Chapter 60 – Ghosts: Evil, Boo Evil

Govern a great country as you would fry small fish: [neither gut nor scale them.]

 If with Reason the empire is managed, its ghosts will not spook.
Not only will its ghosts not spook, but its gods will not harm the people.
Not only will its gods not harm the people, but neither will its holy men harm the people.
Since neither will do harm, therefore their virtues will be combined.

Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus (1880)

The translation by Suzuki and Carus is one of the oldest English renditions of the Tao Te Ching, and it seems to be one of the most literal. It is one of the few I found that speaks directly of ghosts. In Wayne Dyer’s comments on this chapter he counsels that one should exclude evil from his or her life. Ron Hogan talks about “misfortune.” Stephen Mitchell is another who uses the word “evil” instead of “ghosts,” as do Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng.

It is easy to see why a modern intellect would look at a reference to ghosts as a metaphor for the concept of evil; but 25 centuries ago Chinese ghosts, and especially ancestral spirits, were considered to be very real and not a metaphor for anything. The Chinese culture had practiced ancestor worship or veneration since at least the late Neolithic Period, more than 5,000 years before the time of Lao Tzu; so I think the Old Boy was using the term “ghosts” in what was then the popular sense.

The ancient Chinese practice arose from the belief that spirits of the dead could influence the world of the living, for good or for ill. The worship of one’s deceased ancestors was intended to keep those spirits happy so they would look favorably on their descendants, and even intercede to help the living.

Such beliefs were not confined to the Orient or to ancient times. Continue reading →