Peace called 'peace' is not real peace. No name is endless. Nameless: the origin of the world. Name: the mother of a million things. Want nothing, see mystery. Full of want, see answers. These come from the same place but have different names. Call them both deep, deep and again deep: the way to all mystery.

See beauty, now ugly is born. See good, now bad is born. "Is" and "isn't" make each other. Hard depends on easy. Long is measured by short. High is measured against low. Sound is made by voice. After is followed by before. So the leader sticks to nothing. Moves without teaching. Makes a million things without order. Lives but owns nothing. Acts but presumes nothing. Succeeds without taking credit. When no credit is taken, success lasts.

Don't glorify heros and people won't compete. Don't treasure rare things and people won't steal. Don't show off what people want and they won't be bothered and disturbed. So the leader leads by emptying minds and filling bellies, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones. Leads people away from knowing and wanting. Deters those who know too much from going too far. Stays still so nature isn't disturbed.

Peace seems empty but is full of use. Endless. It's the start of all things. It blunts sharp edges, unties knots, dims bright light, makes itself at home with the dusty world. Very soft. I don't know whose child it is. It's older than all life forms.

The world is not kind, it treats all things like toys. Leaders are not kind, they treat all people like toys. But the earth and the sky, and all the space between, are like a bellows. Empty but inexhaustible. Always making more. Long speech is exhausting. Better to stay balanced.

The valley spirit never dies. It's called the mysterious woman. The entrance to the mysterious woman is called the root of the world. Endless flow of non-stop energy.

Heaven is long, earth is enduring. Long and enduring because they don't exist for themselves. So the leader steps back but is always in front. Lives outside but is always within. No self interest? Self is fulfilled.

Best to be like water, which benefits a million things and doesn't compete. It pools in places where people never reach, close to peace. Live in a good place. Keep your mind deep. Treat others well. Stand by your word. Make fair rules. Do the right thing. Work when it's time. But don't compete and you'll make no mistake.

Hold it and fill it: not as good as stopping in time. Measure and beat it: it won't last long. Your treasure can't be guarded from your guards. Pride and riches make a faulty lifestyle. Withdrawing when work is done is heaven's way.

Can you balance your life's powers and make them one without separation? Can you control your breath gently like a baby? Can you clarify your dark vision without blurr? Can you love people and govern the country without knowledge? Can you open and close the gates of heaven without clinging to earth? Can you brighten the four directions without action? Create and help. Create and don't own. Be independent. Do great but don't rule. This is called dark power.

Many factories make wheels. A wheel's use comes from nothing. Materials are moulded to make cups. A cup's use comes from being empty. Homes are made from room. Spare room is useful. So having makes profit, not having makes use.

Five colours darken the eyes. Five tones deaden the ears. Five tastes numb the tongue. Chasing and racing maddens the heart. Exotic goods ensnarl people's lives. So the leader takes care of the belly, not the eye. Chooses one, rejects the other.

Making friends and enemies is like fear; honour and shame are selfish. What does this mean? Favour shakes us. Scared when we gain it, scared when we lose it. Shame lives in the self. No self, no shame. Treat the world as yourself, the world can be your home. Love the world as yourself, the world can be your trust.

Looking but not seeing, we call it dull. Listening but not hearing, we call it dim. Reaching but not touching, we call it subtle. These three can't be fully grasped, so they become one. Standing, it's not bright. Hiding, it's not dark. It moves everything back to where there's nothing. Meeting it there's no front. Following it there's no back. Live in the old way, master today. Understand what makes all things. This is called the record of peace.

Our ancestors who followed peace were dark, amazing, deep, penetrating. Far beyond knowing, because they can't be known, they can only be described. Cautious, like crossing a winter stream. Hesitant, like respecting your neighbours. Polite, like a guest. Yielding, like ice about to melt. Blank, like unused paper. Open, like a valley. Blending, like muddy water. Calm the muddy water, it becomes clear. Move the inactive, it becomes active. Those who keep peace don't want to be full. Because they don't want to be full, they can fade away without further effort.

Get completely empty. Stick to stillness. The millions of things stir about, I only look to see them go back. Things grow and grow, but each goes back to its root. Going back to the root is stillness. This means returning to what's true. Returning to what's true means going back to the normal. Understanding the normal is enlightenment. Not understanding the normal, blindness creates evil. Understanding the normal, the mind opens. Mind opening leads to sympathy, sympathy to respect, respect to softness, softness to peace. Peace continues. Your body dies. There's no danger.

