Why does Lao Tzu advocate a leader who shows no ambition and takes no action? Is it always necessary for a leader to act, or is it possible to be a good leader by simply allowing things to happen on their own?
What does Lao Tzu mean by "the Inner Life"? In what contexts does he generally employ this phrase? How is it related to "the Way"?
Why is having too many desires presented as a crime? How would having desires make following the Tao Te Ching's other suggestions difficult? According to the Tao Te Ching, what makes desire the root of all unrest?
Which qualities does Lao Tzu label as "feminine"? Which does he label as "masculine"? How do these two sets of qualities interact?
What does it mean for a ruler to take the "lower position"? What metaphors does Lao Tzu use to get this point across?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
How does Lao Tzu's view of government differ from Machiavelli's (p. 405)? What are the major differences between the ideal Taoist ruler and the Machiavellian "Prince"?
For many centuries, Taoism and Confucianism have represented opposite poles of Chinese thought: while Confucians attempt to control human nature through rigid adherence to rites and rituals, Taoists assert that nature cannot be controlled or restrained. With these ideas in mind, compare the passages from the Tao Te Ching with the selection by either Mencius (p. 78) or Hsun Tzu (p. 84).
In what ways might the Tao Te Ching have influenced Sun Tzu's The Art of War (p. 479)?
Can you detect in the Tao Te Ching an environmentalist ethic? Would a contemporary environmentalist, such as Rachel Carson (p. 328) or Wangari Maathai (p. 363), agree with Lao Tzu's opinion that the natural world should simply be left alone? Explain.
WRITING ABOUT THE TEXT
To explore the political philosophy of the Tao Te Ching, choose a contemporary government and imagine the changes it would have to make in order to follow Taoist principles.
Analyze the paradox of "leading without doing anything." Explain how a leader could be effective simply by allowing a natural flow rather than by making changes or inventing programs.
The translation of the Tao Te Ching included here is from 1922. Try modernizing one passage, using your own words. Is it possible to use contemporary language and examples and still preserve the meaning?
Refute or support the Tao Te Ching's assertion that desires are disastrous, using historical examples to back up your argument. How does desire relate to ambition? How would Lao Tzu view ambition within government?
christine de pizan
from The Treasure of the City of Ladies [1405]
BORN IN VENICE, Christine de Pizan (circa 1365-circa 1430) spent much of her early life at the court of the French king Charles V, where her father was the court physician and an esteemed astrologer. She was married at a young age to a court official and had three children. When King Charles died, in 1380, her father and her husband lost their positions at court and much of their financial support. After the deaths of her father around 1387 and her husband around 1390, Christine was left to raise her children without the advantage of position or money. She responded by writing poetry and dedicating it to the rich and powerful in hopes of attracting patronage—an occupation well established for men of her education and family background but almost unheard of for women. She succeeded nonetheless, becoming the first woman in the history of France to earn a living through her writing.
Within ten years, Christine had acquired a substantial following. Rather than continuing to write pleasant poems praising wealthy patrons, however, she turned to writing philosophy and social commentary. Her first book in this vein was Letter to the God of Love (1399), an attack on the immorality and misogyny of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's The Romance of the Rose, one of the most popular French poems of the Middle Ages. In 1404, she wrote a utopian treatise, The Book of the City of Ladies, which was modeled partly on Augustine's City of God. The Book of the City of Ladies chronicled the historical oppression of women, defended the female sex against charges of inferiority, and imagined a city in which women were authors, inventors, rulers, and religious leaders and participated fully in the life of the community.
Whereas The Book of the City of Ladies addressed the world as it might have become, her follow-up, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (1405), sometimes called The Book of the Three Virtues, dealt with the world as it was. If the earlier book looked back to Augustine for its inspiration, the later book anticipated the work of Niccolo Machiavelli, whose advice to princes in 1513 lacked the soft edges, but not the essential pragmatism, of Christine's advice to queens, princesses, ladies of rank, and women of substantial fortunes. Christine argues that such women—and the way that they behave in public ceremonies and in private conversations with their husbands—are essential to the prosperity of the state.
Christine's rhetoric relies primarily on her ethos—both the ethos that she constructs in the text as a gentle, knowledgable participant in civic affairs and the ethos that she brings to the text as a poet and a noblewoman.
16. The Fifth Teaching of Prudence, which Is How the Wise Princess Will Try Her Best to Be in Favour with, and Have the Good Wishes of, All Classes of Her Subjects.
As it is fitting for the wise and prudent princess to wish to regulate her actions so that she seeks and follows all the paths that honour demands, she will want for this reason (which is the fifth teaching) to enjoy the favour of the clergy and to be on good terms with persons in religious orders, leaders of the Church, prelates and councillors, as well as the middle classes and even the common people. No one can be surprised that we say she should especially cultivate these people more than the barons and nobles. The reason for this is that we suppose that she already associates with barons and nobles, for it would be according to the common custom for her to be acquainted with them. She wishes to be in favour with the above-mentioned persons for two reasons.
The first is so that the good and devout will pray to God for her, and the second is that she may be praised by them in their sermons and homilies so that, if the need arises, their voices and words can be a shield and defence against the rumours and reports of her slanderous enemies and can negate them. By this strategy she will have more of her husband's love and also that of the common people, who will hear good things about their lady, and also she may be supported by the most powerful people in an emergency. She will find out which of the clerks and scholars, those in religious orders as well as others, will be the most useful and of the greatest authority and in whom and in whose word people place the most confidence. Those persons will inspire the others with confidence in her. She will speak to them all very amiably and want to have their advice and make use of it. She will sometimes ask them to dinner at her court, together with her confessor and the people of her chapel, who will all be honourable people. She will accord them great honour and will wish them to be honoured by her household, which is a very seemly thing, for truly those who are ennobled by learning ought to be honoured. She will do them all the good in her power and contribute to their colleges and monasteries.
Although almsgiving[173] should be done secretly (the reason for this is so that the person who gives them may not be puffed up with pride about it, for that is a mortal sin), if she did not feel any pride in her heart, it would be better to give publicly than in secret, because she would set a good example to others. Whoever does it in this frame of mind doubles her merit and does well. This wise lady who knows how to protect herself from this vice will indeed wish that the gifts and alms that