《太平經》Vol. 54

Taiping Jing, Chapter 54: “A Method for Enabling People to Live Without Disputes” (No. 81), Modern Interpretation

The disciple said: “I have already asked many questions, and it is always a pleasure to hear the Celestial Master explain them. Still, I would like to ask one or two more questions about the principle of ‘equitable ordering’—letting people each occupy a fitting place and stand in proper relation to one another. I hope that Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, the people, and all living creatures able to walk may remain joyful and kind in all things for a long time. May each cultivate and correct themselves, live freely day by day without being bound hand and foot by official duties, and cease causing one another worry or bringing accusations and demands against one another. Could you explain this to me?”

The Celestial Master said: “This question of yours is especially apt and unusual. When you ask people to do something, however, you should take account of each person’s circumstances, let each follow their own wishes, and assign them work suited to their abilities. You must not instead force them to do what lies beyond their capacity. If you do this, each person will obtain what they seek and will no longer cause one another distress. Only when each person can fulfill their own intentions can we say that they ‘move freely without official duties.’

“But in the world today, people are often not allowed to do what they are capable of. Instead, they are forced to do what they cannot, and tasks beyond their ability are made exceedingly difficult. Even when it is clear that someone cannot act or speak, no one shows compassion or offers guidance. Instead, they are punished, leaving them aggrieved and embittered and provoking anger and disputes. The people suffer and fall into hardship, so they cry to Heaven and call upon the August Heaven. Their grievances are real. This pent-up resentment stirs the Six Directions, and disasters and upheavals follow in profusion. The accumulated ills are many and cannot be swept away at once; their harm runs deep. In this way, the people’s trust is lost, and in the end their affairs cannot be brought to completion. Strange occurrences continue without end. How could the Qi of Great Peace arise? That is why Great Peace cannot be achieved. The fault lies here: in name, one may wish to establish ‘lasting peace,’ while in reality everything is in disorder. How, then, could the Way of governance be clear?

“You are asking now because you wish to understand this matter fully, are you not? By nature, each thing under Heaven and Earth has what suits it. Let each do what they are good at and able to do; do not force them to do what they cannot. Although all things receive the Qi of Yin and Yang, it is like a fish that cannot live apart from water, yet is told to swim on a high mountain. When there is water, fish can swim whether the place is high or low. A great tree cannot live apart from soil, yet it is made to grow in a river or the sea. Therefore, in ancient times, the sages and enlightened kings assigned tasks and appointed officials…”

(The scripture breaks off here. The original scroll continues below section “Five.”)

Plain Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

Choosing what suits the land and bringing peace to the realm

Different kinds of land should be planted with crops suited to them. Then the harvest will be healthy and abundant. The state will grow prosperous; offerings in the ancestral temple will be plentiful and rich in flavor; the realm will be peaceful; the people will suffer fewer illnesses and disasters; and baleful Qi will subside and cease to cause harm.

This is like planting indiscriminately without first examining and choosing the land. Nothing can then live out its full natural lifespan. Grievances remain trapped in people’s hearts, unresolved, and they die young. Even this alone will alarm Heaven: the harvest will fail completely, the state will sink into extreme poverty, food will be meager and bland, and the ancestral temple will have no offerings. The realm will be filled with sorrow; the people will harm one another; ruler and ministers will deceive one another; and what is said at home and abroad will not agree. Calamities and disputes often begin this way.

This is the root of great harm and the road to danger and ruin. How could one fail to be careful? How could one fail to reflect on it again and again?

How the ancient sages appointed people

In ancient times, when great sages and worthy leaders chose people for service, they first tested what each person was good at and where their weaknesses lay, then assigned duties accordingly. If someone made a mistake, they held that person accountable in light of their strengths, rather than treating their weaknesses as the chief offense. This did not violate the Way of Heaven; instead, it became a sound principle for governing the world. Careful appointments, then, were what won the hearts of the people.

