Laozi
含德之厚，比於赤子。 蜂蠆虺蛇不螫，猛獸不據，攫鳥不搏。 骨弱筋柔而握固。未知牝牡之合而全作，精之至也。 終日號而不嗄，和之至也。 知和曰常，知常曰明，益生曰祥。 心使氣曰強。物壯則老，謂之不道，不道早已。
James Legge
He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him.
(The infant’s) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its grasp is firm. It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet its virile member may be excited;—showing the perfection of its physical essence. All day long it will cry without its throat becoming hoarse;—showing the harmony (in its constitution).
To him by whom this harmony is known, (The secret of) the unchanging (Tao) is shown, And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne. All life-increasing arts to evil turn; Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, (False) is the strength, (and o’er it we should mourn.)
When things have become strong, they (then) become old, which may be said to be contrary to the Tao. Whatever is contrary to the Tao soon ends.
Victor H. Mair
He who embodies the fullness of integrity is like a ruddy infant. Wasps, spiders, scorpions, and snakes will not sting or bite him; Rapacious birds and fierce beasts will not seize him. His bones are weak and his sinews soft, yet his grip is tight. He knows not the joining of male and female, yet his penis is aroused. His essence has reached a peak. He screams the whole day without becoming hoarse; His harmony has reached perfection. Harmony implies constancy; Constancy requires insight. Striving to increase one’s life is ominous; To control the vital breath with one’s mind entails force. Something that grows old while still in its prime is said to be not in accord with the Way; Not being in accord with the Way leads to an early demise.
C. Spurgeon Medhurst
Who cherishes energy in abundance is comparable to an infant child. Poison insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him. [^1]
His bones are weak; his sinews pliable; his grip firm; [^2] unconscious of sex, his virility is active [^3]—the excellency of his physique. He may cry all day without becoming hoarse—this is the consummation of harmony.
Knowledge of harmony is called ‘The Unalterable’; [^4] knowledge of the Unalterable is called ‘Illumination.‘
Increase of life is called infelicity, the resting of the mind in the vitality of form is called animality.
The corporeal begins to age as it nears its prime. This indeed is not the Tao. What is not the Tao soon ends. [^5]
“The Great Man never loses his child’s heart,” says Mencius, and Lao-tzu in language which is both quaint and suggestive expands the same thought. The infant has neither the desire nor the ability to appreciate sensuous pleasure. It may cry all day and not become hoarse. It lacks that passionate vehemence which would produce exhaustion after a similar effort by an adult. Its innocence and its weakness are its strength. It receives no harm from poisonous insects, fierce beasts, or cruel birds—the lusts and passions of the animal man. Without prejudices, the infant seeks only that which is essential, “mother’s milk,” indifferent whether it comes from this woman, or from that. Its inner harmony is undisturbed. Its bodily organs are perfect; the years add nothing to them, but only develop their functions, but do not add to them. “Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.” [**]
Says the Indian Gita (the Lord’s Song): “The contacts of the senses, O son of Kunti, giving cold and heat, pleasure and pain, they come and go, impermanent; endure them bravely, O Bharata. The man whom these torment not, O chief of men, balanced in pain and pleasure, steadfast, he is fitted for immortality.” [*+] He has escaped from that which “is not the Tao.”
[^1] Hsu-hui-hi explains this to mean that nature will cease to be inimical to man when man ceases to injure Nature. Cf. chap. 50.
[^2] “A curious anticipation of recent scientific investigation into the clinging power of new-born infants.”—Maclagan.
[^3] “Baby boys before emptying the bladder are frequently troubled with erections, which is here misinterpreted as a symbol of vigor.”—Carus.
[^4] See conclusion of chap. 52. Also comp. chap. 16.
[^5] The two concluding paragraphs express the opposite of the eternal, or unalterable. The conclusion of this chapter is almost identical with that of chap. 30.
^94:* Matt. xviii, 3.
^94:+ Discourse, ii, 14-15.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Being full of power is like being a baby. Scorpions don’t sting, tiger’s don’t attack, eagles don’t strike. Soft bones, weak muscles, but a firm grasp. Ignorant of the intercourse of man and woman, yet the baby penis is erect. True and perfect energy! All day long screaming and crying, but never getting hoarse. True and perfect harmony!
To know harmony is to know what’s eternal. To know what’s eternal is enlightenment. Increase of life is full of portent: the strong heart exhausts the vital breath. The full-grown is on the edge of age. Not the Way. What’s not the Way soon dies.
Note UKLG: As a model for the Taoist, the baby is in many ways ideal: totally unaltruistic, not interested in politics, business, or the proprieties, weak, soft, and able to scream placidly for hours without wearing itself out (its parents are another matter). The baby’s unawareness of poisonous insects and carnivorous beasts means that such dangers simply do not exist for it. (Again, its parents are a different case.) As a metaphor of the Tao, the baby embodies the eternal beginning, the ever-springing source. “We come, clouds of glory,” Wordsworth says; and Hopkins, “There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.” No Peter Pan-ish refusal to grow up is involved, no hunt for the fountain of youth. What is eternal is forever young, never grows old. But we are not eternal. It is in this sense that I understand how the natural, inevitable cycle of youth, growth, mature vigor, age, and decay can be “not the Way.” The Way is more than the cycle of any individual life. We rise, flourish, fail. The Way never fails. We are waves. It is the sea.