Hong Mang said, “Wandering listlessly about, I know not what I seek; carried on by a wild impulse, I know not where I am going. I wander about in the strange manner which you have seen, and see that nothing proceeds without method and order – what more should I know?” Yun Jiang replied, “I also seem carried on by an aimless influence, and yet the people follow me wherever I go. I cannot help their doing so. But now as they thus imitate me, I wish to hear a word from you in the case.” The other said, “What disturbs the regular method of Heaven, comes into collision with the nature of things, prevents the accomplishment of the mysterious operation of Heaven, scatters the herds of animals, makes the birds all sing at night, is calamitous to vegetation, and disastrous to all insects – all this is owing, I conceive, to the error of governing men.” “What then,” said Yun Jiang, “shall I do?” “Ah,” said the other, “you will only injure them! I will leave you in my dancing way, and return to my place.”

Yun Jiang rejoined, “It has been a difficult thing to get this meeting with you, O Heaven! I should like to hear from you a word more.” Hong Mang said, “Ah! your mind needs to be nourished. Do you only take the position of doing nothing, and things will of themselves become transformed. Neglect your body; cast out from you your power of hearing and sight; forget what you have in common with things; cultivate a grand similarity with the chaos of the plastic ether; unloose your mind; set your spirit free; be still as if you had no soul. Of all the multitude of things everyone returns to its root. Everyone returns to its root, and does not know that it is doing so.

They all are as in the state of chaos, and during all their existence they do not leave it. If they knew that they were returning to their root, they would be consciously leaving it. They do not ask its name; they do not seek to spy out their nature; and thus it is that things come to life of themselves.” Yun Jiang said, “Heaven, you have conferred on me the knowledge of your operation, and revealed to me the mystery of it. All my life I had been seeking for it, and now I have obtained it.” He then bowed twice, with his head to the ground, arose, took his leave, and walked away.

The ordinary men of the world all rejoice in men's agreeing with themselves, and dislike men's being different from themselves. This rejoicing and this dislike arise from their being bent on making themselves distinguished above all others. But have they who have this object at heart so risen out above all others? They depend on them to rest quietly in the position which they desire, and their knowledge is not equal to the multitude of the arts of all those others!

When they wish again to administer a state for its ruler, they proceed to employ all the methods which the kings of the three dynasties considered profitable without seeing the evils of such a course. This is to make the state depend on the peradventure of their luck. But how seldom it is that that peradventure does not issue in the ruin of the state! Not once in ten thousand instances will such men preserve a state. Not once will they succeed, and in more than ten thousand cases will they ruin it. Alas that the possessors of territory the rulers of states should not know the danger of employing such men!

Now the possessors of territory possess the greatest of all things. Possessing the greatest of all things possessing, that is, men they should not try to deal with them as simply things. And it is he who is not a thing himself that is therefore able to deal with all things as they severally require. When a ruler clearly understands that he who should so deal with all things is not a thing himself, will he only rule the kingdom? He will go out and in throughout the universe at his pleasure; he will roam over the nine regions, alone in going, alone in coming. Him we call the sole possessor of this ability; and the sole possessor of this ability is what is called the noblest of all.

The teaching of this great man goes forth as the shadow from the substance, as the echo responds to the sound. When questioned, he responds, exhausting from his own stores all that is in the enquirer's mind, as if front to front with all under Heaven. His resting-place gives forth no sound; his sphere of activity has no restriction of place, He conducts everyone to his proper goal, proceeding to it and bringing him back to it as by his own movement. His movements have no trace; his going forth and his re-enterings have no deviation; his course is like that of the sun without beginning or ending.

If you would praise or discourse about his personality, he is united with the great community of existences. He belongs to that great community, and has no individual self. Having no individual self, how should he have anything that can be called his? If you look at those who have what they call their own, they are the superior men of former times; if you look at him who has nothing of the kind, he is the friend of Heaven and Earth.

Mean, and yet demanding to be allowed their free course – such are Things. Low, and yet requiring to be relied on – such are the People. Hidden as to their issues, and yet requiring to be done – such are Affairs. Coarse, and yet necessary to be set forth – such are Laws. Remote, and yet necessary to have dwelling (in one's self) – such is Righteousness. Near, and yet necessary to be widely extended – such is Benevolence. Restrictive, and yet necessary to be multiplied – such are Ceremonies. Lodged in the center, and yet requiring to be exalted – such is Virtue. Always One, and yet requiring to be modified – such is the Dao. Spiritlike, and yet requiring to be exercised – such is Heaven.

Therefore the sages contemplated Heaven, but did not assist it. They tried to perfect their virtue, but did not allow it to embarrass them. They proceeded according to the Dao, but did not lay any plans. They associated benevolence with all their doings, but did not rely on it. They pursued righteousness extensively, but did not try to accumulate it. They responded to ceremonies, but did not conceal their opinion as to the troublesomeness of them. They engaged in affairs as they occurred, and did not decline them. They strove to render their laws uniform, but feared that confusion might arise from them. They relied upon the people, and did not set light by them. They depended on things as their instruments, and did not discard them.

