Chapter 17

Original Text

太上，不知有之；其次，親之譽之；其次，畏之；其次，侮之。信不足，有不信。猶兮其貴言。功成事遂，百姓皆謂我自然。

Alternate editions read: 太上，下知有之.

Translation

The highest ruler -- the people do not even know he exists. The next — they love and praise him. The next — they fear him. The next — they despise him.

When trust is lacking, there will be distrust. How sparing, how precious were his words! His work accomplished, his affairs completed, the hundred families all say: "We are simply being ourselves."

Word Notes

• 譽 — "praise": To praise, to commend.
• 侮 — "despise": To treat with contempt, to insult.

Chapter Explanation

The highest — the ruler of supreme De — causes the people to transform naturally, without their knowing or noticing. They receive his blessings in secret and do not even realize it. The next, though he cannot achieve the pure simplicity of nonaction, still bestows De upon the people, so that they love and praise him. The next, though he cannot win the people's submission through De, still upholds a clear system of laws and punishments with rewards and penalties strictly applied, so that the people know to fear him. The next is without Dao and without law, causing the people to despise him past all endurance. This is because he employs deception and cunning schemes, and his trust is insufficient. Even though he issues proclamations, hands down commands, and says a great deal, the people do not trust him. As for the highest ruler: he is dignified and practices nonaction, sparing and precious with his words, not issuing them lightly. When his work is accomplished and his affairs completed, the hundred families still do not realize it. They all say: "We are simply being ourselves."

Discourse

In ancient times, Emperor Yao governed all under Heaven and caused the people to live in carefree ease and radiant contentment, enjoying their days amid the light of Heaven's natural order. The people even sang: "We till the fields and eat, we dig the wells and drink — what has the emperor's power to do with us?" This was truly the scene of the highest.

But by the time of later generations of rulers — today they say they are planning peace and stability for all under Heaven, tomorrow they say they are seeking happiness for the hundred families — yet the truth is deception and fraud, nothing more than a cover for people's eyes and ears, a means to seize power and profit. Little do they know that the hundred families are not fooled by their deception. The people will inevitably rise up in opposition, look upon such rulers as enemies, and despise them as though it were all a joke, until everything is thrown into utter chaos and the state is no longer a state.

Alas! The highest is no longer to be seen. If only we could see even the next-to-lowest kind of ruler — one who makes the people know to fear the law and gives them a legal order to abide by — that alone could bring a measure of temporary peace.