#17 Can You Imagine a Spontaneous Life?
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 17
Welcome back to The Wisdom of Lao Tzu.
We are reading chapter 17 of Tao Te Ching this week.
You will learn the crucial Taoist idea of naturalness, or spontaneity, and how embracing it helps shape your life and assist your journey of self-fulfillment.
Let’s get to it.
**17**
太上，下 （不）知有之；
其次，親而譽之；
其次，畏之；
其次，侮之。
信不足焉，有不信焉；悠兮其貴言。
功成事遂，百姓皆謂我自然。
Border-crossing: English translations
#1 Lin Yutang’s version
Of the best rulers
The people (only) know that they exist;
The next best they love and praise;
The next they fear;
And the next they revile.
When they do not command the people’s faith,
Some will lose faith in them,
And then they resort to oaths!
But (of the best) when their task is accomplished, their work done,
The people all remark, “we have done it ourselves.”
#2 Edmund Ryden’s version
Regarding the highest rulers, those below only know of their existence;
As for lesser ones, they love and praise them;
As for even lesser ones, they fear them;
As for the least ones, they mock them.
When trustworthiness is lacking, then there is lack of trust.
Ah-ha! What a valuable saying.
If I complete affairs and achieve my goals,
Then the ordinary people say: ‘for us it was just natural.’1
#3 D. C. Lau’s version
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;
Next comes one with whom they take liberties.
When there is not enough faith, there is lack of good faith.
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.’2
Deeper dive
One theme of this chapter is Lao Tzu’s evaluation of different types of political authority.
Depending on the subtle differences in the original text, the first sentence of this chapter can be translated into two versions. The three English versions all chose 「下知有之」, meaning that people are aware of the presence of political authority.
But an alternative textual tradition in Chinese classics inherited 「不知有之」， which says that people are not even aware of the existence of political authority.
If we adopt the first version, we know that Lao Tzu’s optimal political authority is particular in that people only know they exist. In this case, they do not feel pressure from political order because it is not heavy-handed and meddlesome.
An alternative interpretation is that people generally do not feel the presence of political authority. This is the best era for them because they already live in a natural political and social order (this idea is tied to the last sentence of this chapter).
We get from both interpretations that the best time for ordinary people is when they are not very much interfered with by political authority.
Most translations, including the three English versions cited here, interpret the idea of「太上」as the “best ruler” or the “highest ruler.”
This is based on Wang Bi’s (226-249 AD) commentary: “The highest refers to the great man. The great man is situated above the rest. Therefore, he is the highest. Above all others, he practices nonaction, offers guidance without words, and gets everything moving without initiating by himself. In this sense, the common people know a bit about his existence”「太上，謂大人也，大人在上，故曰太上。大人在上，居無為之事，行不言之教，萬物作焉而不為始，故天下知有之而已。」
However, this prevailing translating tradition is problematic as Chinese history records and classics use the two characters 「太上」to mean “the best kind” instead of saying something about a person.
In descending order, in the following best kind of historical period, political authority is generally supported by people, as they think highly of the political establishment. Lao Tzu would most likely give us a good-natured laugh when he hears praise words on any government or political order, as it is still far from his ideal.
Then, there is a political authority that inspires fear and trepidation from the people. This is usually done in two forms: an autocratic and unpredictable political leadership and a draconian system. In either case, ordinary people’s lives are always on the edge as the chains tossed by the political order are everywhere. They have to be cautious not to cause trouble. Their life is like walking on a block of thin ice.
The worst type registers a continual and pervading sense of hatred and abomination among the people. This political order is on the brink of collapse. It cannot impose a full-scale crackdown on dissenting voices in society but still has currency for some members and groups.
After describing different types of political order, Lao Tzu shares his insight on what matters most for governance: trust and faith.
Once people do not believe in what a government says or does as a service provider, the foundations of the polity are already shaken.
As Lao Tzu said, “Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly,” which means that political authority should be careful about the country’s most fundamental laws and norms.
Trust cannot be earned by playing with regulations and making the written laws comprehensive. The best constitution is certainly not the most thorough and detailed one.
Trust is earned by empowering ordinary people to achieve things by themselves. And they naturally ascribe their achievements to themselves, not political authority. As the last sentence of this chapter states, “It happened to us naturally.”
Naturalness 自然, by itself or of its own, differs from the “natural world.” It is a first-order idea in Taoist thinking from which political order and rules are derived. Applied to construct human society, it contributes to a natural order instead of a forced order or chaos resulting from anarchy.
So, Lao Tzu’s ideal polity is one in which natural harmony is realized for each individual and their environment.
Spiritual Taoism
So, what does Lao Tzu’s view on political order mean for us?
One obvious answer is a sensitivity to risk. Every individual’s risk perception differs due to experiences and knowledge.
Like the human body that goes through a cycle or the myriad things in nature that constantly change, the ranking of political order implies its fluidity and temporariness.
In other words, no one political order can withstand the change of time forever.
Risks evolve with external turbulences. This requires a heightened awareness of subtle changes that may amount to a substantial risk for each of us.
This mindset allows us to think about and prepare for risks while living in security and comfort. While it sounds stressful and a bit overreactive, Taoists understand this is the natural course of things. And it is also the innate requirement of spiritual autonomy and self-reliance.
A more important message is bringing naturalness or spontaneity into our life’s journey.
We are blessed with a unique and innate natural endowment and talent. It is just that we lose the sense of that particular self within us in the ups and downs of life.
Sometimes, we succumb to the demands of society and social relationships by forgetting and forsaking our life’s calling.
But, by awakening to recognize our inborn nature, we can restart life through self-discovery.
Through self-discovery, we walk on a path of self-fulfillment. Being self-fulfilled, we restore a balance between our internal order and the outside.
This is the Taoist way to build social harmony through spontaneous association and collaboration.
Eventually, with the expansion of naturalness in all spheres of life, generating a natural social and political order becomes possible.
In this healing and restorative order, the harmonizing of interests among individuals, social groups, and the political order can be founded and sustained.
Thank you for reading!
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Until next week,
Yuxuan
Daodejing, trans. Edmund Ryden. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 37.
Tao Te Ching, trans. D. C. Lau. (London: Penguin Classics, 1963), 21.