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Chapter 11

三十辐共一毂

三sān十shí辐fú共gòng一yī毂gǔ，
当dāng其qí无wú，
有yǒu车chē之zhī用yòng。
埏shān埴zhí以yǐ为wéi器qì，
当dāng其qí无wú，
有yǒu器qì之zhī用yòng。
凿záo户hù牖yǒu以yǐ为wéi室shì，
当dāng其qí无wú，
有yǒu室shì之zhī用yòng。
故gù有yǒu之zhī以yǐ为wéi利lì，
无wú之zhī以yǐ为wéi用yòng。

Thirty spokes share a single hub; grasp the nothingness at its center to get the use of the wheel. Clay is fashioned to make a vessel; grasp the nothingness at the center to get the use of the vessel. Bore windows and doors to create a room; grasp the nothingness of the interior to get the use of the room. That which is constitutes what is valuable, but that which is not constitutes what is of use.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.