Heavy is the root of the light;
calm is the master of the quick-tempered.
This is why the sage during all the day’s travel
does not separate from the heavy baggage-wagon.
Although there are splendid sights to be seen
he stays at ease and lets it all pass by.
My take on these lines:
Yin - yang is symbolized by the pair heavy – light and calm – quick-tempered.
As long as he lives, the sage holds on to the heavy or serene yin principle of the Receptive. According to I Ching, the Baggage-wagon is symbolic of the Receptive. The sage is never moved to forget this by the glory of the world.
If he, as a ruler, let go of the yin attitude and becomes frivolous and rash he will not endure.
This comes out in the last verse:
How can he endure, the commander of ten thousand chariots,
If he conducts himself lightly before the world?
Lightly, then the root is lost.
Quick-tempered; then the master is lost.
From ‘The Book of the Way and Virtue’, the teachings of Lao Zi.
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