King of a Hundred Valleys
Every stream in the mountains, without exception, ends at the sea.
No one orders them there. The sea simply lies lower than all of them.
江海所以能為百谷王者，
jiāng hǎi suǒ yǐ néng wéi bǎi gǔ wáng zhě,
Why can the rivers and the sea be kings of the hundred valleys?
以其善下之，
yǐ qí shàn xià zhī,
Because they are good at being lower than them;
故能為百谷王。
gù néng wéi bǎi gǔ wáng.
so they can be kings of the hundred valleys.
是以欲上民，必以言下之；
shì yǐ yù shàng mín, bì yǐ yán xià zhī;
So, to be above the people, you must speak as one below them;
欲先民，必以身後之。
yù xiān mín, bì yǐ shēn hòu zhī.
to go before the people, you must put yourself behind them.
是以聖人處上而民不重，
shì yǐ shèngrén chǔ shàng ér mín bù zhòng,
So the sage is above, and the people don't feel the weight;
處前而民不害。
chǔ qián ér mín bù hài.
is in front, and the people come to no harm.
是以天下樂推而不厭。
shì yǐ tiānxià lè tuī ér bù yàn.
So all under heaven gladly push the sage forward, and never tire of it.
以其不爭，
yǐ qí bù zhēng,
Because the sage does not contend,
故天下莫能與之爭。
gù tiānxià mò néng yǔ zhī zhēng.
no one under heaven can contend with the sage.
The words
a valley; the hollow between hills
Valleys are everywhere in this book: an empty place, low, open, where water gathers and things grow. "The hundred valleys" are all of them, every stream and gully in the land.
below, under; to go below, to put yourself lower
The plain word for down. Here it is a verb: the sea lowers itself beneath the valleys. This is the chapter's secret. The sea's greatness is not that it is high, but that it is the lowest of all.
glad, happy; (read yuè) music
The people push the sage forward gladly. Not under orders, not out of fear. The same character, read yuè, means music, and an old idea in China was that joy and music are one thing.
Sitting with it
This is the last chapter of the water module, and it takes water all the way to the sea.
Look at a map of any country and follow the rivers. They all go down, and they all end in one place. The sea doesn't call them or pull them up. It is king of every valley for one reason only: it lies lower than every one of them. Everything flows to what is low.
Then the chapter turns to people. And it says something that sounds, at first, like a trick for getting power: if you want to be above, speak from below; if you want to lead, walk behind. But read on. The point is what it feels like to be led by such a person. "The people don't feel the weight." "They come to no harm." Nobody feels pushed down by the sea.
You have probably met someone like this. A teacher, a manager, a grandparent, a friend, who never seemed to be in charge, and yet everything quietly flowed towards them. People brought them their problems. They spoke last in meetings. They said "what do you think?" and meant it. And when the time came to choose someone, everyone chose them, gladly.
"Because the sage does not contend, no one can contend with the sage." You can't fight someone who isn't fighting you, any more than you can fight the sea.
The whole water module comes to this one picture. Water helps everything and argues with nothing. It is the softest thing, and it wears down stone. It stays supple, which is the way of the living. And because it always goes to the lowest place, in the end everything comes to it.
A practice
In your next conversation where something is being decided, at home, at work, among friends, speak last.
Ask first: "What do you think?" Listen to the whole answer. Then say what you think, if it still needs saying.
To carry
以其善下之
yǐ qí shàn xià zhī
Because it is good at being low.