Tao Te Ching · 50 of 81 · tr. James Legge

Chapter 50

Men come forth and live; they enter (again) and die. Of every ten three are ministers of life (to themselves); and three are ministers of death. There are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose movements tend to the land (or place) of death. And for what reason? Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate life. But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinoceros finds no place in him into which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for what reason? Because there is in him no place of death.

Themes

◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] Invulnerability to harm is achieved through alignment with the natural order, implying a union with the Tao.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] The skilled individual transcends the binary opposition of life and death by having no place for death within them.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The passage centrally illustrates the Taoist reversal where excessive striving for life leads directly to death.

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◇Wu Weipraxis

Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.

[auto] The passage explicitly contrasts excessive striving for life with the skilled person who avoids danger through non-resistance and alignment with the natural flow.

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