“THE BASIC Warp” uses several different but generally complementary descriptions of an imagined historical past to raise questions about the nature of sagerulership and to criticize government in the present era. In all these scenarios, an archaic era of agrarian primitivism is idealized as a time when sages, embodying the Way and its Potency, could govern almost invisibly by means of non-action. Both the human and the natural worlds responded resonantly to the sages’ superior qualities. Qualities like Humaneness and Music were intrinsic to the sage and were not (as they later became) mere expedients to control the populace in times that departed ever more profoundly from the Way. But inevitably the world began to devolve from the archaic ideal. People perceived deficiencies in their lives and increasingly took steps to satisfy their desires. The more they did so, the more the situation degenerated from primordial simplicity and unity. Thus we find ourselves in an era of discord and turmoil. What is to be done?
The answer is perhaps surprising: although latter-day calamities have led to suffering and turmoil, they also create an opportunity for a contemporary ruler—one wise enough to avoid the pitfalls of extravagance, excess, cruelty, and greed—to establish a new era of sagely rule. In tranquil times, there is no need for remarkable men or extraordinary measures. But in times of danger and trouble, a ruler who knows how to embody the unmediated unity of the Grand One, align himself with the Way and its Potency, match his actions to the rhythms of the cosmos, and become imbued with spirit illumination, has a golden opportunity to govern as a sage.
The Chapter Title
The title of the chapter is “Ben jing” 
, which we have translated as “The Basic Warp.” Ben means “root,” as opposed to branch; therefore “basis, basic; foundation, fundamental.” Jing is often encountered in extended or metaphorical meanings, such as “constant, standard, norm,” and especially as “classic, canonical work of literature,” and it would be possible to understand ben jing in that way, translating it as “The Fundamental Classic.” But we do not think that that is the intended meaning in this case. The literal meaning of jing is “warp”—that is, the tensioned threads strung on a loom as a substrate into which weft threads (wei 
) are woven to create a fabric. We are confident that the word is used here in that literal sense, hence our translation as “The Basic Warp.”1
Weaving metaphors appear a number of times in the Huainanzi. For example, in 8.7 we read that the Grand One “knots the net of the eight directional end points and weaves the web of the six coordinates.” A closely similar expression appears in the opening lines of chapter 21, where the authors announce that they have written this book “to knot the net of the Way and its Potency, and weave the web of humankind and its affairs.” The image is of a cloth that is integral, tightly woven, strong, and seamless. Chapter 2 likens the Way to a fabric: “The Way has both a warp and a weft that are linked together.”2 Chapter 13 also uses a weaving metaphor, in this case applied to two of the conventional virtues: “Humaneness is the warp, Rightness is the skein of [weft] threads.”3
A warp cannot consist of one thread but must be made up of many, strung in parallel and evenly tensioned; only then can the weft be woven in to create a fabric. As this chapter argues, the warp of the Huainanzi ’s philosophy consists of several strands that together make up the character of the sage.
Summary and Key Themes
The chapter begins with a paean to an archaic (and mythical) era of Grand Purity, a time of primitive agrarian communitarianism when people were ignorant and industrious; rulers had little to do; and everything conformed to the Way. Accordingly, crops ripened in timely fashion, and auspicious beasts such as qilins and phoenixes appeared. This vision of archaic bliss is reiterated in several other sections (8.3, 8.5, 8.6, 8.11, 8.12), with differing emphases. Section 8.3, for example, stresses a lack of social controls and conventions, while 8.5 emphasizes that a Perfected Person must resemble the primitive era in being free of artifice and contrivances. Sections 8.11 and 8.12 stress the harmony and perfection of government in antiquity and the unity of will that bound the ruler and his people. Thus the chapter as a whole is consistent in positing an ideal archaic age of unity and harmony but describes that era in several different ways.
Whatever its specific characteristics, the era of primitive unity and harmony was followed by an age of decline, when people became acquisitive and competitive, and the natural world responded by falling out of joint, with yin and yang confused, the four seasons disordered, and various natural disasters ensuing. The age degenerated further; the extravagance of the rich and the exploitation of the poor knew no bounds; and warfare and suffering permeated the world. The conventional villains Jie (last ruler of the Xia dynasty) and Djou (last ruler of the Shang dynasty) are cited in 8.6 as exemplars of degenerate rule at its worst.
All this conforms with the model established in chapter 6, “Surveying Obscurities”: ganying resonance operates everywhere and always, so it is entirely to be expected that a degenerate age in the human realm will provoke both social and natural disasters. Section 8.2 provides a mechanism by which we can understand the decline of the world into degeneracy: “when the hearts of high and low become estranged from each other,” “noxious qi” (zei qi 
) is generated, which in turn communicates the disorder of the human world to the natural realm.
Echoing Laozi, sections 8.3 through 8.5 emphasize the importance of holding to the fundamental and disregarding the peripheral and of identifying with the Way and its Potency and eschewing artifice. Yet here, as so often in the Huainanzi, the Huainan masters put their own spin on the canonical work that they use as their point of departure. They are not willing to advocate a return to primitivism or to dispense altogether with expedient means to govern during an era in decline.
We become aware of this as the chapter’s argument takes an unexpected turn in section 8.6, initiating a line of persuasion that continues to the end of the chapter. We live in a degenerate age, the writer concedes, but the very turbulence of chaotic times offers an opportunity for a true sage to emerge. The Five Thearchs and the Three Kings adapted their actions to suit the exigencies of their times. To be an embodiment of the Grand One is the best thing of all, but not every ruler can achieve that, so kings, hegemons, and princes must use methods appropriate to their own stations. Meanwhile, to be successful, any ruler must follow (as does Yaoguang, the bright star at the end of the handle of the Northern Dipper, whose annual circuit of the heavens points out the seasons) the natural rhythms of the cosmos, avoid being distracted by sensory stimuli, avoid being seduced by extravagance, understand the wellsprings of emotion and their appropriate expressions, and make use of the lessons of history. He must also (as 8.6 reminds us) be fortunate enough to live in an era in which the qualities of a sage can be recognized and employed. The true ruler embraces the Moral Potency of Humaneness and Rightness and uses his power to maintain a proper hierarchy in the realm of human affairs. Thus, the chapter concludes, “If the foundation is established, the Way can be implemented.”
While this chapter takes an idealized vision of an era of agrarian primitivism under the rule of a sage as its point of departure, it neither advocates nor concedes the possibility of returning to such a state. The picture painted here is a more accommodating view of sage-government, in which the sage-ruler employs such expedient means as circumstances and the historical era may require. In the Huainanzi’s view, a sage must be of and for his time.
