5 - Protecting Emptiness

Heaven and earth are not hierarchical, they take the myriad things as straw dogs;
Sages are not hierarchical, they take the common people as straw dogs.
Between heaven and earth, isn't it like a bellows?
Empty yet not depleting, the more it moves the more air comes out.
Speaking glibly will lead to many troubles, it is better to protect the center.

天地不仁，
以萬物為芻狗；
聖人不仁，
以百姓為芻狗。
天地之間，
其猶橐籥乎？
虛而不屈，
動而愈出。
多言數窮，
不如守中。

The Mawangdui texts have minor differences, mostly alternate characters (the most notable is 不淈 (not drying up) instead of 不屈 (not completing), which seems slightly better) and some added particles. The biggest notable change is:

Listening too much will lead to many troubles, it is better to protect the center.

多聞數窮，
不若守於中。

This chapter seems cryptic at first, but discusses:

  • Nobody is "special" or "chosen" - everyone is treated in an equally random way.
    Literally, heaven/earth/sages do not have "ren" (仁) for both things or people. Ren, or "hierarchical piety," was one of the foremost Confucian virtues; here, Laozi criticized the idea of ren. Although in English, ren is often mistranslated as "compassion," "humaneness," "benevolence," "virtue," or even "love," these are misleading. Going to the primary source, the Analects describes ren, e.g.:
    • "Filial piety and elder-brotherly piety is the basis of ren" (Analects 1:2)
    • "Skillful speaking and flattery are seldom ren" (Analects 1:3)
    • "Only by being ren, one can love people or hate people." (Analects 4:3)
    • "If one is determined to be ren, there [can be] no hate." (Analects 4:4)
    Thus, ren is seen as a kind of virtue that is based on virtues of hierarchy (e.g. father and son, elder brother and younger brother). Ren can then be defined as "proper virtue within hierarchical society." In this chapter, Laozi criticizes the Confucian idea of ren by pointing out that heaven, earth, and sages do not treat kings better than slaves - to them, all is the same ("straw dogs"). (Straw dogs were "dogs" made out of straw and used for sacrifices in ancient China.) This is important, because (in Daoism) if something was true for heaven and earth, then it should be true for people as well.
  • "Protecting the center" or "maintaining emptiness."
    This has many applications, such as:
    • Restraining yourself (temperance, humility, etc. - it is not useful to huff and puff vanities and so forth.)
    • Protecting the core (food, safety, etc.)
    • Maintaining emptiness (守中) - in cultivation, this can have the meaning of maintaining emptiness and stillness, e.g. within the lower dantian during meditation, or maintaining the feeling of emptiness in taijiquan push hands.
    • Protecting the center (中 center) - in cultivation, this can also refer to the lower dantian (the middle of the abdomen)
    • Protecting the receptacle (盅 zhong - a small handleless cup) - in cultivation, this can refer to the dantian having boundaries
    The things between heaven and earth are as if like a bellows, full of nothing yet expelling more as it moves. In that sense, it is better to "protect the emptiness" than just expend yourself saying many words (or in the Mawangdui texts, expending yourself by being influenced by everybody). This means to maintain the emptiness and quiet of the mind.

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