Tao Te Ching

This chapter is about keeping life bland, as too much color, noise, and taste can overwhelm our senses. If people ride and hunt, they are liable to go crazy with excitement, and if we try to get rare goods, we waste our time. Instead, the sage, or good ruler, only tries to meet the requirements of basic life, including the belly, instead of trying to engage in too much spectacle. 

In this chapter, the author states that gaining too much favor can lead to a decline and to earning disgrace. It’s another way of saying that what goes up must come down. These are startling experiences. In addition, if one earns high rank, then one has trouble, just as one has trouble when one has a body (but not afterward). Those who can be trusted with leadership value only the necessities of life—their bodies—but not power or dominion. 

In this book, the author says that what cannot be seen, heard, or touched is hard to understand, just as the tao itself is hard to understand. The way cannot really be seen or named, and it has no substance to it. One cannot really follow it or see it. To understand what is happening today, one must go back to the ancient ways, to the tao.

Those who truly understand the way are mysterious. They are too profound to really be known or understood, and they can’t really be described. They are not forceful but tentative, like someone crossing a river in winter or someone who is afraid of one’s neighbors or using formal manners, as a house guest would. There are a number of other images to describe the way one approaches an understanding of the tao: cleaving like ice and thick like a block that has not been carved; empty like a valley; and cloudy like muddy water. However, if one keeps to the way, one can slowly become clear and come to life. One who follows the way will never be full and can be born anew. 

In this chapter, the author writes that they try to be still and empty. Creatures return to their roots (meaning that they return to the dust), and achieve a sense of stillness. This cycle of nature is constant, and one should not disturb it by trying to do something new. Only by remaining apart from judgment can one truly achieve the tao and live safely.

The best kind of ruler is hardly known to his people; the second best is one loved by his people. Lower than that is the ruler the people fear, and the lowest is the leader that the people do not trust. It is better for a ruler to not speak much, and then, when the ruler’s work is finished, the people think the work happened without anyone carrying it out.

Even when the tao seems to have fallen away, there is still correctness and goodness being practiced. Even when the six essential relationships (such as father and son, elder and younger brother, and husband and wife) don’t seem to be followed, there are still loyal children, and even when the state is in chaos, there are still good leaders.

In this chapter, the author speaks about getting rid of wisdom, morality, and profit so that people will benefit, filial piety will be restored, and theft will end. The people do not benefit from following these ideals; instead, they should attach themselves to the “uncarved block,” a symbol for the empty, open mind. They should be as selfless and free of desire as possible.

The author writes that learning only causes worries. He goes on to question the difference between apparent opposites, such as good and evil, and yes and no. He then writes about how he is set apart from others. While a person may seem to be enjoying themselves, he shows no emotion, much like a baby who doesn’t’t yet know how to smile. He is listless, or lifeless, and, while others are drowning in excess, he is not. He has a blank mind and seems sleepy, not alert. He is calm and lacks a purpose. These are the ideals of following the way.

The way is shadowy, and it has within it a kind of shadowy image and a dim substance. The way goes back to the most ancient times, and it shows us the way everything was in ancient times.

This chapter is a lesson in submission, which one of the values of Taoism. One can bend down, but then one returns to standing straight. Something can be hollow and then become full, and something can go from being worn to being new. Therefore, one should be willing to bend down, or submit, as one can then be returned to one’s proper upright position. The sage is not showy, so he shows himself in a good light. He does not think he knows the right answer so he is a model. He has value because he does not brag, and he is worthy because he does not brag. Because he is not aggressive, he doesn’t’t get into fights with others. As the ancients knew, the way to survive is to be submissive.

The author says that it’s not natural to speak all the time, as a wind or rain burst eventually dies down. As nature cannot go on forever, neither can man. Instead, if we concentrate on being virtuous, we will be, and if we concentrate on the tao, we will be of the way. If we trust others, we can live in a trustworthy world.

If one tries to stand above others on tiptoes, one will not stand but fall over. If one tries to stride, one can’t walk to get from place to place. If one is showy, one will not look good, and if one is boastful, he will not be worthy or last very long. Being arrogant is like eating too much and producing too many growths. The people who follow the way do not boast. 