Sources
Much of “The Basic Warp” reads like an anthology of passages on the subject of the ideal primitivism of high antiquity, but in most cases it is no longer possible to identify the sources of those passages. We think it is highly likely that many, if not all, of these passages are quoted from works now lost. An exception is section 8.3, which approaches the theme of agrarian primitivism by taking as its point of reference the famous chapter 38 of the Laozi, which describes society’s gradual decline from conformity with the Way. The Huainanzi paraphrases the key lines from Laozi 38:
When the Way is lost, then there is Potency.
When Potency is lost, then there is Humaneness.
When Humaneness is lost, then there is Rightness.4
When Rightness is lost, then there is Ritual.
Thus as primordial unity disappears, there is a concomitant rise of the human virtues: Rightness and Humaneness, Ritual and Music. The closing lines of section 8.3 identify shenming, “spirit illumination,” as more important than even the Way and its Potency for the implementation of sage-government.5 Sections 8.4 and 8.5 show little regard for virtues such as Humaneness and Rightness and for rulership that depends on inventions and contrivances rather than the qualities of a sage.
The grounding of section 8.3 in Laozi 38 is unmistakable. But while it seems likely that the other descriptions of harmonious archaic eras found in “The Basic Warp” were assembled into an anthology from other sources available to the Huainan masters, the actual language of those descriptions can no longer be traced to works that have come down as part of the received literature of early China. Nonetheless, the many mythical and historical figures mentioned in the chapter are known today from a wide range of received literary works. Although such figures are part of the broad cultural heritage of early China, their appearances here again cannot generally be traced to a specific extant source.
Based on their literary style, two other sections of the chapter probably borrowed from now-lost works. Section 8.9, a poetic essay about “Profligate Indolence,” is written in a highly ornate and richly metrical style, adhering to the literary form of fu (poetic exposition) that was fashionable at the time. Its language is quite different from that of the rest of the chapter, and it has the quality of a set piece, composed for oral recitation, that can stand on its own. It seems likely, therefore, that this was originally a separate composition, now lost as an independent work, that was copied in its entirety into (or composed especially for) “The Basic Warp.” For analogous reasons, we might surmise that section 8.10, a short and rather self-contained essay on the emotions of joy, sorrow, and anger, may have been copied into chapter 8 from some other source.
Nevertheless, while much of the chapter seems to comprise a congeries of earlier material, it cannot be said to be lacking in originality. Instead, its originality lies primarily in its interpretation of the concept of sage-government. The chapter’s line of argument coheres through an artful arrangement of borrowed passages.
The Chapter in the Context of the Huainanzi as a Whole
As usual, chapter 21 of the Huainanzi gives us a useful and pertinent summary:
“The Basic Warp” provides the means by which to
illuminate the Potency of the great sages,
and penetrate the Way of the Unique Inception.6
Delineating and summarizing the devolution of decadent eras from past to present,
it thereby praises the flourishing prosperity of earlier ages
and criticizes the corrupt governments of later ages.
It is what enables you to
dispense with the acuity and keenness of hearing and sight,
still the responses and movements of the essence and spirit,
restrain effusive and ephemeral viewpoints,
temper the harmony of nourishing your nature,
distinguish the conduct of [the Five] Thearchs and [Three] Kings,
and set out the differences between small and great. (21.2)
As we noted, “The Basic Warp” begins with an idealized picture of an archaic era of unity and harmony, and humankind’s gradual decline from that idyllic time. The theme of decline appears also in chapters 2 and 11, which complement the vision of history presented here. The other side of the coin is found in chapters 7 and 19, the first of which argues that sagely self-cultivation is possible in the present era, just as it was in the past, whereas the second vigorously challenges the notion that the remote past was a time when sages had nothing to do.
“The Basic Warp” is linked in interesting ways with other chapters of the Huainanzi. It echoes the theme of devolution from an early age of unity, simplicity, and harmony that had already been explicated in detail in sections 6.7 through 6.9. Looking ahead in the text, we could consider this chapter as forming a pair with chapter 9, “The Ruler’s Techniques,” because the discussion of sage-rulership in history in chapter 8 provides the basis for chapter 9’s more specific discussion of the means by which government can succeed. At the same time, chapter 8 is the last of the “theoretical” (or “root”) chapters of the Huainanzi. With chapter 9, the book shifts to more practical (“branch”) considerations. These later chapters offer numerous illustrations and suggested applications of the arts of rhetoric and persuasion, as well as an overview of the military, advice on how to evaluate and employ subordinates, how to apply the principles of non-action, and other matters of pragmatic concern to the ruler.
As its own title implies, chapter 8 delineates the warp threads on which the fabric of sage-government is to be woven. What are those threads of the “basic warp”? This chapter privileges the Laoist qualities of identification with a personified primordial unity (variously called, in the Huainanzi, by such names as “Grand Inception,” “Grand Purity,” “Grand Beginning,” and “Grand One”);7 spirit illumination; and identification with dao and de, the Way and its Potency. The conventional virtues (Humaneness, Rightness, Ritual, Music) are generally treated here as derived and secondary qualities, weft threads rather than part of the warp, although nonetheless necessary for the completion of the fabric. We could say that the viewpoint of chapter 8 is broadly consistent with that of the Huainanzi overall: enlightenment and the ability to respond appropriately to the circumstances of his time are the essential characteristics of the sage, whereas the conventional virtues are functional but not fundamental.
John S. Major
1. Csikszentmihalyi 2004, 134n.71, and Le Blanc and Mathieu 2003 reach the same understanding: “The Basic Warp” and “De la chaîne originelle,” respectively. Ames 1994, 22, translates the title as “The Fundamental Constancy.”
2. See 2/11/28, dao you jing ji tiao guan 
; ji (a skein of threads) is often used as a synonym for wei 
, “weft.”
3. See 13/121/25, ren yi wei jing, yi yi wei ji 
.
4. This passage in turn echoes Laozi 18: “[Where] the Great Way is dispensed with, there is Humaneness and Rightness.”
5. Shenming as a characteristic of the sage is introduced in 1.14 and extensively explored in some of the later chapters of the Huainanzi. See also 2.9, 2.11, 4.9, 7.1, 7.3, 8.3, 8.4, 11.12, 12.44, 13.21, 15.3, 15.25, 19.5, 20.1, 20.6, 20.10, 21.2, and 21.3. The passage in 12.44 is especially noteworthy. The term shenming carries a double charge of significance, as it means both “spiritlike illumination” (i.e., the sort of illumination characteristic of a spirit) and “spirit illumination” (the means by which one attains that state; i.e., illumination by means of or through one’s inner spirit).
