Like Cooking a Small Fish

Is there something you can't stop poking at?

Original

治大國，若烹小鮮。以道蒞天下，其鬼不神；非其鬼不神，其神不傷人；非其神不傷人，聖人亦不傷人。夫兩不相傷，故德交歸焉。

In plain words

Governing a great country is like cooking a small fish. When the world is overseen with the Dao, ghosts lose their power to haunt. It's not that the ghosts have no power; their power no longer harms people. And not only does their power not harm people: the sage does not harm them either. Since neither does harm, the benefits of virtue all flow back to the people.

Key words

小鮮xiǎo xiānA small fish: turn it too often and it falls apart.
蒞lìTo preside over; to govern.
不傷人bù shāng rénNot disturbing or harming people.

Reading it step by step

Yesterday's chapter said the world is won by not meddling. Today Laozi makes “not meddling” concrete with a kitchen image, one of the most famous lines in the whole book. Ronald Reagan even quoted it in his 1988 State of the Union address.

First: don't keep flipping a small fish. Anyone who has fried a small fish knows: put it in the pan at the right heat and let it cook quietly. Flip it, poke it, flip it again, and it falls apart. Running a country is the same. Policies changed every week and rules made ever finer leave people not knowing what to follow. In Chapter 57 Laozi says that the more laws are displayed, the more thieves there are. The point is not to do nothing. It's that once you act, you hold steady instead of fiddling.

Second: why does flipping do harm? Because behind every poke is an agenda: to check whether it's done, to prove you're doing something. There's a way of sitting with someone who is unwell that shows this beautifully. Visiting a friend who's low, we tend to start at the door: “Feeling any better?” “Try not to think too much.” “Look on the bright side.” Every line is kindly meant, and every line carries the aim of getting them better quickly, so the person feels more pressure, not less. The other way: bring a book, say hello, sit quietly. Answer what they ask, and add nothing. Over time they feel just as easy whether you're there or not: someone is with them, and no one is pushing. That is acting without contrivance.

acting with an agenda

flip it, keep asking“Better yet?” “Cheer up!”

→ the fish breaks; people tire

acting without contrivance

right heat, then waitbring a book, sit, answer when asked

→ company without pressure

Third: “Since neither does harm, the benefits all flow back.” The ghosts stop haunting not because they vanish, but because when life is settled and people aren't anxious, superstition and fear lose their grip. Superstition usually hitches a ride on something true. As a child you're told, “There are bears on that mountain, and immortals too.” Years later you climb it, really do see a bear, and quietly start believing in the immortals as well. The more anxious people are, the more of these passengers climb aboard. And the sage doesn't harm people either: he doesn't keep jerking them around. When those above and those below stop hurting each other, the good flows back to everyone on its own.

This line is made for today's parents and managers. Checking a child's homework three times an hour, rewriting a colleague's plan five times a day: that's flipping the small fish.

Set the heat right. Then keep your hands still.

One line to carry

Set the heat right. Then keep your hands still.

Today's question

Which small fish have you been flipping lately: a child, a plan, a relationship? How could you flip it one time less this week?

Quick check

What does “like cooking a small fish” mainly tell a leader?

Next pageGreat Vessels Take Long to FinishPage 23

III · The Sage Acts Without Contrivance — Non-action is not doing nothing; it is doing without forcing

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