Chapter 65 of the Tao Te Ching

In this chapter, the words 明 míng (lights, prudence) are taken in a bad sense, and the words 愚 yú (simplicity, ignorance) in a good sense. E: Prudence and perspicacity are the source of hypocrisy and coldness (of feelings). In antiquity, those who excelled at practicing the Tao did not use it (as per Sou-tseu-yeou) to enlighten the people, to develop their prudence and perspicacity. On the contrary, they used it to make them simple and narrow-minded, so that (A) they would not engage in deceit and fraud.

E: When the people have not yet lost their natural simplicity and candor, it is easy to instruct and convert them; when the sincerity of their feelings is not yet altered, it is easy to make them obey the prohibitions and laws. But as soon as they have acquired much prudence, their purity and simplicity vanish while cunning and hypocrisy grow in them day by day. If one wants to teach them the Tao and make them adopt a correct and regular conduct, one will encounter immense difficulties. It is solely for this reason that the sages of antiquity strove to make the people simple and ignorant, instead of enlightening them.

E: If the prince employs prudence to govern the kingdom, the people will be influenced by his example; they will seek to become prudent and will engage in deceit and trickery. In this way, the prince will have brought unhappiness to the kingdom.

E: If the prince does not employ prudence to govern the kingdom, the people will be influenced by his example and will seek to become simple and pure. The simplicity and honesty of the people will bring happiness to the kingdom.

The people are difficult to govern, says Wang-fou-sse, because they have too much shrewdness; one must make them ignorant and free from desires. But if one leads the people with the help of prudence and cunning, once their bad dispositions have been awakened, one will still need to use skill and artifice to suppress the people's hypocrisy. The people will notice the obstacles that are put in their way and will know how to avoid them at once. They will only think of forming secret plots, and then falsehood and hypocrisy will grow day by day. This is why Lao-tseu says: He who governs the kingdom by prudence is the scourge of the kingdom.

A: The expression 两者 liǎng zhě, "these two things," refers here to prudence and the absence of prudence. One must know that prudence is a scourge, and that the absence or non-employment of prudence can become a source of happiness.

E: When ordinary people talk about the administration of the kingdom, they imagine that it is well governed when the prince uses prudence, and that, due to lack of prudence, it falls into disorder. Reasoning this way, one does not know how to choose the true science and is incapable of properly governing people. This is why he who can know the advantages and disadvantages of these two things (that is, the advantages of not employing prudence and the disadvantages of employing it) is capable of becoming the model of the empire.

Literal. "constantly knowing the model," that is, what makes one the model (of the empire). E: Ordinary people only value the use of prudence for good governance, but the Sage, on the contrary, values the non-use of prudence for good governance. This is what leads Lao-tseu to say that the 玄德 xuán dé is deep, vast, and contrary to the creatures, that is, it seeks the opposite of what pleases the creatures.

A: The expression 玄德 xuán dé means "celestial virtue." Aliter H: The expression 玄德 xuán dé means a virtue so subtle that men cannot understand it.

Liu-kie-fou: The word 远 yuǎn (commonly "distant") means 不可量 bù kě liàng "incommensurable."

Liu-kie-fou: What I esteem is virtue; what men esteem is prudence. Virtue and prudence are opposed to each other; the submission (this interpreter retains the usual meaning of 顺 shùn) that one obtains by governing with prudence is mediocre and limited; the submission that one obtains through virtue is universal.

E: Whenever the empire is prey to great disorders, one must blame the love of prudence. But as soon as a prince does not use prudence, he succeeds in providing general peace.

Ibidem: The word 顺 shùn (commonly "obey, obedience, submission") has here the meaning of 治 zhì "the state of what is well governed, peace."

The words 然后 rán hòu "subsequently" mean "after one has acquired this virtue."