6. Wei chu 
; this puzzling phrase is not mentioned by the commentators. We take it to refer to the uniqueness of the inception of the cosmos, but it could also be understood to be equivalent to tai chu 
, “Grand Beginning.” The French translation takes that approach and renders the phrase as “commencement suprême” (Le Blanc and Mathieu 2003, 1014).
7. “Grand Inception” (taishi 
) appears in 3.1; “Grand Purity” (taiqing 
), in 2.5, 7.7, 8.1, and 12.1; “Grand Beginning” (taichu 
), in 14.1; and “Grand One” (taiyi 
), in 8.7 and numerous other passages throughout the text.
The reign of Grand Purity1
was harmonious and compliant and thus silent and indifferent;
substantial and true and thus plain and simple;
contained and tranquil, it was not intemperate;
exerting and shifting, it [followed] no precedents.
Inwardly it accorded with the Way;
outwardly it conformed to Rightness.
When stirred into motion, it formed [normative] patterns;
when moving at full speed, it was well matched to things.
Its words were concise and in step with reason;
its actions were simple and in compliance with feelings.
Its heart was harmonious and not feigned;
its [conduct of] affairs was simple and not ostentatious.
That being so,
there was no selecting of [auspicious] times and days,
no divining by trigrams or shell cracking,
no scheming about where to begin,
no discussion of where to end.
When tranquil, it stopped;
when roused, it moved.
It was of one body with Heaven and Earth,2
and one essence with yin and yang.
In its oneness it accorded with the four seasons;
in its brightness it shone as the sun and the moon.
As one with what fashions and transforms us, it was [both] female and male.
That being so,
Heaven overspread it with Potency;
Earth upheld it with Music.
The four seasons did not lose their order;
wind and rain did not descend with violence.
The sun and moon, with purity and clarity, spread their radiance;
the five planets held to their paths and did not fail in their movements.
At that time, the Mysterious Origin came to brightness and shed its brilliance all around.
The phoenix and the qilin arrived;
the milfoil and the tortoise gave omens.
Sweet dew descended.
Bamboo produced abundant shoots;
“flowing yellow”3 emerged [from the ground];
vermilion grass grew.
Contrivances and falsehoods were not harbored in people’s minds.
Coming down to the age of decline,
people delved in mountains for [precious] stones.
They engraved metal and [carved] jade,
pried open oysters and clams [to get pearls],
smelted bronze and iron,
and the myriad things were not nurtured [thereby].
People ripped open pregnant animals and killed young ones, [so] the qilin no longer wandered abroad.
They overturned nests and broke eggs, [so] the phoenix no longer soared.
They bored wood to get fire,
cut timber to build terraces,
burned forests to make fields,
drained marshes to catch fish,
so tortoises and dragons no longer frequented the earth.
[Nevertheless,] the implements of the common people were insufficient,
[while] the hoarded treasures [of the rich] were excessive.
Thus among the myriad things, more often than not,
calamities damaged sprouts and shoots,
and eggs and pregnancies failed to reach fruition.
People piled up earth so as to live on hills,
manured their fields to plant grain,
dug into the earth to make wells for drinking,
channeled streams to improve [their usefulness],
pounded earth into walls to make fortifications,
captured wild animals to domesticate them.
[Thus] yin and yang became twisted and tangled;
The four seasons lost their [proper] order;
thunderclaps caused things to overturn and break;
hailstones fell violently;
noxious vapors [descended and] did not disperse;
and the myriad things suffered premature deaths.
People cleared fields that were overgrown and weedy to consolidate and enclose acreage;
they mowed open lands and thickets so as to grow seedlings and sprouting grain;
and there were innumerable instances of misshapen shoots, unblossoming flowers, and pendant fruit that died [in an untimely way].
So things reached the stage when [people]
built great mansions, houses, and palaces,
with linked rooms and ranks of pillars
with jointed eaves and rafter ends,
all patterned, polished, carved, and graven,
with twisting and trailing caltrop branches,
with hibiscus and lotus,
the five colors vying with one another,
flowing together or standing apart.
All was smoothly contrived with great craft,
bent and contorted and doubled into knots,
minutely fussed over with great pains,
all in accordance with instructions,
so that [even legendary artisans like] Gongshu4 and Wang Er would have found no fault with the chiseling and graving, the carving and scrollwork. Yet [even] this did not suffice to fill the desires of the rulers of men. Thus the pine, the cypress, and the flowering bamboo5 drooped and rotted in the summertime; the Yangzi, the Yellow River, and the Three Streams became exhausted and ceased flowing.
Foreigners’ sheep [flocked] in the meadows;
flying locusts filled the open lands;
Heaven dried up and Earth cracked open;
the phoenix did not descend.
Hook-clawed, bare-toothed, horn-bearing, marauding wild animals became [even] fiercer. The common people had only small reed huts for houses, with nowhere [for travelers] to find lodging; those who died of cold and hunger lay as close together as pillows to mats.
Then it came to pass
that they divided mountains and streams, gorges and valleys, to make territories and boundaries.
They counted the population to divide the masses of people by numbers.
They pounded earth to make walls and dug moats.
They set up military contrivances in defiles and passes to prepare [against attack].
They created insignia for those who managed affairs,
made regulations of clothing and rank,
differentiated between noble and base,
distinguished the worthy from those who were not,
codified [terms of] disapprobation and praise,
instituted rewards and punishments.
That weapons and armor flourished, and contention and conflicts broke out; that the common people suffered extermination, repression, and disasters; that they were oppressively executed though guiltless, and suffered mutilating punishments though not guilty of crimes, was all due to this. [8/61/6–27]
The concord and harmony of Heaven and Earth,
the transformations of yin and yang and the myriad things
depend on one qi.6 For this reason, when the hearts of high and low become estranged from each other, qi rises up like a vapor; when ruler and minister are not in harmony, the five grains do not yield [a harvest].
For forty-six days after the winter solstice,7
Heaven withholds its responses and does not yet descend;
Earth harbors its qi and does not yet scatter it abroad.
Yin and yang are stored up together,
exhaling and inhaling as if in deep water.
