57. Governing with Uprightness
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
以正治国，以奇用兵，以无事取天下。
English translation
Govern the state by upright and steady principles, conduct warfare with unexpected tactics, and win the realm by refraining from needless interference.
Ordinary government calls for fairness and consistency, while war relies on adaptation. Lasting support comes from disturbing people's lives as little as possible.
Original Chinese text
吾何以知其然哉？
English translation
How do I know that this is so?
The question introduces the evidence that follows: government should be judged by the actual conditions it produces in society.
Original Chinese text
以此：天下多忌讳，而民弥贫；民多利器，国家滋昏；人多伎巧，奇物滋起；法令滋彰，盗贼多有。
English translation
I know it from this: the more prohibitions there are in the realm, the poorer the people become; the more instruments of advantage people possess, the more confused the state grows; the more clever skills people cultivate, the more strange and extravagant things appear; the more laws and commands are displayed, the more thieves and robbers arise.
Excessive restrictions, competitive ingenuity, and multiplying rules can encourage evasion and resistance, defeating their purpose. The criticism is aimed at overgovernment, not at every necessary institution.
Original Chinese text
故圣人云：我无为，而民自化；我好静，而民自正；我无事，而民自富；我无欲，而民自朴。
English translation
Therefore the sage says: I do not impose action, and the people transform themselves; I value stillness, and the people set themselves right; I do not create needless affairs, and the people prosper by themselves; I am free of grasping desire, and the people return to simplicity.
A ruler begins by restraining power and appetite, leaving room for society to regulate itself. When those above cause less disruption and competition, ordinary life can become steadier and simpler.