In the minds of common people, Lao Tzu was just a free and easy scholar riding on the back of a black ox. During his life he was never appointed to high office: nor did he have the ear of any eminent king. However, he succeeded in adumbrating a blueprint for the carrying out of state affairs, which would have an enormous influence on a large number of Chinese dynasties. This system was known as “Wu Wei,” and was essentially a laissez-faire philosophy of non-enforcement for the management of state affairs.
The wisdom of Taoism has been often compared to the moon by many scholars. The sun is majestic and powerful; we cannot look straight at the sun because of its brilliance and we are somewhat awestruck in the face of its awesome power. By contrast, the moon is altogether more gentle and mild. It inspires in us feelings of quietude and peacefulness.
Lao Tzu advocated self-cultivation and self-rectification, which means that the rulers of a country should have faith in the people. Human nature he saw as essentially honest and true. If this nature was allowed to unfold, the state would be naturally a well administered state. This is the essence of Lao Tzu’s “Wu Wei” theory of government:“—non-enforcement and non-contention.”
One interesting characteristic of Chinese history was the invariable pattern that emerged where a time of peace would be followed by one of riotous disorder and vice versa. A long period of union inevitably led to a split while a long period of atomized disunity inexorably culminated in reunion. In history Taoism often played an important role in the regular process of pacification and reunification.
Some 2,200 years ago, after many years of wars and strife, Liu Bang, a leader of the rebel peasant force eventually won a decisive victory and the bitterness of the war was ended with the beginning of the reign of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). It was indeed a serious challenge for a leader to bring his people out of such troubled times and bring about revitalization. Some years later, a man called Cao Can was called into the royal palace to replace the former prime minister Xiao He. Before long, people found very little had changed: the old rules were still observed even though the prime minister’s residence had a new master. Cao Can had much more affection for inns and taverns than for legislative assemblies and palaces. The emperor was puzzled. Cao Can explained that the laws and regulations had been adequate since the time of Liu Bang and Xiao He had succeeded in pacifying the state. All they needed to do was just to follow the rules rather than attempting any complex and potentially disastrous reform of the rules. Cao Can was the first prime minister to administered state affairs in line with the ideas of “Wu Wei” in Chinese history. This was indeed a refreshing development in the political field and it brought great stability and prosperity to the country.
The first monarch who deliberately adopted the policy of “Ruling by Wu Wei” was Liu Heng, the fourth son of Liu Bang and the third emperor who came to power in 180 BC. Before acceding to the throne, a major outbreak of civil strife had just been quelled. The first thing Liu Heng did after his succession was to abolish the widespread practice of torture and to thoroughly reform the rural taxation system. This was a time when, it was said, every 8,000 common people supported only one official and thus the burden on the grassroots was greatly relieved by Liu Heng’s farsighted reforms.