Beauty and goodness are widely cherished, yet in reality, like other dualistic pairs in nature—such as ease and difficulty, length and brevity, height and depth, sound and tone, before and after —they cannot exist independently or endure eternally.
When all under heaven know beauty as beauty, ugliness arises.
When all know goodness as goodness, evil arises.
Thus, being and non-being give rise to each other;
difficult and easy complete each other;
long and short contrast each other;
high and low incline toward each other;
tone and voice harmonize with each other;
front and back follow each other.Therefore, the sage engages in non-action (wu wei) and teaching without words.
He allows all things to arise without interference;
he brings forth but does not possess;
acts but does not presume;
accomplishes but does not claiming credit.Precisely because he does not claim credit, it never leaves him.
Note
This statement from Dao De Jing tells us that if we overly distinguish between beauty and ugliness, good and evil, and rigidly codify these standards, negative consequences will arise, causing beauty to cease being beautiful and goodness to cease being good.
Thus, the enlightened act with discernment, aligning with natural law and circumstances rather than acting recklessly. They teach others primarily through their example, not through excessive words.
They do not disrupt the natural course of things with personal will, and when outcomes are achieved, they do not seek recognition.
Further Reading
The proposition of “Being and non-being generate each other” in Chapter Two directly follows the premise established in Chapter One: “Non-being is the beginning of heaven and earth, and Being is the mother of all things.” Chapter One introduces “Being” and “Non-being” as two facets of the Tao, while Chapter Two elaborates on their interdependent and dynamically transformative relationship through six pairs of opposing concepts, including “Being and non-being generate each other.” Together, they construct the philosophical framework of the “unity of opposites.”
The notions in Chapter Two, such as “Being and non-being generate each other, the difficult and the easy complement each other,” resonate with the cosmological progression described in Chapter Forty-Two: “The Tao gave birth to the One; the One gave birth to the Two; the Two gave birth to the Three; and the Three gave birth to all things.” Chapter Forty-Two explains, from the perspective of cosmogony, how the unity of opposites (where “Two” represents yin and yang) gives rise to all things. Both chapters collectively reflect the Daoist worldview of the “coexistence of contradictions.”
The ideas of “beauty and ugliness generate each other” and “good and not good follow each other” in Chapter Two also echo the statement in Chapter Eighty-One: “Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful.” Chapter Two reveals the relativity of secular values, while Chapter Eighty-One further critiques the illusory nature of human-made standards through opposing relationships such as language versus truth and goodness versus eloquence. This reinforces the ultimate pursuit of “transcending binary oppositions.”
天下皆知美之為美，斯惡已。皆知善之為善，斯不善已。故有無相生，難易相成，長短相較，高下相傾，音聲相和，前後相隨。是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教；萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有。為而不恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。
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