Volume II — Te

The People Starve

Chapter 75 of the Tao Te Ching

民之飢，以其上食稅之多，是以飢。民之難治，以其上之有為，是以難治。民之輕死，以其上求生之厚，是以輕死。夫唯無以生為者，是賢於貴生。

The people starve because those above devour too much in taxes. Therefore they starve. The people are difficult to govern because their rulers act with too much interference. Therefore they are difficult to govern. The people take death lightly because their rulers pursue life too intensely. Therefore they take death lightly. Only those who do not make too much of living are wiser than those who prize life highly.

Commentary

This verse presents a stark analysis of social disorder, tracing three forms of dysfunction to a single cause: excess by rulers. "The people starve because those above devour too much in taxes"—min zhi ji, yi qi shang shi shui zhi duo, shi yi ji (民之飢，以其上食稅之多，是以飢). Ji (飢) is hunger, starvation; shang (上) is those above, rulers; shi shui (食稅) is consuming taxes, living off taxation. The rulers' excess directly produces the people's want. The relation is causal, not coincidental. "The people are difficult to govern because their rulers act with too much interference"—min zhi nan zhi, yi qi shang zhi you wei, shi yi nan zhi (民之難治，以其上之有為，是以難治). Nan zhi (難治) is difficult to govern, hard to manage; you wei (有為) is having action, interfering action, activist governance. The rulers' very attempts to control produce ungovernability. Every regulation spawns evasion; every command breeds resistance. "The people take death lightly because their rulers pursue life too intensely"—min zhi qing si, yi qi shang qiu sheng zhi hou, shi yi qing si (民之輕死，以其上求生之厚，是以輕死). Qing si (輕死) is to take death lightly, to not value one's life; qiu sheng (求生) is to pursue life, to grasp after living; hou (厚) is thick, intense, excessive. The rulers' desperate clutching at life and luxury makes existence so burdensome for the people that they no longer care about dying. Life under such conditions is not worth preserving. "Only those who do not make too much of living are wiser than those who prize life highly"—fu wei wu yi sheng wei zhe, shi xian yu gui sheng (夫唯無以生為者，是賢於貴生). Wu yi sheng wei (無以生為) is not making a business of life, not prioritizing living as the supreme value. Gui sheng (貴生) is prizing life, treasuring existence.

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

Key Characters