The Three Treasures or Three Jewels are basic virtues in Taoism. Although the Tao Te Ching originally used to mean "compassion", "frugality", and "humility", the term was later used to translate the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) in Chinese Buddhism, and to mean the Three Treasures (and) in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
"three treasures" first occurs in Tao Te Ching chapter 67, which Lin Yutang says contains Laozi's "most beautiful teachings":
Chinese: 天下皆謂我道大，似不肖。夫唯大，故似不肖。若肖久矣。其細也夫！我有三寶，持而保之。一曰慈，二曰儉，三曰不敢為天下先。慈故能勇；儉故能廣；不敢為天下先，故能成器長。今舍慈且勇；舍儉且廣；舍後且先；死矣！夫慈以戰則勝，以守則固。天將救之，以慈衛之。
Every one under heaven says that our Way is greatly like folly. But it is just because it is great, that it seems like folly. As for things that do not seem like folly — well, there can be no question about their smallness!
Here are my three treasures. Guard and keep them! The first is pity; the second, frugality; the third, refusal to be 'foremost of all things under heaven'.
For only he that pities is truly able to be brave;
Only he that is frugal is able to be profuse.
Only he that refuses to be foremost of all things
Is truly able to become chief of all Ministers.
At present your bravery is not based on pity, nor your profusion on frugality, nor your vanguard on your rear; and this is death. But pity cannot fight without conquering or guard without saving. Heaven arms with pity those whom it would not see destroyed.
Arthur Waley describes these Three Treasures as, "The three rules that formed the practical, political side of the author's teaching (1) abstention from aggressive war and capital punishment, (2) absolute simplicity of living, (3) refusal to assert active authority."
The first of the Three Treasures is, which is also a Classical Chinese term for "mother" (with "tender love, nurturing" semantic associations). Tao Te Ching chapters 18 and 19 parallel ("parental love") with (Chinese: 孝 "filial love; filial piety"). Wing-tsit Chan believes "the first is the most important" of the Three Treasures, and compares with Confucianist (Chinese: 仁 "humaneness; benevolence"), which the Tao Te Ching (e.g., chapters 5 and 38) mocks.
The second is, a practice that the Tao Te Ching (e.g., chapter 59) praises. Ellen M. Chen believes is "organically connected" with the Taoist metaphor (Chinese: 樸 "uncarved wood; simplicity"), and "stands for the economy of nature that does not waste anything. When applied to the moral life it stands for the simplicity of desire."
The third treasure is a six-character phrase instead of a single word: Bugan wei tianxia xian Chinese: 不敢為天下先 "not dare to be first/ahead in the world". Chen notes that
The third treasure, daring not be at the world's front, is the Taoist way to avoid premature death. To be at the world's front is to expose oneself, to render oneself vulnerable to the world's destructive forces, while to remain behind and to be humble is to allow oneself time to fully ripen and bear fruit. This is a treasure whose secret spring is the fear of losing one's life before one's time. This fear of death, out of a love for life, is indeed the key to Taoist wisdom.
In the Mawangdui Silk Texts version of the Tao Te Ching, this traditional "Three Treasures" chapter 67 is chapter 32, following the traditional last chapter (81, 31). Based upon this early silk manuscript, Robert G. Henricks concludes that "Chapters 67, 68, and 69 should be read together as a unit." Besides some graphic variants and phonetic loan characters, like (Chinese: 兹 "mat, this") for (Chinese: 慈 "compassion, love", clarified with the "heart radical" Chinese: 心), the most significant difference with the received text is the addition of (Chinese: 恆, "constantly, always") with "I constantly have three …" (Chinese: 我恆有三) instead of "I have three …" (Chinese: 我有三).
The language of the Tao Te Ching is notoriously difficult to translate, as illustrated by the diverse English renditions of "Three Treasures" below.
| Translation | Chinese: 三寶 | Chinese: 慈 | Chinese: 儉 | Chinese: 不敢為天下先 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balfour | three things which I regard as precious | compassion | frugality | not venturing to take precedence of others — modesty | |
| Legge | three precious things | gentleness | economy | shrinking from taking precedence of others | |
| Lin | Three Treasures | Love | Moderation | Never be the first in the world | |
| Erkes | three jewels | kindness | thriftiness | not daring to play the first part in the empire | |
| Waley | three treasures | pity | frugality | refusal to be 'foremost of all things under heaven' | |
| Wu | Three Treasures | Mercy | Frugality | Not daring to be First in the World | |
| Chan | three treasures | deep love | frugality | not to dare to be ahead of the world | |
| Lau | three treasures | compassion | frugality | not daring to take the lead in the empire | |
| English & Feng | three treasures which I hold and keep | mercy | economy | daring not to be ahead of others — humility | |
| Wieger & Bryce | three things | charity | simplicity | humility | |
| Henricks | three treasures | compassion | frugality | not presuming to be at the forefront in the world | |
| Chen | three treasures | motherly love | frugality | daring not be at the world's front | |
| Mair | three treasures | compassion | frugality | not daring to be ahead of all under heaven | |
| Muller | three treasures | compassion | frugality | not daring to put myself ahead of everybody | |
| La Fargue | Three treasures | gentleness | frugality | not presuming to act like leader of the world |
A consensus translation of the Three Treasures could be: compassion or love, frugality or simplicity, and humility or modesty.
In addition to these Taoist "Three Treasures", Chinese can also refer to the Three Treasures in Traditional Chinese Medicine or the Three Jewels in Buddhism. Victor H. Mair notes that Chinese Buddhists chose the Taoist term to translate Sanskrit or ("three jewels"), and "[i]t is not at all strange that the Taoists would take over this widespread ancient Indian expression and use it for their own purposes."
Erik Zürcher, who studied influences of Buddhist doctrinal terms in Taoism, noted two later meanings of : Chinese: 道 "the Way", Chinese: 經 "the Scriptures", and Chinese: 師 "the Master" seems to be patterned after Buddhist usage; Chinese: 天寶君 "Lord of Celestial Treasure", Chinese: 靈寶君 "Lord of Numinous Treasure", and Chinese: 神寶君 "Lord of Divine Treasure" are the Chinese: 三元 "Three Primes" of the Lingbao School.
The use of the term in Classical Chinese thought is used to explain the relationships between the ten thousand things. From the macrocosm to the microcosm the blending of Heaven and Earth leading to the interpreted meaning by humans.