Original Text
One who is skilled at building cannot be uprooted once established; one who is skilled at holding cannot slip away once embraced. If descendants abide by the principles of skillful building and holding, the lineage will never cease. Apply this principle to oneself, and one's virtue becomes genuine and pure; apply it to a family, and virtue becomes abundant and overflowing; apply it to a community, and virtue is honored and respected; apply it to a state, and virtue becomes rich and great; apply it to the world, and virtue becomes infinitely pervasive. Thus, observe others through the way of self-cultivation, observe other families through one's own family, observe other communities through one's own community, observe other states through one's own state, and observe other worlds through one's own world. How do I know the condition of the world? Through this method.
Guide
How to judge whether the world is virtuous? Laozi uses the principles of "skillfully establishing" and "skillfully embracing" to illustrate the importance of the Way and Virtue, explaining that the Way is the foundation for the self, the family, the community, the state, and the world.Analysis
In this chapter, Laozi emphasizes the significance of cultivation and observation. Cultivation refers to self-cultivation, which is the foundation of all endeavors. Only when the self is cultivated can this virtue be extended to a family, a community, a state, and even the entire world. Observation means to infer and perceive. The principles of all things under heaven are the same, so from oneself one can infer others, and from one’s own family one can infer other families.
"Those who are skilled in building cannot be uprooted, those who are skilled in embracing cannot slip away, and through generations, the sacrifices to ancestors will not cease." "Building" refers to establishing laws for a nation. "Those skilled in building" means those adept at legislating. "Cannot be uprooted" signifies being shaken or unable to move freely, implying being confined by laws without freedom. Laozi advocates natural inaction and opposes any social form that confines people. "Embracing" means gathering together; "those skilled in embracing" refers to those adept at gathering followers. In Laozi's era, Confucius gathered disciples to teach, with three thousand students, making him the first "skilled embracer" (one who gathers followers for teaching). Laozi disapproved of gathering crowds for lectures, so he never took disciples in his life. "Cannot slip away" means being unable to break free from oneself, also implying lack of freedom. We all know that Confucianism highly values the continuation of the clan, often saying, "There are three unfilial acts, with having no offspring as the greatest," and considers descendants' sacrifices to ancestors a major matter. Laozi disagreed with Confucian practices, advocating natural inaction, believing that descendants' sacrifices to ancestors are a disturbance and an act disrupting peace. In this chapter, Laozi criticizes the social views of governing by law and by "rites and music education." In his view, these are forms of active governance, incompatible with the concept of natural inaction. By criticizing these two active governance ideas, Laozi then proposes the concept of natural inaction, advocating using the inaction of the Dao to cultivate oneself, regulate the family, foster neighborly harmony, govern the state, and bring peace to the world.
"Practice virtue in yourself, and your virtue becomes genuine; practice virtue in your family, and your virtue becomes abundant; practice virtue in your community, and your virtue becomes enduring; practice virtue in your state, and your virtue becomes prosperous; practice virtue in the world, and your virtue becomes universal." "Practice" means cultivation, making virtue the conscious norm for self-cultivation, family harmony, neighborly goodwill, state governance, and world peace. "Abundant" means surplus. "Enduring" means long-lasting. "Prosperous" refers to bountiful harvests; in ancient agricultural society, economic conditions were measured by crop yields. In this passage, Laozi primarily discusses how to use virtue for self-cultivation, family harmony, neighborly goodwill, state governance, and world peace. He paints a picture of an ideal society like the Peach Blossom Spring, where relationships between people and between humans and nature are harmonious and integrated. Thus, Laozi concludes: by cultivating the self with the principle of natural non-action, everyone becomes pure, eliminating deceit from the human heart; by harmonizing the family with natural non-action, the family becomes prosperous; by interacting with neighbors with natural non-action, neighbors become close and harmonious; by governing the state with natural non-action, the state flourishes; by ruling the world with natural non-action, all people under heaven gain freedom.
"Therefore observe the self through the self, observe the family through the family, observe the village through the village, observe the state through the state, observe the world through the world. How do I know the world is as it is? Through this." In this passage, Laozi discusses the method for testing whether self-cultivation, family harmony, neighborly relations, state governance, and world peace align with the virtue of natural non-action. Laozi believes that using the cultivated self as the standard for examining the self, the cultivated family as the standard for examining the family, the cultivated village as the standard for examining the village, the cultivated state as the standard for examining the state, and the cultivated world as the standard for examining the world ensures enduring governance and global stability.