Tao Te Ching · a short reading
A passage from Tao Te Ching. Translated by James Legge.
Chinese · English
English translation prepared automatically for the Brief. Original sources and creator credits remain the reference.
In the highest antiquity, (the people) did not know that there were (their rulers). In the next age they loved them and praised them. In the next they feared them; in the next they despised them. Thus it was that when faith (in the Tao) was deficient (in the rulers) a want of faith in them ensued (in the people).
The work and its creator
Explore the original at Project Gutenberg ↗
Creator: Laozi (traditional attribution)
Nationality / cultural background: Chinese
Work / edition: 1891 translation
Translation: James Legge · English
Historical public-domain text. Selected passage; line-end whitespace normalised. No generated quotation.
In the source: PART 1.; paragraph 51 in the selected body section
Selected for the Brief on 15 Sep 2026. This date records our selection, rather than when the work was created.
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