Category: Translations
Protected: Dao De Jing Chapter 79
Protected: Dao De Jing Chapter 80
Dao De Jing Chapter 80 (public)
.
Small countries have few people
Though there are many tools
The people do not use them
They feel the weight of death
And do not leave their homeland
.
Though there are boats & wagons
Nobody rides them
Though there are armor & weapons
Nobody displays them
.
Allowing the people to repeatedly use knotted cord*
.
Sweet their food
Beautiful their clothing
Peaceful their dwellings
Joyful their customs
.
Neighboring countries see one another
Hearing the sounds of one another’s chickens & dogs
The people grow old and die
Never having come or gone
.
(*Knotted cord refers to ancient practices of observation, divination, and calibration – a form of record-keeping and communication predating written language. Coding information (spirit) into material form as a means of managing everyday human affairs.)