The Grand Archive — Tao Te Ching Living Codex

Complete 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching with authentic classical texts, character-by-character analysis, and scholarly commentary.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Tao can be told, (but) not (with) the unchanged way (of words). (第1章)
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: All that is under heaven considers beauty to be beautiful, ugly arises (第2章)
Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Not elevating talents, so people don't compete; not cherishing rare-fi (第3章)
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Tao is void, but its content does not exhaust. (第4章)
Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Heaven and Earth are not kind, treating ten thousand things as grass d (第5章)
Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The god of grain does not die, (who is) called the grand female. (第6章)
Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Heaven is infinite, Earth is deathless. Heaven and Earth are infinite (第7章)
Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The utmost goodness is like water. (第8章)
Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Hoard to overflow, should yield to moderation; hammer to sharpen, (the (第9章)
Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Can the soul embrace one, and does not separate? Can the aura be conce (第10章)
Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Thirty spokes to a hub, create a void, (is) used as a wheel. Clay mo (第11章)
Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Five colors blind; five tones deafen; five flavors cause tastelessness (第12章)
Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Moved by favor and humiliation, (is like) valuing a grave illness as t (第13章)
Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Look but cannot see, (is) called colorless; Listen but cannot hear, (i (第14章)
Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The ones who were good at Tao from the ancient times, (were) subtle an (第15章)
Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Reach the ultimate emptiness, stay the absolute peace; ten thousands t (第16章)
Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The upmost (ruler), (people) do not know of her existence; the next lo (第17章)
Chapter 18: Chapter 18: (When) the great Tao is discarded, benevolence and righteousness emerg (第18章)
Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Reject sainthood and abandon intelligence, people benefit a hundred ti (第19章)
Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Flattering and scolding, how much different between each other? Beauty (第20章)
Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The profundity of grand virtues, follow only the Tao. (第21章)
Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Submissive then prevail, bent hen straight, cave then full, stale and (第22章)
Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Scarce in speaking (is the way of) nature. Gusting wind doesn't last o (第23章)
Chapter 24: Chapter 24: He who tiptoeing can’t stand, he who jumping can't march; he who seein (第24章)
Chapter 25: Chapter 25: There is this thing formed by chaos, born before the Heaven and Earth. (第25章)
Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Heavy is light’s root, still is restless’s master. Thus a person of no (第26章)
Chapter 27: Chapter 27: (Ones) good at sauntering, (leave) no trail; (ones) good at speaking, (第27章)
Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Know the masculine, (but) uphold the feminine, be a creek to all that (第28章)
Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Take all that is under heaven and act it, I predict its failure. All t (第29章)
Chapter 30: Chapter 30: He who aids a master of people, does not strong-arm all that is under (第30章)
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: This thing called armed force, is a vessel of inauspicious, things mi (第31章)
Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Tao is perpetual nameless, plain. Although small, all that is under he (第32章)
Chapter 33: Chapter 33: He who knows (other) people is intelligent, he who knows himself is wi (第33章)
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: The great Tao resembles confluence, it can be left and right. Ten thou (第34章)
Chapter 35: Chapter 35: (He who) holds the great appearance, all that is under heaven flow tow (第35章)
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: To close it, (one) must open it (first); to weaken it, (one) must stre (第36章)
Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Tao constantly does nothing and do everything. If marquises and kings (第37章)
Chapter 38: Chapter 38: The upper virtues do not (chase) virtues, and thus have virtues; the l (第38章)
Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Those attained One in the past, Heaven attained One then be clear; Ear (第39章)
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: To and fro is Tao’s movement, weak is Tao’s way. The ten thousand thin (第40章)
Chapter 41: Chapter 41: When the upper-witted hear of Tao, （they) get diligent and act it; whe (第41章)
Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Tao creates One, One creates Two, Two creates Three, Three creates ten (第42章)
Chapter 43: Chapter 43: All that is under heaven’s softest, runs through all that’s under heav (第43章)
Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Which of fame or body is more close? Which of body or goods is more (i (第44章)
Chapter 45: Chapter 45: The great accomplished seems to be incomplete, but their use does not (第45章)
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: (If) all that is under heaven has Tao, dismissed war horses plow field (第46章)
Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Not stepping out of door, (still) know all that is under heaven; not p (第47章)
Chapter 48: Chapter 48: The deed of study accumulates daily, the deed of Tao diminishes daily, (第48章)
Chapter 49: Chapter 49: A sage has no heart, takes the heart of the hundred surnames to be her (第49章)
Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Birth and death, those who live (a long life), three out of ten; those (第50章)
Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Tao gives them life, virtues nurture them, firmness shapes them, tende (第51章)
Chapter 52: Chapter 52: All that is under heaven has a beginning, to be the mother of all that (第52章)
Chapter 53: Chapter 53: If I were indeed knowledgeable, (I would) walk the grand path; (not) f (第53章)
Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Ones good at establishing (virtues) don't withdraw, ones good at holdi (第54章)
Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Having virtures of thick, is like a new-born infant. Poisonous insects (第55章)
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: He who knows don’t tell, he who tells don’t know. Block the hole, clos (第56章)
Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Leverage righteousness to govern (a) country, leverage deceit to use m (第57章)
Chapter 58: Chapter 58: (When) the governance is lenient, the people is simple; (When) the gov (第58章)
Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Governing people and serving Heaven, are like nothing more than econom (第59章)
Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Governing a big country, is like cooking a small fish, follow Tao to l (第60章)
Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A big country is the downstream, (it is) all that is under heaven’s fe (第61章)
Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Tao, master of ten thousand things, kind one’s precious, unkind one’s (第62章)
Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Do the not doing, act the not acting, taste the not tasting. Big (grow (第63章)
Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The stability is easy to keep, the pre-aggravation is easy to plot (ag (第64章)
Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Ancient ones who were good at acting Tao, didn’t act (it) to smarten p (第65章)
Chapter 66: Chapter 66: River and sea for a reason become a hundred valleys’ king, is that the (第66章)
Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Under heaven all consider my 'Tao' to be grand, seemingly unlike (anyt (第67章)
Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Ones good at leading troops, are not warlike; ones good at fighting, a (第68章)
Chapter 69: Chapter 69: In leading troops there is a saying: 'I dare not take offensive, but t (第69章)
Chapter 70: Chapter 70: My words are easy to know, quite easy to act. But all that is under he (第70章)
Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Knowing the unknowingness, is wise; not knowing the knowingness, is si (第71章)
Chapter 72: Chapter 72: (When) people fear no authority, the great authority arrives. Not appr (第72章)
Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Valor on daring leads to death, valor on not daring leads to living.Th (第73章)
Chapter 74: Chapter 74: People do not fear death, why use death to terrify them? If people do (第74章)
Chapter 75: Chapter 75: People’s starvation, for the (one on) top eats tax much, causing famin (第75章)
Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Human (body) lives being soft, it dies being hard. Plants live being s (第76章)
Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Tao of Heaven, isn't it like a bow? It lowers when the bowstring is pu (第77章)
Chapter 78: Chapter 78: There is nothing under heaven softer than water, yet none can penetrat (第78章)
Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Reconciling great resentment, there will always be some resentment lef (第79章)
Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Make a country smaller, and its people independent. Own various appara (第80章)
Chapter 81: Chapter 81: True words are not pleasing, pleasing words are mostly not true. Those (第81章)