Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 54

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 54


"He who is well established in Tao cannot be pulled away.
He who has a firm grasp of Tao cannot be separated from it.
Thus from generation to generation his ancestral sacrifice will never be suspended.
When one cultivates virtue in his person, it becomes genuine virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his family, it becomes overflowing virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his community, it becomes lasting virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his country, it becomes abundant virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in the world, it becomes universal.
Therefore the person should be viewed as a person.
The family should be viewed as a family.
The community should be viewed as a community.
The country should be viewed as a country.
And the world should be viewed as the world.
How do I know this to be the case in the world?
Through this."
-  Translated by Wing-Tsit Chan, 1963, Chapter 54  


"He who plants rightly never uproots.
He who lays hold rightly never relinquishes.
His posterity will honour him continually.
Whoever develops the Tao in himself will be rooted in virtue.
Whoever develops the Tao in his family will cause his virtue to spread.
Whoever develops the Tao in his village will increase prosperity.
Whoever develops the Tao in the kingdom will make good fortune prevail.
Whoever develops Tao in the world will make virtue universal.
I observe myself, and so I come to know others.
I observe my family, and all others grow familiar.
I study this world, and others come within my knowledge.
How else should I come to know the laws which govern all things, save thus, that I observe them in myself?"
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 54  

"The good planter never uproots,

The good keeper holds to his prize,

And sons and grandsons shall bring their fruits

In a ceaseless sacrifice.

 

Who practises Tao in his life,

His virtues will ever be sound,

Who practises it with his children and wife,

His virtues will greatly abound.

 

Who practises it in his town,

His virtues will last and extend,

And if in the state or the realm, then down

His virtues will flow without end.

 

Test others by oneself alone,

Test families by one family,

And in one town, and state, and realm will be shown

The test of what others will be.

 

How know I that this single source

Throughout the whole world will act so?

By this, that it is, in its ceaseless course,

Forever the self-same flow."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 54 

善建者不拔. 
善抱者不脫. 
子孫以祭祀不輟. 
修之於身.
其德乃真.
修之於家.
其德乃餘.
修之於鄉.
其德乃長.
修之於國.
其德乃豐.  
修之於天下.
其德乃普. 
故以身觀身.
以家觀家.
以鄉觀鄉.
以國觀國.
以天下觀天下. 
吾何以知天下然哉.
以此. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 54

shan jian zhe bu ba.  
shan bao zhe bu tuo.  
zi sun yi ji si bu chuo.
xiu zhi yu shen.  
qi de nai zhen.  
xiu zhi yu jia.  
qi de nai yu.  
xiu zhi yu xiang.
qi de nai chang.
xiu zhi yu guo.  
qi de nai feng.  
xiu zhi yu tian xia.  
qi de nai pu.
gu yi shen guan shen.  
yi jia guan jia.  
yi xiang guan xiang.
yi guo guan guo.  
yi tian xia guan tian xia.  
wu he yi zhi tian xia ran zai.
yi ci.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 54

"Since true foundation cannot fail
But holds as good as new,
Many a worshipful son shall hail
A father who lived true.'
Realized in one man, fitness has its rise;
Realized in a family, fitness multiplies;
Realized in a village, fitness gathers weight;
Realized in a country, fitness becomes great;
Realized in the world, fitness fills the skies.
And thus the fitness of one man
You find in the family he began,
You find in the village that accrued,
You find in the country that ensued,
You find in the world's whole multitude.
How do I know this integrity?
Because it could all begin in me."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 54 

"Who is firmly established is not easily shaken.
Who has a firm grasp does not easily let go.
From generation to generation his ancestral sacrifices
Shall be continued without fail.

Cultivated in the individual, character will become genuine;
Cultivated in the family, character will become abundant;
Cultivated in the village, character will multiply;
Cultivated in the state, character will prosper;
Cultivated in the world, character will become universal.

Therefore:
According to the character of the individual, judge the individual;
According to the character of the family, judge the family;
According to the character of the village, judge the village;
According to the character of the state, judge the state;
According to the character of the world, judge the world.
How do I know this is so?
By this."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 54   

"Lo que está bien arraigado no será arrancado.
Lo que está bien abrazado no será soltado.
Será honrado de generación en generación.
Si la cultivas en tí mismo,
la virtud será verdadera.
Si la cultivas en tu familia,
la virtud será abundante.
Si la cultivas en tu pueblo,
la virtud será grande.
Si la cultivas en el Estado,
la virtud será poderosa.
Si la cultivas en el mundo,
la virtud será universal.
Por esto, conoce a otros por sí mismos;
Mira a la familia como familia.
Mira al pueblo como pueblo.
Mira al Estado como Estado.
Mira al universo como universo.
¿Cómo puedo entonces conocer el mundo?
Porque lo veo por mi mismo."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 54


"Who plants well will not have his work uprooted.
Who embraces well will not lose what he holds.
The offerings of his sons and grandsons will never end.
Who thus regulates himself has virtue which is genuine.
Who thus regulates his household has virtue which overflows.
Who thus regulates his neighbourhood has virtue which excels.
Who thus regulates the state has virtue which abounds.
Who thus regulates the world has virtue which is universal.
Therefore let every man prove himself.
Let each household, neighbourhood, and state do the same.
Let the world also follow the same course.
How do I know that it must be thus with the world?
By what has just been said."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 54  

"Who is firmly established is not easily shaken.
Who has a firm grasp does not easily let go.
From generation to generation his ancestral sacrifices
Shall be continued without fail.

Cultivated in the individual, character will become genuine;
Cultivated in the family, character will become abundant;
Cultivated in the village, character will multiply;
Cultivated in the state, character will prosper;
Cultivated in the world, character will become universal.

Therefore:
According to the character of the individual, judge the individual;
According to the character of the family, judge the family;
According to the character of the village, judge the village;
According to the character of the state, judge the state;
According to the character of the world, judge the world.
How do I know this is so?
By this."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 54   

Chapter 54 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List


Tao Te Ching English Language Corncordance by Gerold Claser.  An excellent English language concordance providing terms, chapter and line references, and the proximal English language text.  No Chinese language characters or Wade-Giles or Pinyin Romanizations.  Based on the translation by John H. McDonald.