Volume II — Te

Deal with Things Before They Appear

Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching

其安易持，其未兆易謀，其脆易泮，其微易散。為之於未有，治之於未亂。合抱之木，生於毫末；九層之臺，起於壘土；千里之行，始於足下。為者敗之，執者失之。是以聖人無為，故無敗；無執，故無失。民之從事，常於幾成而敗之，慎終如始，則無敗事。是以聖人欲不欲，不貴難得之貨，學不學，復眾人之所過，以輔萬物之自然，而不敢為。

What is at rest is easy to hold. What has not yet appeared is easy to plan for. What is brittle is easy to break. What is minute is easy to scatter. Deal with things before they appear. Put things in order before there is disorder. A tree that fills the arms grows from a tiny sprout. A tower of nine stories rises from a heap of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet. Those who act will fail. Those who grasp will lose. Therefore the sage does not act, and so does not fail. Does not grasp, and so does not lose. People in their undertakings often fail when nearly complete. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and there will be no failure. Therefore the sage desires not to desire, does not value goods hard to obtain, learns not to learn, returns to what others have passed by, to assist all things in their naturalness, and dares not impose.

Commentary

This verse develops the principle of early intervention and extends it to a profound teaching on non-interference with natural process. "What is at rest is easy to hold. What has not yet appeared is easy to plan for"—qi an yi chi, qi wei zhao yi mou (其安易持，其未兆易謀). An (安) is peaceful, at rest, stable—things in this state are easy to maintain. Wei zhao (未兆) is before the sign, before manifestation—at this stage, planning is effective. "What is brittle is easy to break. What is minute is easy to scatter"—qi cui yi pan, qi wei yi san (其脆易泮，其微易散). Fragile things break easily; small things disperse easily. The message: intervene early, when conditions are favorable. "Deal with things before they appear. Put things in order before there is disorder"—wei zhi yu wei you, zhi zhi yu wei luan (為之於未有，治之於未亂). This is the practical application: act before the situation fully develops, while it is still in potential. Once things have manifested, intervention becomes difficult; before manifestation, it is easy. "A tree that fills the arms grows from a tiny sprout"—he bao zhi mu, sheng yu hao mo (合抱之木，生於毫末). Hao mo (毫末) is the tip of a hair, the tiniest beginning. The great tree was once this small. "A tower of nine stories rises from a heap of earth"—jiu ceng zhi tai, qi yu lei tu (九層之臺，起於壘土). Lei tu (壘土) is piled earth, a simple mound. "A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet"—qian li zhi xing, shi yu zu xia (千里之行，始於足下). These three examples establish the same principle: all great things have small beginnings. "Those who act will fail. Those who grasp will lose"—wei zhe bai zhi, zhi zhe shi zhi (為者敗之，執者失之). Here the verse turns: forcing and grasping produce failure and loss.

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

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