Chapter 3
Original Text
不尚賢，使民不爭；不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜；不見可欲，使心不亂。使民不爭。
是以聖人之治：不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜。
不見可欲，使民心不亂。
是以聖人之治，虛其心，實其腹；實其腹，弱其志，強其骨。
常使民無知無欲，使夫知者不敢為也。
為無為，則無不治。
Word Notes
賢: the capable and worthy.爭: to vie, contend.貨: goods, valuables.盜: thief, theft.欲: appetite, desire.虛: to make empty.實: to make full.弱: to soften, render pliant.強: to make firm, strong.
Chapter ExplanationTranslation
Do not exalt “the worthy,” and the people will not scramble (for reputation).compete.
Do not prizevalue rarehard-to-get goods, and the people will not takebecome to theft.thieves.
Do not flauntput what can be lusteddesired after,on display, and the people’s hearts will not be thrown into turmoil.
Therefore, whenin athe sageSage’s governs,governance, he empties their hearts andhearts, fills their bellies;bellies, weakenssoftens their ambitionswill, and strengthens their bones.
He constantly causesmakes the people to be without contrivancecunning and without excessivecravings, craving;so therebythat even thosethe with clevernessclever do not dare to act (deceitfully)deviously).
HeBy actsacting through non-action, andnonaction, nothing remainsis left ungoverned.
TranslationWord Notes
- 賢 — “worthy/able”: persons of talent and ability.
- 爭 — “to compete”: to contend, to vie for gain or fame.
- 難得之貨 — “hard-to-get goods”: precious goods/valuables people prize.
- 盜 — “thief / to steal”: stealing, robbery.
- 可欲 — “what can be desired”: objects of appetite that stir cravings.
- 虛 — “empty”: to make empty; to clear out (extravagance).
- 實 — “fill”: to make full; to return to plain sufficiency.
- 弱 — “soften/weaken”: to make gentle, to quell contentious ardor.
- 強 — “strengthen”: to make firm/stout.
- 骨 — “bones”: backbone; one’s physical sturdiness and upright bearing.
- 無知 — “without cunning” (not crafty/scheming).
- 無欲 — “without cravings” (free from appetitive urges).
- 為無為 — “act through nonaction”: handle affairs without force or clinging.
Chapter Explanation
Not exalting people of ability prevents the populace from competing for reputation. Not making much of hard-to-get goods keeps the people from stealing money and property. Not parading the things one hankers after keeps people’s hearts from becoming a muddle.
Therefore the Sage, in governing the world, empties their hearts so as to take away extravagance, fills their bellies so as to bring them back to plainness, softens their will so as to halt contention, and strengthens their bones so they can stand on their own. He constantly brings it about that people have no crooked cleverness and no appetitive craving; he causes even the quick-witted not to dare engage in fraudulent actions. Simply by calmly carrying out affairs of nonaction, there is then nothing under Heaven that does not become well ordered.
Discourse
The generative order ofin which the Great Dao is:brings things forth is this: the One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three;Three. “One” is the Heavenly Dao; “Two” areis the mutuallyDao opposedof yin and yang;yang in mutual opposition; “Three” is the Humanhuman Dao,Dao, formed by the union of “one”One and “two,” Two—the verycentral midpointpivot of Dao. Hence Chapter 1 expounds Heaven’s Dao; Chapter 2 expounds correlativethe Dao of opposition and cyclical alternation; andreciprocity; this chapter expounds the Humanhuman Dao—Dao of inner sagelinesssagehood and outer kingliness.kingship. OuterThe kingliness“outer king” must be rooted in the “inner sageliness;sage”: only with Heaven’sHeavenly Virtuevirtue can onethere possessbe royal way; only those who can govern themselves can govern the world. In ancient times, Emperor Yao harmonized the royalmyriad Way;states onlyentirely by clearly perfecting august virtue; Emperor Shun, “Chonghua,” co-ruled by reverently rectifying himself and facing south. Therefore, when the Sage governs the world, he takes self-governmentcultivation as the root. If he can onecultivate governhimself so that the world.heart is empty, the belly full, the will softened, and the bones strengthened, then the world is governed by nonaction.
Thus the sage’s governance begins in self-cultivation: emptying the heart and filling the belly; softening ambition and strengthening the bones. If the heart is not empty, private desires multiply. If the belly is not full, hunger grows—what abounds—Mencius calledsays, “want.”If “Emptyingthere theis heart”no removesthis, extravagance;there “fillingis thestarvation”; belly”starvation restoreshere simplicity.means not full. If the will is not softened, agitationpeople arises;become ifrash and impetuous. If the bones are not strengthened,strong, onethey turnsgrow weak.weak and timid. An empty heart containsencompasses the Great VoidVoid, andwith nothing else;outside it. A full belly means a fullcapacity bellythat containsembraces Heaven and Earth and holdscontains all within.things (here “belly” means receptivity, not stuffing oneself with meat and wine). A weakenedsoftened will bowsmeans toyielding others—humbleand isgiving way—the gentleman;modest strengthenedgentleman. Strong bones allowmeans onea robust, upright bearing—able to shoulder the cosmos—cosmos, standing tall between Heaven and Earth.
