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德 Teh
Chapter 58

1. The government that seems the most unwise,
Oft goodness to the people best supplies;
That which is meddling, touching everything,
Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.

Misery!—happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!—misery lurks beneath it! Who knows what either will come to in the end?

2. Shall we then dispense with correction? The (method of) correction shall by a turn become distortion, and the good in it shall by a turn become evil. The delusion of the people (on this point) has indeed subsisted for a long time.

3. Therefore the sage is (like) a square which cuts no one (with its angles); (like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness). He is straightforward, but allows himself no license; he is bright, but does not dazzle.

五 十 八 章

其 政 悶 悶 ,
其 人 醇 醇 ;
其 政 察 察 ,
其 人   。
禍 , 福 之 所 倚 ;
福 , 禍 之 所 伏 。
熟 知 其 極 ？
其 無 正 。
政 復 為 奇 , 善 復 為 妖 。
人 之 迷 , 其 日 固 久 。
是 以 聖 人 方 而 不 割 , 廉 而 不 害 ,
直 而 不 肆 , 光 而 不 曜 。

Key Terms

Observations and Comments

Legge Translation Notes

###, 'Transformation according to Circumstances;' but this title does not throw light on the meaning of the chapter; nor are we helped to an understanding of it by Han Fei, with his additions and comments (XI, 3 b, 4 b), nor by Hwâi-nan with his illustrations (XII, 21 a, b). The difficulty of it is increased by its being separated from the preceding chapter of which it is really the sequel. It contrasts still further government by the Tâo, with that by the method of correction. The sage is the same in both chapters, his character and government both marked by the opposites or contraries which distinguish the procedure of the Tâo, as stated in ch. 40.