THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZU

By D. C. LAU
I

I T is obvious to anyone who reads Lao Tzu that opposites play a prominent
part in it. There is hardly a page on which one cannot find some contrasted
terms like ' long ' and short', ' weak' and ' strong '. What may not be so
obvious is the complexity of the different theories concerning these opposites.
It is the purpose of this paper to study, in some detail, these theories.
First of all I shall make a few preliminary remarks about some terms
which I shall use to facilitate my exposition. Of the two members of a pair
of opposites, I shall call one higher and the other lower. For instance, ' long'
will be the higher, ' short' the lower term. I shall use the pairs ' soft' and
' hard ', ' weak ' and ' strong ' as typical opposite terms in my illustrations.
The process of change from the lower to the higher I shall call development;
while that from the higher to the lower I shall call decline.
Most scholars who have written about the thought in Lao Tzu have
emphasized one or other of the different theories contained in it. In what
follows in this section I shall simply state the different theories, and, in the
first three cases, quote accounts of these theories from various works.
(1) For the first theory I shall quote Professor Feng Yu-lan, who writes
in the section on Lao Tzu in the first volume of his work on the history of Chinese
philosophy as follows :
' The greatest general principle underlying the change of things (shih wu
i§J Qfcj) is this : if a thing develops to the extreme then it necessarily changes
to its opposite. This is called "reversion" (fan jx)', this is called
" return " (fu ;g[). Lao Tzu says
" Reversion is the movement of the too " (ch. 40).
Again
" The vast means passing on, passing on means far, and far means
reverting" (ch. 25).
Again
" The ten thousand things rise together, and I thereby watch their
return" (ch. 16).
It is because " reversion " is the movement of the too that " on disaster
leans good fortune, and in good fortune lurks disaster ", that " the proper
becomes again the improper, and the good becomes again the monstrous "
(ch. 58). It is because it is so that " if bent it will be whole, if crooked it will
be straight, if hollow it will be full, if worn it will be new, if few it will obtain,
if many it will be perplexed'' (ch. 22). It is because it is so that'' gales do not
last the morning, and showers do not last the day " (ch. 23). It is because
1
The text of Lao Tzii, used, unless otherwise stated, is the usual Wang Pi ^£ JBjj version.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZtJ ^ * ^- 345

it is so that " one who helps a ruler of men with the too does not coerce the
world by force of arms, as it is a thing that is liable to recoil" (ch. 30). It is
because it is so that" is not the way of Heaven like the stretching of a bow ?
The high it suppresses, the low it elevates ; the more than enough it takes
from, the not enough it adds to " (ch. 77). It is because it is so that " the
softest in the world gallops over the hardest in the world " (ch. 43), that
" nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water, yet for attacking the
hard and strong, nothing can be better " (ch. 78). It is because it is so that
" things are sometimes added to by being diminished, and sometimes
diminished by being added to " (ch. 42).' 1
In this passage Professor Feng is in effect saying that development and
decline form a circular process.2 When a thing develops to the highest point
it changes to the opposite direction which is decline, and when it declines
to the lowest point it again changes to the opposite direction which is develop-
ment. This circular movement presumably goes on indefinitely. Professor
Feng seems also to think that a good deal of what is said in Lao Tzu follows
from this basic principle. Whether this interpretation of the principle of
change is acceptable, and what difficulties are involved in its acceptance will
be discussed in section II. For the moment it is enough for us to note that
one of the important theories concerning opposites is considered by Professor
Feng to be the circular nature of the process comprising development and
decline.
This point is even more unambiguously stated by Professor Yang K'uan
in his history of the Warring Kingdoms. He writes :
' At the same time he [Lao Tzu] considered that the development of
contradictions is circular, that whichever side, whether the thesis or the
antithesis, reaches a certain degree in development will change into the
other. For instance, " the proper becomes again the improper, the good
becomes again the monstrous ", "on disaster leans good fortune, and in
good fortune lurks disaster ".' 3
(2) The second view is that in a conflict between opposites the lower will
overcome the higher. For instance the soft will overcome the hard; the
weak will overcome the strong. This view is very clearly and forcefully stated
by Professor Yang Jung-kuo in his history of thought in ancient China. He
writes:
' . . . " Valuing the soft " and " Seeing something in the bent " are
certainly the quintessence of the thought in Lao Tzu.

1
Feng Yu-lan $ | -fo gff, Chung-kuo che-hsileh shih PJ» |g| ff Jfi j£, I, 1934, 226-7.
All translations in this paper are my own. See also A history of Chinese philosophy, translated by
Derk Bodde, I, 1952, 182-3.
2
cf. the passage quoted from Professor Feng on p. 352 in which he saya, ' Things in the
universe are constantly changing. This change is circular . . . . This is a doctrine common to the
Changes and Lao TzH '.
» Yang K'uan ffi %, Chan-kuo shih igg |j£j {£, 1955, 205.
VOL. XXI. PAET 2. 25
346 D. C. LAU

Lao Tzu . . . further said, " The soft and weak can overcome the hard
and strong" (ch. 36).
Again, " The softest in the world gallops over the hardest in the world "
(ch. 43) . . . .
Again, " Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water, yet for
attacking the hard and strong, nothing can be better, for there is no
substitute for i t " (ch. 78).
The idea is that the softest and weakest thing is water, and to attack
the hard and strong by the softness and weakness of water ensures victory.
Again, " That the weak overcomes the strong and the soft overcomes
the hard, everyone in the world understands but none is able to act on i t "
(ch. 78).
All the above quotations explain that the soft can overcome the hard
and that the soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong, and that of
all things the soft and weak is supreme.' *
However, this same point is interpreted by Professor Yang K'uan in terms
of the opposites in a contradiction. He writes,
' It is because he [Lao Tzu] looks upon the development of contradic-
tion in things as circular change that he goes one step further in considering
that in the contradiction in a thing, the fundamental side is that of the void,
the weak and soft, the lowly, the stationary and the like. In the develop-
ment of a contradiction the fundamental side is likely to win, because
the soft will change into the strong, and what was originally strong will,
after it has reached the point of saturation, change into the soft and so end
up by being defeated.' 2
(3) There is the view that opposites are interdependent. There cannot be
the good without the bad, the ugly without the beautiful. Dr. Hu Shih
emphasizes this aspect of thought in Lao Tzu. He writes in his history of Chinese
philosophy as follows:
' " It is because the whole world knows that the beautiful is the beautiful
that there is the ugly, and knows that the good is the good that there is the
bad. Hence the there-is (yu ^) and the there-is-not (wu $$) produce each
other ; the difficult and the easy complement each other ; the long and the
short compare with each other ; the high and the low incline towards each
other ; voice and accompaniment3 harmonize with each other ; the before
and the after follow each other. Hence the sage abides by deeds without
action, and carries on the teaching without words . . . . Not to exalt men
of superior worth will cause the people not to contend ; not to value goods
hard to come by will cause the people not to become thieves ; not to exhibit

