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Heaven has its great mandate, and man has his great mandate. Rich fragrances, crisp flavors, strong wine, and fatty meats — these please the mouth but damage the body. Fair skin and gleaming teeth — these delight the passions but drain the vital essence. Therefore, eliminate excess and eliminate extravagance, and the body will suffer no harm.

Power must not be made visible; its essence is non-action. Affairs are in the four quarters; the pivot is at the center. The sage grasps the pivot, and the four quarters come to serve him. He waits in emptiness, and they of themselves bring what is needed. When all within the four seas has been gathered in, the Way works in shadow yet manifests in the light. Once left and right are established, open the gate and face what comes. Do not alter, do not change — proceed with both punishment and reward together. Practice this without ceasing, and it is called treading the pattern of order.

Things have their proper uses, and talents have their proper applications. When each is placed in its proper role, ruler and ruled alike achieve non-action. Set the rooster to announce the night watches, and command the cat to catch mice — use each according to its ability, and the ruler will have nothing to do.

If the ruler has particular skills he displays, affairs will go awry. If he is proud and fond of showing ability, his subordinates will exploit this to deceive him. If he is eloquent, clever, and fond of advancing ideas, his subordinates will capitalize on that tendency. When ruler and ruled exchange their proper functions, the state will therefore not be well governed.

The way to wield unified authority begins with names. When names are correct, things are settled; when names are skewed, things shift. Therefore the sage grasps unity and remains still. He lets names assign themselves and lets affairs settle themselves. He does not display his judgment, and so those below are plainly upright.

Go along with them and appoint them — let them manage their own tasks. Go along with them and grant them resources — they will of themselves carry out their duties. Set them properly in their positions — let them all settle into their roles of their own accord.

The ruler raises men up on the basis of their names. If he does not know their names, he examines their actual performance. When performance and title are cross-checked and found to match, he employs what this correspondence produces. When these two are genuinely reliable, those below will offer up their true dispositions.

Attend diligently to your duties, await the mandate of heaven, and do not lose hold of the essentials — this is what it means to be a sage. The way of the sage is to cast off cleverness and skill. If cleverness and skill are not cast off, it will be difficult to maintain constancy. When common people employ cleverness, they bring calamity upon themselves. When the ruler employs it, his state faces danger and destruction.

Follow the way of heaven, return to the principles underlying appearances, supervise and cross-check thoroughly — when one cycle ends, another begins. Through emptiness and stillness hold back, and never deploy your own person. In all matters, the ruler's danger lies in identifying himself with one side. Trust them but do not identify with them, and the ten thousand people will follow as one.

The Way is vast and without form. Potency verifies principles and reaches everywhere. Reaching to all living things, it apportions and allocates, and the ten thousand things all flourish — yet it does not share in their tranquility. The Way below encompasses all affairs; it examines and assigns according to precedent, and lives and dies with the times. It cross-checks names against different affairs and penetrates to a unified truth underlying all.

Therefore it is said: The Way is not the same as the ten thousand things. Potency is not the same as yin and yang. The balance is not the same as light and heavy. The plumb line is not the same as straight and crooked. Harmony is not the same as dry and wet. The ruler is not the same as his ministers.

All these six are manifestations of the Way. The Way has no double — therefore it is called the One. This is why the enlightened ruler prizes the singular capacity of the Way. Ruler and ministers do not share the same Way. Those below petition through names. The ruler holds the names; the ministers present their performance. When performance and title are cross-checked and found to match, above and below are in harmony.

The general principle of listening is this: take what is put forth and turn it back as the basis for judgment. Therefore, examine names to fix positions and clarify divisions to distinguish categories.

The art of listening to proposals should be as though one were deeply drunk. Lips or teeth? — I shall not be the one to start. Teeth or lips? — ever more blurred and vague. Let them separate themselves out; I will thereby come to know them. Rights and wrongs converge like spokes on a hub; the ruler does not engage with their constructions.

Emptiness, stillness, and non-action: this is the true nature of the Way. Cross-checking threes and fives and comparing categories: this is the form of governance. Cross-check in threes to compare categories; cross-check in fives to verify against the empty standard. If the root is firm and does not shift, then actions and disclosures will not go astray.

Set them in motion, let them flow — govern through non-action. Show pleasure, and affairs will multiply. Show displeasure, and resentment will breed. Therefore eliminate pleasure and displeasure; empty the mind and make it a dwelling for the Way.

