第六十章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 60

Govern lightly, like cooking a small fish; with the Way, neither spirits nor rulers harm the people.

治zhì大dà国guó，若ruò烹pēng小xiǎo鲜xiān。

Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish.
以yǐ道dào莅lì天tiān下xià，其qí鬼guǐ不bù神shén；

When the Way presides over the world, ghosts have no power;
非fēi其qí鬼guǐ不bù神shén，其qí神shén不bù伤shāng人rén；

not that ghosts have no power, but their power does not harm people;
非fēi其qí神shén不bù伤shāng人rén，圣shèng人rén亦yì不bù伤shāng人rén。

not that their power does not harm people, but the sage, too, does not harm people.
夫fú两liǎng不bù相xiāng伤shāng，故gù德dé交jiāo归guī焉yān。

Since neither harms the other, their virtue flows back to the people.

Words in this chapter

Words in chapter 60, with pinyin and meaning
Word	Pinyin	Meaning
治	zhì	to govern; in order
大	dà	great, big
国	guó	the state
若	ruò	like, as if
烹	pēng	to cook
小	xiǎo	small
鲜	xiān	small fish
以	yǐ	by means of, with
道	dào	the Way
莅	lì	to preside over
天下	tiān xià	all under heaven, the world
其	qí	its, his, their
鬼	guǐ	ghosts
不	bù	not
神	shén	to have power; power
非	fēi	is not
伤	shāng	to harm
人	rén	people, others
圣人	shèng rén	the sage
亦	yì	also
夫	fú	now, indeed (opening particle)
两	liǎng	both, the two
相	xiāng	each other
故	gù	therefore
德	dé	virtue
交	jiāo	together, jointly
归	guī	to return, to go back
焉	yān	in it, from it

Compare: James Legge (1891)

Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.

Let the kingdom be governed according to the Tao, and the manes of the departed will not manifest their spiritual energy. It is not that those manes have not that spiritual energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men. It is not that it could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling sage hurt them.

When these two do not injuriously affect each other, their good influences converge in the virtue (of the Tao).

Public domain. Source: Wikisource.

Meaning of chapter 60

Chapter 60 opens with one of the book's best-known images: govern a great state as you would cook a small fish. A small fish falls apart if it is turned and stirred too often, and a state is spoiled in the same way by too much handling.

The rest of the chapter speaks of ghosts and spirits. When the Way presides over the world, ghosts have no power; or rather, they keep their power, but it does not harm people; or rather still, the sage, too, does not harm people. The argument steps back twice with 非 ("not that") and comes to rest on the ruler. Since neither the spirits nor the sage do harm, virtue (德) flows back to the people.

The chapter belongs with others on light government, such as chapter 57, where the sage leaves things alone and the people order themselves, and chapter 29, which calls the world a sacred vessel that cannot be acted upon. The last line, 德交归焉, is terse and is read in several ways; the house translation takes it as the virtue of both returning to the people.

Text

Meaning of chapter 60