Taoist Scriptures and Politics

Note- Tao can be translated as the "way" or the "way of the universe", one who cultivates according to the Tao is a Taoist cultivator.

When mentioning the Taoist Scripture of Lao Zi, people first think of the Tao. This Tao is "extremely mysterious and abstruse" and is "the door to all wonders." Lao Zi said at the beginning of his scripture, "Tao can be explained, but not in the ordinary way we talk about." So what is "Tao"? In the eyes of Lao Zi, Tao exists in everything. The world develops naturally according to the evolution of the Tao. Human behaviour should be "in accordance with nature," what an emperor should do to govern the country is to "obey the Tao, follow the people and be in accordance with the principles of heaven." In other words, be sure not to violate the Tao and do something on purpose that contradicts what is natural.

On the issue of governing the country and ruling the people, Lao Zi proposed to "do things by doing nothing, educate by saying nothing," using the Tao of nature to govern the people. In the eyes of Lao Zi, society also evolved naturally. What an emperor should understand was that "the utmost virtue is to do nothing, while everything is done" (Chapter 38), which means that to approve of morality and not do something by force, is the way to accomplish all things that ought to be done well. "Governing with inaction" is emphasised in Taoist scriptures. In the eyes of Lao Zi, a perfect emperor should be "quiet and inactive," he should obey the Tao, and he should follow the people, that is all. To the people, "what is the importance of an emperor's power to me?" To an emperor, "if I do nothing, the people will civilise themselves; if I like quietness, the people will be righteous by themselves. If I do not interrupt, the people will become rich by themselves, if I have no desire, the people will become simple by themselves." (Chapter 57) This is the perfect state of governing a country that the Taoist scriptures clarified.

Looking at history, the strategy of governing the country at the beginning of the West Han Dynasty apparently was influenced by the idea of "governing with inaction." At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, social economics were very difficult and there were financial problems. The founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, and his emperors carried out the proposal of "inaction," allowing the people to rehabilitate and not interrupting them, thus allowing the free development of the people. After governing for 70 years, they accomplished the famous period of "Wenjing Governing." An emperor in the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong, also took the idea of "quiet and inaction" by Lao Zi as the theoretical foundation for governing the country, persisting in the strategy of "comforting the people with quietness." He created the "Great Tang Flourished Period" called "Zhen Guan Governing."

On the surface the Taoist scriptures talked about the principles of how to be an emperor and how to govern the country, but actually it is a book guiding cultivation. Cultivators on different levels will have different understandings of the Taoist scriptures. From another angle, the principle of Taoism at an ordinary person's level will have the effect of guiding an emperor to govern the country, however it is a book about cultivation. Lao Zi did not write it for the purpose of "playing politics" with ordinary people. Therefore how much a cultivator can understand of this book is how high he can reach beyond the realm of our ordinary society. Furthermore, a cultivator will not be attached to the power and politics of ordinary society.