The Thread of Dao Read online

  Acted for, but not expected of

  Perfection is cultivated, and not dwelled upon

  Surely, what is not dwelled upon

  Does not leave

  [ie, trying to accumulate a positive persona through artificial means will only result in ruin]

  Chapter Three

  Do not exalt the worthy

  And the people will not fight

  Do not praise goods which are difficult to obtain

  And the people will not steal

  Do not display what is desirable

  And their hearts will not be in chaos

  Therefore, the Sage’s government

  Empties the heart and enriches the stomach

  Softens the will and strengthens the bones

  People then remain uncontrived and without desires

  While the scheming do not dare to act

  Act by not acting

  And everything will fall into place

  [ie, excessive desires only ruin people’s happiness; therefore, the Sage reduces these desires and opens people up to appreciating what is truly valuable in life – social harmony and inner peace.]

  Chapter Four

  Dao is a container

  Though used (filled) again and again

  It is never full

  Profound! As though the ancestor of all things

  Rounding the points

  Untying the knots

  Softening the glare

  Unifying the dust

  Tranquil! As though having a life of its own

  I do not know whose child it is

  It appears to have preceded the primordial ruler

  [Like King Yu’s irrigation channels, the Dao spreads life giving energy throughout and so is never full.]

  Chapter Five

  Heaven and Earth are not (willfully) benevolent

  The myriad things are treated no differently

  Than grass for dogs

  Sages are not (willfully) benevolent

  The hundred clans are treated no differently

  Than grass for dogs

  The gate of Heaven and Earth

  Is it not like a bagpipe?

  Empty yet not finished

  It moves, and again more is pushed forth

  To speak countless words is worthless

  This is not as good as guarding balance within

  [Speaking countless unnecessary words, fabricating reality and accumulating artificial ideas, will not provide the understanding acquired by allowing situations to flow in their natural direction, thereby revealing themselves]

  Chapter Six

  Be a valley to the spirit and you will not die

  This is called the Fathomless and the Female

  The gate to the Fathomless and the Female

  Is called The Root of Heaven and Earth

  Soft and gentle

  This is her way of existence

  Do not draw on her use laboriously

  [Valleys are often river channels. Lying low, water is able to flow through them, between the mountains.]

  Chapter Seven

  Heaven has longevity, Earth has continuit y

  Heaven and Earth have the power of longevity and continuity because they do not live for themselves

  This is how they can live for so long

  Therefore, sages leave themselves behind

  And they end up in front

  They do not cater to themselves

  Yet they persist

  Is it not because they are without selfishness and wickedness

  That they are able to fulfill themselves?

  [ie, because sages remain empty (of ego) and take the low position, like the valley or water channel, life continues to flow through them]

  Chapter Eight

  The highest excellence is like water

  The excellence of water benefits all things

  And does not fight against them

  It dwells in the places that people detest

  How close it is to Dao!

  Such excellence in dwelling can be found in the Earth

  Such excellence in the heart can be found in its depths

  Such excellence in giving can be found in benevolence

  Such excellence in speech can be found in sincerity

  Such excellence in aligning can be found in order

  Such excellence in professionalism can be found in competence

  Such excellence in action can be found in appropriate timing

  Simply because it does not fight

  (Water) has no enemy

  [When people are empty (of ego) and take the low position, like the valley or water channel, the above benefits are found in them, all of which, according to Daoists, require non-obstruction and flowing with nature]

  Chapter Nine (as it appears in the earliest known copy of the Dao De Jing , found at Guodian)

  To accumulate until full

  Is not as good as coming to a stop

  When rushing waters gather

  Nothing can be long protected

  When gold and jade fill the halls

  Nothing can preserve them

  When fortune and wealth bring arrogance

  They bring the misfortune of their own loss

  Having achieved the goal, withdraw yourself

  This is the way of Heaven

  [Consider that hoarding wealth, rather than circulating it back into the economy, suffocates the economy that this wealth relies on. Hoarding power, rather than allowing rights and credit where it is due, will result in resentment and loss of power. Allowing wealth and power to flow outwardly in a natural course ensures their perpetuity.]

