 Rulers succeed by allowing nature to take its course: by “not acting (wuwei)”. Ironically, some of the Dao De Jing’s teachings are appropriated as straight-forward political advice by certain later thinkers. The Han Feizi (on which see more below), for example, echoes the Dao De Jing in calling for rulers to avoid articulating explicit standards or desires, but it does so in order to make sure that ministers cannot pander to the ruler, rather than out of a deeper objection to standards as such.