They embrace and enfold [all] customs,
deliberate on the myriad differences [among things],
set aside what is unsuitable and amass the seemly,
thus together soaking and steeping, brewing and fermenting, they bring to completion the multitude of living things. For this reason,
when things are stunted in spring and flourish in autumn,
when there is thunder in winter and frost in summer,
it all is generated by noxious qi. From this one can see that
Heaven and Earth, space and time, are as the body of a single person,
and everything within the six coordinates are as the shape of a single person.8
For this reason,
one who discerns the natures of things cannot be alarmed by anything in Heaven or Earth;
one who investigates auspicious omens cannot be affected by strange phenomena.
Thus the sage knows the far by means of the near, so that the myriad differentiations become unified. [8/62/1–6]
The people of antiquity made their qi the same as that of Heaven and Earth; they wandered in an era of unity.9 At that time,
there was no garnering advantage by praise and rewards,
no intimidation by mutilations and punishments.
Ritual and Rightness, purity and modesty, had not yet been established;
slander and flattery, Humaneness and contempt, had not yet been set up;
and the myriad peoples had not yet [begun to] treat one another with fraud and oppression, cruelty and exploitation—it was as if they were still immersed in turbid obscurity.10
Coming down to the era of decline, [it transpired that]
people were abundant, but wealth was scarce;
people labored to the utmost, but their nourishment was insufficient.
Thus competition and strife were born, and Humaneness was valued. The Humane and the petty minded were [, however,] not treated equitably.
Neighbors formed groups,
and friends formed cabals.
They promoted falsehood and deceit,
cherished a spirit of contrivance and artifice,
and lost [their] natural tendencies.
Thus Rightness was valued.
None of [the people’s] feelings associated with yin and yang [i.e., sexual feelings] were free from the stimulation of blood and qi. Men and women [therefore] gathered in places and promiscuously dwelt together without distinction. Thus Ritual was valued.
Instinctive feelings overflowed and were mutually conflicting. They could not stop themselves and therefore were discordant. Thus Music was valued.
Thus, Humaneness, Rightness, Ritual, and Music, though able to save [the world] from ruin, are still not the perfection of comprehensive governance.
Humaneness is able to save people from strife;
Rightness is able to save people from errors;
Ritual is able to save people from lewdness;
Music is able to save people from melancholy.
When spirit illumination is established in the world, then minds revert to their original state.
When minds revert to their original state, then people’s natures become good.
When people’s natures become good, they are followed by Heaven and Earth and by yin and yang.
Wealth then becomes sufficient. When wealth becomes sufficient, the people are respectful; covetousness, petty mindedness, anger, and competition have no occasion to arise. From this one can see that [under these circumstances,] there is no need for Humaneness and Rightness.
When the Way and its Potency are established in the world, then the people become pure and simple. Thus
their eyes are not fixed on beauty;
their ears are not drawn to sounds.
If there were [entertainers] sitting in rows and singing songs or prancing about with their hair hanging loose—
even if they were as alluring as Mao Qiang or Xi Shi, [the audience] would take no pleasure in them;
even if the tunes were “Falling Wings” or “Martial,” they would not find any joy in them.11
Even if the lewdness had no limit, it would come to nothing.
From this one can see that [under these circumstances,] there is no need for Ritual and Music. Thus,
when Potency declines, Humaneness is born;12
when conduct fails, Rightness is established.
When harmony is lost, there are sounds and ditties;
when rituals are decayed, comportment is gaudy.
Thus,
if one understands spirit illumination, then one can understand the inadequacy of the Way and its Potency for effecting things;
if one understands the Way and its Potency, then one can understand the inadequacy of Humaneness and Rightness in putting things into practice;
if one understands Humaneness and Rightness, then one can understand the inadequacy of Ritual and Music in regulating conduct. [8/62/6–19]
Now,
people who turn their backs on the fundamental but seek it in the peripheral
or who wish to explain the essential but inquire into details,
are not yet able to take part in discourses that reach the utmost. [8/62/19–20]
The size of Heaven and Earth may be known by means of the [carpenter’s] square and the gnomon;
the motions of the stars and the moon can be obtained from the calendar and from investigations;
the sound of thunder can be approximated by means of drums and bells;
the alterations of rain and wind can be known by means of the notes and the pitch pipes.
Thus,
if the size of a thing can be seen, it is possible to gauge its weight;
if the brightness of a thing can be observed, it is possible to know its obscurities;
if the sound of a thing can be heard, it is possible to know its melodies;
if the colors of a thing can be examined, it is possible to distinguish among them.
But as for the limit of vastness, Heaven and Earth cannot contain it;
as for the limit of minuteness, spirit illumination cannot comprehend its fineness.
When the time came that
the pitch pipes and calendar were established,
the five colors were distinguished,
the tonic and flattened [scales] were differentiated,
and sweet and bitter were distinguished as tastes,
then it was that the Unhewn Block was shattered and made into implements.
When Humaneness and Rightness were established
and Ritual and Music were reformed,
then Potency was done away with,
and the meretricious was brought into being.
When the meretricious was born,
fake wisdom was used to startle the ignorant,
and clever deceptions were used to inveigle those in high positions.
Thus in the world there were those who were able to manage things, but there was none who was capable of [true] rule. [8/62/22–27]
In ancient times,
when Cang Jue invented writing, Heaven rained corn, and demons wept all night.
When Bo Yi13 invented wells, dragons ascended to the dark clouds, and the spirits [fled to] their abode on Kunlun.
As wisdom and ability grew ever more abundant, Potency grew ever more scarce. Thus on the Zhou tripods was cast a depiction of Chui14 biting his fingers, signifying that great ingenuity is [ultimately] unable to accomplish anything.
Therefore the rule of the Perfected Person is like this:
His mind is coextensive with his spirit;
his physical form is in tune with his nature.
When he is still he embodies Potency;
when he acts, he patterns himself on penetration.
He follows his spontaneous nature and aligns himself with inevitable transformations.
He is profoundly non-active, and the world naturally becomes harmonious;
He is tranquilly devoid of desires, and the people naturally become simple.
He does not augur for good omens, so the people do not suffer calamities.
He is not angry or contentious, so food supplies are sufficient.
He unites and binds together all within the [Four] Seas, and the benefits reach to future generations, but none knows who it is who has done this.
While he is alive, he has no cognomen.
When he is dead, he has no posthumous title.
He accumulates no wealth, so his fame is not established.
When bestowing, he does not accumulate Potency, and when receiving, he does not cede it.15 Potency circulates and returns again to its source, and there is none who is not replete with it. So
where Potency is pervasive, the Way cannot be harmed;
what knowledge cannot understand, discrimination cannot explicate.