  As these chapters show, the wisdom of Lao Zi benefitted greatly from the ancient veneration of King Yu’s wisdom, while the Dao De Jing functioned like a juncture point in one of King Yu’s water channels, accumulating and spreading his wisdom throughout ancient China, and beyond.

  Guan Zi, Jixia Academy, and Chu Kingdom

  Guan Zi, also known as Guan Zhong (720-645 BC), was a Prime Minister of Qi State and key advisor to Duke Huan, ruler of Qi State from 685-643 BC. By following Guan Zhong’s advice, Duke Huan amplified the power and prosperity of Qi, and was recognized as Hegemon of the Zhou empire.

  The works found in the Guan Zi , attributed to Guan Zhong, are now generally believed to have, in fact, been written by scholars much later, during the 4 th century BC at Jixia Academy in the state of Qi. [6] It should also be noted that these writings were not compiled into the complete Guan Zi encyclopedia of 86 books until much later, around 10 BC.

  The Guan Zi is generally considered a Legalist text, which is a school of thought associated more closely with Qin State after the fall of the Zhou Dynasty (256 BC). Legalism had already gained much attention by 360 BC, however, after Duke Xiao of Qin followed the advice of his minister Shang Yang and implemented strict Legalist policies in Qin as of 363 BC. These policies gave Qin the power and might that allowed it to take on, and soon thereafter replace, the Zhou Dynasty.

  While Legalism argued that strict enforcement of laws would ensure order, the proto-Daoist texts within the Guan Zi act as a counterbalance to this position by pointing to deeper sources of social co-operation and harmony: inner peace and inner harmony – the “true nature” of human beings. This position is also in contrast to the combination of Daoism and Legalism found in The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di Si Jing) . The Four Canons , perhaps written somewhat earlier than the Guan Zi , closer to 400 BC, resembles Lao Zi’s philosophy that rulers must be frugal, modest, and humble. It advocates not over-taxing the citizens, nor killing captives, or forcing corvee labour. It also speaks of yin and yang, and touches on the natural interplay of these forces in nature. It does not, however, speak at any length on the subject of internal cultivation, beyond the general principle that a ruler should dwell in the absence of desire. Further, it advocates the invariable and merciless application of punishments. Overall, Four Canons is closer to Legalism than t
he Guan Zi .

  Though the Four Canons may pre-date the Guan Zi as an example of Daoist philosophy, the Bai Xin, Xin Shu, and Nei Ye not only adhere more closely to Lao Zi’s philosophy, but also to the idioms, form, and style in which his proposals and prescriptions appear in the Dao De Jing . Such similarities, detailed throughout Thread of Dao , show that these texts, rather than the Four Canons , are the likely precursors of the Dao De Jing , if any exist.

  The Bai Xin, Xin Shu, and Nei Ye , along with all Warring States era Daoist texts, appear to have come from the culture of Chu State, located in the south of China, though they may have come to fruition at Jixia Academy. Jixia Academy, located in Qi State [7] (north of Chu, on the eastern coast), hosted scholars from many different states, and is said to have been instituted by Duke Huan of Qi, under whom Guan Zi served as Prime Minister. The academy was later revitalized by King Xuan, ruler of Qi from 319-301 BC. [8] It is likely that Chu scholars were most active in Qi around 330 BC [9] thanks to stable relations between Qi and Chu, a result of the rising power of Qin in the West, and so it may have been during this time that the Bai Xin, Xin Shu, and Nei Ye found their way into the scholarly lectures and conversations in Qi.

  Considerable power shifts driven by Qin’s expansion east and south would have encouraged Chu scholars to travel north-east to Qi around 330 BC. King Huiwen of Qin began exerting military pressure eastwards on Chu around 337 BC. Chu then absorbed Yue, to its east, in 334 BC. Qin later absorbed Ba and Shu to the west of Chu in 316 BC. This may have given Chu scholars further incentive to travel east and north, towards Qi, after 337 BC, though it wasn’t until 278 BC that Qin successfully attacked the capital of Chu, forcing them to relocate it. In 313 BC, King Huiwen of Qin enticed King Huai of Chu to cut ties with Qi, so as to repair ties between Chu and Qin after a failed allied attack of several states against Qin. This cooling of the previous relations between Chu and Qi, following further threats from Qin, may have strained the camaraderie at Jixia Academy and driven Chu scholars out of Qi around 313 BC, suggesting that proto-Daoist writings coming out of Jixia Academy would have pre-dated this event.

