Empty the self completely;

Embrace perfect peace.

The world will rise and move;

Watch it return to rest.

All the flourishing things

Will return to their source.

This return is peaceful;

It is the flow of nature,

An eternal decay and renewal.

Accepting this brings enlightenment,

Ignoring this brings misery.

Who accepts nature’s flow becomes all-cherishing;

Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial;

Being impartial he becomes magnanimous;

Being magnanimous he becomes natural;

Being natural he becomes one with the Way;

Being one with the Way he becomes immortal:

Though his body will decay, the Way will not.

17. Rulers

The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;

The next best are loved and praised;

The next are feared;

The next despised:

They have no faith in their people,

And their people become unfaithful to them.

When the best rulers achieve their purpose

Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.

18. Hypocrisy

When the Way is forgotten

Duty and justice appear;

Then knowledge and wisdom are born

Along with hypocrisy. When harmonious relationships dissolve

Then respect and devotion arise;

When a nation falls to chaos

Then loyalty and patriotism are born.

19. Simplify

If we could abolish knowledge and wisdom

Then people would profit a hundredfold;

If we could abolish duty and justice

Then harmonious relationships would form;

If we could abolish artifice and profit

Then waste and theft would disappear.

Yet such remedies treat only symptoms

And so they are inadequate.

People need personal remedies:

Reveal your naked self and embrace your original nature;

Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;

Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.

20. Wandering

What is the difference between assent and denial?

What is the difference between beautiful and ugly?

What is the difference between fearsome and afraid?

The people are merry as if at a magnificent party

Or playing in the park at springtime,

But I am tranquil and wandering,

Like a newborn before it learns to smile,

Alone, with no true home.

The people have enough and to spare,

Where I have nothing,

And my heart is foolish,

Muddled and cloudy.

The people are bright and certain,

Where I am dim and confused;

The people are clever and wise,

Where I am dull and ignorant;

Aimless as a wave drifting over the sea,

Attached to nothing.

The people are busy with purpose,

Where I am impractical and rough;

I do not share the peoples’ cares

But I am fed at nature’s breast.