“EmptyingEmptiness theof heart”heart is the culminationconsummation of Mencius’s “not lettingmoved in heart”—when the heart beis moved.” Oncealready empty, wherewhat cancould itstill be movedmoved? from?Fullness “Fillingof the belly”belly is the fruiteffect of nourishing the vast, flowingflooding “flood-likeqi; qi”such thatqi can fill up Heaven and Earth.Earth—hence (“Belly”fill herethe connotes capacious containment; it is not about stuffing oneself with wine and meat.)belly.” “Softening the will” alignscorresponds withto “holding fast to one’s will”;will without stubbornness; “strengthening the bones” corresponds to the back brimming with “spreadingstrength. from the back”—whenWhen the heart is empty, the will naturally softens; andwith whenan empty heart that includes even beyond the heavens, there is no “will” left to insist on. When the belly is full, strengththe bones naturally fillsbecome strong; the frame.vast Inqi termsis supremely great and supremely firm.
These four—empty heart, full belly, softened will, strengthened bones—are also the workings of the BookGreat of Changes: QianChanges (Heaven)the Yijing): Qian is Heaven, the clear,clear and empty qiqi; of Heaven; Kun (Earth) is Earth, the broad,broad and thick image of Earth—image—hence “empty”empty vs. full. Though Qian is clear and “full.”empty Though Qian is empty,qi, its three solid lines makeare unbroken—within it supremelyis substantial—utmost solidity; what is substantialsolid shouldcalls befor emptied, emptiness—hence “empty the heart.heart.” Though Kun is broad and thick, its six broken lines renderare broken—within it supremelyis empty—utmost emptiness; what is empty shouldcalls to be filled, filled—hence “fill the belly.belly.” Li (Fire) occupies the pre-celestial position of Qian position and actsfunctions on its behalf—behalf; but Li, (Fire)being fire, is restless;prone to agitation—hence “soften the will.will.” Kan (Water) occupies the pre-celestial position of Kun position and actsfunctions on its behalf—behalf; but Kan, (Water)being water, is pliant;lord of softness—hence “strengthen the bones.bones.” The subtlesubtlety wonderhere ofis thisbeyond cannot be knownreckoning; without livedactual practice.practice and experience one does not know it. If one realizestruly itgains experience and attainsthen gains position to enactcarry the Way,Dao theninto byaction, rectifyingsimply rectify the root and clearingclear the source,source, theand those slick clever plottersfellows will naturallybow bowand bend, no longer daring to play their headscrafty, andscheming nottricks. dare to tumult the realm; governingGoverning the world isthen thenbecomes as easy as turning one’sover the hand.
ButRulers of later rulers,ages, lacking the sage’s true Dao-Virtue,virtue graspedof the sages, took only a fewsmattering scraps:of the surface: today “select the worthy,”worthy, tomorrow “concentrateamass wealth.”wealth. Commentators often gloss “rarehard-to-get goods”goods” as exoticrare treasures—thatcurios and precious things—not wrong; but money too is not wrong—but money is also “hard to get,”get and even more prized,prized. formingThus people form factions, andpuff mutualone back-praising.another Peopleup, buyeven purchase reputation with money;money; highsuperiors and lowinferiors scramble for profit;profit, thenrob robbingone another, and burglaryin follow.the end become thieves who pierce walls and pry roofs. Alas—atwhen suchthings ahave point,come howto couldthis onepass, why not return to the root?root?
Discourse
This chapter lays out the Human Dao—inner sageliness giving rise to outer kingliness—and shows how the sage’s “non-action” governance proceeds from self-cultivation.
“Empty the heart” so that the mind holds only the Great Void; “fill the belly” so that the flood-like qi fills and contains; “soften the will” so that agitation ceases; “strengthen the bones” so that the person stands upright and bears responsibility. In Mencius’s language: “not letting the heart be moved,” and “nourishing the vast, flooding qi.” In the Changes: Qian (Heaven) and Kun (Earth), Kan (Water) and Li (Fire) work together: emptying the heart aligns with Qian’s clear emptiness; filling the belly with Kun’s capaciousness; softening the will with Li’s restlessness kept in check; strengthening the bones with Kan’s pliant firmness.
If this inner work is realized, then in office one simply rectifies the root and clears the source; those quick-witted fellows naturally fall into line and dare not practice crafty deceptions; and governing the world becomes easy. But later rulers seized only fragments: exalting “the worthy” one day and piling up wealth the next. “Rare goods” is not only pearls and jade; money itself is “rare,” and cherishing it most breeds faction and mutual promotion—even buying reputation with cash, top and bottom scrambling for profit, until burglary follows. Alas—when affairs have reached this pass, how can one not return to the root?