Chapter 71

Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing)
Classic of the Way and Virtue



By Lao Tzu (Laozi)


 

Compiled and Indexed by Michael P. Garofalo

Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington

Chapter 70     Chapter 72     Index to All the Chapters     Daoism     Concordance     Commentary     Cloud Hands Blog

English     Chinese     Spanish

 

 

 

 

Chapter 71

Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu

Classic Book (Ching) about the Tao (Way, Nature, Patterns, Processes) and Te (Virtue, Potency, Power, Integrity, Wise Person, Sage)

 

Concordance: Indexing, Search Terms, Topics, Themes, Subjects, Words


English and Chinese (Wade-Giles) Terms:
 Delusions, Disease of Knowledge, Freedom, Highest Attainment, Highest or Best (shang), Honesty, Ignorance, Know or Understand (chih), Knowing the Unknowable, Liberation, Lying, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Not Knowing or Ignornace or Foolishness (pu chih), Pain, Pretending, Pretensions, Sage or Holy Man or Wise Woman or Enlightened Person (shêng jên), Sage's Wisdom, Self Knowledge, Sick of Sickness, Sickness or Illness or Disease (ping), Stupidity, True Knowledge, Truth, Unwise, Wisdom  知病


Términos en Español: 
Autoconocimiento, Delirios, Dolor, Enfermedad Mental, Enfermedad, Estupidez, Honestidad, Ignorancia, Imprudente, Liberación, Libertad, Logro más Alto, Mejor, Mentira, Mujer Sabia, Necedad, Persona Iluminada, Pretensiones, Saber lo Incognoscible, Saber, Sabiduría del Sabio, Sabiduría, Salud Mental, Santo Hombre, Simulación, Verdad, Verdadero Conocimiento


Electronic Concordance for all 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching

 

 

 

English Language Translations of the Tao Te Ching

 

 

"To know and yet think we do not know is the highest attainment;
Not to know and yet think we do know is a disease.
It is simply by being pained at the thought of having this disease that we are preserved from it.
The sage has not the disease.
He knows the pain that would be inseparable from it, and therefore he does not have it."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 71 

 

 

"To know the unknowable, that is elevating.
Not to know the knowable, that is sickness.
Only by becoming sick of sickness can we be without sickness.
The holy man is not sick.
Because he is sick of sickness, therefore he is not sick."
-  Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 71 

 

 

"He who regards his intellectual knowledge as ignorance has deep insight.
He who overrates his intellectual achievement as definite truth is deeply sick.
Only when one is sick of this sickness can one cease to be sick.
One who returns his mind to the simplicity of the subtle truth is not sick.
He knows to break through conceptual knowledge in order to directly reach the subtle truth of the universe.
This is the foundation of his health!"
-  Translated by Hua-Ching Ni, 1995, Chapter 71

 

 

"Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health.

The Master is her own physician.
She has healed herself of all knowing.
Thus she is truly whole."
-  Translated by Edwin Shaw, 1996, Chapter 71

 

 

"One who knows, but does not know, is best.
One who does not know, but knows, is sick.
Only one who recognizes this sickness as sickness
Will not have the sickness.
The sage does not have this sickness
Because he recognizes this sickness as sickness.
Therefore, he has no sickness."
-  Translated by Yi Wu, Chapter 71

 

 

“To know when one does not know is best.
To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease.
Only he who recognizes this disease as a disease
Can cure himself of the disease.
The Sage's way of curing disease
Also consists in making people recognize their diseases as diseases
And thus ceasing to be diseased."
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 71 

 

 

"If you have knowledge, but you feel like you do not have knowledge, this is super.
If you do not have knowledge, but you feel like you have knowledge, this is sick.
The great men were not sick because they knew what the sickness is.
Only when you know what the sickness is, will you not be sick."
-  Translated by Xiaolin Yang, Chapter 71

 

 

"Knowing what is not known is good.
Not knowing but pretending to know is bad.
Sages rarely ail, because they hate ills.
Thus, hating ills, one can be free of ills."
-  Translated by Thomas Z. Zhang, Chapter 71

 

 

"Knowing one's ignorance of certain knowledge is the best attitude;
Not knowing certain knowledge yet pretending to know is a bad attitude.
The sage is of no shortcoming,
Because he considers shortcoming as shortcoming.
He considers shortcoming as shortcoming,
Thus he has no shortcoming."
-  Translated by Gu Zhengkun, Chapter 71

 

 

"To know, yet to know nothing, is the highest;
not to know, yet to pretend to knowledge, is a distemper.

