DIVISION 17 (第十七)

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
Next comes the ruler they love and praise.
Next comes one they fear;
And then ones they despise.
If you don't stand sincere by your words
How sincere can the people be?
Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly.
When his task is accomplished and his work done,
The people all say, “It happened to us naturally.”

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The best indicator of a ruler's effectiveness is that his administration is the least noticed (and credited) by those ruled given the conditions of the day.  As a shèng rén (sage), an effective ruler uses words sparingly as they can be a source of misunderstanding (Division 2), but when he does, he uses them to gain the trust of those ruled (Division 8) and to promote social harmony.

Order is best achieved when contention is minimized among those ruled (Division 8). Division 3 specifies essential conditions for such a rule in that the people tend to be well-fed, physically strong, and are so satisfied that their ambitions don't stir social disruption. Both Divisions 3 and 13 warn rulers that their own ambitions can be a source of contention, with the latter division emphasizing that the ruler selflessly rules as a shèng rén out of love for those he governs, honoring and benefiting those ruled as they were himself.

DIVISION 13 (第十三)

Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared.
High rank is, like one's body, a source of great trouble.
What is meant by speaking thus of fear and disgrace?
Favor is inferior.
If you get it – be alarmed!
If you lose it – be alarmed!
Honor always dwindles away, so earning it fills us
with fear, and losing it fills us with fear.
This is what is meant by saying, "Favor and disgrace would seem to be equally feared."
What is meant by “high rank is, like one's body, a source of great trouble”?
The reason why I have great trouble is that I have a body.
When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?
Therefore, he who would administer the Kingdom, honoring it as he honors his own person, may be employed to govern it.
And he who would administer it with the love which he bears his own person may be entrusted with it.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The shèng rén (sage) is admonished to fear the receipt of honors as equally as to be disgraced. The consequence of this for the shèng rén who rules is that he administers the government with the care and respect that he would treat himself, and that he must love the governed as he would his own person.

In Division 2, the Lǎo Zǐ tells the shèng rén to not seek rewards. Division 13 goes further in warning him that receiving honors should be feared because honors are eventually lost.

Here, as a continuation of Division 3, the Lǎo Zǐ warns that administering the government is difficult, as it is “a great source of trouble” like one's own body. Since the shèng rén is not to take high rank in the government for its rewards like honors or favors, he must take the position to benefit the people (Division 8) with peace and order (Division 3), helping them to become physically strong (Division 3), long-lived (Division 7), and enlightened (Division 3 and 27).

DIVISION 10 (第十)

In bringing together your spiritual and bodily souls to embrace the One,
Can you not let go?
Can you focus qì into such softness you are a newborn again?
Can you polish the Xuán mirror to a clarity beyond stain?
Can you love the people and govern the state without resorting to action?
In opening and closing Heaven's Gate,
Can you play the part of the female?
In understanding all within the Four Reaches – Can you do it without using knowledge?
Give birth and nurture.
To give birth without possessing and foster without dominating,
This is called Xuán Dé.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Because people are intelligent and clever (Divisions 3 and 33), they follow some other dào, such as the teachings of Confucius (Division 18), or otherwise become separated from the Dào (Divisions 12, 18, 26, 33, 55). In order for people to follow the Dào they must commit their minds and souls to “embrace the One (一)” – the imperceptible aspect of the Dào that can be approached (Division 14) and attained (Division 39). People are admonished to keep their spirits unadulterated and tranquil like a newborn's, and practice Xuán Dé, which is to raise children and let them develop without controlling or dominating them. They are also admonished to perceive their own Xuán (Division 2) so clearly they understand themselves well; govern other people like a shèng rén (sage) (Division 3); and come to know the world without knowledge (Division 47).

In following the One so close as to "embrace" it, people learn to acquire, or rather, reacquire, the kind of cháng dé (constant dé) everyone displays when they are just born (Divisions 28 and 55) but then lose as they develop;

Qì and the Gates of Heaven. Ancient Chinese commonly believed that a living person normally has ten souls – three hún (魂) and seven pò (魄)^[1]. When a person dies the ten souls disintegrate – the hún find there way to heaven and permanently become spirits called shén (神), but the pò lose their existence^[2]. While alive, a person receives qì (氣) as nourishment from Heaven by breathing them in through the nostrils^[3], which are the Gates of Heaven^[4]. Thus, “playing the part of the female” while “embracing the One” with respect to receiving qì means that the person is receptive to the Dào of Heaven.

Significantly, one's anatomical Gates of Heaven corresponds to the Xuán Pìn Gate, the feminine valley spirit that serves as the root of Heaven (and Earth) (Division 6).

Cháng dé and becoming newly born. Among the Lǎo Zǐ's approximately five thousand words, qì (氣) appears only thrice -- once here, and once in divisions 42 and 55. Here, the Lǎo Zǐ says that one can focus qì in such as way as to become a newborn again. While this is not a total physical transformation, the result and benefit is important in two ways.

