Taoism and Lao Tzu
The method I’ve used throughout this revised commentary draws from three sources: Red Pine’s received text, Henricks’ Ma‑wang‑tui manuscripts, and my own version written twenty‑five years ago. Each offers a word, a phrase, or a movement that points toward the flavor Lao Tzu intended. By listening across them, the essence of what Lao would say rises, and my present voice finishes what wants to be spoken. This is not a strict translation, but a living continuation of the Tao as it moves through time.
This is how the Tao Te Ching itself evolved: through compilers, editors, scribes, and sages who carried the text forward without claiming it. My role in this work is not to claim authorship, but to act as a compiler — gathering the voices of the text, the translators, and my own earlier understanding so the intent of Lao Tzu can speak clearly in our time.
Water becomes Lao Tzu’s teacher in this verse because it shows how the soft and yielding can overcome what is hard and unbending. Nothing is gentler than water, yet nothing is more persistent. It takes the lowest place, moves without resistance, and wears down stone not through force but through constancy. In water, Lao Tzu reveals the Way of Heaven: strength expressed through humility, influence expressed through quiet presence, and transformation achieved without striving.
Lao Tzu points out that everyone knows softness overcomes hardness, yet few trust it enough to live by it. The world admires force, position, and assertion, but the Tao works in the opposite direction. What yields endures. What bends survives. What refuses to contend cannot be defeated.
The Sage embodies this paradox by choosing the lower place, accepting what others reject, and allowing humility to become the source of true power. In this way, the Sage aligns with the movement of the Tao rather than the expectations of the world.
Because the Sage does not seek advantage, he becomes the one others turn to. Because he does not defend himself, nothing can harm him. Because he does not claim credit, his influence remains. Lao Tzu uses water to show that the Way of Heaven always favors what is low, quiet, and unassuming. The Sage follows this pattern, not to appear virtuous, but because it is the only stance that remains aligned with the natural order. In yielding, he becomes whole; in taking the lowest place, he becomes the one who leads without trying.
Two commentaries I greatly admire are,
Verse 78 – Following the Way of Heaven
The sage endeavors to follow the Way of Heaven while only revealing everything for its true and natural place.
Pulling down the high while lifting the low he stays on an even keel finding the natural balance of all around him.
Continually moving forward unsure or unconcerned if what he does is ultimately good or bad as long as the natural order of things are followed and are allowed to take their places.
Moving without presumption or staking claim to what may be perceived as personal achievement. Choosing to remain in the background and not displaying his skills, nothing can deter or get in his way. His burden to keep his virtue to himself and not revealed to those who continually come running to his doorstep.
Modeling his actions after the way of heaven, the sage takes from the long and gives to the short so that the ten thousand things naturally find their places. For all things under heaven to find their place, it is best for heaven to sit back and do nothing allowing the nature of all things to come forward unimpeded fulfilling its ultimate endeavor and finding its true identity and destiny.
第78节 遵循天道
圣人努力去遵循天道，并为天道的真实和自然揭示一切。圣人削峰填壑，悄悄地寻找他身边万物
之自然平衡。
圣人继续前行。只要万物的自然秩序安排井然和遵循，圣人并不在意他的作为最终是好是坏。只管前行，不要猜测和怀有私心。圣人选择置身隐处，不露锋芒，没有什么能够阻止他的前进或堵塞他的道路。他的负担是恪守大德，不把大德展示给那些不断地来到他的门阶的人。
圣人依天道行动，取长补短，以帮助万物自然地找到他们的地位。为了使万物找到他们的地位，圣人最好是坐下来，停止行动，让万物的自然力畅通无阻地前来完成他们的最高奋斗目标，找到他们的真实身份和归宿。
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