Volume II — Te

Those Who Know Do Not Speak

Chapter 56 of the Tao Te Ching

知者不言，言者不知。塞其兌，閉其門，挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵，是謂玄同。故不可得而親，不可得而疏；不可得而利，不可得而害；不可得而貴，不可得而賤。故為天下貴。

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know. Block the openings, close the gates, blunt the sharpness, untangle the knots, soften the glare, settle with the dust— this is called mysterious sameness. Therefore such a one cannot be drawn near, cannot be pushed away, cannot be benefited, cannot be harmed, cannot be honored, cannot be disgraced. Therefore such a one is honored by the world.

Commentary

This verse describes the state of one who has realized the Tao and become indistinguishable from it. "Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know"—zhi zhe bu yan, yan zhe bu zhi (知者不言，言者不知). The opening lines establish a fundamental principle: genuine understanding cannot be captured in words. The one who truly knows the Tao does not attempt to explain it; the one who explains endlessly has not yet realized it. This is not anti-intellectualism but a recognition that the deepest knowledge is experiential, not conceptual. "Block the openings, close the gates"—sai qi dui, bi qi men (塞其兌，閉其門). These phrases repeat from Chapter 52, describing the withdrawal of attention from external engagement. Dui (兌) refers to the sensory openings; men (門) to the gates of involvement with the world. "Blunt the sharpness, untangle the knots"—cuo qi rui, jie qi fen (挫其銳，解其紛). Sharpness here is the aggressive projection of the ego, the cutting edge of opinions and positions; knots are the entanglements of thought and desire. "Soften the glare, settle with the dust"—he qi guang, tong qi chen (和其光，同其塵). The one who has realized the Tao does not stand out but harmonizes with ordinary existence. "This is called mysterious sameness"—shi wei xuan tong (是謂玄同). Xuan tong (玄同) is a key term: mysterious unity, profound identification. The realized one has become the same as the Tao, indistinguishable from the source. This sameness is not ordinary similarity but a return to the undifferentiated origin. "Cannot be drawn near, cannot be pushed away"—bu ke de er qin, bu ke de er shu (不可得而親，不可得而疏). The one who has achieved mysterious sameness cannot be manipulated through relationship.

The full commentary continues with deeper analysis of internal cultivation, classical perspectives, and cross-references. Read the complete chapter →

Key Characters