Daodejing Chapter 68: The Virtue Of Non-Competition

Shenzhen Bay Park, Summer 2025

Reflecting on a 1980’s childhood in the American Midwest, surrounded by solid old-country European values, it might be thought surprising that Eastern philosophy was introduced to us early and played a key formative role in the molding of our psyche, my brothers and I. The Bible was there of course, as was Catholic school and Sunday church, but something about those ideas just didn’t take root. Perhaps the mix of philosophy with ritual, maybe a perceived disconnect between reality and what the book was saying, who can say, but it was likely the stuffy boredom of the ad nauseum standing, kneeling, and sitting in church. Yet beyond all probability I found myself worshipping a brief tome of Eastern wisdom, discovered under circumstances that layered reinforcement of belief and ritual, binding and guiding my thoughts and actions for decades to come.

The book?

The Art of War by Sunzi (Sun Tzu or Master Sun). The essential guide for the aspiring general or capitalist ladder climber, its wisdom has been well known since age ten when Dad brought home a version for business managers. We extolled the truths of this strategic genius, quoting his words as gospel, embodying the spirit of conquest and The Way of War in our daily lives. The Daodejing’s Chapter 68 brings it all flooding back.

“A good soldier doesn’t show his muscle. A good fighter doesn’t get angry. A good commander doesn’t praise himself for winning. A good leader puts himself below those he leads. This is called the virtue of non-competition, the art of leadership, and the highest standard that meets the law of Heaven.”

You have to understand, Sunzi’s advice for strategists dovetails seamlessly into a segment of American ambition, greed, and paranoia. There is a strain of insecurity that runs throughout all cultures that feel they have something over others, manifesting in a personal pursuit of validation. A rush to get ahead of the competition, a constant feeling that others are nipping at your heels, repeated over and over like a whip cracking overhead. Get yours while the getting is good. “If you’re not first, you’re last”, so sayeth Ricky Bobby. This is American business culture, but not only American, and this was the root of my flourishing here on the far side of the world.

This chapter feels unfinished, as though words are missing, the first to give me that impression. A good solider doesn’t show his muscle, ever. A good fighter never loses his temper. A good commander doesn’t praise himself, nor encourage others to do so. Who am I to make improvements, but this is where language falls short of our needs. This is how we curate the ideas that surround us to our preferences, and how all too often, good intentions manifest in the world as something very different.

We are surrounded by something from the start, though it takes many forms. This thing and the people who lend it their momentum shape us, pushing us to what we want to find, faster and faster until we have everything we can think of wanting. How can one say what one believes without sounding obvious or ridiculous? Taking a book that begins, “The Way of War is a Way of Deception, (Chapter 1)”, and applying the teachings to anything but war reduces existence to unredeeming struggle. The idea that “The Daodejing is a military book”, attributed to Mao Zedong on Qingyuan Mountain, while not being really right or wrong, we can at least agree is limiting. If only experience wasn’t tethered to age, we might pause and look about at how things are. I suppose our truth is found within ourselves. No one can tell us how to live.

Shenzhen Bay Park, Summer 2025

[Author’s Note: For those interested, the translation used for this series is Dao De Jing, translated by Ju Yan’an. It was my first and has become my favourite translation. Find it here.]

[Author’s Note: Thank you for taking the time to visit. All pictures were taken by the author or family member, unless otherwise noted.]