寵辱若驚 貴大梡若身
[chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1] [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1]
Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise, value [brings] great misfortune as if it were [your] self
寵辱若驚，貴大患若身。
[chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1]， [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1] 。
Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise, value [brings] great misfortune as if it were [your] self
These sections are a bit tricky as it is hard to gather exactly what is going on without the context provided below. I played with several translations, but these were the best to convey what I felt the text was trying to say. This section is the type of section which explains why the Daodejing has about ten-thousand different translations, each of which is unique.
The first clause is pretty self-explanatory with context, though a bit cryptic here. The second is a bit harder to pin down (but is expounded on later). There are several variations which work here too, but this one strikes the best balance between being literal (albeit still really cryptic even with the explanation below), and fitting the goal of the original. The act of valuing brings about great misfortune as if it were your own self, or to your own self. The act of having a self brings about the chance for the self to be harmed. We will expand on this below.
梡~患
何謂寵辱若驚 寵之爲下 得之若驚 失之若驚 是謂寵辱若驚
[he2] [wei4] [chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1] [chong3] [zhi1] [wei2] [xia4] [de2] [zhi1] [ruo4] [jing1] [shi1] [zhi1] [ruo4] [jing1] [shi4] [wei4] [chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1]
What is meant by “Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise”? Being doted on is acting as the lower [socially], receiving is [as] a surprise, loss is [as] a surprise, thus this is what is called “dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise”
何謂寵辱若驚？寵為下，得之若驚，失之若驚，是謂寵辱若驚。
[he2] [wei4] [chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1]？ [chong3] [wei2] [xia4]， [de2] [zhi1] [ruo4] [jing1]， [shi1] [zhi1] [ruo4] [jing1]， [shi4] [wei4] [chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1] 。
What is meant by “Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise”? Being doted on is acting as the lower [socially], receiving is [as] a surprise, loss is [as] a surprise, thus this is what is called “dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise”
This section works to describe the very first clause in the chapter. The original section could arguably be translated as “doting and disgrace are like a surprise”, but I feel this way makes the section flow better with more concrete growth. The focus on the act in a more visceral sense adds clarity over than the more generic, abstract actions without context.
Being doted on and receiving attention like a pet is something reserved for one who is lower in the social relationship (we’re assuming some of the Confucian type values exist for this view of a social hierarchy). A mother can dote on a child, but the child cannot really dote on the mother in the same way. A superior at a company can dote on a worker, but the worker cannot dote in a similar fashion on the superior. This hierarchy creates a gradient.
Favor and fancy can be ephemeral or arbitrary. A mother won’t really fit this example, but a superior at work definitely can. An employee can be employee of the month and the most popular in the office, but fired the next week if a mistake affects their superior too much. This section aims to clarify that when in a lower social position, treat both gain and loss as chance rather than granted. It’s like a lottery ticket, you don’t buy with the expectation of winning, but you hope to be pleasantly surprised. If you expect to lose, then you may sabotage yourself from the prize. Favor bestowed is potentially fleeting, so play it like a lottery ticket and hope for the best, but don’t worry if it doesn’t work out.
何謂貴大梡若身 吾所以有大患者 爲吾有身也 及吾无身 有何患
[he2] [wei4] [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1] [wu2] [suo3] [yi3] [you3] [da4] [huan4] [zhe3] [wei2] [wu2] [you3] [shen1] [ye3] [ji2] [wu2] [wu2] [shen1] [you3] [he2] [huan4]
What is meant by “Value great misfortune as if it were your self”? I am the reason for my [own] great suffering, I who act for my self, if I have no self, what misfortune [could I have]?
何謂貴大患若身？吾所以有大患者，為吾有身，及吾無身，吾有何患？
[he2] [wei4] [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1]？ [wu2] [suo3] [yi3] [you3] [da4] [huan4] [zhe3]， [wei2] [wu2] [you3] [shen1]， [ji2] [wu2] [wu2] [shen1]，[wu2] [you3] [he2] [huan4]？
What is meant by “Value great misfortune as if it were your self”? I am the reason for my [own] great suffering, I who act for my self, if I have no self, what misfortune [could I have]?
The self creates the ability to be harmed or to suffer. Great misfortune is obviously never something anyone wants, but by valuing it, you take the good from it and can grow and evolve past it. Letting the misfortune harm the self, means that you have let the misfortune only serve as misfortune. When you value the self most, you cannot value the misfortune for what it can help to bring and lose the little pearl of wisdom contained in the mess.
故貴爲身於爲天下 若可以托天下矣 愛以身爲天下 如可以寄天下
[gu4] [gui4] [wei2] [shen1] [yu2] [wei2] [tian1] [xia4] [ruo4] [ke3] [yi3] [tuo1] [tian1] [xia4] [yi3] [ai4] [yi3] [shen1] [wei2] [tian1] [xia4] [ru2] [ke3] [yi3] [ji4] [tian1] [xia4]
Thus, to value the self for the world [creation], this may be entrusted to the world [creation], [one who] love[s] (from the self) for the world [creation], this may be entrusted to the world [creation]
故貴以身為天下，若可寄天下﹔愛以身為天下，若可托天下。
[gu4] [gui4] [yi3] [shen1] [wei2] [tian1] [xia4]， [ruo4] [ke3] [ji4] [tian1] [xia4]﹔ [ai4] [yi3] [shen1] [wei2] [tian1] [xia4]， [ruo4] [ke3] [tuo1] [tian1] [xia4]。
Thus, to value the self for the world [creation], this may be entrusted to the world [creation], [one who] love[s] (from the self) for the world [creation], this may be entrusted to the world [creation]
The previous section entirely skipped selflessness, but this section adds this in. True selflessness is arguably not possible (without being born as selfless or some type of higher being), but the Daodejing focuses on flowing with the “natural” order of things. By putting the concept of “self” behind a selfless endeavor, one is arguably able to work selflessly if they go with the flow of the Dao. This may not be true selflessness, but it is selflessness in the given act or acts.
When one loves from the self, one puts the self in the act of love and colors it. This is arguably not ever truly selfless, but when one loves the entirety of the world and all of creation, is it not still arguably selfless even though it is still tainted by the concept of self? In this instance, the means are arguably justified by the ends as long as the Dao is followed. Even though the love is arguably not pure and is tainted by the self, it is still a selfless ambition so if the Dao is realized, would it not shape the end result into something truly selfless and in league with the natural order? The language is a bit more conservative about this, but I feel it’s arguably a “maybe” since ultimately one must be in league with the Dao and one must still overcome the self in order to succeed in this form of temporary selflessness.