The literal meaning is that trying to make a big country is like cooking delicious food. Laozi's words in Chapter 60 of the Tao Te Ching: "A big country with rules is like a small country cooking fresh food."

1. Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish.

Oil is the same as salt and vinegar, it is perfect and cannot be exceeded or lacking. In the case of treating the big country, if it is cooked, there are indeed different opinions, such as the ruling of the big country by the small fishy and the ruling of the big country by the small scales, the small fishy and the small scales are getting smaller and smaller, and the different expressions of the fish. Even within the modern and widely recognized tradition of the country's government, older texts differ.

2. Ruling a big country is as difficult as cooking vegetables.

They must be cooked with the same care as the vegetables, both should dominate the heat and pay attention to seasoning. Some ancient scholars believe that this famous saying circulated without saying a word. It was 291 years later than Laozi Han Feizi. There is a sentence in the introduction "Han Feizi·Jie Lao" which says that if a big country is cooked, it will be cooked.

3. "Little fresh" is like a small fish or a piece of meat.

This means treating large fish as you would cooking small fish, and if you cook small fish, you cannot increase stirring. If stirred again, it will easily become rotten. According to the usual metaphor, it's easy. Scholars like Wang Xianshen in the late Qing Dynasty held this view. He believed that there must be a word to manage, such as "Three Kingdoms Shu Zhi" (Volume 44) Chen Shou commented: "I have a dark cloud: if it heals a big country, it can cook." "Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Xunli Biography" "There is also a note: "If you are the chef of the country, you can cook."

Since ancient times, many politicians like to quote this prayer to remember the rulers. As for the meaning of this sentence: Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, and other spices are correct, not too much, this is what it means.