Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
道法自然 (dào fǎ zì rán)
Word for word from chapter 25
道法自然 (dào fǎ zì rán), “the Way follows nature”, ends chapter 25 of the Dao De Jing and means that the Way takes as its model only what is so of itself.
Character by character
| 道 | dào | the Way |
|---|---|---|
| 法 | fǎ | to take as model |
| 自然 | zì rán | what is so of itself, nature |
| 道法自然 | The Way takes as its model what is so of itself; things go best when they follow their own course and are not forced. | |
Where it comes from
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人法地，地法天，
Human beings follow the earth, earth follows the cosmos.
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天法道，道法自然。
The cosmos follows the Way, the Way follows nature.
How the meaning moved
The phrase closes chapter 25, at the end of a chain of four links: “Human beings follow the earth, earth follows the cosmos.” “The cosmos follows the Way, the Way follows nature.” Earlier the chapter describes the Way as “Something formed out of chaos, born before heaven and earth”, whose name the speaker does not know and labels the “Way”.
自然 here is not nature in the modern sense of forests and animals. The two characters say “so of itself”: what is as it is without anything making it so. Nothing stands above the Way for it to copy, so the last link of the chain has no new master: the Way follows its own way of being. The book uses 自然 five times, in chapters 17, 23, 25, 51 and 64, and chapter 17 shows the sense well: when the best ruler's work is done, the people all say that it happened of itself (百姓皆谓我自然).
Today 道法自然 is used more broadly, for respecting the laws of nature or letting things take their course instead of forcing them.
Using it today
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老人家种菜从不打农药，他说这叫道法自然。
lǎo rén jiā zhòng cài cóng bù dǎ nóng yào, tā shuō zhè jiào dào fǎ zì rán.
The old man never sprays pesticide on his vegetables: he says that is the Way following nature.
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教育孩子也要道法自然，不能拔苗助长。
jiào yù hái zi yě yào dào fǎ zì rán, bù néng bá miáo zhù zhǎng.
Raising children also means following their nature: you cannot pull up the seedlings to make them grow.