Volume II — Te

My Words Are Easy to Understand

Chapter 70 of the Tao Te Ching

吾言甚易知，甚易行。天下莫能知，莫能行。言有宗，事有君。夫唯無知，是以不我知。知者希則我貴，是以聖人被褐而懷玉。

My words are very easy to understand, very easy to practice. Yet no one under heaven can understand them, no one can practice them. Words have an ancestor. Affairs have a master. Only because people lack this understanding, they do not understand me. Those who understand me are rare; therefore I am precious. Therefore the sage wears coarse cloth while holding jade within.

Commentary

This verse addresses the paradox of the Tao's teaching: utterly simple yet rarely comprehended, plainly stated yet seldom practiced. "My words are very easy to understand, very easy to practice"—wu yan shen yi zhi, shen yi xing (吾言甚易知，甚易行). Shen (甚) is very, extremely; yi (易) is easy, simple. The teaching is not obscure, not hidden behind complexity. Its simplicity is complete. "Yet no one under heaven can understand them, no one can practice them"—tian xia mo neng zhi, mo neng xing (天下莫能知，莫能行). Mo (莫) is no one, none. The paradox is stark: what is easy remains undone. This is not because the teaching is beyond human capacity but because simplicity itself is the obstacle—people expect difficulty and miss what is obvious. "Words have an ancestor"—yan you zong (言有宗). Zong (宗) is ancestor, origin, source. The words point back to something prior to words—the wordless source from which all teaching emerges. "Affairs have a master"—shi you jun (事有君). Jun (君) is master, lord, sovereign. All activities have a governing principle, a ruling order. Those who miss the ancestor and the master understand neither words nor affairs. "Only because people lack this understanding, they do not understand me"—fu wei wu zhi, shi yi bu wo zhi (夫唯無知，是以不我知). Wu zhi (無知) is without knowledge—not ignorance but the absence of knowing that would enable recognition. People lack the fundamental insight that would make the teaching intelligible. "Those who understand me are rare"—zhi zhe xi (知者希). Xi (希) is rare, scarce, few. Understanding is not common. "Therefore I am precious"—ze wo gui (則我貴). Ze (則) is therefore, consequently; gui (貴) is precious, valuable, honored. The subject is "I"—precisely because understanding is rare, the one who embodies the teaching becomes precious.

The full commentary continues with deeper analysis of internal cultivation, classical perspectives, and cross-references. Read the complete chapter →

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