Chapter 19 of Laozi's Tao Te Ching connects to the content of Chapter 18, criticizing a society where artificially created moral codes, knowledge, and skills are rampant. It is a chapter that paradoxically asserts that the path to true peace and harmony lies in abandoning these things and returning to the fundamental state of all things—pristine simplicity (素樸, Sùpǔ)—and reducing desires (寡欲, Guǎyù).
📜 Original Text (原文)
絕聖棄智 民利百倍
絕仁棄義 民復孝慈
絕巧棄利 盜賊無有
此三者以為文不足 故令有所屬
見素抱樸 少思寡欲
📃 Meaning of the Original Text
Eliminate sageliness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.
Eliminate benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to their natural filial piety and parental love.
Eliminate cleverness and discard profit, and there will be no thieves or robbers.
These three things, considered as mere adornments, are not enough. Therefore, they cause people to have attachments.
Manifest plainness, embrace the uncarved block, lessen thoughts, and reduce desires.
🌲 Line-by-Line Translation
絕聖棄智 民利百倍 (jué shèng qì zhì, mín lì bǎi bèi)
Eliminate sageliness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.
絕仁棄義 民復孝慈 (jué rén qì yì, mín fù xiào cí)
Eliminate benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to their natural filial piety and parental love.
絕巧棄利 盜賊無有 (jué qiǎo qì lì, dào zéi wú yǒu)
Eliminate cleverness and discard profit, and there will be no thieves or robbers.
此三者以為文不足 故令有所屬 (cǐ sān zhě yǐ wéi wén bù zú, gù lìng yǒu suǒ shǔ)
These three things, considered as mere adornments, are not enough. Therefore, they cause people to have attachments.
見素抱樸 少思寡欲 (jiàn sù bào pǔ, shǎo sī guǎ yù)
Manifest plainness, embrace the uncarved block, lessen thoughts, and reduce desires.
💧 Verse-by-Verse Commentary and Interpretation (逐句解說與解釋)
1. 絕聖棄智 民利百倍 (jué shèng qì zhì, mín lì bǎi bèi)
o Literal Meaning: Eliminate sageliness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.
o Commentary: '絕' (jué) means to cut off, eliminate, or abandon. '棄' (qì) means to discard or throw away. '聖' (shèng) refers to sageliness or the 'sage' as an ideal human figure; here, it signifies the artificial act of creating and revering sages. '智' (zhì) is cleverness, artificial wisdom, or knowledge. '民利百倍' (mín lì bǎi bèi) means the people will benefit a hundredfold.
o Interpretation: This is a paradox stating that if society stops setting up artificial standards of sageliness and revering certain individuals, or stops valuing artificial knowledge and cleverness above all else (絕聖棄智), then the people will achieve a truly peaceful and beneficial state (利百倍) instead of competing with or deceiving one another. It criticizes how the imposition of artificial values causes competition and chaos.
2. 絕仁棄義 民復孝慈 (jué rén qì yì, mín fù xiào cí)
o Literal Meaning: Eliminate benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to their natural filial piety and parental love.
o Commentary: '仁' (rén) and '義' (yì) are the core moral virtues emphasized in Confucianism. Here, they refer to the concepts of benevolence and righteousness that are artificially forced or emphasized after the Tao has been lost. '復孝慈' (fù xiào cí) means that filial piety and parental love will be restored.
o Interpretation: This is another paradox suggesting that if we stop artificially teaching and forcing people to 'be benevolent and righteous' (絕仁棄義), they will, according to their innate pure nature, naturally recover their filial piety and parental love toward their families (復孝慈). The view is that the artificial emphasis on benevolence and righteousness actually hinders natural filial piety and love. This connects to Chapter 18's line, 'When the six family relationships are not in harmony, filial piety and parental love appear.'
3. 絕巧棄利 盜賊無有 (jué qiǎo qì lì, dào zéi wú yǒu)
o Literal Meaning: Eliminate cleverness and discard profit, and there will be no thieves or robbers.
o Commentary: '巧' (qiǎo) refers to clever skills, artifice, or artificial talents. '利' (lì) is personal profit or greed. '盜賊無有' (dào zéi wú yǒu) means there will be no thieves or robbers.
o Interpretation: If we stop excessively revering artificial skills or talents (絕巧) and cease the pursuit of personal profit and greed (棄利), then excessive desire for wealth and social inequality will diminish, and crimes like theft and robbery (盜賊) will disappear. It points out that the advancement of artificial skills and the pursuit of greed are the causes of crime. This connects to Chapter 3's 'Do not value rare treasures, and the people will not steal.'