Wordless discrimination,
the Way of No-Way:
How can penetration get there? It is called Heaven’s Storehouse. One can
take from it without diminishing it,
pour from it without exhausting it.
No one knows from whence it comes. It is called Yaoguang.16 Yaoguang is the wealth and provender of the myriad things. [8/62/27–8/63/6]
When [the ruler] relieves hardships and supplements insufficiencies, then his fame is born. [When he] upholds the beneficial and eliminates the harmful, [when he] chastises the disorderly and prohibits cruelty, then his merit is established.
When an age is without calamity or harm, even a spirit would find no occasion to display his Potency.
When high and low are [united in] harmonious amity, even a worthy would have no occasion to show forth his merits.
In antiquity, in the time of Rong Cheng,17 people walked along on the roads like geese [in single file] and arranged themselves in rows. They [trustingly] cradled their infants and children in birds’ nests, [and] they put their surplus grain in mounds in the fields [without it being stolen]. They could grasp the tails of tigers and leopards and tread upon cobras and pythons [and come to no harm].18 But they did not understand how it came to be so.
Coming down to the time of Yao, the ten suns [once] came out together. They scorched the standing grain and the sheaves and killed herbs and trees, so that the people had nothing to eat. [Moreover,] Chayu, Nine Gullet, Typhoon, Mound Pig, Chisel Tusk, and Long Snake all were causing the people harm.19 Yao therefore commanded Yi [the Archer] to slaughter Chisel Tusk in the water meadows of Chouhua, to kill Nine Gullet on the banks of the Xiong River, to shoot down Typhoon in the wilds of Greenhill, upward to shoot the ten suns and downward to kill Chayu, to chop Long Snake in two at Dongting Lake, and to capture Mound Pig in Mulberry Forest. The multitudes of people all were happy and established Yao as Son of Heaven. And thus for the first time under Heaven, there were roads and mileposts in the plains and canyons, in [difficult] passes and easy [terrain], far and near.
In the time of Shun, Gong Gong stirred up the torrents and [unleashed] floods of water, extending as far as Hollow Mulberry. The Dragon Gate Pass was not yet opened, [and] the Lu Berm had not yet been breached. The Yangzi and the Huai flowed as one; the four seas [became] a boundless expanse of water. The people all climbed hills and mounds and leaped into trees. Shun [thereupon] employed Yu to drain the three rivers and the five lakes [and] to tunnel through Yujue Mountain and make channels for the Chan and Jian rivers. He leveled the land and conducted the waters, leading them to flow into the eastern sea. The flooding waters flowed away, and the nine provinces became dry again. The multitudes were at peace with their natures, and thus they considered Yao and Shun to be sages.
Coming to the time of later generations, there were the emperors Jie and Djou. Jie built the Revolving Palace and the Jade Terrace, [with] porches of ivory and bedsteads of jade. Djou made a forest of meat and a lake of wine; he gathered [for his own use] all the wealth of the world and exhausted in bitterness the labor of the multitudes. He cut open [and extracted the heart of a minister] who remonstrated and ripped open a pregnant woman [to expose her fetus]. [In these ways, Jie and Djou] plundered the world and ill treated the people.
Accordingly, then, Tang employed three hundred war chariots to attack Jie south of Chao and imprisoned him at Xia Terrace. King Wu used three thousand armored warriors to destroy Djou at Muye, [later] executing him at Proclamation Hall. The world became peaceful and orderly, and the people came together harmoniously. Thus Tang and Wu were considered men of surpassing goodness.
From this, one can see that if one is to acquire the reputation of a worthy or a sage, it is necessary to encounter the calamities of a disorderly age. [8/63/8–21]
Nowadays a Perfected Person [who is] born in the midst of a chaotic age, who internalizes Potency, embraces the Way, and is filled with inexhaustible wisdom, [nevertheless must] gag his mouth and stifle his speech. Consequently, there are many [such] who die without ever having spoken, and under Heaven, no one [even] knows to honor this not-speaking. Thus
the Way that can be called the Way is not the enduring Way;
names that can be named are not enduring names.20
[Words] written on bamboo or silk or engraved in metal or stone, so as to be passed down to [later] people, are only the rough equivalents.
The Five Thearchs21 and Three Kings22 had
different affairs
but the same intentions;
different roads
but the same destinations.23
But the scholars of later times know nothing about how to form one body with the Way or how to comprehensively epitomize its Potency. They merely take up the track of things that have already been done. They sit facing one another with a dignified air and talk about it;24 they drum, chant, and express themselves in dance. But [despite] their broad studies and extensive instruction, they still do not avoid being deluded. It is as the Odes says:
“One does not dare to attack a tiger bare-handed;
one does not dare to cross the [Yellow] River without a boat.”
Everyone knows this, but no one knows anything else.25 [8/62/23–8/64/3]
The thearch embodies the Grand One;
the king emulates yin and yang;
the hegemon follows the four seasons;
the prince uses the six pitch pipes.26
Now the Grand One
encloses and contains Heaven and Earth,
weighs on and crushes the mountains and streams,
retains or emits yin and yang,
stretches out and drags along the four seasons,
knots the net of the eight directional end points,
and weaves the web of the six coordinates.
It renews the dew and universally overflows without partiality; it [causes the] water-flies to fly and wriggling things to move; there is nothing that does not rely on it and its Potency in order to live.
Yin and yang
uphold the harmony of Heaven and Earth and shape the physical forms of the myriad diversities.
[They] retain qi and transform things in order to bring to completion the kinds of the myriad categories.
They stretch out and draw back,
roll up and uncoil.27
They sink into the unfathomable,
end and begin [again] in emptiness and fullness,
revolving in the without-origin.
The four seasons:
spring birth,
summer growth,
autumn harvest,
winter storage.
For obtaining and bestowing, there are times;
for going out and entering, there are measures.
Opening and closing, expanding and contracting, they do not deviate from their [proper] order;
happiness and anger, hardness and pliancy, do not depart from their principles.
The six pitch pipes are
life and death,
reward and punishment,
granting and taking away.
Anything that is otherwise lacks the Way. Therefore
pay heed to the balance beam and weight, the level and the marking cord;28
examine into the light and the heavy.
This is sufficient to govern within the boundaries [of a state]. [8/64/5–11]
Therefore one who embodies the Grand One
discerns the true responses of Heaven and Earth29
and penetrates the regularities of the Way and its Potency.
