Tao Te Ching — Chapter 22

Yield and stay whole; bend and stay straight; hollow out and be filled; wear out and be renewed; have little and gain; have much and be confused. Therefore the sage embraces the One and becomes the model for the world. He does not display himself, and so he is seen clearly; he does not assert himself, and so he stands out; he does not boast, and so he is credited; he does not exalt himself, and so he endures. Because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him. The old saying "yield and stay whole" — how could it be empty words? Truly, wholeness comes and returns to him.

James Legge (1891)

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:—all real completion is comprehended under it.

Dwight Goddard (1919)

At that time the deficient will be made perfect; the distorted will be straightened; the empty will be filled; the worn out will be renewed; those having little will obtain and those having much will be overcome. Therefore the wise man, embracing unity as he does, will become the world's model. Not pushing himself forward he will become enlightened; not asserting himself he will become distinguished; not boasting of himself he will acquire merit; not approving himself he will endure. Forasmuch as he will not quarrel, the world will not quarrel with him. Is the old saying, "The crooked shall be made straight," a false saying? Indeed, no! They will be perfected and return rejoicing.

This chapter opens with a sequence of six paradoxes that compress the whole logic of the book: yield and stay whole, bend and stay straight, empty and be filled, wear out and be renewed, have little and gain, have much and be confused. Each reverses ordinary expectation. The supple survive what the rigid cannot; the empty has room to receive; the person with few desires actually gets what matters, while the one grasping at much is lost in confusion. The opening line, qū zé quán — "yield and stay whole" — is quoted as an ancient proverb, and the chapter is essentially a meditation on its truth.

The center of the chapter gives the practical application through four parallel lines, each a model of the non-contending sage: he does not display himself, so he is truly seen; does not assert, so he stands out; does not boast, so he is credited; does not exalt himself, so he endures. The unifying principle is bào yī — "embrace the One," hold to undivided simplicity. And the conclusion is one of the most famous lines in the book: fú wéi bù zhēng, gù tiānxià mò néng yǔ zhī zhēng — "because he does not contend, no one can contend with him." Non-contention is not passivity but a position so low and ungrasping that there is nothing to push against. Goddard's opening ("at that time the deficient will be made perfect") reads almost prophetically; the Chinese is timeless and proverbial.

The paradoxes — the yielding made whole, the empty made full, the worn made new — closely echo the Gospel reversals: "the last shall be first," "whoever humbles himself will be exalted," "blessed are the meek." Both traditions teach that the way up runs through the way down, and that grasping for height defeats itself.

The principle of non-contention as a form of invincibility anticipates the heart of the later martial-arts philosophy and the strategic wisdom of "winning without fighting." It also parallels the Stoic and Buddhist freedom that comes from wanting nothing the world can take — the person who contends for nothing offers nothing for others to contend against.

Flexibility outlasts rigidity, and humility achieves what self-assertion cannot. The person who does not push for recognition is the one most clearly seen; the one who contends for nothing cannot be defeated, because there is nothing in them to fight. Wholeness comes through yielding, not through grasping.

In any competitive arena, the people who try hardest to display, assert, and claim credit often provoke exactly the resistance that undoes them. This chapter describes a subtler and more durable path: do the work, embrace simplicity, and let recognition find you. "Because he does not contend, no one can contend with him" is a profound principle for navigating conflict — much of what we fight over loses its grip the moment we stop gripping back.