1 Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.

2 Let the kingdom be governed according to the Way of God, and the unseen powers will not manifest their energy to harm. It is not that those powers have not that energy, but it will not be employed to hurt men. It is not that it could not hurt men, but neither does the ruling sage hurt them.

3 When these two do not injuriously affect each other, their good influences converge in the virtue of the Way.