Painful is this distemper; therefore we shun it.
The wise man hath it not.
Knowing it to be bound up with Sorrow,
he putteth it away from him."
-  Translated by Aleister Crowley, 1918, Chapter 71

 

 

"To know that you do not know is the best.
To not know that you do not know is a defect.
Now only by treating defect as defect can you be without defect.
The Sage is without defect because he treats all defects as defects and so is without defect."
-  Translated by Patrick E. Moran, Chapter 71   

 

 

"Know not knowing.
Those above do not know knowing.
For this reason they are sick.
Sickness, use your sickness as the means to get well.
The sage is not sick, because they use the one.
Sickness, use your sickness as the means to get well."
-  Translated by Barbara Tovey and Alan Sheets, 2002, Chapter 71  

 

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington  © 2020 CCA 4.0

 

 

 

Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance  By Alexander Simkins. 
The Tao of Daily Life: The Mysteries of the Orient Revealed  By Derek Lin. 
Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony   By Ming-Dao Deng. 
Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices
The Tao of Pooh   By Benjamin Hoff. 
Scholar Warrior: An Introduction to the Tao in Everyday Life  By Ming-Dao Deng. 
Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook  Translated by Thomas Cleary. 

 

                             

 

 

 

"Those who know, and yet do not think they know, belong to the highest type of men.
Those who do not know, and yet think they know, are really at fault.
When one knows that he is at fault, he can be free of faults.
The Sage is free of faults because he knows when he is at fault."
-  Translated by Cheng Lin, Chapter 71 

 

 

Cloud Hands Blog

 

 

"To recognize one's ignorance of unknowable things is mental health, and to be ignorant of knowable things is sickness.
Only by grieving over ignorance of knowable things are we in mental health.
The wise man is wise because he understands his ignorance and is grieved over it."
-  Translated by Dwight Goddard, 1919, Chapter 71 

 

 

"People are odd
They think they know what they don't
They think they don't know what they do
Excellence does not come, however, from knowing everything or knowing nothing
But merely from knowing that you don't know"
-  Translated by Ted Wrigley, Chapter 71

 

 

"Who knows that he does not know is the highest;
Who (pretends to) know what he does not know is sick-minded.
And who recognizes sick-mindedness as sick-mindedness
is not sick-minded.
The Sage is not sick-minded.
Because he recognizes sick-mindedness as sick-mindness,
Therefore he is not sick-minded."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1948, Chapter 71  

 

 

"Moving from knowing to not knowing - this is good.
Moving from not knowing to knowing - this is sickness.
You have to become sick of your sickness before you can get rid of it.
The sage isn't sick.
He's sick of his sickness.
Therefore he's not sick."
-  Translated by Brian Browne Walker, 1996, Chapter 71

 

 

"Acknowledging oneness manifests peace.
Acknowledging distinctions manifests confusion.

If one is in harmony with disharmony,
then one is at peace.
The sage is at peace because she is
not confused with the distinctions of
harmony and disharmony.

The sage is at one with Infinity."
-  Translated by John Worldpeace, Chapter 71

 

 

"If you know that you're ignorant you are fine.
If you don't know that you're ignorant you are flawed.
Only when you recognize your flaws
Will you become flawless.
The sage is free from flaws.
He's flawless because he knows his flaws."
-  Translated by Agnieszka Solska, Chapter 71  

 

 

 

Revealing the Tao Te Ching: In-Depth Commentaries on an Ancient Classic  By Hu Xuzehi
Tao Te Ching  Annotated translation by Victor Mair  
Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation  By Ha Poong Kim
The Philosophy of the Daodejing  By Hans-Georg Moeller  
Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation  By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall
Be Enlightened! A Guidebook to the Tao Te Ching and Taoist Meditation: Your Six-Month Journey to Spiritual Enlightenment   By Wes Burgess
The Way and Its Power: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching and Its Place in Chinese Thought   By Arthur Waley

 

                             

 

 

 

"To know that you do not know is the wisest and healthiest thing.
To think you know when you do not can be likened to an illness.
First you must rid yourself of the thought that you know, and then you are on the way to healing.
The sage does not have this sickness, he realizes that he does not know;
therefore his sickness has vanished."
-  Translated by John Dicus, 2002, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

