Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 57
Chapter 57 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
以正治國，以奇用兵，以無事取天下。吾何以知其然哉？以此：天下多忌諱，而民彌貧；民多利器，國家滋昏；人多伎巧，奇物滋起；法令滋彰，盜賊多有。故聖人云：我無為，而民自化；我好靜，而民自正；我無事，而民自富；我無欲，而民自樸。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Govern the state with what is straight, use arms with what is strange, take all under Heaven by having no affairs.How do I know this is so?By this: the more prohibitions there are under Heaven, the poorer the people become;The more keen instruments the people have, the more benighted the state and its houses become;The more cunning skill people have, the more strange contrivances arise;The more laws and commands are displayed, the more thieves and brigands abound.Therefore the sage says: I do nothing, and the people transform themselves;I cherish stillness, and the people set themselves right;I have no affairs, and the people enrich themselves;I have no desire, and the people become simple of themselves.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Govern the state with upright measures; wage war by surprise; win the allegiance of all under heaven by not meddling.How do I know this is so?From this: the more prohibitions fill the realm, the poorer the people become;the more ingenious devices the people possess, the more confused the state and its ruling house grow;the more technical ingenuity people cultivate, the more strange contrivances arise;the more prominently laws and decrees are displayed, the more thieves and robbers appear.So the sage says: I act without forcing, and the people transform themselves;I cherish stillness, and the people set themselves right;I do not meddle, and the people prosper by themselves;I am free of desire, and the people become unworked wood on their own.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one's own (only) by freedom from action and purpose.
2. How do I know that it is so? By these facts:--In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments increases the poverty of the people; the more implements to add to their profit that the people have, the greater disorder is there in the state and clan; the more acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances appear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and robbers there are.
3. Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.'