The term "ease and simplicity" comes from the first half of Xi Ci（“The Great Treatise”), a chapter in The Book of Changes. Xi Ci holds that the law of the universe as embodied by heaven and earth is one of ease and simplicity. Therefore, it encompasses everything, and is easy to understand and follow. Later, some scholars championed the way of "ease and simplicity" as a necessary quality for rulers. They emphasized that government policies should be easy to understand and simple and that the government should refrain from excessive intervention in people's affairs. Other scholars stress, as a matter of self-cultivation, the necessity to use the way of ease and simplicity to discover and realize one's true self and cultivate a sense of morality in oneself.

The way of heaven is easily understood because of its ease. The way of earth is effective because of its simplicity. Ease means easy to know, and simplicity means easy to follow. If something is easy to understand, it appeals to people and draws them to it; if something is easy to follow, it will not be difficult to achieve it. Appeal can be enduring, and achievability will lead to great accomplishments. Endurance is a merit of a person of virtue, and being capable of reaching far is the pursuit of a person of integrity. （The Book of Changes）

Taking an approach of ease and simplicity to self-cultivation will achieve endurance and reach far, whereas focusing on fragmented study can only lead to aimless drifting. (Lu Jiuyuan: A Poem to Match the Rhyming Pattern of My Brother's Poem on Goose Lake)