The first is that an adult, like a newborn, is totally dependent on its mother, which is the Dào, being mother of all things (Division 25) which is beneficial (Division 52). This relationship is instinctual, i.e., beyond trust, since a newborn has no understanding of trust, which is one aspects of a newborn's cháng dé, the highest form of dé (Divisions 28 and 55).

While a person cannot become a newborn again, a person who has embraced the One can attain the dé like that of newborn's by focusing qì into “softness”, a state of spiritual purity and tranquility, which is the second transformational results and benefit. The Sù Wèn says, “The orb of the liver is the root of all extremes and the residence of the hún"^[5]. (The Sù Wèn (素問) or Basic Questions is one of the two books that compose the Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng (黃帝內經), the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. Like the Lǎo Zǐ, the Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng is composed of 81 divisions within two books, the second being the Líng Shū Jīng (靈樞 經) or variously translated as the Classic of the Divine or Spiritual or Numinous Pivot. The Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng became a Jīng during the Han dynasty, though some scholars believe the Sù Wèn existed at the time the Lǎo Zǐ was being formulated^[6]). These extremes are kinds of adulterations accumulated through life as the Sù Wèn explains in the following anecdote^[7]:

Oxen and horses when led properly can easily wade through the marsh. When let loose, however, they will sink deeper and deeper and can never get out again by themselves. So they have to die. People are just like this. When first born their original spirit is pure and tranquil, profound and unadulterated. But then people gradually take in shaped objects. Those in due course define the six senses.

The eyes will covet color.
The ears will be obstructed by sound.
The mouth will be addicted to flavors.
The nose will always take in smells.
The mind will be intent on refusing and coveting.
The body will desire to be slimmer or fatter.

From all these ups and downs of life, no one is able to wake up by himself. Thus, the sages with compassionate consideration established the doctrine to each people reform. They made them use inner observation of the self and body in order to purify the mind.

Division 12 addresses the plight of adulterated senses and spirit head on.

The Xuán Mirror. Xuán is the unified mystery of a particular thing in which the thing is perceived two different ways depending on whether the observer is in a state with or without desire (see Division 1). Looking into the Xuán mirror, the observer examines himself with and without desire in order to gain understanding of oneself. Division 33 says:

To understand others is to be knowledgeable;
To understand yourself is to be wise.

To "polish the Xuán mirror to a clarity without stain" is to examine oneself impartially, the approach others should use to understand the observer (Division 7).

FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Hun", Encyclopedia Britannica Online . Accessed March 28, 2009.

[2] Mura, Kunio, “Gui”, The Encyclopedia of Taoism, A-Z, Volume 1, edited by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp.458-9.

[3] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, p.165.

[4] Wile, Douglas, The Art of the Bedchamber: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics Including Women's Solo Meditation Texts, State University of New York Press, 1992, p.142.

[5] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, p.166.

[6] "Huangdi Neijing", Wikipedia. Accessed March 28, 2009.

[7] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, pp.172-173.

DIVISION 8 (第八)

The highest good is like water.
The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things
And yet never strives.
It dwells in places the masses of people detest.
Therefore, it is close to the Dào.
In a home, it is the site that matters.
In quality of mind, it is depth that matters.
In giving, the good thing (is being like) Heaven.
In speech, it is good faith that matters.
In governing, the good thing is order.
In affairs, the good thing is ability.
In activity, the good thing is timeliness.
It is because it does not contend that it is never at fault.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Water, which descends from Heaven and ends up in an abyss that covers the Earth, symbolizes the Dào's greatest goodness. Water symbolizes the selflessness (Division 7) and impartiality (Division 5) of the Dào in that it nourishes all life and, thus, benefits all things no matter what people think of it. Water also symbolizes humbleness in that it always seeks the lowest of places (Division 39). By inference, water underlies every idea of being beneficial. Finally, water acts effortlessly and without conflict, the very essence of wú wèi.

Division 8 is a logical continuation of both Divisions 3 and 4, in which the former discusses what an ideal society should be like and the latter refers to the Dào as a watery abyss. Division 8 is also a continuation of both Divisions 5 and 7, in which the former characterizes the Dào as impartial and the latter characterizes the Dào as selfless. In seeking the lowest places, water symbolizes humbleness (Division 39).

The goodness of a home is not the house, but in its situation on Earth where the environment enables people to grow food and become physically strong (Division 3), and presumably, build and maintain a good house that appears to thrive like a tree rooted in the watered ground.

The goodness of mind is depth beyond knowing like a watery abyss (Divisions 4 and 15), which is enlightenment (Division 16).

The goodness of giving is being generous as water falls from Heaven^[1].

In relations with others, i.e., speech, goodness is good faith and trust that promotes social harmony and minimizes conflict like water, which doesn't contend.

The goodness of government is in that it benefits the people ruled at large with peace and order, which is symbolized by water's inability to contend. The government of the shèng rén is described in Division 3.

