The Ordinariness of Peace in the Tao Te Ching

by Rosemarie Anderson, Ph.D., author of The Divine Feminine Tao Te Ching

In her book The Divine Feminine Tao Te Ching, Rosemarie Anderson offers a new translation of the ancient classic that reveals the feminine nature of the Tao. In this blog post she reflects on the concepts of peace and goodness in the Tao Te Ching.

In the Tao Te Ching, peace is thought simple, ordinary, and the highest purpose of good government. To be at peace in the world is to grant privilege to what is most necessary for the greater good. For example, Poem 8 details what is “good” in everyday life, as follows:

The highest good is like water

Bringing goodness to all things without struggle

In seeking low places spurned by others

The Tao resembles water

For a house

The good is the land

For the mind

The good is depth

For relationships

The good is kindness

For speech

The good is trustworthiness

In government

The good is peace

In work

The good is skill

In actions

The good is timing

Above all do not struggle

Remain without blame

Aligning with the Tao is to enact a path of wei wu wei, meaning to act without acting. In so doing, actions arise naturally and spontaneously to meet circumstances without plotting in advance or invoking personal or political gain of any sort. Indeed, over time, enacting this wei wu wei path of selfless action will impact all our relations with others, including animals and other species, our families and communities, the conduct of governments, relationships between nations and peoples, and with planet Earth herself.

Regarding war, use of weapons, and military action, the Tao Te Ching is uncompromising. War is a last resort and enemies are to be respected. Poem 69 puts the matter directly:

Military strategists have a saying

Dare not host a war

But be the guest

Dare not advance an inch

But retreat a foot

This is called

Advancing without advancing

Seizing without arms

Taking without weapons

Confronting without attacking

No misfortune is greater than not honoring antagonists

Not to honor antagonists is to lose virtue

Therefore when antagonists are well matched

The grieving one wins

Similarly, Poem 31 depicts weapons as “ugly-hearted”. Poem 31 could not be more direct:

Surely weapons augur peril

Some things are just ugly-hearted

Hence those living the Tao resist using them

At home rulers favor the vulnerable

And only in war favor strength

Weapons are not auspicious

Wise rulers use them as a last resort and privilege restraint

Best to remain peaceful and calm

Even in victory they do not delight in them

To delight in them is to enjoy killing

Those who enjoy killing

Gain nothing in this world!

Having lived for several years on US military bases in Asia and Europe, I know that caution and restraint toward military action is common and well understood among US high-ranking military officers. High-ranking military officers are alert and careful; they know in their bones that life is at stake. This was particularly true on US military bases not far from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in South Korea where I lived off and on for two years. When these bases were on “high alert,” the usual tumult and noise in the officers’ clubs chilled down to a standstill. Sometimes, I thought I could hear a pin drop. High-ranking officers are ready for war but not enthusiastic—unless they are very young (and fortunately not in charge).

While wei wu wei of Poem 8 is challenging enough, Poem 79 stopped me in my tracks. The context of Poem 79 is the settlement of a hatred or injury in ancient China. Once a settlement was agreed to, the agreement was inscribed on a bamboo stick and the stick broken in two. By tradition, the one to make payment takes the left side and the one to receive payment takes the right side. But, in Lines 4 and 5, “the wise grasp the side of debtor and make no claims on others.” I have translated Poem 79 as below:

When a great hatred is reconciled

Usually hatred lingers

How can this be good?

Thus the wise grasp the side of the debtor

And make no claims on others

The virtuous manage the accounts

And those without virtue insist on payment

The Tao of Heaven is without favorites

Yet always aligns with the good

Perhaps you feel that taking the side of the debtor is an astonishing way to settle disputes. Indeed, Poem 79 contrasts markedly with modern ideas about demanding payment for debts, holding on to one’s own equity, paying off a “war debt” as the nation that lost a war, and so on. The point being made is that the wise assume they are the one indebted and, therefore, make no claims on others. Otherwise, hatred remains.

In musing on Poem 79, I kept on wondering how could I possibly do this? How could I assume I am the debtor in conflicts and disputes with others and not go broke? How could a country behave as the debtor in international conflicts and so on? But then I started thinking about the value of apologies and forgiveness. Every time I have sincerely apologized to another or they to me, mystery abounds. What was under dispute disappears from awareness and often even from memory. Yet more, the energy returned to both parties is often astonishing and humbling. Similarly, in family and communal affairs, if parents and political leaders looked more to what we mutually owe one another rather than what others owe us, family and communal values would be very different than they are.

Optimistic as enacting the wei wu wei of peace may seem, we might generate a culture of generosity. What a concept! And, similarly, if we truly valued earth, air, fire, and water for their life-giving properties and we humans as the debtors, would that not turn around the menacing ecological disasters toward which we are heading? This is precisely what indigenous people have done since ancient times and often still do. Perhaps now is the time to generate a culture of unshakable indebtedness because such is the truth of what is.