The Tao of Style, Part 1

Written by a hermit named Lao Zi some 2,000 years before the printing press was invented, the Tao te Ching would, at first glance, seem to have little to offer the modern writer, but its deceptively simple wisdom is as timeless and as it is universal. China’s greatest emperors looked to it for advice on how to rule. The grand strategist Sun Tzu built his classic the Art of War on its foundation. Generations of Chinese scholars had to commit its verses to heart in order to pass the imperial exams.

The Tao te Ching contains no specific writing advice, but when applied to the art of writing, its core principles—simplicity, naturalness, balance, harmony of opposites— can make you a better writer. In fact, all of the great manuals on writing reflect these principles in some form or another even if the authors themselves had never read Lao Zi.

Yin and Yang

Having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short contrast with each other;
High and low rest upon each other.

The central concept of Taoism is the yin and the yang. The Chinese characters “yin” and “yang” respectively refer to the moon and sun. They’re opposites that have been united, balanced and harmonized, as depicted in…