1
Yang Jung-kuo jj^g §f> | § Chung-buo ku-tai ssu-hsiang shih f|i [§§ "jfj1 jfc g j JH }£.»
1954, 261-2.
2 Yang K'uan, ibid., p. 205.
3 It is difficult to know what yin - ^ and sheng Jf^f mean precisely in this context. My
rendering is therefore tentative.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITBS IN LAO TZtJ ^ J- 347

what is desirable will cause the people to be unperturbed in mind. Hence

the rule of the sage empties the mind but fills the belly, weakens the will
but strengthens the bones, always causing the people to be without knowledge
and without desire " (ch. 2, 3).
This passage is the basis of the political philosophy of Lao Tzu. Lao Tzti
considers that all the terms good and evil, beautiful and ugly, morally
superior and morally inferior, are relative. Just as are such terms as long
and short, high and low, before and after, and so on. Without the long
there will be no short, without before there will be no after, without the
beautiful there will not be the ugly, without the good there will not be the
bad, without the morally superior there will be no morally inferior. Hence
when people know that the beautiful is the beautiful, there will be the
ugly; that the good is the good, there will be the bad; that the morally
superior is the morally superior, there will be the morally inferior. The
common methods such as rewarding the good and punishing the bad,
exalting the morally superior and discarding the morally inferior, are not
thorough solutions. The only method of thoroughly saving the situation
is the annihilation of all relative terms, such as good and bad, beautiful
and ugly, morally superior and morally inferior, and return to the age of
undifferentiation of the nameless block; and then to make the people
always void of knowledge and desire. To be void of knowledge is naturally
also to be void of desire. When there is no desire there will naturally be no
crime.'*
Although in the passage quoted from Lao Tzu, the language is sometimes
that of generation, e.g. ' the there-is and the there-is-not produce each other ',2
there is no doubt that Dr. Hu Shih is right in interpreting the point made
as a logical one. This is quite clear from the two opening sentences, ' It is
because the whole world knows that the beautiful is the beautiful that there is
the ugly, and knows that the good is the good that there is the bad '. This is
because the beautiful implies the ugly, which is its opposite, and the good implies
the bad. The beautiful cannot be known to be the beautiful without the ugly,
and the good cannot be known to be the good without the bad. In other words
the point is a logical point, and has nothing to do with production either as a
historical, or even as a metaphysical, concept. From the point that the distinc-
tion between opposites is a logical one, it is then argued that if we give up
drawing these distinctions, they will cease to exist. With the distinctions go
the stimulation of desires. When desires are not stimulated there will no
longer be strife and contention.
1
Hu Shih jSflj jg, Chung-hm cM-hs1ieh shih ta-kang " f H I W ^ S & ^ t i l W ' 1 ' 1919
>
62-3.
2
It is quite possible, of course, that the rest of ch. 2 does not belong together with the two
opening sentences. The distinction between yin and sMng (whatever their exact meaning may be
in this context, see n. 3, p. 346) is hardly of the same type as that between good and not good,
beautiful and ugly. Ch. 3, however, seems to continue the train of thought contained in the two
opening sentences in ch. 2.
348 D. C. LAU

(4) As can be seen from some of the passages quoted from Lao Tzu, some
of the above views are sometimes stated in a different way. They are stated
in terms of Heaven. For example,' Is not the way of Heaven like the stretching
of a bow ? The high it suppresses and the low it elevates; the more than
enough it takes from, and the not enough it adds to. The way of Heaven
takes away from the more than enough and adds to the not enough. The way of
Man is not so ; it takes from the not enough in order to offer to the more than
enough. Who can take away from the more than enough in order to give to
the not enough ? Only one who has the too ' 1 (ch. 77).
Again, in ch. 79, we find ' The way of Heaven shows no favour. It is always
on the side of the good man '. And in ch. 81 ' The way of Heaven does not
harm but benefits; the way of the Sage acts without contention'. We can
see from this that not only a thing changes from the higher to the lower,
but that Heaven takes from those who have too much to give to those who
have not enough.2 Heaven, though it shows no favouritism, is on the side of
good people. This seems to mean that, in a conflict, Heaven sides with the
good.
(5) Finally, there is the view that the higher always begins from the lower,
and that the process of development is always gradual. ' The difficult things
in the world necessarily originate from the easy ; the big things in the world
necessarily originate from the small' (ch. 63). ' A tree that can be spanned
by a man's arms grows from a feathery tip ; a terrace nine stories high rises
from heaped earth ; a journey of a thousand li starts from beneath one's feet'
(ch. 64). Realizing this, one understands, further, that if one wants to do
anything to influence the course of the development of a thing, this is much
more easily done when the process of development is as yet in its initial stages.
' Deal with the difficult while it is easy; cope with what is great while it is
small' (ch. 63). ' When it is secure it is easy to maintain. When the signs
are not manifest, it is easy to lay one's plans. When it is fragile it is easy to
break. When it is minute it is easy to disperse. Do it while there is yet nothing;
put it in order before disorder sets in' (ch. 64).
These are the different theories concerning opposites to be found in Lao Tzu.
In the following sections they will be considered in greater detail, and, when
there are inconsistencies among the different theories, an attempt will be
made, wherever possible, to remove such inconsistencies by means of
re-interpretation.

