Ziran (自然, What Is So of Itself) in the Dao De Jing: Meaning and Occurrences
In the Dao De Jing, ziran (自然) means what is so of itself: things being as they are without anyone's command, and in chapter 25 it is what the Way itself follows.
自然 (zì rán) is made of 自, "self", and 然, "so": what is so of itself. In modern Chinese the word means "nature", and some lines of this site's translation say "nature" or "natural"; in the Dao De Jing it describes things being so of themselves. It is one of the rarer key terms.
Chapter 17 ends, once the work is done, with the people all saying 我自然. Chapter 23 opens with 希言自然: "To speak little is natural." In chapter 51 the Way is honored and virtue valued not by anyone's command, but always of themselves.
The best-known line is in chapter 25: people are ruled by earth, earth by heaven, heaven by the Way, and the Way by 自然. Chapter 64 ends with the sage, who helps the myriad things to be as they are of themselves and does not dare to act.
Every occurrence of 自然
Chapter 17
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Line 8
百姓皆谓我自然。
Everybody says: "It is natural to him"
Chapter 23
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Line 1
希言自然。
To speak little is natural.
Chapter 25
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Line 12
天法道，道法自然。
The cosmos is ruled by the Way, the Way is ruled by nature.
Chapter 51
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Line 4
道之尊，德之贵，夫莫之命而常自然。
The Way is honored and virtue valued not by anyone's command, but always of themselves.
Chapter 64
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Line 18
以辅万物之自然，而不敢为。
He helps the myriad things to be as they are of themselves, and does not dare to act.