A Small State with Few People
The Text
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。
A small state with few people: let it have tools that do the work of tens and hundreds, but never use them. Let the people weigh death and not travel far. They have boats and carriages, but nowhere to ride them; armour and weapons, but no occasion to parade them. Let the people return to knotted cords and use them: savour their food, admire their clothes, delight in their customs, feel secure in their homes. Neighbouring states within sight of each other — the calls of roosters and dogs within hearing — yet people reach old age and death without visiting.
Reading it
The most controversial chapter, and the least utopian: it prescribes sufficiency, not poverty — the tools exist, the boats exist, they are simply not the point. The closing image is often read as isolation; it is closer to contentment at earshot distance, with the border between enough and more left uncrossed.
全书最有争议的一章，也最不乌托邦：它规定的是充足而非贫穷——工具在，舟车在，只是不再是要点。收束的意象常被读成隔绝；更接近「一望之遥的知足」，在够用与更多之间留着一条不跨的界。
Take one capability you own and rarely need. Do not use it for a week, and note what its absence returns to you.
挑一项你拥有却极少需要的能力。一周不用它，记下它的缺席给你送回了什么。