The Daodejing is a complex text with multiple layers of meaning embedded within various traditions of interpretation. One constant theme attended to by commentators and other philosophically minded writers dealing with the thought of the text, both modern and pre-modern, is rulership and government, however, framing the political thought of the Daodejing in this way often bungles the deeper reaches of the human political experience that the text explores. The present contribution attempts to reframe approaches to the text’s political thought by directly homing in on its discussions of authority, rather than rulership and/or government. Next to the Daodejing’s cutting criticisms and condemnations of various styles of authority stemming from coercion and other forms of political violence that it adamantly rejects, it also articulates distinct notions of what may be called a specific style of Daoist authority. The present contribution finds that the Daodejing not only shares a similar value system with that which course through the writings of Hannah Arendt, namely one that is committed to a system of authority oriented by a political justice that allows for the protection, well-being, and flourishing of the common people, but they also have similar critiques of coercive forms of authority. This contribution also finds that the Daodejing’s notions of authority can be more clearly demonstrated by a comparative approach that engages the language developed by Arendt that is directed to authority, most notably her notions of coercion, tyranny, power, and legitimate authority.