Tranquility, Administration of Government, Taking No Action, Nothing
Undone, Non-Assertion, Simplicity of Ineffable,
Quiet, Exercise of Leadership,
為政
"The Tao in its regular course does nothing for the sake of doing it, and so
there is nothing which it does not do.
If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things would of themselves be
transformed by them.
If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I would express the
desire by the nameless simplicity.
Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will."
- Translated by
James Legge, 1891,
Chapter 37
"The Tao is ever inactive; yet there is nothing it does
not do.
If feudal Princes and Sovereigns can but preserve it, all creatures will reform
themselves.
But if, once reformed, desires should again arise,
I would restrain them by the exercise of the Simplicity which is without a name.
This nameless Simplicity will prevent the rise of desires;
An absence of desire will produce quiescence.
Then the Empire will become settled of its own accord."
- Translated by
Frederic Henry Balfour,
1884, Chapter 37
By Alexander Simkins. 
By Derek Lin.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
Translated by Thomas Cleary.
"The Way never does anything,
and everything gets done.
If those is power could hold to the Way,
the ten-thousand things
would look after themselves.
If even so they tried to act,
I'd quiet them with the nameless,
the natural.
In the unnamed, in the unshapen,
is not wanting.
In not wanting is stillness.
In stillness all under heaven rests."
- Rendition by Ursula K. Le Guin, 2009, Chapter 37
"The Way takes no action, but leaves nothing undone.
When you accept this
The world will flourish,
In harmony with nature.
Nature does not possess desire;
Without desire, the heart becomes quiet;
In this manner the whole world is made tranquil."
- Interpolated by
Peter Merel, 1992,
Chapter 37
By Hu Xuzehi
Annotated translation by Victor Mair 
By Ha Poong Kim
By Hans-Georg Moeller 
By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall
By Wes Burgess
By Arthur Waley
"Reason always practices non-assertion, and there is nothing that remains
undone.
If princes and kings could keep Reason, the ten thousand creatures would of
themselves be reformed.
While being reformed they might yet be anxious to stir; but I would restrain
them by the simplicity of the Ineffable.
The simplicity of the unexpressed
Will purify the heart of lust.
Is there no lust there will be rest,
And all the world will thus be blest."
- Translated by
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and
Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 37
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni.
Translated by Brian Walker. 
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles.
By Eva Wong.
"Way-making is really nameless.
Were the nobles and kings able to respect this,
All things would be able to develop along their own lines.
Having developed along their own lines, were they to desire to depart from this,
I would realign them
With a nameless scarp of unworked wood.
Realigned with this nameless scrap of unworked wood,
They would leave off desiring.
Is not desiring, they would achieve equilibrium,
And all the world would be properly ordered of its own accord."
- Translated by
Roger T. Ames and
Donald L. Hall, 2003, Chapter 37
Translated by Eva Wong 
Translated by Philip Ivahoe
By James Miller
Translated by Stephen Bokencamp
By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins
Translated by Thomas Cleary
By Livia Kohn
"The Way is eternally nameless.
If feudal lords and kings preserve it,
The myriad creatures will be transformed by themselves.
After transformation, if they wish to rise up,
I shall restrain them with the nameless unhewn log.
By restraining them with the nameless unhewn log,
They will not feel disgraced;
Not feeling disgraced,
They will be still,
Whereupon heaven and earth will be made right by themselves."
- Translated by Victor H. Mair,
1990, Chapter 37
Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Translated by Livia Kohn
Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way
"Tao remains quiescent, and yet leaves nothing undone.
If a ruler or a king could hold it, all things would of their own accord assume the desired shape.
If in the process of transformation desire should arise, I would check it by the ineffable simplicity.
The ineffable simplicity would bring about an absence of desire, and rest would come back again.
Thus the world would regenerate itself."
- Translated by
Walter Gorn-Old, 1904, Chapter 37
Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching
The Tao of Zen
Tao Te Ching: Zen Teachings on the Taoist Classic
Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China
"The activity of Everlasting Tao is in the Inner Kingdom,
It does not act except through the innermost.
If prince and people can maintain it together,
All beings will be transformed from within themselves;
Being transformed, they again desire action.
We must learn to still desire
To obtain in the Inner Life Purity of the Name.
Purity of the Name in the Inner Life
Brings absence of desire;
Absence of desire brings stillness;
Thus shall the world be perfected from within itself."
- Translated by
Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 37
Next Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #38
Previous Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #36
Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 37
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
By Jonathan Star. Translation, commentary and research tools. New York, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Penguin, 2001. Concordance, tables, appendices, 349 pages. A
new rendition of the Tao Te Ching is provided, then a verbatim translation with
extensive notes. Detailed tables for each verse provide line number, all
the Chinese characters, Wade-Giles romanization, and a list of meanings for
each character. An excellent reference tool!
Yellow Bridge
Dao De Jing Comparison Table, Chapter 37 Provides side by side comparisons of translations of the Tao Te
Ching by James Legge,
D. T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard. Chinese characters for each paragraph in
the Chapter are on the left; place your cursor over the Chinese characters to
see the Pinyin romanization of the Chinese character and a list of meanings.
The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching
Tao Te Ching Commentaries - Google Search
Translators'
Index, Tao Te Ching Translators Sorted Alphabetically by Translator, Links
to Books and Online Versions
Tao Te Ching: A
Bibliography and Index of Translations on the Web
Chapter 37 in the
Rambling
Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The
Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
By Hu Xuzehi. Seven Star Communications, 2006, 240 pages.
The Philosophy of the Daodejing
Valley Spirit, Gu Shen,
Concept
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
The largest collection of very nicely formatted complete versions of the Tao
Te Ching. The
collection includes 209 complete versions in 27 languages,
plus 28 Chinese versions. There are 112 English language
versions of the
Tao Te Ching available at this website. A variety of search methods and comparision methods are provided, as well a a detailed
index.
Offline as of 5/14/2013.
Tao Te Ching
English Translations from Terebess Asia Online.
Over 30 translations.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching
Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation
Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation
Thematic Index to the
81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui
Texts (Classics of Ancient China)
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was last modified or updated on May
14, 2013.
This webpage was first distributed online on February 2, 2011.
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Valley Spirit Grove, Red Bluff, California
Weekend Qigong Workshops with Mike Garofalo in Beautiful Red Bluff, California
Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices
Taoist Perspectives: My Reading List
One Old Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
Index to Translators of the Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE
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