If the ruler does not participate in their affairs, the people will exalt him. If the ruler does not impose his own judgment of rightness, he will let each act on his own responsibility. The ruler firmly closes his inner gate, observes the courtyard from his chamber — everything within arm's reach is already arranged, with everyone in his proper place.

Reward those who merit reward; punish those who merit punishment. Follow what each has done, and let each bring himself to completion. When good and evil invariably meet their consequences, who will dare to be faithless? Once the compass and square are established, the remaining three corners fall into place.

If the ruler above is not inscrutable, those below will find an opening. If his conduct of affairs is not fitting, those below will probe his routines. Be like heaven, be like earth — this is called dissolving all entanglements. Like earth, like heaven — who then is distant, who close? One who can take heaven and earth as his model is called a sage.

To govern the inner court, appoint people and do not involve yourself personally. To govern external affairs, place one man in each office. If they are not allowed to act at will, how could they encroach and consolidate power? At the gates of great ministers, one should worry only that too many people gather.

The ultimate in governance is when those below cannot fathom the ruler. Match performance and title comprehensively, and the people will keep to their duties. Abandon this and seek other methods — this is called great delusion. Cunning subjects will multiply and treacherous people will fill every side.

Therefore it is said: Do not enrich a man and then borrow from him. Do not ennoble a man and then let him press close. Do not place exclusive trust in one man and thereby lose your capital and state. When the calf is larger than the thigh, it is hard to walk.

If the ruler loses his inscrutability, tigers will follow at his heels. If the ruler above does not perceive this, the tigers will come to be treated as dogs. If the ruler does not stop this early, the dogs will grow without limit. The tigers will form their packs and assassinate their sovereign. To be a ruler without loyal ministers — what state can one have?

But when the ruler applies his laws, the great tigers will grow timid. When the ruler applies his punishments, the great tigers will settle into submission. If legal institutions are made truly reliable, the tigers will transform back into men and return to their true nature.

If you wish to secure your state, you must break up factions. If you do not break up factions, they will gather a multitude. If you wish to secure your territory, you must regulate your grants. If you do not regulate your grants, troublemakers will seek further gain. If they ask and I give, it is like lending an axe to my enemy. Yet if I refuse to lend it, they will use it to strike at me.

The Yellow Emperor had a saying: "Between ruler and ruled, there are a hundred battles each day." Those below conceal their private interests and use them to test their superiors. Those above hold fast to standards and measures and use them to cut their subordinates down to size. Therefore the establishment of standards and measures is the ruler's treasure; the formation of factions and alliances is the minister's treasure. The only reason ministers do not assassinate their lord is that their factions are not yet fully organized.

Therefore, if the ruler loses an inch, those below gain a fathom. A ruler who has a state does not enlarge the capitals of his ministers. A minister who understands the Way does not enrich his own house. A ruler who understands the Way does not ennoble his ministers excessively — for if he ennobles them and enriches them, they will replace him.

Prepare against danger and fear for peril. Establish the heir apparent promptly, and calamity will have no place from which to arise. Whether searching within or guarding without, the ruler must personally hold the standards and measures. Those who have grown too great, diminish. Those who have grown too thin, wear down further. Diminish and wear down according to measure — do not let the people band together in cliques to deceive their superiors as one. Diminish them as the moon wanes; wear them down as heat dissipates. Keep commands simple and punishments strict — be sure to carry out every penalty to the full.

Do not slacken your bow. When two males roost in one nest, they will fight savagely. When wolves are in the pen, the sheep will not multiply. When two powers share one household, nothing will be accomplished. When husband and wife both hold the reins of government, the children will not know whom to follow.

The ruler must frequently prune his tree. Do not let the branches spread thick and luxuriant. If the branches spread thick and luxuriant, they will block the public lanes; private gates will be filled while the public court stands empty; the ruler will be surrounded and sealed off.

Frequently prune the tree. Do not let the branches extend outward in resistance. If the branches extend outward in resistance, they will press upon the ruler's dwelling.

Frequently prune the tree. Do not let the branches grow larger than the trunk. If the branches are larger than the trunk, the tree will not withstand the spring wind. If it cannot withstand the spring wind, the branches will destroy the heart of the tree.

When the princes have grown numerous, the royal house moans with anxiety. The way to stop this: frequently prune the tree, and do not let the branches flourish. If the tree is frequently pruned, factions and alliances will disintegrate.

Dig up the very roots, and the tree will lose its power. Fill in the deep pools, and do not let the water run clear. Probe their hidden thoughts and strip them of their authority. When the ruler applies these methods, let him be like lightning and thunder.