In an endeavor the goodness is the skill and competence in which it is done; and in deciding to act the goodness is in the timing at which it is done. Skill, competence, and timing are necessary for acting by wú wèi, which again, is like water.

FOOTNOTES
[1] This line is translated by Henricks from the Mǎ Wáng Duī Text B. The comparable line from the Wáng Bì commentary is about good associates or allies being rén (Confucian benevolence; see the commentary in Division 3 on rén). The Wáng Bì version was rejected on two grounds. First, by holding rén to be good, it strongly contradicts other divisions within the Lǎo Zǐ, particularly Division 18. Second, the Mǎ Wáng Duī text is about four centuries older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text. While this doesn't mean the Mǎ Wáng Duī version is actually that much older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text, I speculate that rén was inserted by some Han dynasty official who wanted the Lǎo Zǐ to portray Confucianism in a more positive light or fell victim to the Han synthesis. By Wáng Bì's time, the Han dynasty had just collapsed, and with it the Confucianism formed the basis for Han governance.^[2]

[2] Hooker, Richard, “The Chinese Empire: The Former Han”, World Civilizations: An Internet Classroom and Anthology, Washington State University, Richard Hooker and Paul Brians (principal editors), 1996 (June 6, 1999 update).

DIVISION 3 (第三)

Do not honor the worthy
So that the people will not contend with one another.
Never prize rare treasures and people will not steal.
Never flaunt alluring things and the people won't be confused.

Therefore, in the government of the shèng rén:
He empties the minds of his people
And fills their bellies;
Weakens their ambition
And strengthens their bones.
He constantly keeps them without knowledge (zhī 知) and without desire,
Then those who know (zhì 智) are those who never presume to act.
Act by wú wèi
Then nothing is not in order.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Division 3 is a summary prescription of the shèng rén's (sage's) approach to governance, which primarily consists of working to minimize people's ambitions and desires, and ensuring they are well-fed and physically strong. In admonishing the shèng rén that governs to empty people's minds, Lǎo Zǐ obligates him to teach the people how to obtain enlightenment. By doing so, the nation will be orderly.

The nature of people is to compete for honors (also see Division 13), to covet rare things of value, and to react to those putting on alluring displays. Respectively, these behaviors promote disorder by risking disputes, cheating, and strife; theft; and disturbances caused by misunderstanding of motives. Thus, the Lǎo Zǐ's dào is to not bestow any honors, prize rare things, or put on displays that incite desire.

Two central ideas not mentioned in this division are essential for understanding the Lǎo Zǐ's positions on good government. First, the objective of good government is to benefit the people by maintaining order (see Division 8). The second, articulated in Division 65, is that governing is hard because ordinary people are too knowledgeable, presumably, clever in seeking ways to fulfill the ambitions and desires that contribute to social disorder.

Furthermore, by admonishing the shèng rén to "Act by wú wèi" (or maybe more clearly, “Act without acting”), the shèng rén needs to be so skilled at governing that the act of governing is effortless. This would seem to rule out the use of force, as the Lǎo Zǐ articulates in Divisions 30 and 36. Given all these constraints, the Lǎo Zǐ's prescription to the shèng rén is to create and maintain a social order with the features described in this division below.

The shèng rén ensures that his people are well-fed and physically strong. He works to moderate their ambitions, and prevents them from becoming mischievous and desirous.

The shèng rén “empties minds,” which has two meanings that emanate from the use of two different words for knowledge – zhī (知) and zhì (智) that both appear concurrently in this division and Division 33, the latter noted by Chen^[1]. The etymology of zhī (知) is to be wise in speech^[2], i.e. it is the display of wisdom through the use of words. As zhī knowledge depends on words it is inherently distorted and untrustworthy (Divisions 1 and 2). The shèng rén is admonished in Division 2 to practice the teaching that uses no words, and so seeks to instill knowledge through other means. However, the ideograph zhì (智) is zhī (知) with the symbol of the sun (日 rì) under it^[3]. In this division, zhì (智) is the most legitimate form of knowledge recognized in the Lǎo Zǐ, which is the understanding of cháng (常), because when one understands cháng one becomes enlightened (Division 16). In particular, in order to understand cháng (常) one must empty one's mind (Division 16).

Finally, Division 27 says the shèng rén excels at saving people. Achieving enlightenment is the most important aspect of salvation in the Lǎo Zǐ. In saying the shèng rén who governs empties people's minds, the Lǎo Zǐ implicitly directs him to help his people attain enlightenment. Such efforts promote happiness and good social order since the enlightened don't act. The directions also implicitly make the shèng rén who governs an advocate and teacher of the Lǎo Zǐ's Dào.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Chen, Ellen M., The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, Paragon House, St. Paul, MN, 1989, p.136.

[2] Sears, Richard, "知 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.

[3] Sears, Richard, "智 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.