Chapter 77
Bow
The Way of Heaven Is Like Bending a Bow
The Way of heaven is like bending a bow. The high is pressed down. The low is raised up. What has too much is reduced. What has too little is supplemented. The Way of heaven reduces what has too much and supplements what has too little. The way of humans is not so — it reduces what has too little to serve what has too much.
天之道，其犹张弓与？
高者抑之，下者举之；有余者损之，不足者补之。
天之道，损有余而补不足。
人之道则不然，损不足以奉有余。
孰能有余以奉天下？唯有道者。
是以圣人为而不恃，功成而不处。其不欲见贤。
The Way of heaven
is like bending a bow.
The high is pressed down.
The low is raised up.
What has too much is reduced.
What has too little is supplemented.
The Way of heaven
reduces what has too much
and supplements what has too little.
The way of humans is not so —
it reduces what has too little
to serve what has too much.
Who can have excess and offer it to the world?
Only one who has the Dao.
Therefore the sage acts without relying on the result.
Accomplishes without claiming credit.
He does not wish to show his worth.
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 张弓 | zhāng gōng | bending a bow — drawing a bow, the action of balancing |
| 高者抑之 | gāo zhě yì zhī | the high is pressed down |
| 下者举之 | xià zhě jǔ zhī | the low is raised up |
| 有余者损之 | yǒu yú zhě sǔn zhī | what has too much is reduced |
| 不足者补之 | bù zú zhě bǔ zhī | what has too little is supplemented |
"The Way of heaven is like bending a bow. The high is pressed down. The low is raised up."
The Dao's balancing principle: like adjusting a bow, the Dao levels extremes. The high are brought low; the low are raised. This is not punishment or reward — it is the natural tendency toward equilibrium.
"The Way of heaven reduces what has too much and supplements what has too little."
Nature's redistribution: excess is reduced, deficiency is supplemented. Rivers flow from mountains to valleys. Heat flows from hot to cold. The Dao's way is equalizing.
"The way of humans is not so — it reduces what has too little to serve what has too much."
Humans do the opposite: they take from the poor to give to the rich. Tax systems, economic structures, and social hierarchies all tend to concentrate wealth rather than distribute it. This is the fundamental inversion of the Dao.
"Therefore the sage acts without relying on the result. Accomplishes without claiming credit."
The sage follows heaven's way: they give without claiming, act without depending on results. They don't display their worth because their worth is in the giving, not in the recognition.
This is about literal redistribution.
While it has political implications, the principle is broader: natural systems tend toward equilibrium. Fighting this tendency is fighting the Dao.
"The way of humans is not so" means humans are evil.
It means humans have inverted the natural order. It's a diagnosis, not a condemnation.
💡 Wealth and Inequality
The Dao's way is redistribution from excess to deficiency. When your life has excess — time, money, energy — offer it to those who lack. This is following heaven's way.
🏢 Organizational Equity
Companies that follow the Dao distribute resources equitably. Those that concentrate wealth at the top invert the natural order — and face instability.
📚 Personal Balance
"The Way of heaven is like bending a bow" — when you're too high, bring yourself down. When you're too low, raise yourself up. Self-regulation follows the Dao's balancing principle.
Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249 CE)
"Heaven balances; humans unbalance. The sage follows heaven's way by balancing, not unbalancing."
Heaven's balance vs. human imbalance.
Heshang Gong 河上公 (Han dynasty)
"The Dao takes from the excessive and gives to the deficient. Humans take from the deficient and give to the excessive. This is the great inversion."
The inversion of natural and human orders.
Chen Guying 陈鼓应 (b. 1935)
"Laozi's critique of human inequality — built on the contrast with heaven's equality — is one of the most powerful social critiques in ancient philosophy."
Laozi's social critique through natural contrast.
🔗 Cross-References
📖 Within the Tao Te Ching
📚 Other Classics
Yijing: The principle of balance and transformation
Robin Hood: Taking from the rich to give to the poor — following heaven's way
🌍 Modern Thought
Thomas Piketty: Capital in the Twenty-First Century — inequality and its remedies
Social justice: The moral imperative of redistribution