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Chapter 18

大道废

大dà道dào废fèi,
有yǒu仁rén义yì;
智zhì慧huì出chū,
有yǒu大dà伪wěi;
六liù亲qīn不bù和hé,
有yǒu孝xiào慈cí;
国guó家jiā昏hūn乱luàn,
有yǒu忠zhōng臣chén。

When the Great Dao was discarded, only then came ren and right. When wisdom and insight emerged, only then came the Great Artifice. When the six kinship classes fell out of harmony, only then came filiality and parental kindness. When the state is darkened with chaos, only then do the loyal ministers appear.

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.