1
In the last two sentences I follow the emendation suggested by Mr. Ma Hsu-lun J8|
shuringsun yuyttyifbtgputsuweiyu too M^ffi S%^H^^J8.Pt;i"jS^-
See Lao Tz& chiao ku ?)£ ^ 1$£ §£, 1956 (originally published in 1924 under the slightly different
title of Lao TzH M hi ^ ^f- | | f£), p. 194.
2
It may be worth noting in passing that Heaven gives to those who have not enough,
presumably, only in order that they should have enough, not in order that they should, in their
turn, have more than enough.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZt) ^ * J- 349

II
The best authenticated theory attributed to Lao Tzii is ' valuing the soft'
and ' abiding by the soft'. According to the T'ien-hsia chapter in Chuang Tzii,
' Lao Tan said, " Knowing the male, abide by the female and be the ravine
of the world. Knowing the clean, abide by the dirty 1 and be the valley of
the world ".2 People all prefer to lead, he alone prefers to follow,3 saying,
" Accept the dirt of the world ".* People all prefer the solid, he alone prefers
the empty. He does not hoard and has therefore more than enough.5 Alone
he has more than enough . . . . People all prefer good fortune, he alone is
preserved by being bent,9 saying, " Just so as to escape misfortune " 7 . . . .
He says, " To be hard is to be destroyed 8 ; to be sharp is to be blunted ". 9
He seeks always to be tolerant towards others and does not infringe on
people '.10
In criticizing the one-sidedness of the thought of the various schools, Hsiin
Tzu says, ' Lao Tzii sees something in the bent, but sees nothing in the
straightened ' . u
In the Lii Shih ch'un-ch'iu it is said that' Lao Tan valued the soft \ 12
From these passages we can see that the view that the lower is valuable,
and that it is best to abide by the soft is one of the views most widely attributed
to Lao Tzii. We would, therefore, be unlikely to go far wrong if we take this
as the most important view in Lao Tzu. If an interpretation of any other theory
in the book is incompatible with this, we shall have occasion to wonder if this
interpretation can be right.13 Such, I submit, is the interpretation that the
process of development and decline forms a circle. The reason is this. If all
things undergo a perpetual course of circular change, from the lower to the
higher and from the higher to the lower, the injunction ' abide by the soft'
becomes idle advice. For it will be impossible to abide by the soft (or the hard
1
I follow the suggestion of Professor Kao Heng ^ JjS that ju ^|j is used for ju =|S, which
means ' grimy ', ' dirty '. See Lao TzH cMng ku ^ ^f- JEfsfc, 1956, 65-6.
2
cf. Lao Tzii, ch. 28. The -text there should also read ' know the clean, abide by the dirty
and be the valley of the world 7 See Kao Heng, loc. cit.
3
cf. Lao Tzii, ch. 67, ' I dare not lead the world'.
4
cf. ibid., ch. 78, ' Accept the dirt of the state '.
6
cf. ibid., ch. 81, ' The sage does not hoard. Having bestowed all he has on others, the
more he has ; having given all he has to others, he has more '.
* cf. ibid., ch. 22, ' If bent it will be whole (preserved)'.
' cf. ibid., ch. 62, ' Why was thetoovalued in days of old ? Was it not because when one
sought, it was by means of it that one attained, and when one transgressed, it was by means of it
that one escaped ? ' (Read ch'iu yi U jj^ J ^ ^ t instead of yi ch'iu te.)
8
cf. ibid., ch. 76, ' Hence the hard and strong is akin to death'.
• cf. ibid., ch. 9, ' What is beaten to a sharp point cannot be preserved always '.
10
Chuang Tzii ££ -J-, Ssii Pu Ts'ung K'an (SPTK) H ofl I I flj ed-. 10.35b-36b.
11
Hsun Tzu^ =$-, SPTK ed., 11.25a.
12
LU Shih ch'un-ch'iu g | £ ^ %fc, SPTK ed., 17.18a.
13
The assumption, of course, is that the greater part of the present Lao Tzii really belongs
together. For anyone who thinks that Lao Tzii is a haphazard collection of sayings, any attempt
to systematize the thought in it will not fail to appear misguided.
350 D. C. LAU

either, for that matter), as the soft inevitably develops into the hard. Indeed it
will be impossible to abide by anything, for everything will inexorably change
to its opposite. In other words in a world of ceaseless change, one cannot
stop but has to move with the stream, and in such a world it will be futile to give
advice as to what one should abide by.
Before attempting to find a solution, let us first take another point which,
as we have seen, some of the writers have tried to relate to the point under
discussion. One of the reasons for abiding by the soft is the theory that in a
conflict between the lower and the higher, the lower is bound to be victorious.
As we have seen, this theory has been interpreted by Professor Yang K'uan
to mean that of the two sides of a contradiction in a thing, it is the lower
that is the fundamental.1 Now if Professor Yang is right in his interpretation,
then in the general conflict between the lower and the higher which goes
on in all things in the universe, there must come a time when the lower has,
in every case, triumphed over the higher, and, if a thing takes its quality from
the side of the contradiction within it that is victorious, then all things, by that
time, will have become soft and weak and so on. This obviously will not do,
and Professor Yang is aware of this, for he goes on to say that the lower is
likely to win because when it wins, its opposite will change from the higher to
the lower, and, being lower, will in turn win.
Now, there are three objections to this interpretation. First, the terms
' higher ' and ' lower ' will cease to have fixed application. They become
empty terms and the lower will apply to any side whenever that side suffers
defeat in a contradiction, though immediately before this it applied to the other
side of the contradiction. There is, then, nothing which is definitely soft
that one can abide by, and this renders the advice' abide by the soft' impossible
to apply and so, pointless. Secondly, this new theory does not really help, for
the trick lies completely in using the terms ' lower' and ' higher', when
applied to the two sides of a contradiction within a single thing, with no
fixed reference, but this does not affect the fact that the thing, which is the
unity of the contradiction, will change from one extreme to the other in a
circular movement, and we are back where we were before this complication
was introduced. Finally, the most serious objection is that this interpretation
introduces a degree of complexity not supported by any text in Lao Tzu.
In Lao Tzu, a thing is looked upon as either weak or strong, soft or hard. It
can change from being weak to being strong, and vice versa. There is no
suggestion, however, that a thing has within itself an inner contradiction
between the lower and the higher. The conflict between the lower and the
higher is an external conflict between one thing which is weak and another
thing which is strong. It is never suggested in Lao Tzu that this conflict can
be an inner contradiction within any one single thing. This interpretation is,
then, neither based on the text in Lao Tzu nor helpful in solving our difficulty.

