The Liezi is considered the third most important text in Daoism (Taoism) after the Dao De Jing and Zhuangzi. Chapter two is named The Yellow Emperor and focuses on living with the Dao. It shares many parables found in Zhuangzi including Feeding Monkeys (Zhuangzi, Chapter 2), Taming Tigers (Zhuangzi, Chapter 4), Shaman (Zhuangzi, Chapter 7), Ferryman, Archery Contest, Swimming at the Waterfall, Catching Cicadas, and Training a Fighting Cock (Zhuangzi, Chapter 19).
Emptiness
The sage becomes one with nature. This is called achieving a state of emptiness. There is no difference between self and the outside world.
“There was no more inside or outside.“
“If even one who gains wholeness in wine is like this, how about one who gains wholeness in Nature?”
“That time I showed him never leaving my source. I harmonized with him by being empty; he didn’t know who or what I was, and took me for reeds bending in the wind.”
Acceptance
The sage lives in a state of acceptance. They do not desire but follows the contour of life. They do not like or dislike but accept life for what it is.
“The people had no habits or cravings, they were just natural. They didn’t know to like life or to detest death, so there was no premature death. They didn’t know to prefer themselves to others, so there was no love or hatred.”
Harmony with Others
The sage is in harmony with others. They are honest and do not get angry or intimidate.
“They do not intimidate and do not get angry; the eager and honest are their servants.”
The sage recognizes that people use knowledge to manipulate one another.
“When people entrap each other through the differences in their abilities, it’s always like this. Sages use intelligence to encompass ignorant people the way the monkey trainer used his wits to trap the monkeys.”
When one is in the Dao, others will want to be near them.
“Confucius and Mo Di had no territory, yet they were leaders; they had no offices, yet they were chiefs. Everyone in the world, men and women, wanted to contribute to their safety and welfare.”
Accomplishing
When one is with the Dao they possess a single mindedness.
“Didn’t you know? When people are completely sincere, that can affect things.”
“When concentration is undivided, it’s like genius.”
“However vast the universe, however manifold myriad things, I am only aware of the cicada’s wings. I don’t fidget, I don’t take my attention off the cicada’s wings for anything—how could I fail to catch it?”
They can accomplish things that seem impossible.
“The reason someone who can swim can teach it is that he thinks little of the water; the reason someone with talent for swimming can soon do it is that he forgets the water. As for the diver who can handle a boat without ever having seen one before, he looks upon an abyss as like dry land, regards a boat capsizing as like a cart overturning.“
“I go in with the whirlpools and come out with the torrents. I follow the way of the water, without imposing my self on it. This is how I go through it.”
When one does not fear life and death, they do not let concerns of the world bother them.
“Neither death nor life, surprise nor fear, enter into his chest, so he is not frightened when he encounters things.“
“Harmony means universal assimilation to things; then things cannot cause injury or obstruction.”
The reason people worry is that they are concerned with the results. The sage doesn’t let the troubles of the world affect them.
“When you gamble for a chip, you’re clever: when you gamble for your belt buckle, you get nervous; if you gamble for gold, you feel faint. You may have the same skill, but when you’ve got something to lose then you care about externals. Usually those who care about externals are inept in regard to the inward.”
Sincerity
The Way is sincere. The sage always acts with pure intention.
“There was a man living by the sea who liked seagulls. Every morning on the sea he’d sport with the seagulls, and they’d come by the hundreds, without fail. His father said to him, ‘I’ve heard the seagulls all play with you. Catch one and bring it here so I can enjoy it.’ The next day when he went to the sea, the gulls danced around but didn’t land. Therefore it is said that perfect words make no claim, perfect action has no contrivance.”
“Now there is no thought in my mind to upset or indulge, so birds and beasts look upon me as one of their own kind.”
Yielding
The sage knows that to yield is to win while the use of force is to fail. Flexibility is the ultimate state of being.
“The way of always winning is called gentility, the way of not always winning is called force. Both are easy to know, yet no one knows them.”
“If you would be forceful, you must protect it by yielding. Develop flexibility and you will be firm; cultivate yielding and you will be strong. Force overcomes its inferior—meeting an equal, it’s destroyed. Gentility overcomes superiors—its power cannot be measured.”
Government
When a nation follows the Dao there is no need for rules, leaders, or profit. The people no longer think about right or wrong but simply follow nature. There is no need for charity or hoarding because everyone has what they need.
“In that country there were no political leaders, just a state of nature. They didn’t know how to rebel or obey, so there was no profit or harm.”
“They give no charity, yet everyone has enough; they do not accumulate or save, yet they themselves have no lack. Yin and yang are always in harmony.”
A nation should always seek to avoid the use of force and instead yield if possible.
“When an army is forceful it perishes; when wood is inflexible, it breaks. Gentility and yielding are cohorts of life, inflexibility and force are cohorts of death.”
Conclusion
The sage achieves a state of emptiness by accepting whatever comes. They live in harmony with others and is always sincere. The sage seeks to always be flexible for they know that knows that yielding is winning while force is failure. There is a single mindedness that comes with the Dao that makes it possible to accomplish challenging tasks. In a similar way when a nation follows the Dao there is no need for leaders or laws. Everyone has what they require. The nation should always seek to avoid the use of force.
Resource
The Book of Master Lie, Thomas Cleary, translator. 2011. A nice translation of Liezi.
Daoism 