Dao De Jing, chapter 19

[lnhammer]

Discard sagacity and renounce wisdom,
And the people benefit a hundredfold;
Discard benevolence and renounce righteousness,
And the people return to filial piety and parental affection;
Discard cleverness and renounce profit,
And there are no bandits and thieves.
These three things I consider insufficient precepts
And so I’d have [another] to go with them:
Meet simpleness and embrace honesty,
And [you’ll] be less selfish and reduce desires.

绝圣弃智，
民利百倍；
绝仁弃义，
民复孝慈；
绝巧弃利，
盗贼无有。
此三者以为文不足。
故令有所属：
见素抱朴，
少私寡欲。

Continuing, for once, the previous chapter’s train of thought. Compare also chapter 3.

An example of the decisions and opinions this stuff involves: A common understanding of 文 wén in l.7 is “culture,” reading the clause as “insufficient for [creating/sustaining] [our] culture,” but the also common sense of “doctrine/law” (which is used by Confucians to refer to their own precepts) seems to apply better here, given the next line. (Both senses derive from 文’s other meaning of “written (prose) language,” in turn derived from its root sense of “decorated.”) I admit, “precept” might be a slightly weak rendering for this.

---L.

Comments

[sartorias]

Noting about wen--some of that I knew, but not all.

[lnhammer]

It's one of those words with a long dictionary entry.