Chapter 57: 淳風, The Genuine Influence

以正治國；以奇用兵；以無事取天下。

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.

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；法物滋彰，盜賊多有。

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.

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。

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.'

Legge's Comments

淳風, 'The Genuine Influence.' The chapter shows how government by the Dào is alone effective, and of universal application; contrasting it with the failure of other methods.

After the 'weapons of war' in par. 1, one is tempted to take 'the sharp implements' in par. 2 as such weapons, but the meaning which I finally adopted, especially after studying chapters 36 and 80, seems more consonant with Lǎozǐ's scheme of thought. In the last member of the same par., Héshàng Gōng has the strange reading 法物, and uses it in his commentary; but the better text of 法令. is found both in Huáinán and Sīmǎ Qiān, and in Wáng Bì¹.

We do not know if the writer were quoting any particular sage in par. 3, or referring generally to the sages of the past;—men like the 'sentence-makers' of ch. 41.

From The Libertarian Reader²

2. The more prohibitions there are,
The poorer the people will be.

The more laws are promulgated,
The more thieves and bandits there will be.

3. Therefore a sage has said:
So long as I "do nothing" the people will of themselves be transformed.
So long as I love quietude, the people will of themselves go straight.
So long as I act only by inactivity the people will of themselves become prosperous.

From A History of Chinese Political Thought²

2. The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

3. Therefore, the Sage says: I take no action yet the people transform themselves, I favor quiescence and the people right themselves, I take no action and the people enrich themselves...