Stanza 28 is a deeply symbolic and poetic expression of the Taoist path of balance, humility, and returning to origin. Laoi invokes three complementary pairs: male and female, white and black, glory and disgrace, as metaphors for the art of holding opposites without division. The key message is that true power comes not from domination or judgment but from embracing wholeness, living simply, and refusing to split reality into winners and losers, right and wrong, high and low.
The sage, Laozi tells us, is one who knows how to merge rather than divide, to return rather than advance, and to live with quiet power rooted in innocence and simplicity.
Hold the Polarities Without Conflict
"Know the male, keep the female; be humble toward the world. Be humble to the world, and eternal power never leaves, returning again to innocence."
Here, "male" and "female" are symbolic, not of gender roles, but of yang and yin, assertiveness and receptivity, force and yielding. To "know the male" is to understand strength, action, and directness. To keep the female is to remain soft, open, nurturing, and receptive. The Taoist sage acknowledges strength but chooses humility. He knows power but stays rooted in softness. Water is soft, yet it wears away rock. The feminine yields yet endures.
By being humble toward the world, the sage retains eternal power (Chang De 常德), not dominance, but a quiet, enduring presence that returns to the innocence of the child, or the uncarved block: whole, pure, uncontrived.
The Light and the Shadow
"Knowing the white, keep the black; be an exemplar for the world. Be an exemplar for the world, and eternal power never goes awry, returning again to infinity."
Again, we're working with yin and yang symbolism: White symbolizes clarity, purity, and visibility. Black symbolizes mystery, depth, and the unseen. To "know the white" is to see the world clearly. To "keep the black" is to remain rooted in the unknown, the hidden, the humble. The sage does not reject darkness, shadow, or imperfection. He accepts all parts of life and, by doing so, becomes an exemplar. The sage lives in the center, not favoring light or dark but holding both as sacred.
By embodying this nondual understanding, they "return to infinity" (Fu Gui Yu Wu Ji 复归于无极), the timeless, unbounded Tao.
Glory and Disgrace Without Resistance
"Knowing the glorious, keep the ignominious; be open to the world. Be open to the world, and eternal power suffices, returning again to simplicity."
This is one of Laozi's most powerful insights: to know the glorious is to understand success, honor, and reputation. But, to keep the ignominious is to be unafraid of shame, to embrace failure, rejection, and the shadow. Thus, the sage is not driven by image and does not seek to appear virtuous, strong, or important. He is open to the world without needing to be above it. And in this radical openness, returns to simplicity, the natural, unadorned state, uncarved by ego or ambition. Simplicity is the root. From it, everything real grows.
Simplicity Before Utility
"Simplicity is lost to make instruments, which sages employ as functionaries."
This line refers to the uncarved block (Pu 朴), a central Taoist symbol of original wholeness. From simplicity, we carve tools; we create systems and hierarchies. But when the tools take over, we lose our essence. The sage still uses the tools but does not worship them:
Titles
Roles
Institutions
Technologies
... are all seen as servants, not sources of identity or power. The sage uses means, but never becomes bound by them.
The Great Does Not Split
"Therefore, the great fashioner does no splitting."
This is the culminating wisdom of the stanza: The truly great, whether person, action, or principle, does not divide. It doesn't fragment, label, judge, or oppose. It includes, embraces, and returns to wholeness.
The sage sees through the illusion of separation. They do not split themselves from others or the world from the Tao. They are whole because they refuse to cut.
Practical Application
Hold Strength Gently
- Know your power, but remain soft.
- Choose humility, not dominance.
Embrace Your Whole Self
- Accept your light and your shadow.
- Don't split yourself into "good" and "bad" parts; let it all be seen and loved.
Let Go of the Need for Glory
- Don't chase reputation.
- Be willing to be misunderstood, imperfect, unpolished, and free.
Return to Simplicity
- Drop unnecessary complexity.
- Be like uncarved wood: useful, real, and whole without adornment.
Use Tools, Don't Be Used By Them
- Use technology, language, and systems, but don't let them replace your essence.
- Stay close to the source, not just the structure.
Live Without Splitting
- Don't divide the world into us/them, high/low, success/failure.
- See through duality. Choose integration over separation.
Stanza 28 is a return to Taoist roots, calling us back to:
The uncarved, uncorrupted, uncontrived.
A life that holds opposites rather than picking sides.
A heart that is open to all things, splitting nothing, and resting in the whole.
Know the light, but keep the dark. Know te high, but live with the low. Know the powerful, but return to the soft.
In this, you return to the Tao, the place before names, before judgment, where everything simply is.