#28*
Knowing power, abiding in modesty;
like a stream under Heaven.
Like a stream under Heaven-
never abandoning eternal virtue,
returning at last to purity.
Knowing white, abiding in black;
like this order under Heaven.
Like this order under Heaven-
never losing eternal virtue,
returning at last to infinity.
Knowing honor, abiding in humility;
like a canyon under Heaven.
Like a canyon under Heaven-
full of eternal virtue,
returning at last to simplicity.
Simplicity distributes all things.
The Sage uses this to become leader,
hence a perfect system is indivisible.
*Translation by LU Wenlong & Keith Wayne Brown, ©2013.
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