They did not think things equal to what they employed them for, but yet they did not see that they could do without employing them. Those who do not understand Heaven are not pure in their virtue. Those who do not comprehend the Dao have no course which they can pursue successfully. Alas for them who do not clearly understand the Dao!

What is it that we call the Dao? There is the Dao, or Way of Heaven; and there is the Dao, or Way of Man. Doing nothing and yet attracting all honor is the Way of Heaven; doing and being embarrassed thereby is the Way of Man. It is the Way of Heaven that plays the part of the Lord; it is the Way of Man that plays the part of the Servant. The Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are far apart. They should be clearly distinguished from each other.

Horses’ Hoofs Horses can with their hoofs tread on the hoarfrost and snow, and with their hair withstand the wind and cold; they feed on the grass and drink water; they prance with their legs and leap: this is the true nature of horses. Though there were made for them grand towers and large dormitories, they would prefer not to use them. But when Bo-le arose and said, “I know well how to manage horses,” men proceeded to singe and mark them, to clip their hair, to pare their hoofs, to halter their heads, to bridle them and hobble them, and to confine them in stables and corrals.

When subjected to this treatment, two or three in every ten of them died. Men proceeded further to subject them to hunger and thirst, to gallop them and race them, and to make them go together in regular order. In front were the evils of the bit and ornamented breastbands, and behind were the terrors of the whip and switch. When so treated, more than half of them died. The first potter said, “I know well how to deal with clay”; and men proceeded to mould it into circles as exact as if made by the compass, and into squares as exact as if formed by the measuring square. The first carpenter said, “I know well how to deal with wood”; and men proceeded to make it bent as if by the application of the hook, and straight as if by the application of the plumb-line. But is it the nature of clay and wood to require the application of the compass and square, of the hook and line? And yet age after age men have praised Bo-le, saying, “He knew well how to manage horses,” and also the first potter and carpenter, saying, “They knew well how to deal with clay and wood.” This is just the error committed by the governors of the world.

According to my idea, those who knew well to govern mankind would not act so. The people had their regular and constant nature: they wove and made themselves clothes; they tilled the ground and got food. This was their common faculty. They were all one in this, and did not form themselves into separate classes; so were they constituted and left to their natural tendencies. Therefore in the age of perfect virtue men walked along with slow and grave step, and with their looks steadily directed forwards. At that time, on the hills there were no foot-paths, nor excavated passages; on the lakes there were no boats nor dams; all creatures lived in companies; and the places of their settlement were made close to one another.

Birds and beasts multiplied to flocks and herds; the grass and trees grew luxuriant and long. In this condition the birds and beasts might be led about without feeling the constraint; the nest of the magpie might be climbed to, and peeped into. Yes, in the age of perfect virtue, men lived in common with birds and beasts, and were on terms of equality with all creatures, as forming one family – how could they know among themselves the distinctions of superior men and small men? Equally without knowledge, they did not leave the path of their natural virtue; equally free from desires, they were in the state of pure simplicity. In that state of pure simplicity, the nature of the people was what it ought to be. But when the sagely men appeared, limping and wheeling about in the exercise of benevolence, pressing along and standing on tiptoe in the doing of righteousness, then men universally began to be perplexed.

Those sages also went to excess in their performances of music, and in their gesticulations in the practice of ceremonies, and then men began to be separated from one another. If the raw materials had not been cut and hacked, who could have made a sacrificial vase from them? If the natural jade had not been broken and injured, who could have made the handles for the libation-cups from it? If the attributes of the Dao had not been disallowed, how should they have preferred benevolence and righteousness? If the instincts of the nature had not been departed from, how should ceremonies and music have come into use? If the five colors had not been confused, how should the ornamental figures have been formed? If the five notes had not been confused, how should they have supplemented them by the musical accords? The cutting and hacking of the raw materials to form vessels was the crime of the skillful workman; the injury done to the characteristics of the Dao in order to the practice of benevolence and righteousness was the error of the sagely men.

In the time of (the Di) He-xu, the people occupied their dwellings without knowing what they were doing, and walked out without knowing where they were going. They filled their mouths with food and were glad; they slapped their stomachs to express their satisfaction. This was all the ability which they possessed. But when the sagely men appeared, with their bendings and stoppings in ceremonies and music to adjust the persons of all, and hanging up their benevolence and righteousness to excite the endeavors of all to reach them, in order to comfort their minds, then the people began to stump and limp about in their love of knowledge, and strove with one another in their pursuit of gain, so that there was no stopping them: this was the error of those sagely men.