Chapter 19 — Back to simplicity還淳
1Cut off holiness and throw away cleverness
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，少私寡欲。
Cut off holiness and throw away cleverness, and the people gain a hundredfold. Cut off benevolence and throw away righteousness, and the people return to filial piety and kindness. Cut off skill and throw away profit, and there will be no thieves. These three are not enough to stand as a written rule, so let there be something to hold to. Show the undyed silk and embrace the uncarved log. Make selfishness small and make wants few.
note 13
聖智，才之善也。仁義，人之善也。巧利，用之善也。而直云絕，文甚不足，不令之有所屬，無以見其指，故曰，此三者以為文而未足，故令人有所屬，屬之於素樸寡欲。
Holiness and cleverness are the best among skills, benevolence and righteousness the best among people, skill and profit the best among uses. Yet to say only that they are to be cut off makes the writing fall far short, and unless there is something to hold to, what it points at cannot be seen. That is why it says these three are not enough to stand as a written rule, and so it has people hold to something, fastening them to the undyed silk, the uncarved log, and the making few of wants.
絕聖制作，反初守元。五帝垂象，倉頡作書，不如三皇結繩無文。
Cut off the making and devising that comes of holiness, return to the beginning, and keep to what is first. That the Five Emperors (五帝) handed down figures and Cang Jie (倉頡) made writing was not as good as the Three Sovereigns (三皇), who knotted cords for their use and had no writing.
棄智慧，反無為。
Throw away cleverness and return to doing nothing.
農事修，公無私。
Farming is well ordered, and all is fair with nothing selfish in it.
絕仁之見恩惠，棄義之尚華言。
Cut off benevolence showing off its kindnesses, and throw away righteousness holding up showy words.
德化淳也。
Because the teaching that works through virtue is deep and thick.
絕巧者，詐偽亂真也。棄利者，塞貪路閉權門也。
Skill is cut off because deceit and falsehood throw truth into disorder; profit is thrown away to block the road of greed and shut the gate of power.
上化公正，下無邪私。
When the teaching above is fair, there is nothing crooked or selfish below.
謂上三事所棄絕也。
This speaks of the three things above, the ones cut off and thrown away.
以為文不足者，文不足以教民。
Not enough to stand as a written rule means that writing is not enough to teach the people.
當如下句。
One should do as the lines below say.
見素者，當抱素守真，不尚文飾也。抱朴者，當抱其質樸，以示下，故可法則。
To show the undyed silk is to embrace the undyed silk, keep to what is true, and not hold up ornament. To embrace the uncarved log is to embrace its plainness and show it to those below, and so it can be taken as a model.
少私者，正無私也。寡欲者，當知足也。
Making selfishness small is to be upright and have nothing selfish; making wants few is to know when one has enough.