The way was created before heaven and earth, and it is silent and empty. It is unchanging and has created the world. Though the author does not know its name, they call it “the way” and refer to it as “the great.” It is always moving away or receding. As the way is great, so is the heaven, earth, and the king. The author then sets up a chain in which people model themselves on earth, earth on heaven, heaven on the way, and the way on something that comes from nature.

In order to feel lightness, one must feel heaviness. To feel stillness, one must experience restlessness. It is like a person who has been traveling all day, looking after loaded carts. When that person is finally behind walls and watchtowers, he can relax. The author asks how a ruler, a person in charge of ten thousand chariots, can be light and rested, as this type of person has so much responsibility.

This chapter is a summary of how to do a good job without leaving behind any trace of one’s work. For example, a skilled traveler leaves no wheel tracks, and one who is a good public speaker makes no mistakes, just as a person who is good at counting does not use rods to count, and those who are good at shutting or tying things use no tools. Similarly, a good ruler saves everyone and everything but loses nothing or no one. The good man is the leader who works on the bad man, though neither is of greater value than the other. This is the way.

While people should know the male role, they should keep to the female role and be like a ravine, which is a dip in the earth. This is the more submissive role, as a high mountain would be the more dominant role. Similarly, one should be innocent and submissive like a baby and know white while sticking to the role of the black (which is again the more submissive role). Similarly, while one should know what honor is, one should stick to the dishonorable role. By staying submissive, one can return to the position of the uncarved block, or the simple, unschooled mind. If one breaks the uncarved block, it becomes like a vessel, ready to receive knowledge. A sage is smarter than officials, as the sage can use the officials in the same way a person uses vessels. The sage has greater power because he treads lightly, just as the most skillful cutting does not cause something to be severed.

Those who wish to rule the empire will have no rest or respite. The empire is like a “sacred vessel” that should not be touched. Those who try to gain control over it will destroy it, and they will not be able to control it. Some people try to lead, to breathe hard, and to destroy and be strong, while others try to follow, to breathe softly, and to be weak. The best ruler, or sage, avoids being arrogant or having excessive power. 

Rulers who live by the way do not use force, as armies are likely to cause destruction to those who send them against others. War is often followed by bad harvests. Those who rule well do not rule with arrogance or intimidation. Those who harm the old are going against the way and will not last long.

Weapons are forces that bring about bad omens, and are not used by gentlemen. If one has to use them, one should use them without delighting in them, as one should not find joy in killing others. One who delights in killing others will not rule the empire. The dead deserve to be mourned, and even if one is the victor, one should still mourn the dead killed in war. 

The way does not have a name. If leaders can hold onto the way, the people will follow them, and people will act responsibly without having to be forced to do so. Only if the way is violated are there names; the tao says that we should stop naming things. Knowing when to stop can prevent someone from encountering danger. The way is powerful and controls the world in the same way that rivers and streams all run into the ocean. 

This chapter makes differentiation between qualities that are praised by society and those valued in Taoism. While someone who knows other people is considered clever, to know oneself is superior. While someone who controls others is forceful, one who knows himself is truly strong. Someone who feels content is rich, while a person with purpose truly perseveres. One who clings to his position in life simply endures, but someone who avoids danger (one of the goals of following the way) has a long life.

The way is all powerful, and its reach goes everywhere. Though all creatures on earth depend on it for life, it does not make itself known. It accomplishes its tasks without taking credit for them, and it is responsible for taking care of all the creatures on earth but does not make any claim on them. The way has no desire and may seem small, but as it has all the care of the earth and creatures, it has great power. It is successful because it does not try to be great; instead, it simply is great.

If one keeps the Tao in mind, one can claim the empire. When people visit you, they will come in peace. The traveler stops for food and music, and the food passes through them without flavor. Unlike food, the way cannot be seen or heard, and it is never used up.

This chapter examines contradictions. For example, to make something shrink, it first has to be stretched. To make something weak, it must first be strong. To be able to put something aside, you must first use it, and to take from something, you must first give to it. Therefore, the weak will triumph over the strong. The leader must not reveal his sources of power, just as a fish (the symbol of a ruler) must not be allowed out of the deep ocean.

The way never takes any actions, yet it is able to accomplish everything. If rulers abide by it, the people they rule will be manageable by themselves. After this process, one must squelch desire and not give into it with the force of the “uncarved block” (which symbolizes a head free of thought). This uncarved block is free of desire, and if one is without desire and is still and peaceful, the empire will also be peaceful, without one having to do anything.