A Chinese Language Version of Chapter 71 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
A note on my style of displaying the Chinese characters of the Tao Te Ching

 

 

知不知上;
不知知病.
夫唯病病, 是以不病.
聖人不病, 以其病病, 是以不病.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 71

 

 

chih pu chih shang;
pu chih chih ping.
fu wei ping ping, shih yi pu ping.
shêng jên pu ping, yi ch'i ping ping, shih yi pu ping.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 71

 


Audio Version in Chinese of Chapter 71 of the Tao Te Ching

 


zhi bu zhi shang;
bu zhi zhi bing. 
fu wei bing bing, shi yi bu bing.
sheng ren bu bing, yi qi bing bing, shi yi bu bing.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters and English (includes a word by word key) from YellowBridge

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters, Hanyu Pinyin (1982) Romanization, English and German by Dr. Hilmar Alquiros. 

Laozi Daodejing: Chapters with Chinese characters, seal script, detailed word by word concordance, Pinyin (tone#), German, French and English. 

Chinese and English Dictionary, MDGB

Google Translator

Chinese Character Dictionary

Dao De Jing Wade-Giles Concordance by Nina, Dao is Open

Dao De Jing English and Wade-Giles Concordance by Mike Garofalo

Tao Te Ching in Pinyin Romanization with Chinese characters, WuWei Foundation

Tao Te Ching in Pinyin Romanization

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters and English

Tao Te Ching: English translation, Word by Word Chinese and English, and Commentary, Center Tao by Carl Abbott

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters, English, Word by word analysis, Zhongwen

Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition  Chinese characters, Wade-Giles (1892) Romanization, and a list of meanings for each character by Jonathan Star 

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters: Big 5 Traditional and GB Simplified

Convert from Pinyin to Wade Giles to Yale Romanizations of Words and Terms: A Translation Tool from Qi Journal

Chinese Characters, Wade-Giles and Pinyin Romanizations, and 16 English Translations for Each Chapter of the Daodejing by Mike Garofalo. 

Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters, Wade-Giles and Pinyin Romanization spellings, English; a word for word translation of the Guodian Laozi Dao De Jing Version. 

Lao Zi's Dao De Jing: A Matrix Translation with Chinese Text by Bradford Hatcher. 

 

 

"To recognize ignorance comes first;
Not to know to know this will cause harm:
Harm that the wise are spared
Because they recognize it.
Only by recognizing the harm
Can one be spared."
-  Translated by Moss Roberts, Chapter 71

 

 

"To know that you do not know is best.
Not to know that you do not know is a sickness.
Therefore the Sage is not sick.
The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness.
Therefore, he is not sick."
-  Translated by Bram Den Hond, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

 

                                                             

 

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism

The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching   Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni

Tai Chi Chuan, Qigong, Taoist Body-Mind Arts and Practices

The Dao De Jing: A Qigong Interpretation by Dr. Yang Jing-Ming

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall

Practicing the Tao Te Ching: 81 Steps on the Way by Solala Towler

 

 

 

"There is nothing better than to know that you don't know.
Not knowing, yet thinking you know--
This is sickness.
Only when you are sick of being sick
Can you be cured.
The sage's not being sick
Is because she is sick of sickness.
Therefore she is not sick."
-  Translated by Charles Muller, 1891, Chapter 71

 

 

"To realize that our knowledge is ignorance,
This is a noble insight.
To regard our ignorance as knowledge,
This is mental sickness.
Only when we are sick of our sickness
Shall we cease to be sick.
The Sage is not sick, being sick of sickness;
This is the secret of health."
-  Translated by John C. H. Wu, 1961, Chapter 71  

 

 

 

The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching   Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni
The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu   Translated by Brian Walker
Tao Te Ching  Translated by Arthur Waley
Tao - The Way   Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
Taoism: An Essential Guide   By Eva Wong

 

                             

 

 

 

"To know how little one knows is to have genuine knowledge.
Not to know how little one knows is to be deluded.
Only he who knows when he is deluded can free himself from such delusion.
The intelligent man is not deluded, because he knows and accepts his ignorance,
and accepts his ignorance as ignorance, and thereby has genuine knowledge."
-  Translated by Archie J. Bahm, Chapter 71

