Across its brief but dense chapters, the text turns again and again to the Tao itself: the ineffable, eternal Way that underlies and generates all things, yet eludes naming and conceptual grasp. This Tao is presented as the unifying source and pattern of the universe, from which the multiplicity of phenomena arises and to which all ultimately returns. To live meaningfully is portrayed as a matter of aligning with this Way, allowing the Tao to be the quiet ground of one’s life rather than an object of intellectual possession. Such alignment is not a matter of adding more doctrines, but of stripping away what is artificial and contrived.

From this vision of the Tao flows the teaching of wu wei, often rendered as “non-action” or “effortless action.” The text repeatedly contrasts forced, willful striving with a mode of action that follows the natural course of things. Wu wei does not mean passivity, but a kind of activity that does not go against the grain of reality, that intervenes minimally and without aggression. This same principle is applied to governance: the ideal ruler governs least, leads by quiet example, and refrains from excessive laws, punishments, or clever policies that disturb the people’s simple lives. Power, in this perspective, is most effective when it is least self-assertive.

Closely related is the emphasis on naturalness, simplicity, and return. The work praises what is plain, spontaneous, and unadorned, symbolized by images such as the “uncarved block” and the childlike state. It criticizes excess desire, ambition, and artificial complexity, suggesting that true sufficiency lies in knowing when enough is enough. This simplicity is not mere austerity, but a way of coming back to what is original and unforced, allowing life to follow its own rhythms and cycles. The movement of return is also expressed in the teaching that reversal is characteristic of the Tao: extremes naturally turn into their opposites, and all things move through phases of growth, decline, and renewal.

Another pervasive theme is the interdependence of apparent opposites and the paradoxical wisdom that arises from seeing their unity. Hard and soft, weak and strong, high and low, being and non-being are shown to define and support each other, rather than standing in absolute opposition. The text often uses water as a central metaphor: soft, lowly, and yielding, yet capable of overcoming what is hard and rigid. In this light, humility, yielding, and even what appears as weakness become expressions of a deeper strength. Such insight underlies the praise of non-contention, hidden virtue (de), and inner mastery over outward domination, pointing toward a life that is quietly powerful, at ease with itself, and in harmony with the Way.