien texts.