His comprehensive brilliance bedazzles like the sun and moon;
his essence and spirit penetrate the myriad things.
His motion and rest are in tune with yin and yang;
his happiness and anger harmonize with the four seasons;
his Moral Potency and magnanimity extend to beyond the borderlands;
and his fame and reputation pass down to later generations.
One who emulates yin and yang
has Potency comparable to Heaven and Earth
and brilliance like that of the sun and moon;
his essence is as comprehensive as that of ghosts and spirits.
He wears roundness as a hat
and squareness as shoes;30
he embraces the gnomon
and holds fast to the marking cord.
Within, he is able to govern his person;
without, he is able to win people’s minds.
When he promulgates edicts and issues commands, there is no one in the world who does not comply with them.
One who follows the four seasons
is pliant but not fragile,
hard but not brittle,
lenient but not reckless,
demanding but not overbearing.
He is liberal, pliant, responsible, and indulgent in his nourishing the multitudes of creatures; in his Moral Potency he is magnanimous to the simpleminded and forgiving of the deviant; he is devoid of partiality.
One who uses the six pitch pipes
quells disorder and prohibits violence;
advances the meritorious and demotes the unworthy.
He supports the reliable so as to create order;
he drives away the treacherous in order to create peace;
he straightens out the bent in order to create uprightness.
He discerns the Way of prohibitions and pardons, openings and closings. He relies on timeliness and utilizes the power of circumstance in order to win over the hearts of the people.
If a thearch [merely] embodies yin and yang, [his throne] will be usurped.
If a king [merely] models himself on the four seasons, [his territory] will be seized.
If a hegemon [merely] regulates himself by the six standards, he will be disgraced.
If a prince neglects the level and the marking cord, he will be eradicated.
If [a person of] small [standing] carries out great [affairs], the results will be turbulent, insubstantial, and uncongenial.
If a great [person] carries out petty [matters], the results will be narrow, cramped, and unpleasing.
If honorable and mean do not lose their [proper] embodiments, then the world will be [properly] governed. [8/64/11–21]
Heaven loves its [own] essence;
Earth loves its [own] properties;
people love their [own] instinctive responses.
Heaven’s essential qualities are the sun, moon, stars, planets, thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.
Earth’s properties are water, fire, metal, wood, and earth.
People’s instinctive responses are thought, forethought, comprehensiveness [of hearing], clarity [of sight], happiness, and anger.
Thus if one
closes the Four Gates [of perception]31
and puts an end to the Five Extravagances,
then one will be immersed in the Way. Therefore
when spirit illumination is stored up in the Formless,
and the Quintessential qi reverts to ultimate genuineness,
then the eyes are clear, but they are not used for seeing;
and the ears are comprehensive, but they are not used for hearing;
the mouth is apt, but it is not used for speaking;
and the heart is orderly and penetrating, but is not used for thinking and planning.
[Under such circumstances,]
there are responsibilities but no intentional action,
harmonious actions but no boastfulness.
There is a true expression of the instinctive responses invoked by [the ruler’s] nature and life circumstances, so that wisdom and precedent are unable to confuse [him].
When the vital essence flows to the eye, vision is clear;
when it is present in the ear, hearing is comprehensive;
when it resides in the mouth, speech is apt;
when it collects in the heart, its feelings are appropriate.
So when one shuts the Four Gates, in the end,
the body suffers no adversity;
the hundred joints have no diseases.
There is neither death nor birth;
neither vacuity nor repletion.
This is what is called the Genuine Person. [8/64/23–28]
Generally speaking, disorder arises from profligate indolence. The sources of profligate indolence are fivefold:
[erecting] great roof beams and framing timbers;
building palaces and halls;
courtyard buildings, storied towers, and covered walkways;
aviaries and well houses;
with pillars and planks of fruitwood;
all joined together in mutual support;
masterpieces of skillful carpentry;
carved into twists and coils;
overflowingly engraved and carved and polished;
adorned with peculiar patterns and spiraling waves;
[with ornamentation] dripping, floating, billowing, subsiding;
water chestnut and dwarf oak twining and enfolding;
extensive, profuse, disordered, fecund;
cleverly artificial, joined together in apparent confusion;
each [effect] exceeding the last:
Such is profligate indolence based on wood.
The depths of excavated ponds and lakes;
the distance of aligned dikes and embankments;
the flow of diverted [streams] through gorges and valleys;
the straitness of ornamental zigzag channels;
the piling up of stone slabs and the strewing about of stones
in order to make borders and set out stepping-stones;
the placing of barriers and dampers in the furious rapids
so as to stir up the surging waves;
the making of angles and riffles, bends and meanders
to imitate the rivers of [Fan]yu and [Cang]wu;
the augmenting of lotus and water-chestnut plantings
so as to feed turtles and fish,
swans, geese, kingfishers,
fed with leftover rice and sorghum;
dragon boats with prows carved like water birds,
wafted along by the breeze for pure pleasure:
Such is profligate indolence based on water.
High pounded-earth city walls and fortifications,
plantings of trees [as barriers] in passes and defiles;
the impressiveness of lofty belvederes and observation posts;
the immensity of extravagant gardens and walled parks,
the sight of which satisfies every desire and wonder,
the height of lofty gate towers that ascend to the clouds and blue [sky];
great mansions rising tier upon tier,
rivaling the height of Kunlun;
the construction of barrier walls and enclosures,
the making of networks of roads,
the leveling of highlands and filling in of depressions,
the piling up of earth to make mountains,
for the sake of easy passage to great distances;
the straightening of roads through flatlands and hills,
so that [drivers] may ceaselessly gallop and race
without [fear] of stumbles or falls:
Such is profligate indolence based on earth.
Great bells and tripods,
beautiful and heavy implements,
engraved all over with floral and reptilian designs,
all twisting and intertwined,
with recumbent rhinos and crouching tigers,
coiling dragons interlacing together;
blazingly bright and confusingly contrived,
shiningly dazzling, brilliantly glittering,
topsy-turvy, convoluted, luxuriant, tangled,
[with] overall fretwork and written inscriptions,
[with] engraved and polished ornamentation;
cast tin-alloy decorated mirrors,
now dark, now bright,
rubbed minutely, every flaw removed;
frost patterns and deep-cut inlay work,
resembling bamboo matwork, basketry, or netting,
or brocade wrappings, regular or irregular,
the lines numerous but each one distinct:
Such is profligate indolence based on metal.
