Chapter 80
小國寡民。
使有什伯之器而不用；
使民重死而不遠徙。
雖有舟輿，無所乘之，雖有甲兵，無所陳之。
使民復結繩而用之。
甘其食，美其服，安其居，樂其俗。
鄰國相望，雞犬之聲相聞，民至老死，不相往來。
A small state with few people.
Let there be tools that serve for ten or a hundred, and let them lie unused;
let the people take death seriously and not move far away.
Though they have boats and carriages, they have no occasion to ride them; though they have armor and weapons, they have no occasion to display them.
Let the people go back to knotting cords and using them.1
They relish their food, think their clothes fine, rest easy in their homes, delight in their customs.
Neighboring states are within sight of each other, the sounds of their chickens and dogs within hearing of each other, and the people grow old and die without ever going back and forth.
Notes
1. Before there was writing, it is said, people kept records and accounts by tying knots in cords.