 

 

Knowing what cannot be known?
What a lofty aim!
Not knowing what needs to be known?
What a terrible result!
Only when your sickness becomes sick will your sickness disappear.
The Sage illness has become ill, his renunciation has been renounced.
Now he is free.
And every place in the world is the perfect place to be."
-  Translated by Jonathan Star, 2001, Chapter 71

 

 

"It is best for one to stop knowing what they know.
To pretend to know when when does not know, is sickness.
Only when one is able to feel bitter with such sickness,
Can one be free from sickness.
Sages have not such sickness.
As they often feel bitter with the sickness of people,
they are never sick."
-  Translated by Hu Xuezhi, 2005, Chapter 71

 

 

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington  © 2020 CCA 4.0

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching  Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo  

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching  Translated by John C. Wu

Lao-Tzu and the Tao-Te-Ching  Translated by Livia Kohn

Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way Translated by Moss Roberts

 

                             

 

 

 

"Nobody has all the answers.
Knowing that you do not know everything is far wiser than thinking that you know a lot when you really don't.
Phony expertise is neurotic.
Fortunately, once the symptoms are recognized, the sure is easy: stop it.
Probably every leader has tried this form of pretense at one time or another.
The wise leader has learned how painful it is to fake knowledge.
Being wise and not wanting the pain; the leader does no indulge in pretending.
Anyway, it is a relief to be able to say: "I don't know." "
-  Translated by John Heider, 1985, Chapter 71  

 

 

"To know that you do not know is best.
Who knows that he doesn't know is the highest.
To know when one doesn't know is best.
Who pretends to know what he doesn't know is sick-minded;
To think one knows when one doesn't know is a sort of malady. 
Pretend to know when you don't know - that's a disease.
He who recognizes this disease as a disease can also cure himself of it [and maybe not].
[One may eventually get free from a disease by recognizing it for what it is.]
Who recognizes sick-mindedness as sick-mindedness can't be wholly sick-minded, after all.
The wise man is hardly sick-minded if he recognizes sick mind as sick and also cures some diseases.
He's hardly a sick mind."
-  Translated by Tormond Byrn, 1997, Chapter 71  

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Those who know seem not to know
And those who don't pretend they do-
This is what it means to be flawed.
If you're sick at this, then you'll win through.
The sage is. He is sick of all faults-
He is sick of being sick. He is well."
-  Translated by Kwok, Palmer, and Ramsey, 1993, Chapter 71

 

 

 

Lieh-Tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living  Translated by Eva Wong
The Daodejing of Laozi   Translated by Philip Ivahoe 
Daoism: A Beginner's Guide   By James Miller
Early Daoist Scriptures  Translated by Stephen Bokencamp
Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons
Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance  By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins
Practical Taoism  Translated by Thomas Cleary
Daoism and Chinese Culture  By Livia Kohn

 

                                       

 

 

 

"To know without thinking one knows is best.
Not to know but to think one knows is harmful.
It is by being aware of harm that one avoids it.
The wise person does not come to harm.
It is because the wise are aware of harm
That they avoid coming to harm."
-  Translated by A. S. Kline, 2003, Chapter 71 

 

 

"Recognizing one's ignorance is wisdom.
Not recognizing it and believing that one knows is sickness.
To be tired of this sickness means to be rid of it.
The Sage is free from sickness because he is tired of ignorance.
Therein lies his freedom."
-  Translated by K. O. Schmidt, 1975, Chapter 71
 

 

 

"Not knowing that one knows is best;
Thinking that one knows when one does not know is sickness.
Only when one becomes sick of the sickness can one be free from sickness.
The sage is never sick; because he is sick of this sickness, therefore he is not sick."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching by Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum

The Tao of Zen by Ray Grigg

Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

Tao Te Ching: Zen Teachings on the Taoist Classic by Takuan Soho 

Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China by Christine Mollier  

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

 

                                     

 

 

 

"To know that we are ignorant is a high attainment.
To be ignorant and to think we know is a defect.
The Master indeed can cure this defect.
That is why he has not this defect.
The self-controlled man has not this defect,
He takes hold of his defect and cures it.
That is why he has not this defect."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 71

 

 

"Knowing you don't know is wholeness.
Thinking you know is a disease.
Only by recognizing that you have an illness
can you move to seek a cure.

