Annotations on the Dao De Jing (53): When Governance is Muted, the People are Simple; When Governance is Intrusive, the People are Dissatisfied

When governance is muted, the people are simple and honest; when governance is intrusive, the people are dissatisfied. Misfortune is where fortune leans; fortune is where misfortune hides. Who knows their limit? Is there no correctness? Correctness reverts to strangeness, goodness reverts to disaster. People's confusion has lasted for days and is long. Therefore, the sage is square but does not cut, sharp but does not wound, direct but does not indulge, bright but does not dazzle.

Annotation: The way of governance: if governance is moderate, then folk customs are honest and pure; if governance is harsh, then the people will not comply and will complain. Misfortune comes with fortune, and fortune comes with misfortune; misfortune and fortune always accompany each other. There is no clear standard or boundary between them, and the positive and negative are always converting. People have been confused about this for a long time. Therefore, when handling affairs, the sage always follows being square but not cutting, to maintain completeness; being sharp but not wounding, to prevent damage; being direct but not indulging, to prevent arbitrary domination; being bright but not dazzling, to prevent going to extremes and reversing.

If this is a way of conducting oneself in the world, one should never be overly critical nor overly unconventional, because these bring risks. For an individual, encountering these risks is not a major problem. But in an organization or collective, or when facing a large number of people, one must consider this issue, because a slight imbalance in分寸 (measure) can cause enormous problems.

For example, a department complains that its power is too small, and if it had more power, it could manage better. But the problem is, after power becomes greater, how can one ensure that abuse of power will not occur? A department's overall original intention may be good, but when细化 (detailed) to individuals, there are inevitably variations in quality.

For example, the Eastern Depot of the Ming Dynasty was originally established as a department to monitor the behavior of officials. But because its power was too great, it resulted in loss of control. The Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard) became dominant, and everyone in the world feared them. This also bred their corruption. Originally, monitoring officials to keep their behavior upright was a good intention, but in specific implementation, there were various problems. So, like the Eastern Depot of the Ming Dynasty, although it started from the upright, it also became strange. Changing back and forth, the result was that things became monstrous.

This passage not only raises the problem but also proposes a solution. What would a sage do? When handling affairs, one would not be harsh to the extreme. The whole would ensure overall balance. If something has already been sawn into a square shape, there is no need to cut it further. Also, a person can acquire a good reputation, which in turn promotes their behavior developing in a good direction. But one should not seek fame to influence others, because doing so would lead to unscrupulous means for the sake of fame, thus losing the original ideal intention.