Dao De Jing – Chapter 65

Many readers misinterpret this chapter. By interpreting the text literally, they assume the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) advocates a “policy of keeping people ignorant” to serve ruling powers and better control the populace.

In ancient times, those who excelled in practicing the Dao
did not seek to enlighten the people, but rather to keep them simple.

The people are difficult to govern because they have too much cleverness.

Thus, to govern a state by cleverness is to bring harm to the state;
to govern without cleverness is to bring blessing to the state.

To understand these two principles is to grasp the fundamental pattern (or “archetype”).
Always holding to this fundamental pattern is called Profound Virtue.

Profound Virtue is deep, far-reaching,
moves contrary to ordinary things—
and only then does it lead to Great Harmony.

Note

The terms “wise” and “wisdom”, as well as “simple”, are polysemous here:

• “clever” and “wisdom” refer to discriminative cleverness—superficial shrewdness that fixates on distinctions, scrutiny, and contention.
• “simple” denotes non-discriminative simplicity—an outward appearance of “naivety” that embodies natural integrity.

As Chapter 65 states, excessive emphasis on such “cleverness”—obsession with intricate names, forms, concepts, and standards, or entanglement in calculation and scheming—severs humans from authenticity.

True statesmanship flows with the Dao’s simplicity.

Governance through cunning statecraft, manipulative schemes, or overreaching regulations invariably sows discord in society, thwarting the natural order as water defies containment.

The Paradox of Reality

The movement behind phenomena often operates inversely to surface appearances.

This echoes the chapter’s warning that worldly “wisdom” breeds systemic chaos, while returning to primordial simplicity aligns with the profound virtue that harmonizes all things.

Further Reading

• Chapters 3, 18, 19: This chapter is a concentrated expression of Laozi’s ideas on “anti-intellectualism” and “simplicity.” Chapter 3 proposes “emptying the minds and filling the bellies,” Chapter 18 points out that “when cleverness appears, great hypocrisy arises,” and Chapter 19 advocates “renouncing sageness and discarding wisdom.” This chapter further elaborates on the governing principle of “not enlightening the people but keeping them simple-minded,” emphasizing the rejection of cunning and artifice to guide the people back to a state of innocence.
• Chapters 10, 20, 28: These chapters share a common core imagery. Each uses the “infant” or “newborn child” as a symbol of the ideal personality, representing a state of non-knowledge, non-desire, and unspoiled purity. The “simplicity” advocated in this chapter is not ignorance but the same kind of sincere simplicity embodied by the “infant”—an expression of “returning to simplicity.”
• Chapter 57: Similarly focused on statecraft and governance, Chapter 57 proposes “governing the state with rectitude.” This chapter, on the other hand, elaborates on two governing strategies: “Governing the state with cunning is the state’s curse; not governing it with cunning is the state’s blessing.” It emphasizes that rulers should base their governance on sincerity and natural simplicity, avoiding social turmoil caused by schemes and cleverness.

古之善為道者，非以明民，將以愚之。民之難治，以其智多。故以智治國，國之賊；不以智治國，國之福。知此兩者亦𥡴式。常知𥡴式，是謂玄德。玄德深矣，遠矣，與物反矣，然後乃至大順。