80. A Small Country
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
小国寡民。
English translation
Let the country be small and its people few.
The chapter imagines a modest, small-scale community as a way to question expansion, conflict, and excessive desire.
Original Chinese text
使有什伯之器而不用；使民重死而不远徙。
English translation
Even if there are devices ten or a hundred times more efficient, let them remain unused; let the people value their lives and not migrate far away.
The point is not simply to reject tools, but to imagine restrained needs and settled lives, without expansion or profit driving people from home.
Original Chinese text
虽有舟舆，无所乘之，虽有甲兵，无所陈之。
English translation
Though there are boats and carts, there is nowhere they need to go; though there are armor and weapons, there is no occasion to deploy them.
In a settled life with limited demands for travel, there is no restless movement; without rivalry and war, military equipment has no use.
Original Chinese text
使民复结绳而用之，甘其食，美其服，安其居，乐其俗。
English translation
Let the people return to tying knots and using them for records. Let them find their food satisfying, their clothing pleasing, their homes secure, and their customs enjoyable.
The passage imagines a simple, self-sufficient life. People value the food, clothing, homes, and customs they already have instead of losing stability in the pursuit of luxury and complexity.
Original Chinese text
邻国相望，鸡犬之声相闻，民至老死，不相往来。
English translation
Neighboring states are within sight of one another, and the calls of chickens and dogs can be heard across the border; yet the people grow old and die without traveling back and forth.
Though the communities are close, each is content with life at home and feels no need for restless movement. The image emphasizes self-sufficiency and freedom from disturbance rather than hostility toward neighbors.