From Non-being to Governance

Part 4: Wang Bi's political philosophy

The metaphysics of wu 無 (non-being) provides the individual with a sanctuary of self-sovereignty, a principle to practice as one goes about living. In Wang Bi’s philosophy, its implications extend beyond personal cultivation.

If non-being is the ontological ground of reality, then the architecture of the state must align with this deeper structure of existence, instead of being constructed arbitrarily.

Wang Bi summarizes this political principle as honoring the root to institute the branches (Chong ben er xi mo 崇本而息末, see below for more details).

His political philosophy can be approached on two levels:

1. The foundation of a political order lies in following the Tao/wu

2. Laws, regulations, and institutions of enforcement, as part of the “branches,” are necessary, but secondary

The ideal political order is one that functions in accordance with the Tao. When governance is grounded in the ontological source of non-being, order emerges through spontaneous coordination rather than relying merely on force and coercion.

But how could such a political vision become practical?

We will need to begin with Wang Bi’s interpretation of ziran 自然 (naturalness).

The bridge of ziran

In the Tao Te Ching (Dao-de Jing), we find the author imagines the realm (tianxia 天下), or the state, as a “sacred vessel” (shenqi 神器).¹

This vessel, like all forms of existence, regardless of its various forms and character, emerges from the shaping force of non-being, the infinite, creative source of potentiality. Its vitality depends on the de 德 (virtue), the power through which beings actualize their own nature.

Lao Tzu describes the interdependent relationship between the Tao and virtue as follows:

The way gives them life;

Virtue rears them;

Things give them shape;

Circumstances bring them to maturity.

…

It gives them life yet claims no possession;

It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;

It is the steward yet exercises no authority.

Such is called the mysterious virtue.²

Two pieces of information can be derived from this:

1. Despite having the fountainhead of the Tao, the formation of the myriad things still depends on circumstances and conditions

2. The liberating spirit of the Tao is revealed in empowering and enriching the myriad things without dominating or appropriating them.

Put differently, the political implication is that the Tao liberates, and it does not evoke fear.

In this sense, following the Tao is not obeying some higher personalized authority,³ as no political or religious authority could partially claim to monopolize it. It is foundational.

On an individual level, this means it is up to oneself to carve out one’s own path and determine one’s own meaning by following what is natural.

Wang Bi also makes the relationship between Tao and virtue explicit:

Tao 道 is the source from which things arise. De 德 is what things receive from it.⁴

That is to say, the realization of one’s virtue is to attain what is innately possible. And the process of attaining one’s integrity, substance, or character requires a spontaneous actualization.

This entails personal interpretations and experiences. What is spontaneous and natural requires experiences, intuitive comprehension, and often, tacit knowledge.

In explaining such a nature of ziran, Wang Bi states:

The Tao does not deviate from what is natural. This is how it stays connected to its true nature. To model after what is spontaneous means this: when one is positioned in a square, one follows the square, and when one is situated in a round, one follows the round. One does not go against what is natural.⁵

Tao comes about naturally, with no force behind its operations.

To be natural is to become one with the circumstances without losing one’s inner core, as one possesses the innate capacity to adjust and transform.

In this sense, life becomes a rigorous process of cultivation and discovery/exploration, which entails a range of self-realization through the embodiment of one’s innate nature and adherence to it.

Wang Bi describes this as understanding with non-arbitrariness, abiding by the natural patterns and principles:

Things occur not arbitrarily. Each thing proceeds according to its principle (li 理).⁶

Investigating the principles — the inherent nature of things — enlarges one’s scope and depth of understanding, particularly the connection between one’s mode of existence and the whole realm of being. And with such a developed knowledge, there arises prudence and awareness as one steers oneself in the midst of living:

When the myriad things do not act recklessly, they should be able to preserve and realize what is within their own nature.⁷

Still, governance is much more complex than simply focusing one’s vision on self-discovery. It requires a disciplined stance toward reality that knows the limits and the distinctive nature of the myriad things. In Wang Bi’s words, an order that works spontaneously is one that respects the spontaneous individuality and creativity of those instituted within:

Heaven and Earth allow things to follow their natural bent and neither engage in conscious effort nor start anything, leaving the myriad things to manage themselves…Heaven and earth take no conscious effort with respect to the myriad things, yet because each of the myriad things has what is appropriate for its use, not one thing is denied support.⁸

In other words, an order that allows all to coordinate and function naturally on their own is the application of ziran in governance.

Qiu Ying 仇英 (ca. 1494-1552), Landscape in the Style of Li Tang. Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

The necessity of order

One interesting finding in investigating these classical books is that ideas can embody multiple layers of meaning. Such is the case with Taoism.

