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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Tao Te Ching · 17 of 81

Chapter 17

In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised them. In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them. Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).

How irresolute did those (earliest rulers) appear, showing (by their reticence) the importance which they set upon their words! Their work was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said, ‘We are as we are, of ourselves!’

Asked of Guide

Why does Lao Tzu say the best rulers are almost invisible to the people?

Lao Tzu shows a sequence: at first people “did not know that there were (their rulers),” then they praised, feared, and finally despised them. The earliest rulers acted with reticence, let their work complete itself, and left people saying “We are as we are, of ourselves!” That quiet competence produces trust because the ruler’s presence doesn’t call attention; success feels like the people’s own life continuing smoothly.

This chapter echoes Zhuangzi 18.1, where social virtues arise after the Tao declines; here Lao Tzu implies the ideal order requires leaders who preserve the Way by stepping aside. The point matches the Taoist technique in The Sayings of Lao Tzu: usefulness comes from what is unassertive and empty, so good governance is understated and enabling.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

Chuang Tzu · Taoism18. 1. When the Great Tâo (Way or Method) ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue. (Then) appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocr Tao, The Great Luminant · Taoismhundred-fold. Stop benevolence, abandon righteousness, and, then, the people will have filiality. Stop cleverness, give up the practice of profit, and there will be no robbers." He The Sayings of Lao Tzu · Taoismwindows are cut out in order to make a house; the utility of the house depends on the empty spaces. Thus, while the existence of things may be good, it is the non-existent in them