In the Dao De Jing, Laozi repeatedly emphasizes that rulers must practice governance through “non-action” (wu wei or non-coercive governance).
He fervently promotes this political ideal, advocating for aligning with the natural course of things and adapting to their intrinsic essence.
(more…)In this chapter, Laozi proposes three profoundly important principles for guiding one’s conduct in life and interacting with others.
(more…)In this chapter, Laozi reiterates two pairs of contradictory phenomena: lightness and heaviness, movement and stillness, asserting that within each contradiction lies a fundamental aspect.
(more…)This chapter unravels the ontology of the Dao, with Laozi proposing the four great entities: “Dao,” “Heaven,” “Earth,” and “Human.”
(more…)Chapter 24 of the Dao De Jing deconstructs human vanity through paradoxical aphorisms.
(more…)This chapter and Chapter 17 mutually correspond. Chapter 17 reveals that harsh policies and severe punishments only generate “fear and disdain” among the people, thus urging rulers to implement reforms. The current chapter elaborates on the principle of “speaking little in harmony with nature (Dao)”.
(more…)Chapter 22 of the Dao De Jing elaborates on the dialectics presented in Chapter II, evolving from the transformation of contradictions to the dynamic of qualitative inversion.
(more…)In Chapter 20 of the Dao De Jing, Laozi delineates the distinction between Dao cultivators and ordinary individuals. Those who follow the Dao are not preoccupied with material possessions or transient pleasures but instead devote themselves to spiritual cultivation and the comprehension of the Dao.
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