The Master is whole because
she sees her illnesses and treats them,
and thus is able to remain whole."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 71

 

 

"Those who understand the Tao are conscious of their upward progress.
Those who count their ignorance as knowledge, are diseased.
It is only those who treat themselves as sick who are therefore free from disease.
The Sage, who is not diseased, treats himself as though he were;
Wherefore his disease becomes no disease at all."
-  Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

Further Teachings of Lao-Tzu: Understanding the Mysteries (Wen Tzu)   Translated by Thomas Cleary

The Lunar Tao: Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons   By Deng Ming-Dao

Awakening to the Tao   By Lui I-Ming (1780) and translated by Thomas Cleary

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices   By Mike Garofalo

Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries   Translation and commentary by Brook Ziporyn

The Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi)   Translated by A. C. Graham

 

                                  

 

 

 

"To know the not-known, this is something high,

And not to know the known is sick to be,

To be sick of sickness sickness will dispel,

To be sick of ignorance will make us well,

Thereby, the sage from ignorance is free."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 71

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching
 Chapter Number Index


Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Daodejing
Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE
Chart by Mike Garofalo
Subject Index
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
81                  

 

 

 

 

 

"One who knows the unknown is a high type of man.
One who does not know the known is at fault.
Thus a Sage was not at fault because he was aware of faults."
-  Translated by Tang Zi-Chang, Chapter 71

 

 

"Die Nichtwissenheit wissen ist das Höchste.
Nicht wissen, was Wissen ist, ist ein Leiden.
Nur wenn man unter diesem Leiden leidet, wird man frei von Leiden.

Daß der Berufene nicht leidet, kommt daher,
daß er an diesem Leiden leidet;
darum leidet er nicht."
-  Translated by Richard Wilhelm, 1911, Chapter 71 

 

 

"Freiheit vom Bildungswahn

Wer um sein Nichtwissen weiß,
aus dem leuchtet der Adel des Geistes;
wer darum nicht weiß, ist in Wahn verstrickt.

Nicht verfällt der dem Wahn, der den Wahn als solchen erkennt.
Der Weyse ist frei von allem Wahn.
seinen Wahn als Wahn erkannt habend, ist er ohne Wahn."
-  Translated by Rudolf Backofen, 1949, Chapter 71

 

 

"True knowledge, aberrations and health of mind,
To know that you are ignorant is best;
To know what you do not, is a disease;
But if you recognize the malady
Of mind for what it is, then that is health.
The Wise Man has indeed a healthy mind;
He sees an aberration as it is
And for that reason never will be ill."
-  Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 71 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington  © 2020 CCA 4.0

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching: An Illustrated Journey   Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Tao Te Ching   Translated by David Hinton

The Book of Tao: Tao Te Ching - The Tao and Its Characteristics   Translated by James Legge

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: Growth of a Religion   By Isabelle Robinet

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tsu), Daoist Scripture: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotations, Notes

Zhuangzi: Basic Writings   Translated by Burton Watson

Zhuangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature   An illustrated comic by Chih-chung Ts'ai

Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

 

                                              

 

 

 

"To know one's ignorance is the best part of knowledge.
To be ignorant of such knowledge is a disease.
If one only regards it as a disease, he will soon be cured of it.
The wise man is exempt from this disease.
He knows it for what it is, and so is free from it."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 71 

 

 

"A man who knows how little he knows is well,
A man who knows how much he knows is sick.
If, when you see the symptoms, you can tell,
Your cure is quick.
A sound man knows that sickness makes him sick
And before he catches it his cure is quick."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 71

 

 

"Knowing you know not, is strength -
A high attainment.
Not knowing, yet thinking you know, is sickness -
A dire defect.
Only with knowledge of this sickness as a sickness,
Can the defect be removed.
The Sage has no sickness - no defect.
Recognizing sickness as sickness, defect as defect,
He is free from these curses."
-  Translated by Alan B. Taplow, 1982, Chapter 71 

 

 

"Savoir et croire qu'on ne sait pas, c'est le comble du mérite.
Ne pas savoir et croire qu'on sait, c'est la maladie des hommes.
Si vous vous affligez de cette maladie vous ne l'éprouverez pas.
Le Saint n'éprouve pas cette maladie, parce qu'il s'en afflige.
Voilà pourquoi il ne l'éprouve pas."
-  Translated by Stanislas Julien, 1842, Chapter 71

