Tao Te Ching

Chapter 58
[Original text]

Govern the country with righteousness[1], employ troops with strangeness[2], and conquer the world with nothing.How do I know it?From this: There are many taboos in the world[3], but the people are poor; there are many sharp weapons[4] in the people, and the country is stunned;

Therefore, the sage said: "I do nothing, and the people transform themselves[8]; I am quiet, and the people are righteous; I do nothing, and the people are rich; I have no desires, and the people are simple."

【Note】

[1] Positive: regular, dignified.Here refers to the righteous way, or the way of clear and inaction.

[2] Strange: Strange plan.

[3] Take: governance, management.

[4] Taboo: Taboo.

[5] Sharp weapon: sharp weapon.

[6] Artifice: Skill, skill, and wisdom.

[7] Strange things: Strange and evil things.

[8] Self-hua: Self-evolution, development.

【Analysis】

Govern the country in an upright manner, lead the army to fight with ingenuity, and win and govern the world by not harming or interfering with the people.How do I know it should be like this?According to the following things: the more taboos are set, the more things the people cannot do, which affects the people's livelihood and makes the people poorer; the people have too many sharp weapons, and when conflicts arise, the chances of using sharp weapons to hurt each other will increase. The more the number, the more chaotic the country will be; the more skills the people will pay attention to some strange things, and the strange things in the country will increase accordingly; the more good things there will be, the more thieves will be.

Therefore, the sage said: "I do nothing, and let the people educate themselves according to the laws of nature; I keep quiet and calm, and let the people correct their own mistakes; I don't ask the people to do anything, and the people will naturally be rich; I have never done anything. If there are many desires, the people also seek simplicity and reduce desires.”

【Explanation by Famous Artists】

Mr. He Shang:
To, to also.Angels are righteous people, so that they can even have a country.Odd, fraud also.Angels and deceitful people use soldiers.A person who does nothing and does nothing makes the world the master.This, today also.Lao Tzu said: How do I know God's will?Based on what I have seen today.The world is called the master of man.Those who are taboo are also forbidden.Today, if you are troubled, you will be treacherous, if you ban too much, you will cheat, and you will be poor if you are in danger.Those who have sharp weapons have the right to do so.If the people have many powers, the eyes of those who see will be dazzled, and those who listen will be confused.People are called Renjun and princes of hundreds of miles.Many skills, that is to say, depicting palaces and temples, carving chapters and clothes, strange things grow, and the bottom turns into the top, embellished with gold and jade, and the color of the embroidery grows day by day.Dharma things, good things too.When rare and precious things grow and become prominent, farming will be abolished, hunger and cold will come together, and thieves will abound.

The sage said: I cultivate the Tao and inherit the heavens, and I will not change anything, and the people will become themselves.The sage said: I am very quiet, I do not speak or teach, and the people are loyal and upright.I don't have to call for corvees, and the people are safe in their jobs, so they are all rich.I often have no desires, go to Chinese, and dress in a small way, and the people will follow me as simple as I am.The sage said: I cultivate the Tao and keep the truth, never get rid of the six emotions, and the people will follow me to be clean.

(End of this chapter)