Wu-wei 無為 is often taken as a political technique of non-forcing or non-arbitrariness, a kind of normative evaluation. Yet it also works as a spiritual ideal, represented as a tranquil, quiet state of being.

In the Tao Te Ching, we also find that Lao Tzu describes wu-wei as the principle of praxis of the Tao:

The way never acts yet nothing is left undone.

Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it,

The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.⁹

The wu-wei of the Tao is connected to the spontaneous, constant movement of the myriad things. Therefore, the Tao does not, on the surface, engage in actions. And this becomes the model for virtuous leaders: by being non-active, individuals can realize self-transformation on their own.

Wang Bi did not adopt the explanation that wu-wei indicates a sort of laissez-faire approach, or “doing nothing,” but an act of following along with the natural course.¹⁰

The tension between order and naturalness

Politics in the Wei-Jin period was shrouded by constant political instability. Amid the disorder associated with regime changes and high political pressures, in the social and cultural spheres, the transition from Confucianism to neo-Taoism was often represented by the individual’s inner quest, reflected in philosophy, poetry, art, and social behavior.

In the political sphere, the issue of self-discovery is translated into an ongoing inquiry into the relationship between the political order and the individual. Thinkers at the time had already raised questions about these matters: what are the foundations of a political order, and what justifies it?

The shared response of the neo-Taoist philosophers, including Wang Bi, Guo Xiang, and Ji Kang, is that a political order can be justified on the ground that it enables self-fulfillment.¹¹ In other words, the state comes into being because of individuals, and it should exist for each person, not vice versa.

This understanding of political order is invariably associated with the idea of following the Tao, re-grounding the character of a state in non-being. Deviating from this direction would cause it to become rigid, limiting, domineering, and then, close to decay and crumbling.

Despite the emphasis on the primary role of individual freedom and self-determination, the neo-Taoists did not reject the necessity of political authority, nor the legitimacy of a political order. Wang Bi recognized the function of political leadership:

… the sage would institute officials and leaders. The virtuous are made models, and the unvirtuous are turned into instructive examples. Through reforming social customs and reshaping morals and norms, the sage sought to guide them back to unity.¹²

The smooth functioning of a political system depends on clear roles, responsibilities, and the division of labor. Wang Bi affirmed the utility and necessity of such distinctions within political institutions, but warned of the potential overreach of the system:

In instituting offices and authorities, one could not but establish proper names and roles, so as to determine hierarchy. Thus, in the beginning, distinctions are created. Beyond this point, people would contend even over the tip of a knife or an awl.¹³

This critical awareness of the expansion of political power denotes an idealized form of order: one that is limited and does not step beyond its boundaries. In this sense, Wang Bi’s vision of the proper political arrangements is a minimal political order.

Yet, the multiplication of offices and mechanisms within institutions, just like insatiable human desires, tends to be self-generative. People would invariably fight over the “tip of a knife,” a tiny advantage, as the derivative political order gets even more derivative.

The constitution of the Tao

Wang Bi’s interpretation of ziran does not indicate a nonchalant or non-conformist gesture toward conventions. His approach is to build a structured, multi-layered philosophical system, and in doing so, accommodate the tension between ritualism and naturalness.

In this sense, institutions and governance mechanisms operate in accordance with the spirit of ziran, and the key to effective governing lies in the approach of yin 因 — relying on the natural patterns of things:

The myriad folk follow nature (ziran) in forming their natures. This is why one can act in accordance with them but not act on them (ke yin er bu ke wei 可因而不可為), can identify with them but not interfere with them.¹⁴

With this precondition, the success of governing depends on knowing priorities by upholding the principle of ruling with the Tao (yi dao zhi guo 以道治國):

To govern the state with the Dao means to encourage growth at the branch tips by enhancing the roots. To govern the state with governance is to attack the branch tips by establishing punishments. With the roots not firmly established, the branch tips wither, and the common folk will have no means to cope with life. This is why things will surely develop to the point where one will “use the military with perversity.¹⁵

In reaffirming the primary importance of Tao in governing, Wang Bi raises the question of what kind of leadership qualities are essential for the endurance of a state.

That is to say, simply setting up effective institutions and maintaining political order is not enough. Tyrannical and autocratic regimes can do that. Yet these regimes primarily serve the interests of small factions rather than the realm.

One must inquire further what exactly the spiritual core underlying a political system is: is it empowering and liberating (embodying the Tao), or coercing and subjugating?