 

 

 

Spanish Language Versions of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing)
Tao Te Ching en Español


Lao Tsé Tao Te Ching   Traducido al español por Anton Teplyy

Tao Te Ching   Traducido por Stephen Mitchell, versión española  

Tao Te Ching   Traducido al español por el Padre Carmelo Elorduy

Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons   Consejos de Estilo de Vida de Sabios

Tao Te Ching en Español

Lao Tzu-The Eternal Tao Te Ching   Traducido al español por Yuanxiang Xu y Yongjian Yin 

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices   By Mike Garofalo    Maduración Duraznos: Estudios y Prácticas Taoístas por Mike Garofalo

Tao Te Ching - Wikisource

Tao Te Ching   Traducido al español por William Scott Wilson. 

Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching   Traducido al español por Javier Cruz

Tao te king   Translated by John C. H. Wu, , versión española  

Daodejing   Español, Inglés, y Chino Versiones Lingüísticas de la Daodejing


 

                                      

 

 

 

Spanish Language Translations of the Tao Te Ching

 


"Conocer y no saberlo,
ésta es la perfección.
No conocer y creer saberlo,
éste es el mal.
Conocer el propio mal
es liberarse del mal.
El sabio no tiene mal;
porque lo reconoce, no lo padece."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching,
Capítulo 71

 

 

"To know and not to know,
this is perfection.
Not knowing and believing you know
This is evil.
Knowing the very bad
frees one from from evil.
The sage does not have evil;
because he recognizes it, and does not suffer."
-  Wikisource, Tao Te Ching,
Capítulo 71, translation into English

 

 

"Conocer el no-conocimiento
es lo más elevado.
Es un mal no saber
lo que el saber es.
Sólo quien sufre este mal
se libra de todos los males.
Si el Sabio no sufre
es porque padece este mal,
por eso no sufre."
-  Translation into Spanish from Richard Wilhelm's 1911 German Version by an Unknown Spanish Translator, 2015, Capítulo 71

 

 

"Conocer y no saberlo, ésta es la perfección.
No conocer y estimarse sabio,
éste es el mal.
Conocer el propio mal
es liberarse de mal.
El sabio no tiene mal;
porque lo reconoce no lo padece."
-  Spanish Version Online at RatMachines, Capítulo 71

 

 

"Conocer y no saberlo,
ésta es la perfección.
No conocer y creer saberlo,
éste es el mal.
Conocer el propio mal
es liberarse del mal.
El sabio no tiene mal;
porque lo reconoce, no lo padece."
Online at TaoteKing.net., Anonymous, Capítulo 71

 

 

"Darse cuenta de que nuestro conocimiento es ignorancia, es una noblecomprensión interna.
Considerar nuestra ignorancia como conocimiento es enfermedad mental.
Sólo cuando nos cansamos de nuestra enfermedad, dejamos de estarenfermos.
El sabio no está enfermo, por estar cansado de la enfermedad.
Este es el secreto de la salud."
 -  Translated into Spanish by Alfonso Colodrón from the English translation by John C. H. Wu, 1993, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 71
 

 

 

"Saber el no-saber, he aquí Io sublime.
Saber y no saber, he aquí 'la enfermedad".
Si uno no se considera enfermo no cesa de estar enfermo.
E! sabio no está enfermo, porque considera la enfermedad como enfermedad.
Por eso tiene el secreto de la salud."
Translation from Logia Medio Dia, 2015, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 71

 

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington  © 2020 CCA 4.0

 

 

 

Commentary, Notes, Links, Comparisons, Resources
Chapter 71

By Mike Garofalo

 

"The phrase "I know that I know nothing" or "I know one thing: that I know nothing" sometimes called the 'Socratic paradox,' is a well-known saying that is derived from Plato's account of the Greek philosopher Socrates.  This saying is also connected and/or conflated with the answer Socrates is said to have received from Pythia, the oracle of Delphi, in answer to the question "who is the wisest man in Greece?"."
Plato, 350 BCE, Apology

Lao Tzu's translators advise us that pretending or thinking or acting as if you know when you really don't know is harmful, sick, diseased, neurotic. 

John Heider's translation of C71 says "Knowing that you do not know everything is far wiser than thinking that you know a lot when you really don't."