1
See supra, p. 346.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES 1ST LAO TZtJ ^ -=p- 351

Professor Feng offers a slightly different interpretation. He also feels that

the possibility of abiding by the soft and so avoiding changing into the hard
needs some explanation, as this goes against the theory of circular change.
His explanation is this. ' When a thing develops to the extreme, it necessarily
changes to its opposite. That it can maintain its development and yet not change
to its opposite is because it contains in the first place the opposite element,
which makes it possible not to develop to the extreme.'1
This, in some ways, is even more surprising than the interpretation of
Professor Yang K'uan. Apart from sharing with Professor Yang the un-
supported attribution of a theory of inner contradiction within a single thing
to Lao Tzu, he is suggesting that the two sides of a contradiction can engage
in a conflict which does not necessarily result in the victory of one side, but that
it is possible for a thing to harbour both the predominant side and an element
of the opposite side, and thereby maintain its development without changing
to its opposite. If it were possible for a thing to maintain its development and
yet not change to its opposite, then there is continuous development without the
extreme being reached, and this is an unusual theory.
Another difficulty is that if a thing ' can maintain its development and yet
not change to its opposite ' ' because it contains in the first place the opposite
element which makes it possible not to develop to the extreme', then the
advice' abide by the soft' would be paradoxical, as the way to avoid developing
to the extreme, and so avoid decline, is to be predominantly strong while
containing in the first place the opposite element, viz. weakness. ' Abide by
the strong' would describe better this state of affairs. Finally, we must not
lose sight of the fact that the purpose of ' abiding by the soft' is that in a
conflict between the hard and the soft it is the soft that wins. Now if a thing
can maintain its development without reaching the extreme, it may be able
to avoid decline which follows on reaching the extreme, but, though it avoids
reaching the extreme, it can hardly be called soft or weak. It will be hard and
strong to a certain extent, and, as such, it will meet with defeat when it
encounters something that is harder and stronger. For these reasons I think
that Professor Feng's interpretation is no more acceptable than that of
Professor Yang K'uan.2
Although the interpretation of the principle of change in Lao Tzu as a
circular process is unacceptable, it may be interesting to see why scholars
have advanced such an interpretation. I think in doing so they have been
influenced by the apparent similarity between the theory of change found in
the Book of Changes and that found in Lao Tzu?
1
Feng, ibid., 229 ; Bodde, 184.
2
In rejecting the interpretation of both Professor Yang K'uan and Professor Feng Yu-lan,
I am not denying that there is an apparent similarity between the theory of change in Lao Tz&
and the dialectical process. However, I think that an attempt to press this similarity by offering
a detail interpretation of the theory in Lao TzU corresponding to a detail account of the dialectical
process is unwarranted.
8
J. J. L. Duyvendak, for instance, in his translation of the Too tS ching (Wisdom of the East
Series), 1954, also interprets Lao TzH by the Changes. He writes in the Introduction, ' There
352 D. C. LATJ

Professor Feng in the section on the Changes writes :

' Things in the universe are constantly changing. This change is circular.
The appendices to the Changes say :
" There is no going without returning (fu @); this is the meeting
of Heaven and Earth " (Hexagram t'ai, App. Hsiang, SPTK ed., 2.1).
" Where there is the end there is the beginning : this is the movement
of Heaven " (Hexagram leu, App. t'uan, 2.9).
" Its way is to return (fan fu /j£ ;fg). In seven days it returns (laifu
2JS ;g[) . . . . In return (fu) do we not see the heart of Heaven and Earth ?"
(Hexagram fu, App. t'uan, 3.4).
" When the sun rises to the highest point it declines ; when the moon
becomes full it eclipses. The Heaven and Earth wax and wane, growing and
diminishing with the seasons " (Hexagram feng, App. t'uan, 6.1).
" When the sun goes the moon comes, when the moon goes the sun comes.
The sun and moon alternate, and light is thereby born. When the cold
goes the heat comes, when the heat goes the cold comes. Cold and heat
alternate, and the year becomes complete. That which goes is bent; that
which comes is straightened. The bent and the straightened interact and
benefit is produced " (Hsi Tz'u A, 8.3-4).
" Its way is to return ", " there is no going without returning " ; the
"going and coming", "bending and straightening" of things in the
universe are all like the circular going and coming of the sun and the moon,
the cold and the heat. This is what is called return (fu). This is one great
general principle on which depends the change of things in the universe.
Hence it is said that " in returning do we not see the heart of Heaven and
Earth ? "
It is because of this that any thing in the universe, if developed to a
certain degree, changes to its opposite. " When the sun rises to the highest
point it declines; when the moon becomes full it eclipses " . . . . " When
a thing reaches the extreme it reverts." This is a doctrine common to the
Changes and Lao Tzii.'1
Now we are not concerned with the question of whether this interpretation
of the theory of change in the Changes is correct. (I am inclined to think
it is.) The problem for us is this. Given that this interpretation is justified,
are there grounds for adopting a similar interpretation of the theory of change
contained in Lao Tzu % In other words, does Lao Tzu contain, in common with
the Changes, the doctrine of circular change ? In order to decide on this point

