Tao (or Dao ) can mean "way", "road", "channel", "path", "doctrine", or "line".[144] Livia Kohn describes the Tao as "the underlying cosmic power which creates the universe, supports culture and the state, saves the good and punishes the wicked. Literally 'the way', Tao refers to the way things develop naturally, the way nature moves along, and liv... See more

According to Kohn, in the Zhuangzi , ziran refers to the fact that "there is thus no ultimate cause to make things what they are. The universe exists by itself and of itself; it is existence just as it is. Nothing can be added or subtracted from it; it is entirely sufficient upon itself."