Tao Te Ching Ch 31

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 31

Arms are instruments of ill omen.

People always detest them.

Thus the one who has the Truth does not abide by their use.

Arms are instruments of ill omen, not the instruments of gentlemen.

They are compelled to use them when having no other choice.

Calm detachment should be above all.

There is no glory in victory.

To glorify it is to exult in the killing of men.

One who exults in the killing of men will never have any achievement in the world.

On occasions of rejoicing, precedence is given to the left.

On occasions of mourning, precedence is given to the right.

The gentlemen give precedence to the left when at home,

but to the right when going to war.

The lieutenant general is on the left.

The major general is on the right.

This means it is the mourning rite that is observed.

When great numbers of people are killed, 

one should weep over them with sorrow.

When victorious in war, 

one should observe the rites of mourning.

Review

    In this Chapter, Lao Tzu continues telling us the principle of using arm force. It has been mentioned in Chapter 30 that warfare will bring calamities to people without fail, therefore, in this Chapter, Lao Tzu says again:

“Arms are instruments of ill omen.

People always detest them.”

    These instruments of ill omen are only the last resort for people when all the means to maintain peace and righteousness are invalid.

“Thus the one who has the Truth does not abide by their use.

Arms are instruments of ill omen, not the instruments of gentlemen.”

    The instruments of gentlemen, people abiding in their living, are by the Truth and the Truth only. However, Lao Tzu does not totally deny the use of arm force. Then when should the gentlemen make use of the arm force?

“They are compelled to use them when having no other choice.”

    In the previous Chapter, we have reviewed that Prophet Muhammad is the one who observes the principle of using warfare the same as what Lao Tzu teaches us. He started war against the infidels only because Muslims were severely persecuted. Finally Prophet Mohammad got the victory and the casualties of both sides were incredibly low. When facing severe attack and aggression, the use of arm force was minimized as much as possible by the leadership of Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Mohammad is Allah’s Apostle who follows the teaching of the Quran with his deeds in life. In the Quran, Allah reveals a lot of verses telling people when they should make good use of arm force which is coherent with the teaching in the Tao Te Ching.

    “Slay them wherever you find them (those who fight against you); drive them out of the places from which they drove you, for persecution is worse than killing. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there. If they do fight you, slay them – such is the reward for those who deny the Truth – but if they desist, then surely God is the most forgiving and merciful. Fight them until there is no more fitna (religious persecution) and religion belongs to God alone. If they desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards agressors.” (Quran 2:191-193)

    “And how should you not fight for the cause of God, and for the helpless old men, women, and children who say, “Deliver us, Lord, from this city of wrongdoers, grant us a protector out of Your Grace and grant us a supporter out of Your Grace?”” (Quran 4:70)

    “But make an exception of those who seek refuge with people with whom you have a treaty, or who come over to you because their hearts forbid them to fight against you or against their own people. Had God pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they would have taken up arms against you. Therefore, if they keep away from you and cease their hostility and propose peace to you, God does not allow you to harm them.” (Quran 4:90)

    Then Lao Tzu further tells us more how we should deal with the warfare. Do people need to rejoice in victory? No. We all should be mournful when facing warfare as killing is inevitable in this case. No matter who were killed and injured, it is woeful for mankind only. Our righteousness lies on whether we enjoy killing and harming people or not. If people enjoy the act of harming others so much, they are not on the rightful way but opposite to the Truth. Warfare should be treated as a funeral no matter whatever result will come. What we need is only to have “calm detachment”.

“Calm detachment should be above all.

There is no glory in victory.”

    Those who are fond of victory by killing amass in war are opposing the Truth. By acting against the Truth, the victory cannot last long and the return of ill omen will come soon. They can never achieve anything good in the world by slaughtering, which is exactly what happened in our history, thus Lao Tzu says:

“To glorify it is to exult in the killing of men.

One who exults in the killing of men will never have any achievement in the world.”

    All warfare should be handled in the way the same as holding a mourning rite. In traditional Chinese culture, the left side is regarded as more auspicious and important than the right side. Therefore, Chinese people say “men station in the left and women station in the right” in order to show that men are higher than women in the Chinese society. Normally in any ceremony and celebration, people of higher positions should be arranged to the left side while the lower ones to the right side. It is only a matter of cultural understanding which can vary in other cultures. Lao Tzu tells us that ancient Chinese treated the warfare the same as the mournful rite. They should be calm and solemn in both warfare and funeral.

“On occasions of rejoicing, precedence is given to the left.

On occasions of mourning, precedence is given to the right.

The gentlemen give precedence to the left when at home,

but to the right when going to war.

The lieutenant general is on the left.

The major general is on the right.

This means it is the mourning rite that is observed.”

    In the warfare of ancient China, the head was the major general who stationed on the right while his assistant, the lieutenant, stationed on the left. It was the same in mournful rites of funeral different from all other occasions for proper placement of people. It was the sign for people to understand what they should behave in the warfare. It was not for any enjoyment or gain. The victorious army should be mournful as attending a funeral for the death after the war , thus Lao Tzu says:

“When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow.

When victorious in war, one should observe the rites of mourning.”

    To be sad and sorrowful before the war, during the war and after the war is the righteous deed for Lao Tzu. There should not be any happiness or elated mood for the soldiers. This is the virtue of the army. In India, there is a great epic, the Mahabharata narrating the stories about the ancient royal families and their empires. One of the Chapter in the Mahabharata is a very famous scripture in India called the Bagatwa Gita narrating the dialogues between Sri Krishna and his disciple, Arjuna.

    Several thousand years ago in India, there were two royal families fighting each other in war. Although the two families had kinship, one family persecuted another family harshly and declaring war was the final resort without any other choice. Arjuna was the prince soldier in one of the families having severely persecuted. His teacher, Sri Krishna was his charioteer. Before the war, Arjuna felt very sorrowful. He saw so many his relations, friends and teachers from the opposing army and they were going to kill each other. He did not want to fight at all. He was rather willing to die before the battle. He was noble in his character. He felt the compassion to his enemies who were also his relatives. The dialogues between Sri Krishna and Arjuna started before the war. Sri Krishna told Arjuna to fight for the Almighty Lord for the righteous cause as it was the duty of a soldier should be. Otherwise, more calamities would result. 

          In the Bagatwa Gita, Sri Krishna on behalf of the Almighty Lord, tells the supreme knowledge of the Truth to Arjuna. For Lao Tzu, he would tell Arjuna to fight with sorrow as he should be.