a close affinity with ideas developed in that other remarkable book of obscure origin, the Yi-ching,
the Book of Changes . . . . In this world of hexagrams nothing is permanent; everything is
in constant alternation . . . . In the Great Appendix, a rather late section of the Book of Changes,
one reads : " An alternation of Yin and Yang is called the Way, Too " ' (pp. 9-10). He makes
use of this idea in numerous places in the book.
1
Feng, ibid., 468-9; Bodde, 388-9. Professor Feng goes even further when he suggests
that the Changes took over the view in Lao Tzu as to how one should behave in the world. See
p. 474 ; Bodde, 392.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZt5 ^ * ^f- 353

we shall take the passages in Lao Tzu which have led Professor Feng to the
opinion that the doctrine contained in it is one of circular change, and place
them side by side with the passages which Professor Feng has quoted from the
Changes, and see whether there is any significant difference between the two
sets of quotations.
Here are the passages from Lao Tzu :
' Reversion (fan jj£) is the movement of the too ' (ch. 40).
' The vast means passing on, passing on means far, and far means
reverting' (ch. 25).
' The ten thousand things rise together, and I thereby watch their
return (fu ;{g) " (ch. 16).1
Now if we examine these passages from Lao Tzu together with those from
the Changes we find one important difference. In the passages from the latter
work we find phrases like ' going and returning ' , ' the end and the beginning ',
' growing and diminishing ', ' the sun going and the moon coming ; the moon
going and the sun coming'. In each case there is a pair of terms signifying
movement in opposite directions. Taken together they form a cycle, and so
suggest naturally the process of circular change. It is not so with the passages
from Lao Tzu. There, instead of a pair of opposite terms, we find only a single
term, which is invariably fu (' return ') or fan (' revert' 2). Now, ' returning '
suggests ' going home ', or ' going back to the starting point', and since the
higher is developed from the lower, the lower is ' home' or ' the starting
point'. What is inevitable, according to Lao Tzu, then, is decline, when the
highest point is reached. This does not entitle us to draw the further conclusion
that change is circular. I think that all we are entitled to say is that, according
to Lao Tzu, when a thing develops to the higher limit, it will necessarily reverse
and begin to decline, but it is not stated that when a thing is at, or reaches, the
lower limit, it will necessarily develop all the way to the higher limit. A thing
that is weak will, in some cases, at least, develop to be strong, only if it
wants and makes the effort to do so.
Before leaving this point, I shall deal with one passage from Lao Tzu
quoted by both Professor Feng and Professor Yang K'uan.3
' On disaster leans good fortune, and in good fortune lurks disaster . . . .
The proper becomes again the improper, and the good becomes again the
monstrous' (ch. 58).
The second part of the quotation offers no special difficulty. The ' proper'
and the ' good ' are, in my terminology, the higher terms, while the ' improper '
and the' monstrous' are the lower. ' The proper becomes again the improper, and
the good becomes again the monstrous' describes, then, a return to the

1
For these passages quoted by Professor Feng, see supra, p. 344.
2
I have translated fan Jj£ by ' revert' and fu jj^ by ' return ', simply because it is better
to use two English words to translate two different Chinese words. In fact fan and fu are in
this connexion synonymous, both meaning ' return '.
* See supra, pp. 344, 345.
354 D. C. LATJ

lower, and is just another instance of the general principle of ' returning'.
As for the first half of the quotation, I think it has nothing to do with the
principle of change at all. It points out that ordinary people often do not see
the real nature of what happens to them. What they think is disaster may
turn out to be good fortune ; while what they think is good fortune may turn
out to be disaster. The best illustration of this is the well-known story of the
man in the border country who lost a horse and the comments of the wise old
man.1 We can never be sure that disaster will not bring good fortune, or
that good fortune will not bring disaster. The disaster will, then, turn out
to be a blessing in disguise, and vice versa. That is quite different from saying
that disaster will develop and become good fortune, and good fortune will
decline and become disaster.
Let us return to the point where I was dealing with the difference between
development and decline. There is another important difference. Develop-
ment is always gradual, while decline can be abrupt. Instead of the circle,
the children's slide will be a better model. One climbs up laboriously to the top
only to find oneself sliding down in a moment.
It is here that the theory that the higher is built up gradually from the
lower is relevant.2 ' A terrace nine stories high rises from heaped earth;
a journey of a thousand li starts from beneath one's feet' 3 (ch. 64). This means
that development is a gradual process, and can be arrested, if one takes the
matter in hand at an early enough stage. Hence ' deal with what is difficult
while it is easy ; cope with what is great while it is small' (ch. 63). It may
not be impossible to arrest the process of development just before it turns
into decline, but, as we shall see, there is reason to believe that only if develop-
ment is arrested at an early stage will it be of any use.
To sum up our discussion of the incompatibility between the theory of
circular change and the injunction to ' abide by the soft', our solution is
this. The process of change is not necessarily circular. Decline, when a thing
reaches the highest point, is inevitable, but development is not. Decline can be
1
Huai-nan Tz&, SPTK ed., 18.6a.
2
See supra, p. 348.
3
^ f - J | ; £ ; f j : ^ ^ - J § ! " p . This reminds one naturally of the passage in Hsiln TzH
(also found in the Ta Tai li chi ^ ^ jgj| jf(J) containing the sentence ' without accumulating
half-steps one cannot reach a thousand &' ^ fjf iBij ^ $$ Jil M "T" JL (SPTK ed., 1.10a ;
cf. also 1.22a 1. 8-22b 1.1). Because of this it may be thought that this is an idea of the Confucian
school, and that this theory does not belong properly to the system of thought contained in Lao
Tzu. That will, I think, be hasty. This is not the only case where similar ideas are found both in
Confucian and Taoist works. To take an obvious example, the idea of wu wei | g | j£§ can be found
in the Analects, n.l, xv.4. I see no difficulty in assuming that there was a stock of ideas common
to different schools of thought in ancient China. It is not an idea as such that marks it as the
property of a particular school. It is the reasons for holding that idea, and the use the idea is
put to, that vary from one school to another. According to the Confucians the sage kings could
rule through xvu wei, because through their t& ^ f they could exercise an imperceptible influence
over the people while they sat on the throne and did nothing (see Analects, xn.19); whereas
according to the Taoists human interference is invariably contrary to the natural course of the
too and therefore makes things worse.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZtJ ^ ^- 355

