Casual Talk on Tao Te Ching 021

In the previous chapter, we discussed that the masses chase vanity all day long, while those who align with the Dao remain calm inside, detached from worldly chaos and rooted in their original nature.
Many people raise a question: without relying on fame or public recognition, where does the inner peace of such calm self-possession come from? The Dao cannot be seen or touched; why is it worthy of lifelong devotion?
Chapter Twenty-One is Laozi’s answer: first distinguish the fundamental relationship between the Dao and virtue, then thoroughly explain the thoughts we ought to let go of and the pursuit of the Dao we need not abandon.
Original Text (Wang Bi’s Version)
The virtue of complete emptiness follows only the Dao.
The Dao as an entity is indistinct and elusive.
Elusive and indistinct, within it are forms; indistinct and elusive, within it are substances.
Deep and obscure, within it is essence; its essence is utterly real, and within it is constant trust.
From ancient times to the present, its name never fades, through it we observe the origin of all things.
How do I know the origin of all things? By this.
I. The Virtue of Complete Emptiness Follows Only the Dao
“Kong” means empty and uncluttered; “Rong” refers to one’s entire state of mind, words and deeds.
True profound virtue is not deliberate kindness or forced compromise to please others, nor self-cultivation performed for show. Every thought and action follows the inherent laws of heaven and earth, unbound by mortal standards of fame and gain.
Most worldly virtue is rooted in craving desires: studying Laozi and Zhuangzi to brand oneself a master of Taoism, seeking admiration by broadcasting one’s insights, practicing forbearance only to win praise. These are the delusional thoughts Laozi urges us to release.
The innate aspiration to seek the Dao need not be discarded, yet the selfish desire to leverage the Dao for fame and reputation must be purged. False obsessions linger, and the true Dao will forever remain obscured.
Take Yan Junping of the Western Han Dynasty as a historical example:
Yan Junping lived in seclusion in the downtown of Chengdu, earning a living by divination. Each day, once he gained a hundred coins for basic sustenance, he would pack up his stall, stay indoors to read the Tao Te Ching and write commentaries. He never took official office nor traveled widely to lecture for renown. Wealthy merchants offered him carriages, horses and money, all of which he declined; government officials summoned him to court repeatedly, yet he avoided them all.
He delved into the Tao Te Ching for decades and penned Commentaries on Laozi. He only sorted out his own inner understanding, never intending to become famous or recruit disciples through his scholarship. Most townsfolk only knew him as a street diviner, unaware of his profound wisdom.
Other scholars strove for public fame and noble patronage; Yan Junping pursued the Dao sincerely, caring nothing for whether others knew him. This is the genuine manifestation of “the virtue of complete emptiness follows only the Dao”.
He neither idled away his life nor gave up his pursuit. He sorted out Daoist principles every day without curating an image for attention. This is exactly what Laozi means by non-action: no reckless craving for external gains, yet steadfast adherence to the duty of inner truth-seeking.
II. The Dao as an Entity Is Indistinct and Elusive. Elusive and indistinct, within it are forms; indistinct and elusive, within it are substances
Two common misunderstandings persist: first, that elusiveness refers to a muddled human mind; second, that the Dao itself is chaotic and disordered. Both are wrong.
The sense of indistinctness stems entirely from the level of human cognitive dimension. The Dao operates by fixed rules: the alternation of four seasons, the birth and withering of all creatures never deviate, and the Dao itself is never confused. Humans are wrapped up in desires for fame and profit, only able to perceive tangible gains. Trapped by limited perception and separated by a medium, they cannot penetrate invisible origins, thus feeling the Dao vague and elusive.
Elusiveness merely describes that the Dao has no fixed physical form, ungraspable by human senses, yet far from empty nothingness:
Amid its elusiveness lie the outlines and constant frameworks governing all worldly operations—these are “forms”;
Within these frameworks emerge all tangible substances under heaven and earth, mountains, rivers, human affairs alike—these are “substances”.
Take Liezi as another example: Lie Yukou lived in seclusion in Zheng State for forty years, content with poverty and aligned with the Dao. He refused official positions and wandering lectures to preach his views, devoting himself to comprehending the Dao. Ordinary people chased wealth and power all their lives, blind to the invisible cycles of fortune and misfortune beneath worldly events; Liezi calmed his heart to observe, seeing the constant frameworks beneath fleeting mortal affairs, which others only perceived as erratic chaos.
III. Deep and obscure, within it is essence; its essence is utterly real, and within it is constant trust
When we observe the subtle, profound depths, the Dao holds the vital essence that births all creation. This essence is completely real, bound by unchanging eternal laws—this is “trust”.
Artificial mortal rules are fleeting: platform traffic, matching schemes from intermediaries, worldly fame all vanish with time. Only the Dao endures from antiquity till now. The cycle of growth in spring, flourishing in summer, harvest in autumn and storage in winter has never erred for thousands of years; this inherent unchanging reliability is the Dao’s trust.
Sun Simiao of the Tang Dynasty embodied this truth: he lived in seclusion in mountains all his life, practicing medicine and cultivating the Dao. Imperial summons for official titles were all rejected. He spent his entire life studying the vital energy of heaven, earth and human bodies, never craving court fame, only clinging to his duty to observe the subtle essence of creation. The medicinal properties of plants and the circulation of human qi and blood he witnessed were the Dao’s inner essence, proven consistent year after year—this is “its essence is utterly real, and within it is constant trust”.
He did not seek universal recognition, only steadfastly pursued the origins of heaven and earth, never abandoning his studies for lack of praise, matching the virtue of this chapter.
