Symbols & Motifs
Water
In Book 66, the author states that the river and the sea are sovereign over the valleys because they take the “lower position.” Water is the perfect embodiment of the tao because, by being submissive and flowing wherever it can go, water is powerful. Water is superior to land because it has no real form and can take on whatever form it needs. It is this pliability and submissiveness that make water so powerful and why readers of the Tao Te Ching are urged to be like water.
The Uncarved Block
The symbol of the uncarved block shows up in many books. For example, in Book 28, the reader is told to maintain a “disgraced” role and to act as the valley, or to play the submissive role in life. If one does so, one will be able to follow the way, or the “constant virtue,” and one will be returned to the state of the uncarved block. This is the state of being easy in mind and peaceful in spirit, as a newborn baby is.
The Valley
The valley is often used to refer to what is virtuous and good on earth. While the mountain is a symbol of what is arrogant on earth, the valley—which is carved out of the earth, rather than earth that juts into the sky like a mountaintop—is submissive.
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