Chapter 68 – What Would Arjuna Do?
One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable;
One who excels in fighting is never roused in anger;
One who excels in defeating his enemy does not join issue;
One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them.
This is known as the virtue of non-contention;
This is known as making use of the efforts of others;
This is known as matching the sublimity of heaven.
Translation by D. C. Lau (1963)
The earliest versions of the Tao Te Ching were not divided into chapters. The “modern” division of the work into 81 chapters probably did not occur for several hundred years after it was written, probably in the 1st Century B.C. (See Chan, Two Visions of the Way (1991) at 41-44). The number of chapters is probably more symbolic than anything, as the number “9” is considered lucky in China, and 81 is 9×9.
Sometimes the way in which the text is divided can make a difference in how it is interpreted. This chapter and the previous one may serve as an example. Some translations, such Wing-Tsit Chan’s (1963) end Chapter 67 this way: “When Heaven is to save a person, heaven will protect him through deep love.” That seems to imply that the external world is not important when one may bask in the love of God and the eternal Tao. Further, there is a sense that such divine love can be a shield against the perceived dangers of that external world, just as the three Hebrew children were protected as they passed through the fiery furnace in the Bible’s Book of Daniel.
However, there are different interpretations that are equally plausible. Let us assume that the end of Chapter 67 was not really the end of a thought, and combine the last two lines of that chapter with the first four lines of this chapter. Then we have:
Through compassion, one will triumph in attack and be impregnable in defence.
What heaven succours it protects with the gift of compassion.
One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable;
One who excels in fighting is never roused in anger;
One who excels in defeating his enemy does not join issue;
One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them.
Reading the parts of the two chapters together presents a somewhat different meaning. Rather than the individual being blessed and protected by the divine love and compassion, it is the individual’s own compassion that protects and guides him. No matter how accomplished a warrior may be, his success depends not on his own ego, but on his compassion for others. He does not fight because he is angry or to show his formidable skill. Instead, he does what is necessary, understanding the human foibles and emotions of his adversaries and his companions. Consider in this context a quotation from martial arts legend Bruce Lee: “The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a gung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition”
As we saw back in Chapters 30 and 31, and elsewhere, Lao Tzu appeared to feel that war is sometimes inevitable. When the war must be fought, he says it should be done with compassion and respect – an extension of the life the sage would counsel in peaceful times.
There are, of course, questions about whether there could ever be a “just war”; and, if that was once possible, whether it remains so in this age of potential mass-annihilation. I will defer those issues, though, to launch into an all-too-frequent ”Tao Te Ching Tuesday” digression.
Whenever I read this chapter, I think of the Bhagavad Gita. Continue reading