IV. From ancient times to the present, its name never fades, through it we observe the origin of all things. How do I know the origin of all things? By this.
The Dao has existed eternally since ancient times, never dissipating. Only through the Dao can we perceive the birth, growth and demise of all creation.
Laozi poses a self-answering question: How do I perceive the origins of all heaven and earth? Not through books or others’ praise, only through personal comprehension of this eternal, real Dao, unrelated to mortal fame or status.

Yin Xi, the minor gatekeeper of Hangu Pass, was overlooked by the world. He did not scheme for official advancement or reputation, only observing celestial weather daily to seek traces of the Dao. When he met Laozi, he sincerely begged for the Five-Thousand Character Classic, then secluded himself to cultivate and write The Book of Guan Yin. He never broadcast his own cultivation to the outside world.
The masses fixate on universal recognition, trapped by the desire “to be known by all”; Yin Xi only sought glimpses of the Dao, indifferent to worldly fame. This is releasing the delusional craving for external gains while retaining the innate heart to seek truth.
Three Common Misinterpretations of This Chapter
Misunderstanding: Complete emptiness means endless compromise and being an unprincipled doormat
Correction: Profound virtue centers on emptying selfishness and following natural laws, not deliberately catering to the world. Hold fast to proper boundaries, neither chasing conflict nor feigning weakness; following nature is aligning with the Dao. Yan Junping refused to attach himself to nobles yet never deliberately pandered to the public, clear proof of this truth.
Misunderstanding: Indistinct and elusive means hollow nihilism, the Dao is an illusion
Correction: Elusiveness is merely a sensory limitation born from humanity’s low dimensional perspective. Within the Dao lie unchanging laws, tangible creations, vital essence and eternal principles. All things emerge from the Dao; it is real and verifiable, never empty fantasy.
Misunderstanding: Cultivation requires erasing all thoughts, even the desire to comprehend the Dao
Correction: Laozi only urges us to release delusional cravings for fame, admiration or supernatural powers through the Dao. He never tells us to abandon the innate heart to seek truth and origins. The obsession to become universally recognized through Dao study is a delusion to let go; simply sorting out scriptures and exploring natural laws is a pursuit we may retain without suppression.
Personal Insights
What is the Dao? The Dao exists both visible and invisible. What we see or fail to see depends entirely on the cognitive dimension of each individual.
Take air as an analogy: Air wraps around us constantly, yet ordinary eyes cannot perceive it—not that air does not exist, but human senses and cognition belong to a dimension mismatched with this medium. Those observing from a higher dimension may perceive airflow and seasonal temperature shifts; those trapped in a lower dimension only see physical flesh and tangible objects, deeming the Dao empty and elusive.
Heaven and earth operate with clear, orderly cycles, never chaotic. The “indistinct and elusive” described in the text never refers to chaos in heaven and earth; it arises solely from humanity’s insufficient dimension, separated by a medium that blocks full perception of the origin.
All things exist across different dimensional layers: beings of higher dimension than humans, and creatures of lower dimension such as insects, fish, birds and beasts. We cannot define their exact boundaries today, yet one truth remains clear: every corner of heaven and earth bears the Dao. Humans are born from the Dao, yet the Dao far exceeds humanity alone.
The masses wander endlessly asking “Where is the Dao?” searching outward in vain, traveling far yet missing what lies near. It resembles children chasing spring, asking “Where is spring?” Spring dwells in wind, flowers, warm sunlight, everywhere, no need to hunt blindly. Likewise, the Dao permeates grass, trees, birds, beasts, day and night, every corner of existence. The universe holds its own constant operating order—this is the Dao.
Many laws summarized by humanity derive from the Dao, yet their sequence and direction are skewed to serve mortal selfish desires. They cannot be said to separate entirely from the Dao, yet they deviate from its original balance.
Take online platforms and mortal social circles for example: all are artificially constructed barriers of supply and demand, splitting naturally connected resources to profit from both sides, stoking anxiety and relying on manipulative schemes. These fleeting artificial constructs fade with time; the Dao is an eternal original law. No curation or performance is needed to align with it. We need not crave recognition or praise from others; abiding by our innate true nature is the most straightforward way to understand this chapter.
Humans can never fully fathom the Dao, no matter how hard we strive. The Dao encompasses everything: every thought humanity can conceive, plus infinite unknown realms beyond all imagination. Humans are infinitesimally tiny within the universe, smaller than a speck of dust—and this only covers the scope our minds can imagine. Countless existences and laws in the cosmos lie far beyond human comprehension. To grasp the complete original appearance of the Dao with limited flesh and thought is itself a heavy obsession. All we may do is peel away delusional cravings for fame and external gains, catch faint glimpses of the Dao’s traces within our own dimensional limits, understanding as much as we can without forcing complete enlightenment.
True alignment with the Dao needs no obsessive search or posturing as a Taoist master. Simply purge selfish cravings for external fame and gain, abide by our innate duties, act in accordance with our original nature, neither reckless overaction nor lazy idleness, and we will gradually perceive the true face of the Dao.
Closing Paragraph
All mortal vanity fades in an instant; only the Dao that births all creation remains eternal and real. Purge selfish desires for worldly renown, care not whether the world knows you, and hold fast to your innate heart of seeking truth—this is the core self-cultivation lesson Chapter Twenty-One leaves for humanity.
This series interprets the Tao Te Ching chapter by chapter; read and comprehend as much as you will, all encounters are by chance.
I live by writing, seek peace and blessings