We continue today the translation of Evola’s 1959 edition and commentary on the Tao Te Ching, published under the title Il Libro del Principio e della sua Azione [The Book of the Principle and its Action].
Chapter 22
To be whole in the fragment
Straight in the curved
Full in the void
Intact in corruption.
Gathered, one succeeds
Scattered, one fails
Therefore: the True Man preserves the original One
He thus becomes a model for the world
He does not put himself in the light, and so he shines
By not affirming himself, he imposes himself
Free of complacency, he becomes great
Because he does not contend
No one can attack him.
“To be whole in the fragment”,
This ancient saying,
Could it be meaningless?
No: in the Way it is the truth.
Commentary
The saying from the first line, repeated in the third-to-last — ch’u tse ch’üan — can be interpreted both in a normative sense (“to be whole in the fragment”) and in an ontological sense (the wholeness of the fragment). Ontologically, it means that in the Way the fragment (the part) is the whole (just as the curved is the straight, the empty is the full, etc.). It is the idea of the “partial perfections” that, in their own way, reflect the Principle.
It must not be understood (as various translators have done) that the fragment will become the whole, etc., materially, through transformation or development; rather, it already is the whole, if seen in the light of the Way.
On the other hand, in the normative sense, that maxim (“to be whole in the fragment”) refers to a specific Far Eastern concept of perfection: to carry out each thing precisely and perfectly, with a natural concentration and without effort. Then, whatever activity is performed, one is in the Way.
Cf. in Chuang-tzu (XIX, 3): “Unify the intentions; have only one, which merges with vital energy” (cf. XIX, 10, 12). There is a connection between this idea and the one already explained, of the “original simplicity,” even in its “magical” aspect.
Chinese text and literal translation
Chapter 22 (第二十二章)
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曲則全， 是以聖人抱一為天下式。 不自見，故明； 夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。 古之所謂「曲則全」者，豈虛言哉？誠全而歸之。 |
Bent, therefore whole. Therefore, the Sage embraces the One and becomes the model for the world. He does not display himself — therefore he is seen clearly. It is precisely because he does not contend, The ancients who said, “Bent, therefore whole”, |
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