In a small country with a low population
They can have all the equipment and devices
Ten times, one hundred times over, and not use them.
They can be serious about death
And not long to migrate far away. 5
Though they have boats and carriages
They have nowhere to ride in them.
Though they have weapons and armor
They have no place to display them.
Let people go back to the use of knotted ropes. 10
Let them savor their food
Delight in their clothing
Feel content with their homes
Be happy in their lives.
Neighboring villages can see each other 15
Their dogs and roosters within earshot
Yet the people grow old and they die
Without ever having gone for a visit.
***
NOTES
line 10, the use of knotted ropes: In ancient China, knotted ropes were used to record business accounts, as was also done by the Incans and the Hawaiians.
COMMENTARY
The idealized society Laozi outlines in Poem 80 differs from most other utopias in that it is very easy to obtain – indeed, it is what life would settle into naturally were the low population of a small nation to follow Dao. They would of course have to get serious about death, which is to say, they would have to get serious about life, about what they do with their finite span. Once they get serious, they won’t need to pursue the stimulation of exotica; they’ll also be aware that the display of weapons is not auspicious, as poem 31 observes, and they’ll keep such hardware properly stored away. Above all, they won’t be enslaved by or dependent upon their own machinery. The ready availability of their own humanity will make them responsive to the charm of simplicity, including their own. And when you have that, you don’t need any change of scenery – why tamper with perfection?
Links To:
The Classic of Dao and De by Laozi: Contents
For more on Daoism, see:
Film Dreams: Frank Capra
Music: KALW Radio Show #3, Ancient China in 20th-Century Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #8, Daoism in Western Music, part 1
Music: SFCR Radio Show #9, Daoism in Western Music, part 2
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 