Masculin Féminin
Tao Te Ching: Chapter 28
The theme of the unity of opposites (first developed most explicitly in Chapter 2) is revisited in Chapter 28 of the Tao Te Ching. In addition to the pairing of Masculine/Feminine, Laozi asks us to consider the apparent dichotomies of White/Black and Glory/Disgrace. Somewhat atypically, the Old Master concludes that an understanding of these concepts can lead to worldly success.
The Translation
Knowing the Masculine While preserving the Feminine Is like being a Stream under Heaven. Being a Stream under Heaven means Eternal Virtue is not lacking And one returns to Infancy. Knowing the White While preserving the Black Is like being an Exemplar under Heaven. Being an Exemplar under Heaven means Eternal Virtue is unerring And one returns to Limitlessness. Knowing Glory While preserving Disgrace Is like being a Valley under Heaven. Being a Valley under Heaven means Eternal Virtue is fulfilled And one returns to Simplicity. Simplicity, when split apart, becomes tools. If the Sage uses them, He becomes a senior official. Thus, the Great System does not break down.
The Original
Wang Bi’s original prose:
知其雄，守其雌，為天下谿。為天下谿，常德不離，復歸於嬰兒。知其白，守其黑，為天下式。為天下式，常德不忒，復歸於無極。知其榮，守其辱，為天下谷。為天下谷，常德乃足，復歸於樸。樸散則為器，聖人用之，則為官長，故大制不割。
Our poetic reformatting:
知其雄， 守其雌， 為天下谿。 為天下谿， 常德不離， 復歸於嬰兒。 知其白， 守其黑， 為天下式。 為天下式， 常德不忒， 復歸於無極。 知其榮， 守其辱， 為天下谷。 為天下谷， 常德乃足， 復歸於樸。 樸散則為器， 聖人用之， 則為官長， 故大制不割。
Terminology
The word 谷 (gǔ), meaning “valley,” should be familiar to readers of Chapter 6.
大制 (Dà Zhì) is an interesting phrase. Dr. Hong tells me that it likely refers to the “Great System” of government in which “the Sage” might serve as a “senior official.”
Notes
Derek Lin on 樸 (pǔ), which I have translated as “Simplicity”: “I translate pu . . . as ‘plain wood.’ It is often mistranslated as ‘uncarved block.’ Pu represents simplicity, plainness, and potentialities because a plain piece of wood has the potential to be carved into many different things.”
Ursula K. LeGuin’s commentary is always worth reading: “The simplicity of Lao Tzu’s language can present an almost impenetrable density of meaning. The reversals and paradoxes in this great poem are the oppositions of the yin and yang—male/female, light/dark, glory/modesty—but the ‘knowing and being’ of them, the balancing act, results in neither stasis nor synthesis. The riverbed in which power runs leads back, the patterns of power lead back, the valley where power is contained leads back—to the forever new, endless, straightforward way. Reversal, recurrence, are the movement, and yet the movement is onward.” Note that she translates 德 (Dé) as “power” rather than “virtue.”