Like Stringing a Bow

Where does your extra go?

Original

天之道，其猶張弓與？高者抑之，下者舉之；有餘者損之，不足者補之。天之道，損有餘而補不足。人之道則不然，損不足以奉有餘。孰能有餘以奉天下？唯有道者。

In plain words

Isn't the way of heaven like stringing a bow? The high end is pressed down, the low end is raised; where there is too much, it is taken off; where there is too little, it is added. The way of heaven takes from what has too much and gives to what has too little. The way of people is not so: it takes from those who have too little to serve those who have too much. Who can take their surplus and offer it to the world? Only one who has the Dao.

Key words

張弓zhāng gōngStringing a bow: press one end down, raise the other, until the curve is even.
損sǔnTo reduce, take away.
奉fèngTo offer, to supply.

Reading it step by step

Yesterday was about one person knowing enough. Today Laozi widens frugality to the whole world: how nature shares things out, and how people do.

First: the way of heaven is like stringing a bow. To string a bow you press the top end down and lift the bottom end up, so the whole curve bends evenly; if the string is too long you shorten it, too short and you add to it. High is lowered, low is raised, too much is reduced, too little is filled. Nature is always looking for balance: wind and rain wear the peaks down a little at a time, and the hollows slowly fill with soil.

Second: the way of people often runs the other way. “It takes from those who have too little to serve those who have too much.” In Laozi's day, noble kitchens had fat meat and noble stables had fat horses while people starved in the fields. It's not hard to see today: a single banquet can cost what two hundred canteen lunches would, and wealth piles up on those who already have it. That is not nature. It is human wanting, pulling the bow out of true.

heaven's way

takes from too much, fills too little

like stringing a bow: lower the high, raise the low

people's way

takes from too little, feeds too much

the rich get richer, the poor poorer

Only one with the Dao offers their surplus to the world

Third: “Who can take their surplus and offer it to the world? Only one who has the Dao.” This joins up with the treasure “frugality gives reach.” Because you don't waste, you have something left over; because you have something left over, you can share. A lump of iron covers no more than a saucer; hammer it thin and it covers the whole table. Someone who isn't frugal always feels they don't have enough yet, so there is never anything to give.

In everyday terms: a household that sets a little aside each month for someone in need; a team where the well-funded department hands some resources to a group just starting out; a person who uses spare hours to teach someone younger. Each is “taking from what has too much and giving to what has too little”: straightening the bow a little.

What you have left over isn't for piling up. It's for flowing to where there isn't enough.

One line to carry

Surplus is meant to flow to where there's too little.

Today's question

What do you have extra of: time, money, a skill, patience? Whose shortfall could a little of it fill?

Quick check

What is Laozi pointing to when he says heaven's way is like stringing a bow?

Next pageWhy Rivers Run to the SeaPage 29

IV · Three Treasures to Live By — Compassion, frugality, not rushing to be first

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