abrupt, but development is gradual. Decline is inexorable, but development may

require effort. Hence development can be arrested. It is, therefore, both possible
and useful t o ' abide by the soft'.
There is yet another difficulty in connexion with ' abiding by the soft'.
The reason for doing so, as we have seen, is because in a conflict the weak
will overcome the strong, the soft the hard. But once the soft has overcome
the hard, is it not, then, victorious ? If it is victorious, then does it not change
to its lower opposite (as decline is inevitable), to being defeated ?
It may be argued that victory does not necessarily change to defeat. This
is because victory and defeat form a pair of opposites of a different type, to
which the theory of inevitable decline does not apply. Inevitable decline
applies only to opposites that form two extremes between which there is a
continuous gradation. For instance, between the weak and the strong, there
is an indefinite number of possible intermediate positions. Not all opposites
are of this type. Victory and defeat are an example. One is either victorious
or defeated. There are no indefinite number of possible intermediate positions.1
Hence, it is argued, victory does not necessarily change to defeat.
This argument, ingenious though it is, does not really get us out of our
difficulty. Even if it is true that the victorious does not necessarily change to the
defeated, does not the weak, in overcoming the strong, become itself strong ?
If it does become strong, then, as the strong, if not as the victorious, it will
necessarily change to its opposite. If that were the case it would be no use
abiding by the soft, for by doing so, although we can overcome the hard, we
become hard in our victory.
There seems, however, to be a solution, but before dealing with it I shall
have, first, to make a preliminary point. In reading Lao Tzu one thing we have
to bear in mind is that it constantly resorts to the paradoxical in language.
' Straight words sound like the reverse {fan |j£)' (ch. 78). Constantly we find
the distinction drawn between what appears to be but is not really so, and
what appears not to be but really is so. ' Great whiteness is like d i r t ' 2 (ch. 41).
' Great perfection seems chipped . . . . Great fullness seems empty . . . .
Great straightness seems crooked . . . . Great eloquence seems inarticulate '
(ch. 45). According to these passages what is truly higher seems to be like the
lower. The fact that true strength, for instance, seems like weakness implies
that it is not really weakness. On the other hand it is even less like what is
ordinarily called strength, although it is true strength. I t is important for us,
therefore, always to bear in mind the distinction between the weak and the
soft, on the one hand, and what seems to be weak and soft on the other, when
we read Lao Tzu.

1
There is another distinction between victory and defeat on the one hand, and, say, weakness
and strength on the other. To state this in contemporary philosophical terminology, the former
are achievement words ; the latter are not. Hence the latter describe a thing in a way that the
former do not.
2
For taking ju | p to mean ' dirt', see n. 1, p. 349.
356 D. C. LAU

We can now go back to our attempt to find a solution to the difficulty

connected with the victory of the soft over the hard. The solution I propose
is this. The victory of the soft over the hard is different from, victory in the
ordinary sense. Or, as some philosophers would say, the victory of the soft over
the hard is true victory, and it seems to be like defeat. Further, the soft which can
achieve victory over the hard is truly hard,1 and is to be distinguished from the
soft in the ordinary sense. It only seems to be soft, just as ' great perfection
seems to be chipped'. True victory is different from ordinary victory because
it is the result of non-contention, whereas ordinary victory is the outcome of a
contest. It is victory because the soft achieves preservation in the process, just as
the victor in an ordinary contest achieves preservation. It is true victory because
by means of non-contention the soft can always be preserved and it does not
change to its opposite, defeat 2 ; while the victor in an ordinary contest is sure
to meet his match and be defeated one day.

Ill
It may be asked what the point is of' abiding by the soft', since the worst
that can happen if one develops to be hard is to decline to the soft again. In
order to answer this question, it is necessary to say something about the central
point of interest of ancient Chinese thought in general, and in Lao Tzu in
particular.
As has often been pointed out, thinkers in ancient China were first and
foremost interested in presenting a way of life. This, however, does not mean
that they were interested only in how an individual should lead his own life,
in other words, in ethics only. In China, as in ancient Greece, no hard and
fast line was drawn between morals and politics. They were looked upon
as two aspects of the same thing. The Way when applied to the life of an
individual is his way of life, when applied to government it becomes the way
of the state. This was admirably summed up in the memorable phrase used
in Chuang Tzu, ' the way of inwardly being a sage and outwardly being a
king '.3 The interest in the way of life and in the way of government was
common to ancient Chinese thinkers of all schools. What is peculiar to Lao Tzu
(and other works of similar tendency) is the interest in the preservation of one's
life. This is not difficult to understand. The Warring Kingdoms Period4
was an age of great disorder, and the common man had to exercise prodigious
care if he were to wish to live out his natural span. This is not simply one of

1
' To abide by the soft is called strong ' (ch. 52).
2
If true defeat is also defined in this curious sense of non-contention, then true defeat and
true victory will be one and the same thing, and, again, there can be no change from true victory
to true defeat.
3
ft 15 9\- EE 1Z. 3£> Chuang TzH, 8PTK ed., 10.26a.
4
I am accepting the consensus of opinion among contemporary scholars that Lao Tzu is a
work of the Warring Kingdoms. (See, for instance Feng, ibid., 210 ; Bodde, 170.)
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZtJ ^ g 3f- 357

