Chapter 22 · The Partial Made Whole

Tao Te Ching (Legge, 1891) · chapter title added by Learn the Dao

Learn the Dao: a quiet practice for learning the thing that can’t be known.

The chapter’s first line

The partial becomes complete;

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This chapter in plain modern English — David Kooi’s rendering ↓

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:--all real completion is comprehended under it.

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He is free from self-display — missed and therefore he shines

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Chapter 22, in a second rendering

Bend and Stay Whole

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

Bend and you stay whole. Yield and you come back straight. Stay empty and you fill up. Wear out and you renew. Want little and you get it. Grab for everything and you just get confused. So the steady hand holds onto the one thing and lets that be the model. Doesn't show off, so people can actually see them. Doesn't insist they're right, so they come across as clear. Doesn't brag, so the work stands. Doesn't compete - which is exactly why nobody can compete with them. The old line - bend and stay whole - isn't a throwaway. It's the actual mechanism.

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