Frying, boiling, roasting, grilling,
the quest to blend, equalize, and harmonize [flavors],
trying to capture every permutation of sweet and sour in the manner of Jing and Wu;
burning down forests in order to hunt,
stoking kilns with entire logs,
blowing through tuyères and puffing with bellows
in order to melt bronze and iron
that extravagantly flow to harden in the mold,
not considering an entire day sufficient to the task.
The mountains are denuded of towering trees;
the forests are stripped of cudrania and catalpa trees;
tree trunks are baked to make charcoal;
grass is burned to make ash,
[so that] open fields and grasslands are white and bare
and do not yield [vegetation] in season.
Above, the heavens are obscured [by smoke];
below, the fruits of the earth are extinguished:
Such is profligate indolence based on fire.
Of these five, [even] one is sufficient for [a ruler] to lose control of the world. For this reason, in ancient times the making of the Mingtang was such that
below, mud and dampness should not rise up [in the walls];
above, drizzle and fog should not enter into [the building];
and on all four sides, the wind should not come in.
The earthen [walls] were not patterned;
the woodwork was not carved;
the metal fittings were not ornamented.
Clothing [was made] with untrimmed corners and seams;
hats were designed without fancy corners and folds.
The [Ming]tang was sufficiently large for the movement of [those who] arranged the liturgies;
it was sufficiently quiet and clean for sacrifices to the high gods and for ceremonies [directed at] the spirits and deities.
This was to show forth to the people knowledge, simplicity, and economy. [8/65/1–19]
Now, sounds, colors, and the five flavors, precious and strange things from distant countries, things that are extraordinary, different, and surprising are enough to cause alterations and changes in the heart and will, to agitate and unsettle one’s essence and spirit, and to stir up the blood and the qi so that it becomes impossible to keep control of them. Now, the ways in which Heaven and Earth bring forth their products do not basically exceed five. The sage adheres to the five modes of conduct,32 and thus his government does not become disordered.
As a general rule, human nature [is such that] when the heart is harmonious and desires are obtained, there is joy.
Joy gives rise to movement;
movement gives rise to stepping about;
stepping about gives rise to agitation;
agitation gives rise to singing;
singing gives rise to dancing.
If there is dancing, [even] animals and birds will jump about.33
Human nature [is such that] when the heart harbors sorrow or mourning, there is grief.
Grief gives rise to lamentation;
lamentation gives rise to aroused feelings;
aroused feelings give rise to anger;
anger gives rise to movement;34
Movement causes the hands and feet to be restless.
Human nature [is such that] when [the heart] harbors [feelings of] being encroached upon or insulted, there is anger.
With anger, the blood becomes replete;
when the blood becomes replete, qi is aroused;
when qi is aroused, anger is manifested externally;
when anger is manifested externally, there is some release of feelings.
Thus,
bells and drums, flutes and panpipes, shields and war hatchets, feather plumes and oxtail banners, all are means to express joy.
Unfinished hempen garments, unbleached headcloths, and mourners’ staffs, and weeping, thrashing about, and restraints [on conduct] all are means to express sorrow.
Weapons and leather [armor], feather plumes and oxtail banners, metal drums, battle-axes and pole-axes, all are means to express anger.
First there must be the inner substance [of the emotion]; then one can make an outward expression of it. [8/65/21–8/66/4]
In ancient times when the sage-kings occupied the throne, governance and instruction were equitable; humaneness and love were harmoniously blended.35
High and low were of one mind;
ruler and minister were friendly and in accord [with each other].
Clothing and food were in surplus;
families supplied people with the necessities.
Fathers were compassionate and sons were filial;
older brothers were nurturing and younger brothers compliant;
in life there was no resentment;
in death there was no regret.
The world was harmonious and in concord,
and the people obtained what they desired.
People were happy with one another but without the means to give expression to [this happiness] and bestow it [on one another]. Therefore the sages devised ritual and music for them so as to harmonize and regulate them.
In the government of later ages,
hunting and fishing were heavily taxed;
gate tolls and market fees were sharply increased;
the use of wetlands and bridges was prevented and prohibited.
There was no place to deploy nets and snares;
no advantage to using mattock and plow.
The people’s strength was exhausted by corvée labor;
their wealth and necessities were depleted in order to pay taxes.
Residents had nothing to eat;
travelers had no provisions;
the old were not nurtured;
the dead were not buried.
Wives were prostituted and children sold,
in order to meet the demands of the higher-ups,
but even so they were unable to satisfy them.
Clueless common men and simple women all were left with their hearts in turmoil and flux and with their wills sick and sorrowful. Under such circumstances, to strike the great bells, to pound the resounding drums, to blow on pipes and mouth organs, to pluck qin and se, would be to cast away the basis of music [itself]. [8/66/6–12]
In ancient times, the demands of those on high were light, and the people’s needs were met.
Princes bestowed their Moral Potency;
ministers amply fulfilled [their duty of] loyalty.
Fathers behaved compassionately;
sons outdid themselves in filiality.
Each attained the [proper degree of] love, and there were no feelings of resentment among them. The three years’ mourning was not imposed by force, but it was accomplished [nevertheless, so that]
people heard music but were not joyous,
ate delicacies but did not find them sweet;
They were mindful of thoughts of the deceased and were unable to leave off [thinking about them].
In later ages, habits were dissipated and customs grew depraved.
Lusts and appetites proliferated;
Ritual and Rightness were eradicated.
Rulers and ministers deceived one another;
fathers and sons distrusted one another.
Anger and rancor filled every breast;
thoughtful minds were entirely extinct.
Those who wore mourning clothes and tied on unbleached headcloths
fooled around and laughed in the midst [of their mourning].
Although they attained the full three years, they cast away the fundamental principle of mourning. [8/66/14–17]
In ancient times, the Son of Heaven had his royal domain, and the Lords of the Land each had the same [domains as called for by their rank]; each took care of his own portion, and none was permitted to usurp another. If there was one who did not follow the kingly Way,
who was cruel and oppressive to the masses,
who fought over land and tried to usurp territory,
who disrupted the government and violated prohibitions,
who when summoned [to the king’s court] would not come,
who when given commands would not carry them out,
who when forbidden [things] would not desist,
who when admonished would not alter,
then [the Son of Heaven] raised an army and went forth to punish him,
executing the prince,
getting rid of his supporters,
shutting his ancestral tombs,
sacrificing at their altars of the soil,
[and] then selecting by divination one of his sons or grandsons to replace him.
