Chapter 3 — Settling the people安民
1Not exalting the worthy
不尚賢，使民不爭；不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜；不見可欲，使民心不亂。
Not exalting the worthy keeps the people from contending. Not prizing goods hard to come by keeps the people from stealing. Not showing what may be desired keeps the hearts of the people from being troubled.
note 7
賢，猶能也。尚者，嘉之名也。貴者，隆之稱也。唯能是任，尚也曷為；唯用是施，貴之何為。尚賢顯名，榮過其任，為而常校，能相射貴貨，過用貪者，競趣穿窬探篋，沒命而盜，故可欲不見，則心無所亂也。
Worthy (賢) says the same as capable. To exalt (尚) is the word for praising, and to prize (貴) is the term for honoring. One need only entrust matters to the capable, so what need is there to exalt them? One need only supply what is to be used, so what need is there to prize it? If the worthy are exalted and their names made conspicuous, their glory outruns the office they hold; then every undertaking is always measured against another, and people contend with one another and prize goods. Those who covet, holding a thing's use to be more than it is, vie to break through walls and ransack chests, and steal at the risk of their lives. Therefore if nothing worth desiring is shown, there is nothing in the heart to fall into disorder.
賢謂世俗之賢，辯口明文，離道行權，去質為文也。不尚者，不貴之以祿，不貴之以官。
The worthy here means the worthy as the world speaks of them: men quick of tongue and polished in writing, who depart from the Way and work by expedient, who cast off substance and make ornament. Not exalting them means not making them honored with salary, not making them honored with office.
不爭功名，返自然也。
They do not contend over merit and name, and return to what is so of itself.
言人君不御好珍寶，黃金棄於山，珠玉捐於淵也。
It says that the ruler does not take up precious treasures out of fondness for them: gold is left lying in the mountains, pearls and jade are cast into the deeps.
上化清靜，下無貪人。
When those above lead by clarity and stillness, among those below there is no one who covets.
放鄭聲，遠美人。
He puts away the music of Zheng (鄭) and keeps beautiful women at a distance.
不邪淫，不惑亂也。
He is not depraved or licentious, and is not led astray into disorder.
2He empties their hearts and fills their bellies
是以聖人之治，虛其心，實其腹，
So the sage governs by emptying their hearts and filling their bellies,
note 4
心懷智而腹懷食，虛有智而實無知也。
The heart holds wisdom and the belly holds food. He empties out the having of wisdom and fills up the being without knowledge.
說聖人治國與治身同也。
It says that the sage's governing of a state and his governing of his own person are one and the same.
除嗜欲，去亂煩。
He reduces relish and desire, and puts away what is disordered and troublesome.
懷道抱一守，五神也。
He holds the Way in his bosom and embraces the One, and so guards the five spirits (神).
3He weakens their wills and strengthens their bones
弱其志，強其骨。
and he weakens their wills and strengthens their bones.
note 3
骨無知以幹，志生事以亂，心虛則志弱也。
Bones, having no knowledge, serve as the trunk; the will gives rise to affairs and throws them into disorder. When the heart is empty, the will grows weak.
和柔謙讓，不處權也。
Gentle and yielding, modest and deferring, he does not place himself in power.
愛精重施，髓滿骨堅。
He spares his vital essence (精) and is sparing in spending it, so the marrow is full and the bones are firm.
4He keeps them without knowledge and without desire
常使民無知無欲。
He constantly keeps the people without knowledge and without desire.
note 3
守其真也。
This is to keep their genuineness.
返樸守淳。
They return to plainness and keep to what is unmixed.
思慮深，不輕言。
His thought runs deep, and he does not speak lightly.
5He keeps those who know from daring to act
使夫智者不敢為也。
He keeps those who claim to know from daring to act.
note 1
知者謂知為也。
To know, here, says to know how to set about doing.
6Act without acting, and nothing goes ungoverned
為無為，則無不治。
Act without acting, and nothing is left ungoverned.
note 2
不造作，動因循。
He does not contrive or fabricate; when he acts, he follows along with what is.
德化厚，百姓安。
His leading by virtue is generous, and so the people are at peace.