The failings of later generations

In later generations, people acted carelessly, gave matters little thought, and ignored the lessons of the ancients. Instead, they placed people in positions they could not handle, then blamed them for lacking the strength to do what was beyond them and demanded sight from those who could not see. The blind cannot look at the sun, and the mute cannot speak; yet their weaknesses were singled out as grave offenses and punished. What should have brought mutual benefit and shared happiness became a game of power, with those above and below taking turns to harm one another. This is the way to bring ruin upon the realm.

Since ancient times, feudal lords and rulers who brought peace had no extraordinary or mysterious art. They simply appointed people according to their character and abilities. In this way they drew forth the Qi of peace and left the people free of unresolved grievances.

The source of disorder and the selection of capable people

Disorder is about to arise when people are often given the wrong appointments, assigned work unsuited to them, and then harshly blamed for it. No matter how severe the punishments, once people have died, their duties still cannot be put in order. Portents of disaster follow one after another; they cannot be stopped, and in the end disorder and ruin result. Good and bad fortune, safety and danger, all arise from this.

That is why in ancient times, when rulers selected capable people, they first observed them personally and tested their abilities, so that appointments would accord with Heaven—the Way and will of Heaven. Only when appointments accord with Heaven can the realm be at peace.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

Between Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, auspicious signs and responses either correspond and harmonize, or fail to correspond. When they do not harmonize, their effects are false. What does it mean for things to correspond and harmonize? A great person receives a great response, and a humble person a small one. Wind and rain arrive in their proper seasons, all living things flourish, the people live in peace, and birds and beasts move about undisturbed. These are the effects of harmony.

Therefore, those who wish to govern the state and bring peace to all under Heaven must examine how things and people are assigned and placed. Heaven gives life to all things, each with its own abilities and proper place, just as the dragon rises into the sky and the fish swims in the depths, each where it belongs.

The ways of governing the state have had countless threads since Heaven and Earth were established. Heaven undergoes change, and each change has its proper time. The key is to carry out the intentions of Heaven and Earth, so that each person finds a fitting place and can fulfill their desires.

Heaven uses the sun, moon, and stars—the Three Lights—as its writing and record. Their waxing and waning, with the wind as a sign, symbolize the ruler.

Earth uses its mountains, rivers, fields, and paths as its patterns and order. Mountains breathe forth Qi, and waters run through its channels. Its decline and flourishing, movements and shifts, collapses and unions, with changes in the wind as omens, symbolize the ministers.

Humanity passes things on through speech and records them in writing. People consider and discuss the decline and flourishing of all things as they change, so that a person need only think to understand. Humanity stands at the center of Yin and Yang, as teacher and elder to all things, with the greatest capacity for action. People are like spirits, yet have form; they can change, advance, and withdraw. Their principal duty is to record these transformations and speak on their behalf.

Thus, when the first word fails to get through, grievances arise. When the second fails, things become obstructed. When the third fails, separation follows. When the fourth fails, people do not respond in harmony with the seasons, and living things grow irregularly. When the fifth fails, the flow of Qi turns to conflict. When the sixth fails, calamity arises in the six directions. When the seventh fails, things are ruined. When the eighth fails, circumstances become difficult and entangled. When the ninth fails, people harm one another. When the tenth fails, they bring about changes in one another. Therefore, every effort should be made to ensure that speech gets through.

In ancient times, before writing existed, how did people communicate? Writing must arise, and it must also cease. The movements of Heaven and Earth involve beginnings and endings, again and again; later generations simply have not witnessed this for themselves. In the Middle Antiquity, during the time of the Three Sovereigns, there was no writing, so people used speech. In a later age, the Qi of Heaven and Earth again ceased and then arose. Only the spirit-like people did not know where old age came from. Having lived through many experiences, they understood the distinctions and principles; writing must have existed within them, though later generations truly did not see it. What is the connection between speech, truth, and nonbeing? Why is there writing at some times and none at others?

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Taiping Jing

When Qi (vital energy) declines, people become dull and frail, and their lives are short. Since there are no records that can be preserved for long, Heaven uses written edicts so that knowledge can pass from one generation to the next and people can learn about the past.

Without writing, people would only argue with one another. They would have no way to distinguish right from wrong or correct each other, and everyone would insist on their own view. That is why written documents are needed. People in those times were so ignorant that Heaven made writings for them, as if sending down from Heaven documentary proofs and rules. The disciple said that he had understood, but wished to ask one more thing: what should people do to “communicate Qi” today?