4. 此三者以為文不足 故令有所屬 (cǐ sān zhě yǐ wéi wén bù zú, gù lìng yǒu suǒ shǔ)
o Literal Meaning: These three things, considered as mere adornments, are not enough. Therefore, they cause people to have attachments.
o Commentary: '此三者' (cǐ sān zhě) refers to the three pairs mentioned before (Sageliness/Wisdom vs. Benefit, Benevolence/Righteousness vs. Filial Piety/Love, Cleverness/Profit vs. Thieves) or the first part of each pair (Sageliness/Wisdom, Benevolence/Righteousness, Cleverness/Profit). In '以為文不足' (yǐ wéi wén bù zú), '以為' (yǐ wéi) means 'to consider as.' '文' (wén) means adornment, form, superficial decoration, culture, or artificial embellishment. '不足' (bù zú) means not enough. '故' (gù) means therefore. '令有所屬' (lìng yǒu suǒ shǔ) means 'to cause (令) to have something to which one is attached (有所屬).' '有所屬' (yǒu suǒ shǔ) implies that these artificial things bring along attendant problems or cause one to become entangled in other issues or attachments.
o Interpretation: Things like the reverence for sages, wisdom, benevolence, righteousness, clever skills, and the pursuit of profit are, from the perspective of the Tao, not essential but merely superficial forms, culture, or decorations (文), and thus are not sufficient (不足) to achieve true harmony and peace. For this reason, pursuing these artificial things actually causes one to become entangled in the problems or attachments that come with them (令有所屬). It explains the limitations of the artificial and the side effects they produce.
5. 見素抱樸 少思寡欲 (jiàn sù bào pǔ, shǎo sī guǎ yù)
o Literal Meaning: Therefore, manifest plainness, embrace the uncarved block, lessen thoughts, and reduce desires.
o Commentary: In '見素' (jiàn sù), '見' (jiàn) means to see, reveal, or realize. '素' (sù) means white silk, an unadorned pure state, or a foundation. In '抱樸' (bào pǔ), '抱' (bào) means to embrace, hold, or maintain. '樸' (pǔ) means an uncarved block of wood, a natural and simple state. '見素抱樸' (jiàn sù bào pǔ) emphasizes that one must realize the simple and pure original state free from artificial embellishment (見素) and hold onto and maintain that state (抱樸). This symbolizes the ideal human or social state that Taoism pursues. '少思寡欲' (shǎo sī guǎ yù) means 'lessen (少) thoughts (思)' and 'reduce (寡) desires (欲).' '寡' (guǎ) means few or less.
o Interpretation: After emphasizing the need to abandon artificial things, this line presents a positive alternative for what one should pursue. It states that one must realize the pure and simple original state (素樸) free from artificial decoration and make it the foundation of one's life. To achieve this, one must reduce useless thoughts (思) and personal desires (欲) in one's mind. This is the concrete method of practice for breaking away from the artificial and drawing closer to the Tao.
🌳 Overall Interpretation
The nineteenth chapter tells us what we must discard and what we must hold onto.
If society abandons its artificial standards of greatness and its reverence for certain people, and discards artificial knowledge and cleverness, the people will, in fact, gain a hundredfold benefit. If we stop artificially teaching and forcing people to 'be benevolent and righteous,' the people will naturally recover their filial piety and parental love according to their original pure hearts. If we abandon the excessive reverence for artificial skills and talents and discard personal greed, crimes like theft and robbery will disappear from the world.
Things like the reverence for sages, wisdom, benevolence, righteousness, skills, and the pursuit of profit are, from the perspective of the Tao, merely superficial forms or decorations and are not sufficient to achieve true harmony and peace. For this reason, pursuing these artificial things actually leads to entanglement in the problems and attachments that come with them.
So, what should we do? We must realize the pure and simple original state (素樸) free from artificial decoration and make it the foundation of our lives. And to do this, we must reduce the useless thoughts and personal desires in our minds.
🌟 The Meaning and Importance of Chapter 19
Chapter 19 presents the following core ideas:
- Critique of Artificial Virtues and Values: Continuing from Chapter 18, it criticizes artificially created moral codes (benevolence, righteousness), knowledge (wisdom), skills (cleverness), and the pursuit of profit (profit) as products of an era in which the Tao has been lost, arguing that they actually cause or worsen social chaos, hypocrisy, and crime.
- The Value of Pristine Simplicity (素樸): It presents 'pristine simplicity' (素樸) as the ideal state to which one should return after abandoning the artificial, and as the fundamental purity of all things. This is the natural and unadorned state of life pursued in Taoist thought.
- Lessening Thoughts and Reducing Desires (少思寡欲): As a concrete method of practice for returning to a state of pristine simplicity, it emphasizes the importance of reducing thoughts and personal desires in one's mind. When desires are reduced, attachments to the external world and competitiveness disappear, and one can attain inner peace.
- Recovering the Essence: It proposes that the path to approaching the Tao and achieving true harmony and peace is to cast off artificial adornments (文) and return to one's original, simple nature.
Chapter 19 is an important chapter that presents a critique of the times in Taoist thought along with a concrete code of practice. It provides a direction for life to recover one's original self and draw closer to the Tao through pristine simplicity and lack of desire, without getting lost in complex and artificial social systems and values.
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