So the virtuous political leadership, in Wang Bi’s mind, embodies wu by applying wuxin 無心 (dissolving subjective views). By not fixating on personal views (and interests), such leadership grasps the hinge of governing:

..do not try to govern what the people do, but encourage their disinclination to do anything depraved (使其無心於為也). Do not try to forbid their desires but encourage their disinclination to desire anything. Plan for things while they are still in a premanifested state and act on them before they begin.¹⁶

Then, leaders recognize their assisting, not dominating, role, and therefore, abide by the principle of yin, or relying on, observing and carefully abiding by the natural order of things.

Yet, it does not mean passively accepting everything without critical examination or prudently weighing circumstances, but keeps to the principle of ongoing diagnosis of the world:

Replacing the old with the new, this is something the sages must never neglect.¹⁷

Thus, Wang Bi’s ideal political leadership is one that functions like the Tao itself, practicing the principle of wuxin, dwelling in a state of being non-active, yet allowing the multitudes to self-transform:

Dwelling in the center, what is proper, one reaches the utmost depth. Let things follow their natural course, and they will become what they are to become. Without artificial, contrived effort, the work actually completes itself.¹⁸

In essence, Wang Bi’s political thinking makes Lao Tzu’s statement — “I practice wu-wei, and the people transform themselves”¹⁹ — more accessible to actual affairs.

And the Tao, being foundational and primary, guards and regulates the guardians, namely, those instituted within the political order.

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Previous posts on Wang Bi can be found here:

Wang Bi and the Metaphysics of Wu 無

Wu 無 as Ground

Wu 無 as the Philosophy of Life

If the ruler/political authority follows the principle of wuxin and wu-wei to withdraw from imposition and overreach, what makes the transformation of a society, each person’s development, possible?

This is where Guo Xiang 郭象 enters. The next section of this series will focus on his philosophy.

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1. Lao Tzu says, “Whoever takes the empire and wishes to do anything to it I see will have no respite. The empire is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it.” See D. C. Lau, trans., Tao Te Ching (London: Penguin Books, 1963), 34.

2. D. C. Lau, 58.

3. Tao, in Lao Tzu’s system, does not equate to a personal authority, it is more like the “forefather of god 象帝之先,” but still a kind of mystical, primordial existence. D. C. Lau, 8.

4. Wang Bi, et al., Four Kinds of Laotse 老子四種 (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2016), 44.

Richard John Lynn, trans., The Classic of the Way and Virtue: A New Translation of the Tao-te Ching of Laozi as Interpreted by Wang Bi (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 149.

5. Four Kinds of Laotse, 22.

The Classic of the Way and Virtue, 96.

6. Wang Bi, Han Kangbo, and Zhu Xi, Zhouyi erzhong 周易二種 (Two Commentaries on the Book of Changes) (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2016), 250.

7. Zhouyi erzhong, 79.

8. Lynn, 60.

Wang Bi, et al., 4-5.

9. D. C. Lau, 42.

10. In commenting on the wu-wei of the Tao, Wang Bi said, “following what is natural (shun ziran ye 順自然也). 31. In other words, wu-wei is the technique to facilitate what is natural.

11. Yü Ying-shih, “Individualism and the Neo-Daoist Movement in Wei-Jin China,” in Chinese history and culture: Sixth Century B.C.E. to Seventeenth Century, ed. Josephine Chiu-Duke and Michael Duke (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), 152.

12. Wang Bi, et al., 25.

Lynn, 103-104.

There was still an undercurrent during the Wei-Jin period that emphasized the advantage of the primordial state of nature and the unnecessary evils of government, which is a type of anarchist thought. According to this view, political order and the hierarchical structure are the corrupted formation of the natural order. The representative thinker of this school is Bao Jingyan 鮑敬言. His discourse on the absence of ruler is recorded in the Baopuzi 抱朴子. See Tang Yongtong, Wei-Jin Xuanxue Lungao 魏晉玄學論稿 (Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing Group, 2005), 120.

13. Wang Bi, et al., 28.

Lynn, 109.

14. Lynn, 105.

Wang Bi, et al., 26.

15. Lynn, 158-159.

Wang Bi, et al., 50.

16. Lynn, 37.

Wang Bi, et al., 72.

17. Zhouyi erzhong, 157.

18. Zhouyi erzhong, 10.

I am thankful to Enrique Martinez Esteve for this insight on the idea of “dwelling in the center and the proper position” (居中得正). Wang Bi does suggest embodying the principle of wuxin 無心, re-grounding oneself in the state of non-being. Yet, what is proper is still up to individual experiences and judgment. His commentaries on this idea can be found in the hexagrams of Tai 泰 and Kun 坤.

19. D. C. Lau, 64.