Chapter 62 – Refuge
Tao is the storehouse of all things.
It is the good man’s treasure and the bad man’s refuge.
Fine words can buy honour,
And fine deeds can gain respect from others.
Even if a man is bad, when has (Tao) rejected him?
Therefore on the occasion of crowning an emperor or installing the three ministers,
Rather than present four large pieces of jade preceded by teams of four horses,
It is better to kneel and offer this Tao.
Why did the ancients highly value this Tao?
Did they not say, “Those who seek shall have it and those who sin shall be freed”?
For this reason it is valued by the world.
Translated by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)
In the discussion of Chapter 60, it was pointed out that there may be a lot fewer metaphors in writing than many of us would think. Well, most of this commentary is going to be a metaphor – or example, perhaps? – together with a travelogue.
Place of Refuge
The society of ancient Hawai’i was governed by a strict system known as kapu, a word that is similar to tabu or tapu in other Poynesian languages and a source for the modern term “taboo.” Essentially, a thing which was kapu was forbidden, though the term had connotations beyond simple proscription.
Many of the acts which were kapu would be familiar to modern society. For instance, murder was kapu. Others, though, were not so obvious. For example, there were areas where fishing was forbidden, at least at certain times of the year; or certain foods could not be eaten by women. It was also kapu to look at a chief or king, or to be in his presence with one’s head higher than the chief’s or to walk on ground where the chief had walked.
No matter what the offense, the punishment was generally the same – capital punishment. There was no trial and no judge. If one was caught in an act that was kapu, he or she was immediately executed. While that seems harsh – and it was – there was at least one way to avoid that very permanent result.