The characteristic features of Laozi's ontology include the dualism of the "Way" and "Things" and the domination of the former over the latter. Within this dualism, stillness (jing 靜), one of the key-concepts that typically relates itself with the feminine, ontologically implies that all things including the human being return to the way after the end of their life-cycle. Because the way that the world exists is as such, Laozi urges people (ideally the sage, in practice the ruler) to cultivate emptiness and stillness, viz. the cultivation of becoming aware and embodying the "Way" through the means of inaction (wuwei 無為), which is the cessation of all physical and spiritual activities. When stillness is applied to the realm of politics, as well as inaction, it also connotes the notion of "tolerance" (rong 容) and "fairness" (gong 公). This in turn, legitimatizes the superior and inferior relationship between the ruler and the ruled. At the same time, it becomes a foundation for the doctrines of social divison of labor and the ensuring of opportunities, prominent doctrines in the Laozi. Moreover, when stillness implicates the notion of modesty, in international relations, it becomes the basis of legitimatizing the domination of the powerful state over the weak.