Some have named the Wenzi (Wen Tzu) the fourth most influential Daoist text after the Dao De Jing, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. However scholars have questioned its authenticity because it contains Confucian, Legalist, and Mohist philosophies. (Creativity and Intertextuality, pages 8, 23, 25, 32, 61-65, 81, and 84).
Chapter Three is named The Nine Principles of Governance and covers the way, flexibility, and effortless action.
The Way
The way is higher and deeper than anything and is perfectly shaped.
“The Way is so high there is nothing above it, so deep there is nothing below it. It is evener than a level, straighter than a plumb line, rounder than a compass, squarer than a ruler.”
It encompasses all the universe, creation, and even non-creation.
“It contains the universe but has no outside or inside; it is hollow like an overturned bowl and has no obstruction.”
Flexibility
Most people seek higher status, wealth, and honor. They dislike losing or facing challenges.
“It is in the nature of human feelings that everyone likes to be in high positions and dislikes to being in low positions; everyone likes gain and dislikes loss; everyone likes advantage and dislikes affliction; everyone likes honor and dislikes lowliness. Ordinary people strive for this reason and therefore cannot succeed; because they grasp something they cannot master it.”
Chapter 18 of the Zhuangzi says a similar thing:
“This is what the world honors: wealth, eminence, long life, a good name. This is what the world finds happiness in: a life of ease, rich food, fine clothes, beautiful sights, sweet sounds. This is what it looks down on: poverty, meanness, an early death, a bad name.”
The sage on the other hand remains flexible and yielding. They recognize the importance of the small and weak.
“Therefore sages preside over the world by means of the Way: being flexible and yielding, vague and subtle, they see the small; being frugal and austere, they see the little.”
“They see the small and remain flexible; they are retiring and not possessive.”
They know that from the small comes great achievement and beauty.
“Because they see the small, they can achieve the great; because they see the little, they can achieve the beautiful.
“On the Way, the great is made by the small, much is based on little.”
They follow the example of a river which flows downstream and gains the respect of others.
“The way of heaven is to lower the elevated and raise the depressed, to reduce the excessive and augment the insufficient. Rivers and seas are located where there is a lack of earth, and so the world resorts to them and honors them.“
They do not attempt to rise above others and this protects them from the ambitious.
“Earth is below and does not struggle for height, so it is secure and not dangerous. Water flows downward and does not struggle for speed, so it is not slow. Therefore sages grasp nothing and so lose nothing, contrive nothing and so fail at nothing.”
They do not seek acclaim or praise.
“Therefore sages do not seek renown for their acts and do not seek praise for their knowledge.”
They are modest, deferential, and open minded.
“Sages are humble and modest, pure and calm, deferential in their speech; this is seeing the lowly. They are open-minded and unpossessive; this is seeing the lacking.”
Leadership
In the same way leaders should be humble and not coerce others. They should be to yield.
“Because they do not coerce, they are able to fulfill leadership. Being as a female to the world, they are able to avoid spiritual death. Because they take care of themselves, they are able to fulfill nobility.”
Effortless Action
The sage lives according to nature and acts effortlessly. They are not possessive and flow like a river without a set destination.
“They emulate the rivers and seas; because the rivers and seas do not act on purpose, they come to be known for their merits by a natural process of development.“
They achieve all that is needed without striving. This makes them content and helps them survive.
“So sages emulate heaven, achieving without striving, attaining without grasping. They have the same senses as other people but are on a different path; therefore they can survive long.”
They are spontaneous and are have no plans.
“Their management follows nature spontaneously, without them adding anything themselves.”
This reduces their stress and exhaustion.
“There is something that is not accomplished by those who contrive, something that is not attained by those who seek. People get exhausted, and the Way does not come through to them.”
The sage knows they can’t prevent hardship but never encourages it or lets it distress them. They know they have little control over success but humbly accepts it. In this way they live effortlessly.
“You cannot cause calamity not to occur; but trust in yourself not to beckon it. You cannot cause fortune to arrive; but trust in yourself not to reject it. When calamity occurs, since it is not your doing you do not grieve when in straits. When fortune comes, since it is not your achievement you are not conceited when successful. In this way you live at ease and enjoy effortlessness, yet there is order.”
Summary
The way is the highest and deepest source and includes all of creation. The sage is flexible and recognizes the importance of the lowly. They live according to nature and act effortlessly. They are spontaneous and do not seek any particular destination. They accomplish what is needed without striving. They recognize they can’t prevent hardship or cause themself success.
Resources
Wen-Tzu, Understanding the Mysteries, Thomas Cleary, Translator. 1991.
Complete Works Of Chuang Tzu, Burton Watson, translator. Columbia University Press, 1968. A good and classic translation of Chuang Tzu.
The Wenzi: Creativity and Intertextuality in Early Chinese Philosophy (Studies in the History of Chinese Texts, 9), Paul Van Els, Brill Academic Publisher, 2018.
