tao te ching 11

so, i will try to suggest the strengths of the waterway version of the ttc by giving some versions of chapter 11, which is quite a key one and very lovely. i want to say, these are versions i respect and consulted, not at all the ones i think are bad.

so, red pine:

Thirty spokes converge on a hub

but it's the emptiness

that makes a wheel work

pots are fashioned from clay

but it's the hollow

that makes a pot work

windows and door are carved for a house

but it's the spaces

that make a house work

existence makes a thing useful

but nonexistence makes it work

 

gia fu-feng and jane english:

Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub;

It is the center hole that makes it useful.

Shape clay into a vessel;

It is the space inside that makes it useful.

Cut doors and windows for a room;

It is the holes which make it useful.

Therefore profit comes from what is there;

Usefulness from what is not there.

 

waterway:

You make a wheel by arranging spokes,

but the empty hub receives the exle.

You make a vessel from clay,

but it's the emptiness that holds things.

You build a house from lumber,

but you live in the space inside.

We work with things

and shape the emptiness.