  [10]

  In 299 BC, when the prolific Daoist philosopher and storyteller Zhuang Zi (aka Zhuang Zhou; Chuang Tzu) was 30 years old (died at 45), and Meng Zi (aka Mencius) was 73 years old (died at 83), King Qingxiang of Chu came to power. King Qingxian’s childhood tutor was buried with the earliest known excerpts of the Dao De Jing , at Guodian. This timeline could put King Qingxian’s tutor at Jixia Academy around 330 BC, while relations were relatively calm between Qi and Chu. [11]

  Further, the proto-Daoist texts in the Guan Zi show a counter current to the (proto-)Legalism of Shang Yang. Shang Yang’s ideas likely found their way into Jixia Academy after their implementation by Duke Xiao of Qin in 363 BC, and continued to influence scholars after his execution by Xiao’s successor, King Huiwen of Qin, in 338 BC. [12] If the Legalism in Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor (circa 400 BC) predated the implementation of Shang Yang’s policies (363 BC), it may be that Shang Yang’s ideologies were simply a radical form of the prevailing philosophical climate, a climate that the authors of the Guan Zi hoped to transform. Their words foresaw the consequences of too much rigidity and, thus, shared methods for cultivating inner peace and enlightenment in an effort to mitigate tyranny, violence, and the inevitable chaos that follows them. It, therefore, seems likely that the proto-Daoist Guan Zi texts were first written down sometime after or during Shang Yang’s lifetime, when Legalist ideas had gained considerable influence.

  While the Bai Xin, Xin Shu, and Nei Ye appear to be early developments of Daoist ideas, these ideas could very well have been kept secret within the Zhou capital in Zhou State [13] (north of Chu, surrounded by Han State), where Lao Zi is said to have lived around 500 BC. As Chu began to implement the Zhou culture in its political and martial activities, with the inspired reforms of King Zhuang of Chu (ruled 613-591 BC), esoteric Daoist teachings would have slowly come to light, finding a welcome environment in Chu’s combination of shamanic and scholarly culture. It may also be that the moral teachings of Zhou were gradually interpreted by Chu’s shamanic elders and transformed into the Daoist teachings later attributed to Lao Zi in the Dao De Jing . If we are to go by the traditional dating and authorship of the Dao De Jing and Guan Zi , however, Lao Zi seems to have been inspired by the Bai Xin, Xin Shu, and Nei Ye , which would have been available to him as the Zhou imperial librarian. This is to assume, of course, that he was not personally instructed in the “art of the heart-mind” while working amongst the empire’s best in the Zhou capital. After all, Qi State was loyal to the Zhou empire, and so any traditions on the subtleties of leadership and internal cultivation that Guan Zi was privy to would have been accessible to a worthy student in the Zhou capital.

  After King Zhuang died, he was succeeded by kings whose adherence to the Zhou principles varied widely. However, history shows that King Huai (ruled 328-299 BC) respected these principles, and passed them on to his son, later known as King Qingxian, through an imperial tutor, [14] suggesting that Chu scholars would have had incentive to develop and write on such subjects under King Huai. These scholars would have travelled between Chu and the Jixia Academy in Qi to further their education and writing, and consequently their status as proficient teachers in Chu and Qi. Though Chu eventually fell to Qin in 223 BC, the region continued to preserve the rich Zhou-influenced culture that developed there during the reign of King Zhuang.

