The Pursuit of Longevity in the Daodejing

3 min readSep 13, 2024

The Daodejing does not promise you immortality, but it is rich with guidance on how to stay healthy and lead a long, fulfilling life through harmony with nature and cultivation of balance and simplicity.

Balance is at the heart of the Daodejing’s approach to longevity. The text encourages you to find equilibrium in all aspects of your life by avoiding extremes that can deplete your vital energy. Attempting to force your will upon the world will only lead to frustration and exhaustion. Instead, the Daodejing advocates a gentler and more measured approach to life that respects the natural order and conserves your energy.

Seeking to take over all-under-heaven
And control it cannot succeed.
All-under-heaven is a spirit vessel.
It cannot be controlled or held on to.
Any attempt to control it spoils it.
Any attempt to hold on to it loses it.

Daodejing Chapter 29

The Daodejing champions simplicity as a key to contentment and longevity. By embracing humility and emptiness, you can reduce stress, avoid unnecessary conflicts, and focus on what truly matters. This could translate to decluttering your physical spaces, simplifying your schedules, and focusing on meaningful relationships and pursuits.

Curved therefore whole.
Bent therefore straight.
Hollow therefore full.
Used therefore new.
Little therefore much.
Too much therefore troubled.

Daodejing Chapter 22

The practice of wuwei, often translated as non-action or effortless action, is central to the text’s teachings on longevity. Letting go of unnecessary striving and aligning yourself with the natural flow of the universe enables you to decrease any pressure you are suffering and conserve energy, contributing to a longer, more harmonious life.

Learning requires
Increasing every day.
The Dao requires
Decreasing every day.
Decrease and decrease again,
Until you attain
Effortless action.

Daodejing Chapter 48

The text identifies three virtues or treasures as essential for a long and fulfilling life. These treasures, compassion, frugality, and humility, form a blueprint for living that promotes harmony with others and within yourself. By cultivating these virtues, you can avoid the pitfalls of conflict, excess, and pride that can often lead to stress and a shortened lifespan.

I have three treasures
That I hold and cherish.
The first is compassion.
The second is frugality.
The third is refusing to
Put yourself above everyone.

Daodejing Chapter 67

The Daodejing often associates longevity with qualities traditionally considered feminine, such as softness, receptivity, and nurturing. Chapter 76 encourages you to cultivate flexibility and adaptability in your approach to life’s challenges, rather than meeting force with force. In practice, this might mean choosing diplomacy over confrontation or adapting to change rather than rigidly resisting it.

People are born soft and weak.
They die hard and strong.
All creatures, plants, and trees
Are born soft and tender,
And die dry and brittle.
The hard and strong
Are companions of death.
The soft and weak
Are companions of life.

Daodejing Chapter 76

Throughout the text, the Daodejing emphasizes the importance of living in harmony with nature. This doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning modern urban life for a rustic existence, but rather attuning yourself to the natural rhythms and principles of the Dao. Chapter 25 describes this connection:

Humanity models itself on earth.
Earth models itself on heaven.
Heaven models itself on the Dao.
The Dao models itself
On what is naturally so.

Daodejing Chapter 25

While the Daodejing may not offer a literal fountain of youth, it defines a clear path for living a long, healthy, and fulfilling life. By embodying its principles of simplicity, balance, and harmony, you can not only extend your years but also enrich the quality of the time you spend on this mortal coil.

The Pursuit of Longevity in the Daodejing

Written by Richard Brown