Translation

Small country, few people.
Enable the existence of various tools, yet never need them.
Enable the people attach importance to death, yet not travel around.
Although there exists boats and carriages, there is no place to ride them.
Although there exists weapons, there is no place to deploy them.
Enable the people to again use the knotted rope.
Find their food sweet, their clothes beautiful.
Peaceful in there lives, happy in their customs.
Neighboring states mutually look upon,
Of chicken and dog sounds mutually heard.
People until death not mutually come toward.

small (little; minor) country (state, nation) few (scant; tasteless; widowed) people.

send (employ; enable) have (exist) assorted (varied, miscellaneous; ten) of eldest brother (uncle) tool (ware; capacity) yet not need.

send (employ; enable)  people heavy (important; value; deep; heavy; attach importance to) death yet not far (distant) move from one place to another.

although have (exist) boat carriage (territory; public) nil (without) place of ride (take advantage of  <formal> multiply).

although have (exist) first (armor) weapons nil (without) place of lay out (put on display).

send (employ; enable) people duplicate (recover; resume; again) tie (knit; knot) rope yet of use.

sweet their food, beautiful (good) their clothes (dress).

peaceful (quiet; tranquil; calm) their dwell (live, residence) happy (enjoy) their custom (convention; common; secular).

neighbor (neighboring; near; adjacent) country (state, nation) each other (mutually) gaze into the distance ( look over; call on; visit),

of chicken dog sound (voice; make a sound)  each other (mutually) hear (news; story; well-known).

people to (until; extremely; most) old (of long standing; tough; always) die (extremely; implacable) not each other (mutually)  come (arrive) go (in the direction of; toward) come.

Original

小国寡民。
使有什伯之器而不用。
使民重死而不远徙。
虽有舟舆无所乘之。
虽有甲兵无所陈之。
使民复结绳而用之。
甘其食、
美其服、
安其居、
乐其俗。
邻国相望，
鸡犬之声相闻。
民至老死
不相往来。

Commentary, October 2011

Bring it about that the people will return to the use of the knotted rope sure puts a free will slant on this chapter. And how in the heck is one supposed to ensure they will not use tools of war? The Chinese word for “bring it about” and “ensure” as used here is shi (使) which translates as: send; tell somebody to do something; use; employ; apply; make; cause; enable; envoy; messenger; if; supposing. That is quite a string of meanings, with some conveying a stronger sense of free will than others, although none as strongly as “ensure” does, I suppose.

Making or causing someone to feel content is a tall order. Societies have struggled to do that for ages. That is one of the goals of religion, although without great success, as I see it. Truth be told, isn’t religion merely a symptom of feeling disconnected and the unhappiness that causes. This endemic sense of disconnection is a byproduct of civilization and thinking, and religion is the palliative civilization and thinking creates to treats that symptom. My, what a clear example of how Nature balances herself in straightforward ways, if I do say so myself.

Chapter 33 says, He who knows contentment is rich. I dare say it would be far, far easier to make or cause a person to become rich money-wise than contentment-wise. At best, a better phrasing here might be ‘help the people‘. To be fair, religion does supply some helpful tools (prayer, meditation, devotional rites, etc.), but it is up to the individual ‘craftsman’ (us individually) to use them religiously. Hah! That sounds like a catch-22 (i.e., a no-win, double bind situation).

This chapter makes more sense to me if seen as a commentary on what makes life run smooth. These tips are really symptoms of personal contentment. The more content I feel, the more peaceful in my life, and happy in my customs. Travel is always a symptom of some degree of discontent. Even a trip to the toilet arises out of physical discontent. Thirst and hunger are similar symptoms of elemental discontent, and evoke the need to travel somewhere for food and water. In ancient hunger-gatherer times that would amount to scrounging around until the need was satiated and contentment returned. Now a days for many that amounts to just a short trip to the kitchen.

So, what happens with all the extra free time and energy civilized living affords me? Various desires, stemming from elemental need, arise to fill the void ⁽¹⁾. The only way I can enable the existence of various tools, yet never need them is by acknowledging the need I feel, yet forgoing the impulse to satiate it impulsively (if at all). Feel it, but cease to act upon it. This is an aspect of action-less action, (为无为 act without act) spoken of in chapter 3. D.C. Lau translated this as: Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

⁽¹⁾ It is empty without being exhausted brings to my mind an interesting thought: When one reaches a point approaching full contentment, biological dynamics stir and spawn elemental need. That restlessness gets us off our butts and on to the next ‘project’. Naturally it is not only us; this must be true for all life! Within us, however, need whips up imagination and voilà… a fresh batch of desires are born (i.e., need + thinking = desire).