The reply was: let the three great roads remain open, and let writings circulate in all eight directions. Do not withhold without reason what is said to the people, officials, or commoners. Urgent matters should be promptly resolved and handled at the proper time. Matters that are not urgent should follow the cycles of Heaven, Earth, and all things: affairs are brought to a close in the seventh month, reviewed in the eighth, and put in a new order in the ninth. In the tenth month, those who have not returned … submit reports after three years … Among people who are wholly sincere and trustworthy, find those of this kind and appoint them. Such people are worthy ministers of the state and a support to the ruler, helping him see and hear clearly. They observe and listen so that no sign from the four quarters is missed. When an emperor obtains such people, he is secure and clear-sighted; therefore, they should be appointed. How should they be appointed? One must ask each of them separately what they can do, and have them state clearly what they can do, what they can sort out, and what they excel at. Appoint them according to their nature, and their governance will not go astray. In this way, the people of the realm will be won over, the Way of governance will flourish day by day, peace will prevail without punishments, all things will be free of grievance, and Heaven and Earth will be in harmony, with everything fully able to communicate. Thus, longevity can be achieved.

People in high antiquity lived long because punishments were used sparingly and people were not harmed. Those who harm others greatly end up harming themselves in turn. That is why the sages of high antiquity were unwilling to use punishments freely. In the middle antiquity, punishments were used to some extent, and lifespans were cut in half. In later antiquity, punishments were used extensively, and few people lived long.

Punishment is an evil thing. It offends Heaven and throws Yin-Yang into disorder; this evil accumulates as harmful Qi and turns back to injure people. For this reason, the sages of high antiquity did not rely on it heavily, out of care for themselves and the people. People in middle antiquity were partly ignorant and used light punishments for minor offenses, so their lifespans were reduced by half. People in later antiquity were deeply ignorant, disregarded the consequences, and made punishment their usual practice; as a result, many failed to live long. The blame lies here.

Readers of this book should return to it repeatedly and read with care. Life and death are matters of great importance; do not act rashly. A wise and worthy son makes far-reaching plans for his father, and a wise and worthy minister makes far-reaching plans for his ruler. An unworthy son will not make careful plans for his father, and an unwise minister will not make plans for his ruler. If a young person behaves this way, they bring ruin upon themselves.

(The final phrase, “that person happens upon …,” may connect to the following passage in the transmitted text. This section may be incomplete and should be compared with the full volume.)

Note: Phrases such as “the three roads remain open,” “writings from the eight directions,” and “the seventh month … the tenth month” are often associated with the Taiping Jing’s teachings on governance, administration, and the sequence of seasonal duties. Editions differ somewhat in their textual readings. Specialized terms such as “documentary proof,” “sign,” and “communicating Qi” are retained here and briefly explained in accordance with their common usage in the scripture.

Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace), Volume 54: A Plain-Language Interpretation

Good and ill fortune pass down to later generations. This is an unchanging principle. For this reason, the sagacious rulers of antiquity took great care when appointing their ministers, choosing people who were aligned with the Dao and possessed De, and who were not prone to killing or harming others. They did this not only out of concern for the people, but also with their own long-term interests in mind. Acting in this way accords with the intentions of Heaven and Earth; every movement is as if made in the company of the spirits. Such a ruler is called one who appoints with care, finds the right people, and gains the strength of the people. Only then can he move the spirits: the true spirits in Heaven will cherish and protect him, and he will live a long life. If he is fond of using punishments, he will rise alongside Yin Qi, which governs killing, and so he will find it difficult to live long. Heaven’s mandate can be glimpsed, however faintly; from this we can understand that Heaven and Earth and humanity share the same aversions.

Right column: When Heaven and Earth, the people, and all things are pleased, the state prospers, families are at peace, and there is no litigation anywhere under Heaven.

Note: The original uses a two-column or parallel format. “When Heaven and Earth, the people…” is an entry in the other column, corresponding to “appointing carefully and finding the right people” in the left column, so both have been translated.