the lessons taught in Lao Tzu, but the principal lesson.1 Lao Tzu is almost
equally interested in the other problem of the way of government. The term
shengjen ig \ ' sage' is almost invariably used for the ruler who understands the
too, and is often used in contrast with min Jjj, the ' common people '. There
are other terms like hou wang {j| 5 ' princes ' &ni jen chu \ j£, the ' ruler of
men'. Many chapters are concerned with chih Jcuo ffi |g, ' government of
the state'. These show without a doubt that the way of government was another
of the principal topics in Lao Tzu. Pan Ku, in his comments on Taoist works
in the Bibliographical Chapter in his history of the Former Han, says, ' The
Taoists and their like . . . record one by one success and failure, preservation
and annihilation, disaster and good fortune, the way of antiquity and that
of the present, and then come to the realization of the importance of holding
on to the essential and basic, abiding by the limpid and the empty, holding
one's self humble and weak. This is the method of the ruler facing south '.2
This refers, amongst other works, to Lao Tzu, and it is clear that Pan Ku
looked upon Lao Tzu as dealing with the way of government.3
The supreme object, then, of the doctrines in Lao Tzu is the preservation
of life, ' the way ', to use its own words, ' of long life and being able to keep
one's sight for a long time' 4 (ch. 59). In order to achieve this nothing is
considered too high a price. In dealing with change Lao Tzu probably has in
mind chiefly wealth and rank. The trouble with these is that if one were to
possess them to the highest degree, in the decline which inevitably follows,
one is liable not only to lose the wealth or rank but one's life into the bargain.
' Which is dearer to one, one's name or one's person ? Which is more important
to one, one's person or one's goods ? ' (ch. 44). Hence it is advocated that one
should not attain too much wealth or too high a rank. As to the point at which
1
In his autobiography Thomas Hobbes said that his mother gave birth to twins—himself
and fear. It is sometimes said that it is because Hobbes was such a timid man that he set out, in
his Leviathan, to devise a political system which offers security to the common man. Can it
be that the author of Lao Tzu was also a timid man living in an exceptionally disorderly age,
and this accounts for the preoccupation in the book with the problem of the preservation of one's
life ? This point has been very well put by Ch'ao Kung Wu Jfj ^ j £ in his Chun-chai tu-shu
chih ;|fp ;|jjf U ^j- Jeji (preface dated 1151): ' Is it a book by some one unfortunately living in a
disorderly age who was full of fear ? Otherwise why does he seek so desperately for preserva-
tion ? . . . Because he is afraid that the bright easily becomes dim, he holds on to the dark ;
because he is afraid of losing favour, he does not avoid disgrace ; because he is afraid that the
hard will break, he makes himself soft; because he is afraid that the straight will be blunted, he
makes himself bent; because he is afraid of losing much, he dares not hoard much ; because he is
afraid of spilling over through being full, he prefers to stop; when he is exalted in rank he is
afraid of getting into the wrong, and so withdraws ; when he has accomplished his work, because
he is afraid that the merit will desert him, he does not claim it. That he knows the male but
abides by the female, knows the white but abides by the black, and adopts the way of weakness
and humility is because he thinks, " Unless I do so I shall not escape from faults ". Judging
from this, is this not what is called seeking for preservation ? ' (Changsha, 1884 ed., 11. lb-2a.)
2
Pan Ku gE [jf|, Han shu g | f§p, Po-na ed., 30.16a.
3
cf. Feng, ibid., 216; Bodde 175.
* I do not see any necessity of the interpretation by Dr. Waley of the phrase chiu shih ^ jjjJJ
as ' fixed staring ', ' a method of trance induction '. (See The Way and its power, 214.)
 358 D. C. LAU

one should stop, all one is told is that one should ' know where to stop (chih
chih £fl ih)', and ' know when to be content (chih tsu £p Jg,)', for ' knowing
when to be content one will not meet with disgrace, while knowing where to
stop one will not meet with danger, and will be able to endure ' (ch. 44).
To abide by the weak and yet be content presumably makes it different
from simply being weak. For when weak and not contented, one naturally
desires to have more, and ' there is no disaster greater than not knowing
when to be content, and no fault greater than wanting to acquire ' (ch. 46).
It may not be inappropriate to say here a word about the difference between
the notion of holding on to the mean (chung tf>) as found in the Changes 1
and that in Lao Tzu of abiding by the soft. They both aim at avoidance of
reaching the extreme point, and yet holding on to the mean is not an acceptable
solution in the thought system of Lao Tzu, because even though the mean
may prevent development from going too far, the mean is a position far removed
from the soft and the weak, and it is still liable to come into conflict with
an adversary harder and stronger than itself and so suffer defeat. The supreme
purpose of self-preservation will not, then, be achieved. Herein lies the difference
between holding on to the mean and abiding by the soft.
Abiding by the soft through knowing where to stop and when to be content
is not a difficult doctrine to understand, yet it is not always understood, and
by no means easy to put into practice, because this goes against the grain of
human nature, which is both acquisitive and ambitious. Hence Lao Tzu
says, ' My words are very easy to understand and very easy to act on, yet
none in the world can understand them or act on them ' 2 (ch. 70).
If abiding by the soft is the way of life for the individual, how is this to be
applied to the ruler ? He, too, must efface himself, so that he appears not to
be above but below the people. ' In order to be above the people a ruler must,
in his words, be below them ; in order to lead the people he must, in his person,
be following them ' (ch. 66). That this is only a means to the end of ruling over
the people is more clearly stated in another passage. ' Hence the sage by putting
his person last puts it first; by considering his person as external preserves it.
Is it not because he is without selfish ends that he is able to accomplish his
selfish ends ? ' (ch. 7). The ruler achieves his true selfish end—to be ruler over
the people—by appearing not to be selfish, i.e. by effacing himself.
This is not the whole of a ruler's art. There are the passages quoted above,3
where the way of Heaven is said to be ' like the way of the stretching of a bow ',
and to be without favouritism but ' always on the side of the good man'.
I think that very often when Lao Tzu mentions the way of Heaven, or Heaven
and Earth, there is an implicit lesson for the sage, i.e. the ruler. For instance,
1
See Feng, ibid., 472 ff. ; Bodde, 391 ff.
2
In ch. 78, however, wefind' That the weak overcomes the strong and the soft overcomes the
hard, everyone in the world understands but none is able to act on it'. One may, perhaps, say
this doctrine in Lao TzH is both easy and difficult at the same time, easy, because it is such a
simple doctrine, difficult because it is liable to sound absurd to the ordinary man (see ch. 41).
3
See supra, p. 348.
 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZtJ j g -J- 359

