Tao Te Ching Chapter 19

The Short of It:

Intrinsic human virtue must be nurtured from within.

19. Restoring Genuineness. 

		(If some [people] would but) abandon their sageness (holiness), and cast away their wisdom, the people would be more benefited a hundred-fold. 

		If they would abandon their philanthropy, and cast away their justice, the people would go back to filial duty and [parental] compassion.
 
		If they would abandon their skill and forego their gains, thieves would have no existence. 

Here are three things, the cultivation of which has been a failure. Therefore let them return to whence they came; and do you appear in your own unadorned simplicity, embracing realities, curbing selfishness, and curtailing ambitious desire. 

Lau Tsze. Chalmers, John. The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of “the Old Philosopher,” Lau-tsze, Translated from the Chinese, with an Introduction by J. Chalmers. United Kingdom: Trübner, 1868.

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19. ‘Returning to the Unadulterated Influence.’ 

19.1 If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers. 

19.2 

	Those three methods (of government)
	Thought olden ways in elegance did fail
	And made these names their want of worth to veil; 
	But simple views, and courses plain and true
	Would selfish ends and many lusts eschew. 

Lao-tze. Legge, James. The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Tâoism. United Kingdom: Clarendon, 1891.

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19. Returning To Simplicity. 

19.1 Abandon your saintliness; put away your prudence; and the people will gain a hundredfold!

19.2 Abandon your benevolence; put away your justice; and the people will return to filial piety and [parental] devotion. 

19.3 Abandon smartness; give up greed; and thieves and robbers will no longer exist. 

19.4 These are three for which culture is insufficient. Therefore it is said: 

	“Hold fast to that which will endure, 
	Show thyself simple, preserve thee pure, 
	And lessen self with desires fewer.” 

Lao-tze. Suzuki, D.T. and Carus, Paul. The Canon of Reason and Virtue: Lao-tze’s Tao Teh King. United States: Open court publishing Company, 1913.

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The Long of It: 

A continuation of Chapter 18, Chapter 19 of the Tao Te Ching directly addresses what Lao Tsu has been alluding to, Confucianism (Ames 105).

Wisdom, ren¹ (Confucian virtue), and cleverness (translated here as skill, artful contrivances, and smartness, respectively), are all listed among the most prized virtues of Confucianism².

Lao Tsu’s message is clear: stop telling people how to behave. Enforced virtue is no virtue at all. In fact, authorities who demand certain behaviors from people, rob them of the opportunity to naturally develop intrinsic human behavior. As a result, anyone who cultivates externally-driven definitions of behavior, is really devaluing (and probably criminalizing) the wide swaths of human behavior that fall outside that definition.

-TB

²“Confucianism.” Wikipedia, Jan 17, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren_(Confucianism).

Laozi. Ames, Roger and Hall, David. 2003. Dao De Jing: Making This Life Significant : A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books.

¹“Ren (Confucianism).” Wikipedia, Jan 17, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren_(Confucianism).