Recent Reinterpretation
Ziran has been interpreted and reinterpreted in a great number of ways over time. Most commonly it has been seen as a model that was followed by the Dao, Heaven, Earth, and Man in turn, based on the traditional translation and interpretation of Chapter 25 of the Daodejing. Wang's more modern translation (2003) eliminates the logical flaw that arises when one considers that to model oneself after another entity may be to become less natural, to lose the 'as-it-isness' that ziran refers to. Wang reinterprets the words of Chapter 25 to be instructions to follow the model set by Earth's being Earth, by Heaven's being Heaven, and by the Dao being the Dao; each behaving perfectly in accordance with ziran. This interpretation reaffirms that the base nature of the Dao is one of complete naturalness.
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