But in later ages, [rulers]
endeavored to enlarge their lands and encroach on the territory of others, forming alliances ceaselessly,
raised armies for unrighteous causes and mounted punitive expeditions against the guiltless;
killed innocent people and cut off the lineages of the former sages.
Large countries set off to attack [others];
small countries built fortifications to defend themselves.
[Such rulers] confiscated people’s oxen and horses,
took captive their sons and daughters,
destroyed their ancestral temples,
carried off their weighty treasures,
[so that] streams of blood flowed for a thousand li,
and sun-bleached skeletons choked the wild lands.
To satisfy the desires of greedy lords—this is not how armies should be managed. [8/66/19–24]
Now the purpose of armies is to punish cruelty, not to commit cruelties.
The purpose of music is to bring forth concord [in human relations], not to create licentiousness.
The purpose of mourning is to bring about a consummation of grief, not to create what is meretricious.
Thus,
there is a Way of serving close relations, and love is the principal means of serving them.
There is substance in the [rituals of] attendance at court, and respect is its highest expression.
There are rituals for the implementation of mourning, and grief is their principal quality.
There are techniques for the use of arms, and Rightness is their foundation.
If the foundation is established, then the Way can be implemented;
if the foundation is harmed, then the Way will be abandoned. [8/66/26–29]
Translated by John S. Major
1. Tai qing 
. Another possible translation would be “Supreme Clarity,” as the Chinese term means both “clarity” and “purity.”
2. Compare this and the following three lines with the opening lines of 20.1.
3. “Flowing yellow” (liu huang 
) usually means “sulfur”; here it evidently signifies an auspicious plant of some sort, not otherwise identifiable.
4. Gongshu was a legendary artisan, also known as Gongsun Ban or Lu Ban; under the last name, he appears in 11.17.
5. Junlu 
, evidently a bamboo of some type, but not reliably identifiable.
6. Yi qi 
. This is a rich term with several layers of meaning. Here it denotes “a single (unitary, undivided) qi,” “unifying the qi,” and even “the qi of the Grand One” (taiyi 
). The term should be understood in all these senses simultaneously.
7. This is a reference to the calendar of twenty-four solar periods (jieqi). See 3.18.
8. This microcosm–macrocosm is developed further in 7.1.
9. This section reads as an expansion of, or a commentary on, Laozi 38, which was the first chapter of the Laozi in some Han versions of that work (e.g., the Mawangdui A and B Laozi texts). See Robert G. Henricks, Lao Tzu Te Tao Ching (New York: Ballantine Books, 1989). To a Han audience, this would have been an authoritative and immediately recognizable text.
10. The primitive society of high antiquity is thus compared with the state of undifferentiated matter-energy (hun ming 
) that preceded the coming-into-being of the phenomenal world. See the opening section of chap. 3.
11. The Chinese character 
is used to write both the word yue (music) and the word le (joy); thus this sentence contains a double-entendre impossible to convey gracefully in English: “They would not find any music/joy in them.”
12. This line is a close paraphrase of several lines in Laozi 38 and echoes Laozi 18.1: dadao fei, you renyi 
, “[Where] the great Way is dispensed with, there is Humaneness and Rightness.”
13. Bo Yi 
was the legendary leader of the Eastern Yi tribe who served Shun as a gamekeeper.
14. Chui was a mythical craftsman and master woodworker to the divine emperor Di Ku, for whom he made musical instruments, bows, plows, boats, marking cords, and other contrivances. See Anne Birrell, Chinese Mythology: An Introduction (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), 53, 63.
15. Giving something to another causes the giver to accumulate Potency (de 
) by creating an obligation on the part of the person who receives. The Perfected Ruler described here can bestow or receive without reference to calculations of obligation and reciprocity.
16. Yaoguang 
(Gemlike Brilliance) is the name of the third (and final) star in the “handle” of the Northern Dipper constellation. As the indicator of where the “dial” of the Dipper is pointing in its annual circuit around the sky, it plays a significant role in some forms of Chinese astrology. Another star, Zhaoyao 
, which forms an extension of the Dipper’s handle, is used similarly to designate the successive months in chap. 5. See the introduction to chap. 5, n. 4.
Adopting the stance of wuwei 
(taking no purposive action) and bringing about results without striving for them, the ruler is a microcosmic analogue of the macrocosmic Yaoguang, which impersonally dispenses good and ill fortune to the states as it revolves through its annual round.
17. Rong Cheng 
was a (mythical) official of the Yellow Emperor credited with inventing the calendar.
18. For a quite different view of archaic society, see 19.1.
19. These mythical monsters are mentioned in various Warring States and Han works; they seem to be paradigms of harmful natural forces. Chayu is a dragon-headed monster armed with a shield and spear; Nine Gullet is a Hydra-like monster; Typhoon (lit., “big wind”) is conceived of as a gigantic, malevolent bird.
20. Laozi 1.
21. Five semidivine mythical rulers of high antiquity; the usual list includes the Yellow Emperor, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao, and Shun.
22. That is, the three royal dynasties of antiquity: Xia, Shang, and Zhou.
23. This formulaic phrase is repeated in 19.3.
24. The same image is found in 19.7.
25. Odes 195, “Xiaomin.” The poem as a whole is a warning to behave with caution in an age of bad counsel.
26. Liu lü (
) means both “six pitch pipes” and “six standards.”
27. Compare 1.1.
28. See 5.15.
29. Compare this and the following five lines with 20.1.
30. That is, his head resembles the roundness of Heaven, and the outline of his two feet side by side resembles the squareness of Earth. This image is also found in 7.2.
31. These are the eyes, ears, mouth, and heart (mind), as elucidated several lines below this one.
32. Wuxing 
here appears to be used in its Mencian sense of five modes of conduct—Humaneness, Wisdom, Rightness, Ritual Correctness, and Sagehood—rather than (as is usually the case in the Huainanzi) as the Five Phases: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
33. We drop the words ge 
and jie 
from this sentence, following Yu Yue’s commentary. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 1:879–80n.2.
34. The text here may be corrupt; the reference to “movement” (dong 
) appears to belong with the previous paragraph, while the reference to “anger” (nu 
) appears to belong with the following paragraph. But commentators make no suggestions for emendations, and we have translated the text as given.
35. This passage contrasts in an interesting way with the idealized picture of archaic agrarian primitivism in Laozi 80, the famous passage that begins “Let the state be small and the populace sparse.” While the Laozi envisions small village communities willfully oblivious of one another’s affairs, the vision of the archaic era in 8.11 is of a substantial empire marked by unity and concord between ruler and subjects.