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The Tao is creation’s sanctuary treasured by the good it keeps the bad alive beautiful words might be the price noble deeds might be the gift how can we abandon people who are bad thus when emperors are enthroned or ministers installed though there be great disks of jade followed by teams of horses they don’t rival one who sits and offers up this Way the ancients thus esteemed it for did they not proclaim who seeks thereby obtains who errs thereby escapes thus the world esteems it

THE HSISHENGCHING says, “The Tao is the sanctuary of the deepest depth and the source of empty nothingness.”

WU CH’ENG says, “‘Sanctuary’ means the most honored place. The layout of ancestral shrines includes an outer hall and an inner chamber. The southwest corner of the inner chamber is called ‘the sanctuary,’ and the sanctuary is where the gods dwell.”

SU CH’E says, “All we see of things is their exterior, their entrance hall. The Tao is their sanctuary. We all have one, but we don’t see it. The wise alone are able to find it. Hence, Lao-tzu says the good treasure it, but the foolish don’t find it. Then again, who doesn’t the Tao protect? Hence, he says it protects the bad. The Tao doesn’t abandon people. People abandon the Tao.”

WANG PI says, “Beautiful words can excel the products of the marketplace. Noble deeds can elicit a response a thousand miles away.”

TE-CH’ING says, “The Tao is in us all. Though good and bad might differ, our nature is the same. How, then, can we abandon anyone?”

LAO-TZU says, “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 / the bad learn from the good” (Taoteching: 27).

WANG P’ANG says, “Jade disks and fine horses are used to attract talented people to the government. But a government that finds talented people yet does not implement the Tao is not followed by its subjects.”

CHIANG HSI-CH’ANG says, “In ancient times, the less valuable presents came first. Hence, jade disks preceded horses.”

LI HSI-CHAI says, “Better than disks of jade followed by teams of horses would be one good word or one good deed to keep the people from losing sight of the good.”

LU NUNG-SHIH says, “If words and deeds can be offered to others, how much more the Tao.”

WANG AN-SHIH says, “There is nothing that is not the Tao. When good people seek it, they are able to find it. When bad people seek it, they are able to avoid punishment.”

In line one, both Mawangtui texts have chu (flow/chief) instead of ao (sanctuary). However, this is not supported by any other edition. In lines four and five, commentators have long suspected an error, and Mawangtui A has given us a partial solution. In line five, I have used its ho-jen (give to people) in place of the usual chia-jen (surpass people). However, I have deleted jen (people) as a copyist error for the word that begins line six. Note, though, that in my translation, I have inverted the order of lines six and seven.