Long ago
Those who were good at following Dao
Used it not to make people brighter
But to keep them simple.
People become difficult to rule 5
When they get too much education.
Therefore
Rule under an educated elite
Brings loss to the state.
Rule without an educated elite 10
Brings De to the state.
Knowing these two, you have a guide and a pattern.
We call this hidden De.
Hidden De attains ultimate depths
Motivating people from afar 15
Leading their way to the great return.
This is so!
Without it, complete accord does not happen.
***
NOTES
lines 13–18, hidden De: Although poems 10 and 51 refer to it as well, this poem has Laozi’s longest discussion of hidden De.
line 16, the great return: see Introduction section IV.7.
COMMENTARY
The disadvantages of excessive education, a recurring theme in the Dao De Jing, are stated plainly at the start of poem 65. That it makes a populace ungovernable is the reason why democracies worry about citizens who can build their own high-tech bombs and why totalitarian societies limit and control education so that everyone will think the same way. Equally true is how education defines elite classes that think they know what they’re doing – and what you should be doing too. Their stewardship does indeed bring loss to the state. But if spared the confusion and contention generated by overly specialized education, people are much more sociable and happy, and the state can run itself. In other words, De is manifest, with people and state attaining self-definition through enhanced abilities and opportunities. Laozi describes it as hidden here, which is a fair call; unlike so-called higher education, following Dao involves simplifying and not defining and not imposing taboos and not interfering and not demanding faith or worship. It also involves preparing you for what poem 16 calls the destined return into unity with Dao.
Links To:
The Classic of Dao and De by Laozi: Contents
For more on Daoism, see:
Film Dreams: Frank Capra
Music: KALW Radio Show #3, Ancient China in 20th-Century Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #8, Daoism in Western Music, part 1
Music: SFCR Radio Show #9, Daoism in Western Music, part 2
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 