Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 74

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 74

"The people do not fear death,
 Why threaten them with death?
 Suppose the people always fear death,
 One who does strange things,
 I shall seize and kill,
 Then who dares to do strange things?
 Killing is carried out by the executioner.
 To replace the executioner and kill,
 Is like chopping wood in place of the master carpenter.
 To chop wood in place of the master carpenter,
 Rarely one does not hurt one's own hand."
 -  Translation by Ellen M. Chen, Chapter 74


"Subdue Delusion
Chih Huo

When the people are not afraid of death,
What avails it to scare them with death?
Assuming that they often do fear death,
And that any pervert can be seized and killed,
Who dares to do the killing?
It is the job of the Director of Death to kill.
To take over the job of the Director of Death
Is like wielding the hammer for the master-builder.
He who wields the hammer for the master-builder
Seldom escapes wounding himself in the hand."
-  Translated by Henry Wei, 1982, Chapter 74  


"If the people are not afraid to die,
How can you threaten them with death?
If the people are kept in constant fear of death,
And if it were possible to arrest and put to death the law-breakers,
Who would dare do this?
It is the master executioner who does the killing.
To assume the role of the master executioner and do the killing for oneself
Is like carving wood for oneself
Instead of leaving it to the master carpenter.
Those who carve wood for themselves
Instead of leaving it to the master carpenter
Rarely escape without cutting their own hands."
-  Translated by Keith H. Seddon, Chapter 74  


"If people are not afraid to die, what is the use of threatening them with the punishment of death?
On the other hand,
if people value their lives, and if outlaws are seized and killed or are killed by what they are doing,
who would dare risk a life of peace for the sake of an insecure future?
Yet it is always true that one who takes charge of killing is killed in turn.
To become the executioner of artificial righteousness is like the inexperienced lad who would brandish a sharp axe of a master carpenter.
He can seldom escape cutting himself."
-  Translated by Hua-Ching Ni, 1995, Chapter 74 


民不畏死.
奈何以死懼之.
若使民常畏死, 而為奇者, 吾得執而殺之, 孰敢.
常有司殺者殺.
夫司殺者.
是大匠斲.
夫代大匠斲者, 希有不傷其手矣.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 74


min pu wei ssu.
nai ho yi ssu chü chih.
jo shih min ch'ang wei ssu, erh wei ch'i chê, wu tê chih erh sha chih, shu kan.
ch'ang yu ssu sha chê sha.
fu tai ssu sha chê sha.
shi wei tai ta chiang cho.
fu tai ta chiang cho chê, hsi yu pu shang ch'i shou yi.
-  Wade-Giles (1892) Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 74

"When people are at one with Infinity,
they have no fear of death
and so they are indifferent to threats.

When people are confused
with the distinction of life and death,
they fear death.

If death is the penalty for breaking the law,
the vast majority will be law abiding.

There are always official executioners
and they are at one with killing.

If you try to take their place,
it is the same as trying to cut wood
in place of the master carpenter.

If you try to take the master carpenter's place,
you will only succeed in cutting
your hands."
-  Translated by John Worldpeace, Chapter 74 

"If people were content with their own deaths
You could not use force on them;  they would be immune
But this is not the way the world is
If you threaten them with death to make them behave
You must assign someone to kill them, or do it yourself
Who, then, kills:  you, or the executioner, or the state?
Someone must take the responsibility
Whoever is responsible for death has put his way above the tao
Yet though he can end a life, the tao will by its nature find a way to return
Any sane man would find in that cause for worry."
-  Translated by Ted Wrigley, Chapter 74  


"Si el pueblo no temiera la muerte, sería inútil atemorizarlocon ella.
Si teme morir, como siempre teme, y aún comete desmanes, puedo cogerlo y matarlo.
¿Quién se atreverá a continuar en el mal?
Debe matarlo el encargado para ello.
Si lo matara otro por él, sería usando el hacha ensustitución del maestro.
Raro será el que, sustituyendo almaestro, no hiera su propia mano."
-  Translated by Carmelo Elorduy, 2006, Capítulo 74


"Why use death as a deterrent, when the people have no fear of death?
Even supposing they shrank from death as from a monster, and by playing on their terror I could slay them, should I dare?
There is one who inflicts sentence of death.
To usurp his functions and to kill would be to assume the role of Master-Carpenter.
There are few who can act as Master-Carpenter without cutting their hands."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 74


"If you do not fear death,
then how can it intimidate you?
If you aren't afraid of dying,
there is nothing you can not do.
Those who harm others
are like inexperienced boys
trying to take the place of a great lumberjack.
Trying to fill his shoes will only get them seriously hurt."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 74   



A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   


Chapter 74, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Concordance for all 81 Chapters of the Dao De Jing

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  


Yang, Jwing-Ming, Ph.D..  The Tao Te Ching: A Qigong Interpretation.  YMAA, 2018.  Bilingual Edition, 592 pages.  ISBN: 978-1594396199.