 

 

 

Lao Tzu, Lao Zi

 

 

Next Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #72

Previous Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #70

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 71

 

Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse.  Complete versions of all 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching by many different translators in many languages: 124 English, 24 German, 14 Russian, 7 Spanish, 5 French and many other languages.  Links are organized first by languages, and then alphabetically by translators.  Formatting varies somewhat.  The original website at Onekellotus went offline in 2012; but, the extensive collection of these Tao Te Ching versions was saved for posterity by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and available as of 9/9/2015.  This is an outstanding original collection of versions of the Daodejing─ the Best on the Internet.  Caution: copyright infringement may sometimes be an issue at this website. 


Tao Te Ching, Translations into English: Terebess Asia Online (TAO).  124 nicely formatted complete English language translations, on separate webpages, of the Daodejing.  Alphabetical index by translators.  Each webpage has all 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching translated into English.  A useful collection!  Many reformatted and colored versions from the original collection at Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse.  Caution: copyright infringement may sometimes be an issue at this website. 


Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts (Classics of Ancient China) Translated with and introduction and detailed exposition and commentary by Professor Robert G. Henricks.  New York, Ballantine Books, 1992.  Includes Chinese characters for each chapter.  Bibliography, detailed notes, 282 pages. 


Daodejing by Laozi: Chapters with Chinese characters, seal script, detailed word by word concordance, Pinyin (tone#), German, French and English.  This is an outstanding resource for serious students of the Tao Te Ching


Tao Te Ching: A New Translation and Commentary.  By Ellen Chen.  Paragon House, 1998.  Detailed glossary, index, bibliography, notes, 274 pages. 


The Tao and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching.  By Michael Lafargue.  New York, SUNY Press, 1994.  640 pages.  Detailed index, bibliography, notes, and tables.  An essential research tool. 


Two Visions of the Way: A Study of the Wang Pi and the Ho-Shang Kung Commentaries on the Lao-Tzu.  By Professor by Alan Kam-Leung Chan.   SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture.  State University of New York Press, 1991.  Index, bibliography, glossary, notes, 314 pages.  ISBN: 0791404560.     


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 print reference tool! 


Chinese Reading of the Daodejing  Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi with Critical Text and Translation.  By Professor Rudolf G. Wagner.  A SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture.  English and Mandarin Chinese Edition.  State University of New York Press; Bilingual edition (October 2003).  540 pages.  ISBN: 978-0791451823.  Wang Bi (Wang Pi, Fusi), 226-249 CE, Commentary on the Tao Te Ching.


Tao Te Ching  Translated by D. C. Lau.  Addison Wesley, Reprint Edition, 2000.  192 pages.  ISBN: 978-0140441314. 

 

 

                                                           

 

 

The Taoism Reader  By Thomas Cleary.  Shambhala, 2012.  192 pages.


Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao  By Wayne W. Dyer.  Hay House, Reprint Edition, 2009.  416 pages. 


The Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism.  Edited by Fabrizio Pregadio.  London, Taylor and Francis Group, Routledge, 2008, 2011. 2 Volumes, 1551 pages.


Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching, A Parallel Translation Collection. Compiled by B. Boisen. 


Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way.  Revised by Sam Torode based on the translation by Dwight Goddard, 1919. Independent Pub., 2009, 88 pages. 


Tao Te Ching: Annotated and Explained.  By Derek Lin.  Foreword by Lama Surya Das.  Skylight Illuminations, SkyLight Paths, 2006.  208 pages. 


Comparison and Analysis of Selected English Interpretations of the Tao Te Ching.  By Damian J. Bebell and Shannon M. Fera. 


Practicing the Tao Te Ching: 81 Steps on the Way.  By Solala Towler.  Foreword by Chunglang Al Huang.  Sounds True, 2016.  320 pages.


The Lunar Tao: Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons.  By Deng Ming-Dao.  New York, Harper Collins, 2013.  429 pages.  


The Classic of the Way and Virtue: A New Translation of the Tao-te Ching of Laozi as Interpreted by Wang Bi.  Translated by Richard John Lynn.  Translations from the Asian Classics Series.  Columbia University Press, 2004.  256 pages. 


Tao Te Ching in Chinese characters, Pinyin Romanization, English and German by Dr. Hilmar Alquiros. 


Yellow Bridge Dao De Jing Comparison Table   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. 