  King Zhuang of Chu (ruled 613-591 BC) was a particularly boisterous and ruthless leader until he met Zhou Minister Wang Sun Man, who admonished him that virtue and not bronze (a resource Chu had in abundance and used for weaponry) provides a king with true power. [15] This inspired King Zhuang to observe the Zhou rites, and make Chu a leading example of Zhou culture in matters of state and war. [16] King Zhuang brought Chu from being viewed as a state ruled by ‘barbarians’ to later being lauded by Confucius (551-479 BC) as a true example of high culture, and proof of the prosperity that follows adherence to the Zhou Dynasty’s evolved approach to politics. As a result of his social and cultural reforms, and the power that they afforded him, King Zhuang was named Hegemon of the Zhou Dynasty, a position held several decades earlier by Duke Huan of Qi (ruled 685-643 BC), Guan Zi’s employer. [17]

  Lao Zi is believed to have lived in Chengzhou during his service in the imperial library, the same place where King Zhuang was admonished by Wang Sun Man; however, it was 100 years after King Zhuang’s rule that Lao Zi, aka Li Er, is said to have worked in the Zhou library, and instructed Confucius on Zhou rites. Nonetheless, we can see in King Zhuang’s adoption of Zhou culture and the parallels between his behaviour and Lao Zi’s teachings that Lao Zi was also influenced by the moral ideals of Zhou. For example, King Zhou punished his own son for breaching proprietary law (equality under the law), and showed mercy once his authority had been established. Zhuang also ensured that those holding positions of power in his kingdom were familiar with Zhou rites and ancient classics such as the Book of Songs . This influenced even Chu warriors to become proficient in Zhou rites and moral standards. When Chu defeated the Jin army, King Zhuang would not allow his troops to pile the bodies of the Jin soldiers as a victory celebration, but insisted they be buried in the same manner as their own troops. Following this burial, King Zhuang paid his respects by worshipping the God of the Yellow River. [18] This respect for one’s adversary is prescribed in Lao Zi’s chapter 31:

  Beautiful weapons are instruments of ill omen

  All creatures should despise them

  Therefore, those who have Dao do not stay with them

  The superior man (junzi) prefers to stay on the left

  But those who use weapons prefer the right

  Weapons are not instruments of good omen

  They are not instruments of the junzi

  If an attacker cannot be stopped, and weapons are used

  To be calm and unemotional is considered most important

/>   If victory is then won, do not be pleased

  For to be pleased with this would be to celebrate murder

  Anyone who celebrates murder

  Is not capable of obtaining the will of the world!

  For auspicious matters they [junzi] stay on the left

  For ominous matters, they [junzi] stay on the right

  When the low ranking officer is on the left

  And the high ranking officer is on the right

  This is said to observe the rites of mourning

  When many people are killed

  This is cause for sympathy and mourning

  Victory in war

  Is also cause for the mourning rites to be observed

  Though Lao Zi is believed to have worked in Zhou State, scholars ascribe Daoist thought mainly to the Chu region. This discrepancy is mitigated by the belief that Lao Zi’s birthplace was in what is now Guoyang county, Anhui Province, in the north-eastern corner of the former Chu Kingdom. We can also see, for example in DDJ31 above, that the author of the Dao De Jing subscribed to Chu’s elevation of the left side over the right side, [19] in contrast to the Zhou preference for the right over the left. Furthermore, after King Zhuang made Chu a stronghold of Zhou culture and scholarship, it follows that Daoist interpretations and expansions of this culture were likely to arise, especially alongside the potent shamanism and nature worship that Chu was formerly looked down upon for by the other Zhou states. Chu had a reputation for being culturally anarchistic, rejecting the authority and norms of the Zhou Empire, and absorbing from the various cultures that Chu Kingdom enveloped. It appears to have been this syncretism, infused with a pervading influence of Zhou culture, which gave rise to the Daoist school of thought, and provided a fresh approach to the Zhou teachings of Confucius, and, perhaps more significantly, a fresh approach to the rigid Legalist policies of the rising Qin powers. If only the Qin Legalists had taken heed of the Daoists’ guidance, the Qin Dynasty (221-206) might have lasted more than the 15 years it took for a rebellion to rise up and usher in the Han Dynasty. As Lao Zi states in chapter 76 of the Dao De Jing :