Explanation Of The Tao Te Ching Part Thirty Nine 

“These things from ancient times arise from one:
The sky is whole and clear.
The earth is whole and firm.
The spirit is whole and strong.
The valley is whole and full.
The ten thousand things are whole and alive.
Kings and lords are whole, and the country is upright.
All these are in virtue of wholeness. 

The clarity of the sky prevents its falling.
The firmness of the earth prevents its splitting.
The strength of the spirit prevents its being used up.
The fullness of the valley prevents its running dry.
The growth of the ten thousand things prevents their drying out.
The leadership of kings and lords prevents the downfall of the country. 

Therefore the humble is the root of the noble.
The low is the foundation of the high.
Princes and lords consider themselves “orphaned”, “widowed” and “worthless”.
Do they not depend on being humble? 

Too much success is not an advantage.
Do not tinkle like jade
Or clatter like stone chimes.”

Before humans messed it up, nature was whole and well balanced. The sky, earth, spirit and underlying energy remained firm and strong.

Kings and Lords grew from the community to support both land and people. Their humility ensured that everything was kept in balance and everyone and everything flourished.

Once the high born start to get greedy and gather riches for themselves and ‘tinkle like jade or clatter like stone chimes’ everything becomes unbalanced and chaos ensues.

2500 years later we can see the result of people ‘tinkling like jade and clattering like stone chimes’. Shame we can’t see and utilise the old wisdom.