Tao Te Ching, 78

He who suffers disgrace for his country

Is called the lord of the land.

He who takes upon himself the country’s misfortunes

Becomes the king of the empire

(Tao Te Ching, 78)

Today, I would try to interpret the above text from the topic " The Taoist Sage as Philosopher-King ".

In the above text, it can be understood that one of the characteristics of an emperor or a ruler under the Taoist perception is that he should be humble. This is to say that even though he is already a leader, he should be like a normal citizen. He should be living for his people. He should be the one who is after the welfare of the people. As a leader, he should protect them and he should be there for them.

The leader or the emperor should be one with the people. This is to say that he should be aware of the affairs of the people and that they have a say on the affairs of the government. Under the Taoist perception, I believe that they want a government which is not only run by government officials but of the people. The emperor is just the facilitator and whatever turn out this government will have, the leader should be there for his people. He should defend his people for whateve