All 81 Chapters

Tao Te Ching — Character-by-Character Translation

Each chapter includes the original Chinese text, a poetic English translation, layered commentary, and four classical perspectives: Wang Bi, Heshang Gong, Chan Buddhist, and Internal Martial Arts.

#	Title	Opening Line	Vol
1	The Gateway of All Mysteries	The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.	Vol I
2	The Dance of Opposites	When all beneath heaven know beauty as beauty,	Vol I
3	Emptying the Heart	Do not exalt the worthy,	Vol I
4	The Unfathomable Source	The Tao is empty, yet in use never exhausted.	Vol I
5	The Impartial Bellows	Heaven and Earth are not humane—	Vol I
6	The Valley Spirit	The valley spirit never dies—	Vol I
7	The Lasting Self	Heaven is lasting, Earth endures.	Vol I
8	The Way of Water	The highest good is like water.	Vol I
9	Knowing When to Stop	Hold a vessel and overfill it—	Vol I
10	Embracing the One	Carrying your soul, embracing the One—	Vol I
11	The Usefulness of Emptiness	Thirty spokes converge upon a hub—	Vol I
12	The Five Colors	The five colors blind the eye.	Vol I
13	Favor and Disgrace	Favor and disgrace both startle.	Vol I
14	The Formless Form	Look and you do not see it—call it invisible.	Vol I
15	The Ancient Masters	The ancient masters of the Tao—	Vol I
16	Returning to the Root	Attain complete emptiness.	Vol I
17	The Best Rulers	The best rulers—the people barely know they exist.	Vol I
18	When the Great Way Is Lost	When the great Way is abandoned,	Vol I
19	Abandon Sageness, Discard Wisdom	Abandon sageness, discard wisdom—	Vol I
20	The Solitary Sage	Cease learning—be free from worry.	Vol I
21	The Elusive Tao	The bearing of great virtue	Vol I
22	Yielding and Wholeness	Yield and remain whole.	Vol I
23	Rare Words, Natural Way	To speak rarely is natural.	Vol I
24	Standing on Tiptoe	Those who stand on tiptoe do not stand firm.	Vol I
25	The Four Greats	There was something formless, complete,	Vol I
26	The Root of Light	Heavy is the root of light.	Vol I
27	The Good Traveler	A good traveler leaves no track.	Vol I
28	Know the Male, Keep to the Female	Know the male,	Vol I
29	The Sacred Vessel	Those who would take the world and act on it—	Vol I
30	Force Is Followed by Decline	One who assists the ruler with the Tao	Vol I
31	Instruments of Ill Omen	Fine weapons are instruments of ill omen.	Vol I
32	The Tao, Ever Nameless	The Tao is ever nameless.	Vol I
33	Knowing Self, Conquering Self	Knowing others is wisdom.	Vol I
34	The Great Way Flows Everywhere	The Great Way flows everywhere,	Vol I
35	The Great Image	Hold fast to the Great Image,	Vol I
36	The Subtle Light	What would be shrunk	Vol I
37	The Tao Never Acts	The Tao never acts,	Vol I
38	The Highest Virtue	The highest virtue is not virtuous—	Vol II
39	Those Who Attained the One	In ancient times, those who attained the One:	Vol II
40	Returning Is the Movement	Returning is the movement of the Tao.	Vol II
41	When the Superior Person Hears the Tao	When the superior person hears the Tao,	Vol II
42	The Tao Gives Birth to One	The Tao gives birth to One.	Vol II
43	The Softest Thing in the World	The softest thing in the world	Vol II
44	Fame or Self	Fame or self—which is more dear?	Vol II
45	Great Completion Seems Lacking	Great completion seems lacking,	Vol II
46	When the Tao Prevails	When the Tao prevails in the world,	Vol II
47	Without Going Out the Door	Without going out the door,	Vol II
48	In Pursuit of Learning	In pursuit of learning, daily increase.	Vol II
49	The Sage Has No Fixed Mind	The sage has no fixed mind;	Vol II
50	Coming Forth into Life	Coming forth is life; entering is death.	Vol II
51	The Tao Gives Birth	The Tao gives birth to them.	Vol II
52	The World Has a Beginning	The world has a beginning	Vol II
53	If I Have Even a Little Knowledge	If I have even a little knowledge,	Vol II
54	What Is Well Established	What is well established cannot be uprooted.	Vol II
55	One Who Embodies Virtue's Fullness	One who embodies virtue's fullness	Vol II
56	Those Who Know Do Not Speak	Those who know do not speak.	Vol II
57	Govern the State with Rectitude	Govern the state with rectitude.	Vol II
58	When Governance Is Muffled	When governance is muffled and obscure,	Vol II
59	For Governing and Serving Heaven	For governing people and serving heaven,	Vol II
60	Governing a Great State	Governing a great state	Vol II
61	The Great State Is Like a Lowly River	The great state is like a lowly river—	Vol II
62	The Tao Is the Sanctuary of All Things	The Tao is the sanctuary of all things—	Vol II
63	Act Without Acting	Act without acting.	Vol II
64	Deal with Things Before They Appear	What is at rest is easy to hold.	Vol II
65	The Ancients Who Were Skilled in the Tao	The ancients who were skilled in the Tao	Vol II
66	Rivers and Seas Can Be Kings of All Valleys	Rivers and seas can be kings of all valleys	Vol II
67	The Three Treasures	All under heaven say my Tao is great,	Vol II
68	The Skillful Warrior Does Not Display Prowess	The skillful warrior does not display prowess.	Vol II
69	Those Who Grieve Will Prevail	Among those who use weapons, there is a saying:	Vol II
70	My Words Are Easy to Understand	My words are very easy to understand,	Vol II
71	Knowing Not-Knowing	To know yet think you do not know—	Vol II
72	When the People Do Not Fear Authority	When the people do not fear authority,	Vol II
73	Heaven's Net	Courage to dare brings death.	Vol II
74	If People Do Not Fear Death	If the people do not fear death,	Vol II
75	The People Starve	The people starve	Vol II
76	The Soft and Weak Are Alive	When people are born, they are soft and weak.	Vol II
77	Heaven's Way Is Like Bending a Bow	The way of heaven—	Vol II
78	Nothing Under Heaven Is Softer Than Water	Nothing under heaven is softer and weaker than water,	Vol II
79	Settling Great Grievances	When settling great grievances,	Vol II
80	A Small Country with Few People	A small country with few people—	Vol II
81	True Words Are Not Beautiful	True words are not beautiful.	Vol II