beck

All Things
The Way produced the One;
the One produced two;
two produced three;
and three produced all things.

All things have the receptivity of the female
and the activity of the male.
Through union with the life force they blend in harmony.

People hate being orphaned, lonely, and unworthy.
Yet kings and nobles call themselves such.
Often gain can be a loss, and loss can be a gain.
What others teach, I teach also:
"The violent die a violent death."
I shall make this primary in my teaching.

blakney

On the Sun and the Shade ...

The Way begot one,
And the one, two;
Then the two begot three
And three, all else.

All things bear the shade on their backs
And the sun in their arms;
By the blending of breath
From the sun and the shade,
Equilibrium comes to the world.

Orphaned, or needy, or desolate, these
Are conditions much feared and disliked;
Yet in public address, the king
And the nobles account themselves thus.
So a loss sometimes benefits one
Or a benefit proves to be loss.

What others have taught
I also shall teach:
If a violent man does not come
To a violent death,
I shall choose him to teach me.

byrn

Dao gave birth to the one; the one gave birth successively to two things, three things, up the everything, everybody and the whole world we know.
The ten thousand things carry the yin as some back or behind, and hug the yang in front. Through the blending of the pervading principles as some abstract union, and by a further blending [designing] the material force (ki) they can gain [sound] harmony. And so the union in harmony gets strong [and defences].
In other words, living beings can't turn their backs to the shade [such as cooling yin] without having the sun on their bellies [it could be invigorating yang], and it's on such (yin-yang) blending of so-called breaths that [most] harmony depends.
Most people hate to be diagnosed as lonely, unworthy, orphaned, needy, ill-provided. Yet princes and dukes style themselves so, and call themselves by these names.

Truly, things are often increased by seeking to diminish them and diminished by seeking to increase them." And sometimes things are benefited by being taken away from and suffer by being added to. And so it often happens that things can gain by losing and lose by gaining.

What others have taught, I teach also:
"Violent and fierce people hardly die a natural [elegant] death."
Yet, show me a man of violence that came to a good end, and I will take him for my teacher. I shall make all this the father (basis) of my teaching. [Uha.]

feng

The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.

The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.

Men hate to be "orphaned," "widowed," or "worthless,"
But this is how kings and lords describe themselves.

For one gains by losing
And loses by gaining.

What others teach, I also teach; that is:
"A violent man will die a violent death!"
This will be the essence of my teaching.

ganson

Out of Tao comes Unity; out of Unity comes two;
from two comes three; from three all things come.

The shade of Yin is on the back of everything;
the light of Yang is on the face of everything.
From their blending together
balance exists in the world.

To feel unworthy, to be alone, orphaned,
is greatly feared and disliked,
yet statesmen claim these feelings.
Loss sometimes benefits; benefits can be a loss.

Others have taught this too:
the violent meet violent ends.
This is a good teaching.

gnl

Mind
The Way bears sensation,
Sensation bears memory,
Sensation and memory bear abstraction,
And abstraction bears all the world;
Each thing in the world bears feeling and doing,
And, imbued with mind, harmony with the Way.

As others have taught, so do I teach,
"Who loses harmony opposes nature";
This is the root of my teaching.

hansen

Generating Things
A guide generates 'one.'
'One' generates 'two.'
'Two' generates 'three.'
'Three' generates the ten-thousand natural kinds.
The ten-thousand natural kinds bear Yin and embrace Yang.
Blend the life-forces and deem-make 'harmony.'
What humans revile
is specifically 'orphan,' 'lonely' and 'impoverished.'
Yet Kings and Dukes deem them as titles.
Hence among natural kinds: sometimes you diminish it and it increases.
Sometime you increase it and it diminishes.
What humans teach,
I also teach.
Those who force issues don't get their death.
I'm on the point of deeming this 'the father of teaching.'

legge

The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three;
Three produced All things. All things leave behind them the Obscurity
(out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the
Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are harmonised
by the Breath of Vacancy.

What men dislike is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as
carriages without naves; and yet these are the designations which
kings and princes use for themselves. So it is that some things are
increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being
increased.

What other men (thus) teach, I also teach. The violent and strong
do not die their natural death. I will make this the basis of my
teaching.

mccarroll

The Tao gives birth to the One.
The One gives birth to two.
Two gives birth to three.
And three gives birth to the ten thousand things.

The ten thousand things have their backs in the shadow
while they embrace the light.
Harmony is achieved by blending
the breaths of these two forces.

People dislike the words "alone," "helpless," "worthless,"
yet this is how Princes describe them selves.

So it is that sometimes a thing is increased
by being diminished and
diminished by being increased.

What others teach I also teach:
"A violent person will not die a natural death."
I shall make this the basis of my teaching.

mcdonald

The Tao gave birth to One.
The One gave birth to Two.
The Two gave birth to Three.
The Three gave birth to all of creation.

All things carry Yin
yet embrace Yang.
They blend their life breaths
in order to produce harmony.

People despise being orphaned, widowed and poor.
But the noble ones take these as their titles.
In losing, much is gained,
and in gaining, much is lost.

What others teach I too will teach:
"The strong and violent will not die a natural death."

merel

Harmony

Tao bears love;
Love bears restraint;
Restraint bears acceptance;
Acceptance bears the World;
All things begin with love and end with restraint,
But it is acceptance that brings harmony.

As others teach, I teach,
"Those without harmony end with violence";
This is my teacher.

merel2

Mind
The Way bears sensation,
Sensation bears memory,
Sensation and memory bear abstraction,
And abstraction bears all the world;
Each thing in the world bears feeling and doing,
And, imbued with mind, harmony with the Way.
As others have taught, so do I teach,
"Who loses harmony opposes nature";
This is the root of my teaching.

mitchell

The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to Two.
Two gives birth to Three.
Three gives birth to all things.

All things have their backs to the female
and stand facing the male.
When male and female combine,
all things achieve harmony.

Ordinary men hate solitude.
But the Master makes use of it,
embracing his aloneness, realizing
he is one with the whole universe.

muller

The Tao produces one, one produces two.
The two produce the three and the three produce all things.
All things submit to yin and embrace yang.
They soften their energy to achieve harmony.

People hate to think of themselves as "orphan," "lowly," and "unworthy"
Yet the kings call themselves by these names.

Some lose and yet gain,
Others gain and yet lose.
That which is taught by the people
I also teach:
"The forceful do not choose their place of death."
I regard this as the father of all teachings.

rosenthal

THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE TAO
The Tao existed before its name,
and from its name, the opposites evolved,
giving rise to three divisions,
and then to names abundant.

These things embrace receptively,
achieving inner harmony,
and by their unity create
the inner world of man.

No man wishes to be seen
as worthless in another's eyes,
but the wise leader describes himself this way,
for he knows that one may gain by losing,
and lose by gaining,
and that a violent man
will not die a natural death.