Line by Line - Verse 2, Line 1

All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If something is beautiful, something else must be ugly.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Verse 2 begins with a series of comparisons. In Line 1, the comparison is between beauty and ugliness.

What IS beautifulness? What IS ugliness? There are no universal standards. We denote things as being beautiful or ugly based on changing societal or personal preferences. What we may consider downright ugly at this moment may, in different circumstances, be considered the picture of loveliness or vice versa.

As with any comparison, we must recognize one in order to recognize the other. In the present case, beauty is meaningless if we also don't understand ugliness. If everything is beautiful, then everything simply is.

This, of course, provides a key to Tao. Since the Way is impartial, no distinction is made between perceived qualities. Such distinctions arise from the ego and the importance we attach to them.

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