Great rising and falling - people just know it exists. Next they see and praise. Soon they fear. Then they hate. Without basic trust there is no trust at all. Be careful when valuing words. When work is done, everyone says they just acted naturally.

Great peace rejected, laws and rights appear. Learning and knowledge professed, great liars spring up. Family relations forgotten, family rules and love arise. With the country stressed, patriots appear.

Get rid of learning, forget knowledge: people will benefit a hundred times over. Get rid of law, forget rights: people will return to duty and sympathy. Get rid of skill, forget profit: there will be no more theives. These three statements are not enough. One more step in necessary. Look at plain silk, hold uncarved wood. Selfish thoughts disappear, desires fade.

Stop learning, no more stress. Between yes and no, how much difference? Between good and bad, how much difference? What others fear I should fear, how pointless. People are decorated in smiles as if they're celebrating. Only I'm not bothered, giving no sign, like a baby who's never smiled. Lost like I'm homeless. Others have enough and more. Only I'm left out. I have the mind of a fool, confused, confused. Others are smart and brainy. Only I'm dull, dull, drifting on the ocean, blown about endlessly. Others have plans. Only I'm thick and helpless. Only I am different from others, like a baby in the womb.

Great power appears, flowing from peace. Peace in action is only vague and intangible. Vague and intangible but within it there are pictures. Ungraspable and blurry, within there are pieces. Dark and shadowy, with it there is life. Life so real that within it there is trust. From the start its name is not lost, but reappears through many sources. How do I know these sources? Like this.

Crippled becomes whole, bent becomes straight, empty becomes full, worn becomes new, little becomes more, much becomes mad. So leaders stick to one, and take care of this world. Don't show off, and so they shine. Don't assert themselves, and they stand out. Don't praise themselves and so succeed. Don't get carried away, so keep succeeding. Don't compete, so no one on earth can compete with them. The old saying - crippled becomes whole - is not empty words. It becomes whole and returns.

Spare words: nature's way. Violent winds don't blow all morning. Sudden rain can't pour all day. What causes these things? Heaven and earth. If heaven and earth don't blow and pour for long, how much less should people? So when following peace: those on the way become the way, those who gain become the gain, those who lose become the loss. In peace: the traveller is welcome to travel, those who gain are welcome to gain, those who lose are welcome to lose. Without trust in this, there is no trust at all.

On tiptoe is no way to stand. Stumbling is no way to walk. Showing off is no way to shine. Struggling is no way to succeed. Laughing is no way to flourish. Ignorant is no way to stay. According to peace, excessive food and extreme activity inspire disgust. So those who follow peace move on.

Something unformed and complete before the world was born, lonely and silent, stands alone, not changing, handling everything with no limits. It's like the mother of earth, but I don't know its name. Better call it peace. Better call it great. Great means moving on. Moving on means going far. Going far means coming back. So peace is great, and heaven and earth and people. Four great things in the world. Aren't people one of them? People follow earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows peace. Peace follows its own nature.

Nothing in the world is as soft and weak as water. But when fighting the hard and strong, nothing can win so easily. Weak overcomes strong. Soft overcomes hard. Everyone knows this, no one gets it. So the leader says, accept a country's dirt and become master of its sacred soil. Accept a country's bad luck and become king under heaven. True words are like their opposites.

Give back hate and hate will stay. How can this be good? So the leader holds the tally but doesn't judge people. Those who have power control the tally. Those who lack power collect their due. Heaven's way has no favourites, but lasts in good people.

Small country, few people. Hundreds of tools but none are used. People think about death and don't travel far. They have cars and boats, but no one gets in them. Weapons and armour, but no one picks them up. They use knotted string for counting. They have sweet food, beautiful clothes, peaceful homes, pleasant traditions. Surrounding countries are so close you can hear their dogs bark. But people grow old and die without wanting to come and go.

Honest words aren't pretty. Pretty words aren't honest. Good people don't argue. People who argue aren't good. The leader collects nothing. Has enough by doing for others, has even more by giving to others. Heaven's way helps and doesn't harm. The leaders' way moves and doesn't compete.