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。使人复结绳而用之。至治之极。甘美食，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。
Reduce the size of the population and the state.
Ensure that even though the people have tools of war for a troop ora battalion they will not use them;
And also that they will be reluctant to move to distant places becausethey look on death as no light matter.
Even when they have ships and carts, they will have no use for them;
And even when they have armor and weapons, they will have no occasionto make a show of them.
Bring it about that the people will return to the use of the knottedrope,
Will find relish in their food
And beauty in their clothes,
Will be content in their abode
And happy in the way they live.
Though adjoining states are within sight of one another,
And the sound of dogs barking and cocks crowing in one state can beheard in another,
yet the people of one state will grow old and die without having hadany dealings with those of another.
Given a small country with few inhabitants, he could bring it about that through there should be among the people contrivances requiring ten times, a hundred times less labour, they would not use them. He could bring it about that the people would be ready to lay down their lives and lay them down again in defence of their homes, rather than emigrate. There might still be boats and carriage, but no one would go in them; there might still be weapons of war but no one would drill with them. He could bring it about that “the people should have no use for any from of writing save knotted ropes, should be contented with their food, pleased with their clothing, satisfied with their homes, should take pleasure in their rustic tasks. The next place might be so near at hand that one could one could hear the cocks crowing in it, the dogs barking; but the people would grow old and die without ever having been there”.
In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them; I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it). Though they had boats and carriages, they should have no occasion to ride in them; though they had buff coats and sharp weapons, they should have no occasion to don or use them. I would make the people return to the use of knotted cords (instead of the written characters). They should think their (coarse) food sweet; their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common (simple) ways sources of enjoyment. There should be a neighbouring state within sight, and the voices of the fowls and dogs should be heard all the way from it to us, but I would make the people to old age, even to death, not have any intercourse with it.