Translators Index, Tao Te Ching Versions in English, Translators Sorted Alphabetically by Translator, Links to Books and Online Versions of the Chapters 


Taoism and the Tao Te Ching: Bibliography, Resources, Links


Spanish Language Translations of the Tao Te Ching, Daodejing en Español, Translators Index 


Concordance to the Daodejing


The Tao of Zen.  By Ray Grigg.  Tuttle, 2012, 256 pages.  Argues for the view that Zen is best characterized as a version of philosophical Taoism (i.e., Laozi and Zhuangzi) and not Mahayana Buddhism. 


Chapter 1 in the Rambling Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith.  The Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley. 


The Philosophy of the Daodejing  By Hans-Georg Moeller.  Columbia University Press, 2006, 176 pages.  


Valley Spirit, Gu Shen, Concept, Chapter 6   Valley Spirit Center in Red Bluff, California.   Sacred Circle in the Gushen Grove. 


Lao-tzu's Taoteching
 Translated by Red Pine (Bill Porter).  Includes many brief selected commentaries for each Chapter draw from commentaries in the past 2,000 years.  Provides a verbatim translation and shows the text in Chinese characters.  San Francisco, Mercury House, 1996, Second Edition, 184 pages.  An invaluable resource for commentaries.   


Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation  By Ha Poong Kim.  Xlibris, 2003, 198 pages. 


Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation  By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall.  Ballantine, 2003, 256 pages. 


Thematic Index to the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching


Lieh-Tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living.  Translated by Eva Wong.  Lieh-Tzu was writing around 450 BCE.  Boston, Shambhala, 2001.  Introduction, 246 pages. 


Revealing the Tao Te Ching: In-depth Commentaries on an Ancient Classic.  By Hu Huezhi.  Edited by Jesse Lee Parker.  Seven Star Communications, 2006.  240 pages. 


Cloud Hands Blog   Mike Garofalo writes about Mind-Body Arts, Philosophy, Taoism, Gardening, Taijiquan, Walking, Mysticism, Qigong, and the Eight Ways.


The Whole Heart of Tao: The Complete Teachings From the Oral Tradition of Lao Tzu.
By John Bright-Fey.  Crane Hill Publishers, 2006.  376 pages.

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Laozi, Dao De Jing

 

Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching


 

Research and Indexing by
Michael P. Garofalo

Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks (2001-2020)

Red Bluff, California from 1998-2017; Vancouver, Washington from 2107-2020

Green Way Research, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 71, 2011-2020. 

Indexed and Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

 

This webpage was last modified, edited, maintained, reformatted, changes, expanded, improved or updated on December 6, 2019.    
 
This webpage was first distributed online on July 12, 2011.      

 

The indexing information for this webpage was originally developed in 2011. 
The indexing information was updated and expanded for both English and Spanish on December 6, 2019. 
The indexing information for this Chapter 73 was added to the Concordance master list (ttclzindex31.htm) on December 6, 2019. 

 


 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Vancouver, Washington  © 2020 CCA 4.0



 

 

Michael P. Garofalo's E-mail

Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.

 

 

 

 


Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: Resources and Guides
 

Cloud Hands Blog


Valley Spirit Qigong

Ways of Walking

The Spirit of Gardening

Months: Cycles of the Seasons

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Zhou, Master Chuang)  369—286 BCE

Chan (Zen) and Taoist Poetry

Yang Style Taijiquan

Chen Style Taijiquan

Taoist Perspectives: My Reading List

Meditation

Bodymind Theory and Practices, Somaesthetics

The Five Senses

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Grandmaster Chang San Feng

Grandmaster Chen Man-ch'ing

Virtues

Qigong (Chi Kung) Health Practices

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove

Cloud Hands: T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Index to Cloud Hands and Valley Spirit Websites

 

Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching 

Introduction

Bibliography  

Index to English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching

Thematic Index 1-81  

Chapter Index 1-81    

Concordance to the Daodejing

Recurring Themes (Terms, Concepts, Leimotifs) in the Tao Te Ching

Spanish Language Translations of the Tao Te Ching

Resources

Comments, Feedback, Kudos

Chinese Characters, Wade-Giles (1892) and Hanyu Pinyin (1982) Romanizations

The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE

 

 

 

 

Cloud Hands Blog

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching
 Chapter Number Index


Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Daodejing
Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE
Chart by Mike Garofalo
Subject Index
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
81                  

 

 

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