' Heaven and Earth are unfeeling. They treat the ten thousand things as straw-
dogs. The sage is [also] unfeeling. He treats the people as straw dogs ' (ch. 5).
In ch. 7 Heaven and Earth are said to be able to be lasting because they do not
produce themselves, while the sage is able to accomplish his selfish ends by
being selfless. In the passage where the way of Heaven is compared to the
stretching of a bow, it is said to take away from those having too much in
order to give to those who have not enough. This is contrasted with the way
of Man, which does the reverse. Only a sage—a ruler who has the too—is
able to follow the example of Heaven. He, too, takes from those who have too
much in order to give to those who have not enough.
As this is not done openly, it is sometimes described as yin mou |5f£ | £
' scheming V for in order to engineer the fall of the ambitious, it is sometimes
necessaryfirstto encourage them. ' In order to have a thing shrink it is necessary
first to have it stretched. In order to have a thing weakened it is necessary first
to have it strengthened. In order to have a thing put aside it is necessary
first to have it set up. In order to take away, it is necessary first to give. This
is called subtle illumination. The soft and weak can overcome the hard and
strong. The fish must not leave the depth; the sharp weapon of the state
cannot be shown to others' (ch. 36). It is obvious that this strategem of
giving the strong enough rope to hang themselves is considered to be of the
utmost importance. It is a subtle truth not to be revealed to others, as it will
only work if the ruler alone understands it. If it becomes generally understood,
it may be difficult to put into practice. But a more important reason for
keeping this dark is that, if the people do not understand this strategem,
they will not see the hand of the ruler in the downfall of the strong. He will
be, like Heaven, ' good at overcoming without contention ' (ch. 73). If this is
revealed, even if it continues to work because of the cupidity and ambition
of people, the ruler will no longer appear not to contend.
The only people who will not be affected by this strategem will be those who
understand contentment and so do not seek wealth or advancement. These are
the ' good people '.2 They have nothing to fear either from Heaven or from the
ruler, who has the tao, as he takes only from those who have more than enough.
The good are those who know where to stop and when to be content, and have,
presumably, by the standards of the world, not enough rather than too much,
though they are the ones who are truly rich.3
1
For a modern author who uses this term to describe Lao Tzfi, see, for instance, Yang
Jung-kuo, ibid., 264 ff.
2
Duyvendak found it difficult to render the sentence 5 l C j ^ | R | 7 ^ ' ^ J i R ^ A . a s ' ^ e
way of Heaven shows no favouritism, but is always on the side of the good man ', because this
' is in flagrant contradiction to the character of the Way which admits neither good nor evil'.
(Tao te ching, 161.) He did not seem to be aware of the fact that the word shan |fe is the only
word for ' good ' which is ever used in a non-pejorative sense in Lao TzH. It means, in that
case, good in the Taoist sense, and is quite distinct from other words meaning good in the Confucian
sense. Take one example. In ch. 8 we find ' the highest good (shang shan _ t ^ ) is like water.
Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things without contention '.
3
Lao TzH, ch. 33, ' One who knows when to be content is rich '.
360 THE TREATMENT OF OPPOSITES IN LAO TZC ^ J-

IV
So far I have not taken into account the view that the distinction between
the higher and the lower is a logical one, and that we can abolish these distinc-
tions simply by ceasing to draw them. This view, I believe, does not fit in
with the general thought system in Lao Tzu. It belongs to a more sophisticated
level of thought, where it is realized that if we cease to select some objects
as desirable, then desire, and the strife it causes, will disappear. But this goes
contrary to the general view concerning opposites, which, as we have seen, takes
for granted the existence of opposites, and it is upon this distinction between
the members of a pair of opposites that the solution to the problem of life is
found. We can only abide by the soft if the distinction between soft and hard
is a real one, which cannot be abolished simply by our decision not to draw
it in future. If the distinction between hard and soft is unreal, we cannot abide
by the soft, and, more important, neither is there the need to do so, for where
a problem ceases to exist, the need for a solution ceases to exist as well.
Parallel to this more sophisticated view concerning opposites is the passage
in which it is said, ' I have things which I greatly fear because I have a body.
By the time I have no body, what is there for me to fear ? ' (ch. 13).1 This is
indeed emancipation from the slavery to worldly fears. This is a point of view
greatly emphasized and further developed in parts of Chuang Tzu, but in
Lao Tzu it is only adumbrated. It is because of this and because it is incom-
patible with the basic position of Lao Tzu that I am inclined to think that this
view together with the view that the distinction between opposites is a logical
one and can be abolished belong to a more sophisticated level of thought not
typical of Lao Tzu. Professor Feng is very likely to be right in thinking that
Lao Tzu represents a further stage of development of the view of ' valuing
self' or ' valuing life ' attributed to Yang Chu. Yang Chu only taught how life
could be preserved by avoiding excessive indulgence, while Lao Tzu taught
the further lesson of how life could be preserved by remaining meek and mild
and so escaping being harmed by the world. Chuang Tzu, however, cut the
Gordian knot by transcending the desire for life through looking at opposites,
e.g. life and death, as essentially the same.2 It is because Lao Tzu constitutes
a transition from Yang Chu to Chuang Tzu that this more sophisticated view
which properly belongs to Chuang Tzu not only does not fit in but actually
conflicts with the general view found in the book which was still, in the main,
concerned with, on the side of the individual, the preservation of life, and,
on the side of the ruler, the art of government.

1
The fact that ch. 13 contains no rhyming lines at all is an indication that it is possibly of a
later date.
2
Feng, ibid., 179, 215 ; Bodde, 142-3, 173-4. As I have criticized Professor Feng's inter-
pretation of a specific point in the doctrines of Lao Tzu, I should like to say that I have, in my
experience, found his Chung-huo cM-hsileh shih both indispensable and invaluable. It may
perhaps be said that the penalty a work has to pay for being the standard work on any subject
is that it will stimulate disagreement from those who have benefited much by it.