I have heard of letting the world be
and letting it stand; I have not heard
of governing the world.

We let it be
lest men will push their nature to extreme.
We let it stand
lest men will alter their nature.
When men do not carry their nature to extremes
or alter their virtue
what need would there be to govern the world?

In ancient times when the Yao governed the world,
he made men rejoice and there was elation.
When Jie governed the world men suffered and there was grief.

Elation and grief are contrary
to the real nature of men;
No one can be against the real nature
and last long.

Are men too delighted? The ying is excessive.
Too irascible? The yin is excessive.
When yin and yang are not in equilibrium,
the four seasons will not come at the proper times
and the balance of heat and cold will not be maintained.

Would this not harm the body?
Delight and indignation
arise at inappropriate occasions.
Men become unsettled in their movements
and restless and dissatisfied,
breaking off midway without finishing
what they have begun.

The result is
that even if the world were concerned
with rewarding the good and punishing the bad
its resources would be inadequate.
The world, great as it is,
is not enough
for reward and punishments.

Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou trans. by Hyun Hochmann, Yang Guorong, Letting Be and Letting Stand

Chapter 11, treating the Taoist rationale, the wisdom of non-intervention, presents several points which seem compelling to me. And for you the reader, how relevant to human nature and how close to a philosophy-of-good-governance does this seem for you?

The Taoist sense of reality, that the cosmos and separate societies, even to individuals consists of the conflict of opposed forces, characterized as yin and yang. This is a paradigm, a model for “how things are”. Could in fact, the opposing forces be many and not limited to these two? The upshot is a wildness, ambiguity, unclear intentions that makes the individual, nations, and natural systems uncontrollable, ungovernable. The desired optimum is an equilibrium between many forces, or influences. A stance of non-interference, allowing the turmoil to subside, a state of equilibrium is the thrust of the Taoist argument. Respect, even reverence is evoked for the essence of all things, a true nature to be expressed if circumstances permit. To interfere as history shows, is to muck things up.

“Let it be, let it be” – hear these words of wisdom let it be, comes to mind as a contemporary expression of this idea. Kudos to Paul McCartney and John Lennon for the stellar lyric line…

Surely you have indulged this thought experiment. Imagine this life, imagine this world were fair, a just commerce and society , — would a majority of our fellows be satisfied with that? Without question the answer is NO. Most of us wouldn’t be satisfied with that. Few desire to live within the constraints/opportunities of their given natures. “The world, great as it is, is not enough…” Expressed in another way the trauma of history is the problem of “more”.

*The header image is the Meiji Gardens at Harajuku.