Chapter 65 — Simple virtue淳德

明謂多見巧詐，蔽其樸也。愚謂無知守真，順自然也。

Brightness (明) refers to seeing much and using craft to deceive, so covering over one's uncarved wood. Foolishness (愚) refers to being without knowledge, keeping to genuineness, and following what is so of itself.

說古之善以道治身及治國者，不以道教民明智巧詐也，將以道德教民，使質樸不詐偽。

This speaks of those of old who were good at governing their own person and governing the state by the Dao. They did not use the Dao to teach the people to make cleverness and artful deceit bright; they taught the people with the Dao and its virtue, so that they were plain and did not deceive.

多智巧詐，故難治也。

Because they have much cleverness and are crafty and deceitful, they are hard to govern.

民之所以難治者，以其智多而為巧偽。

The reason the people are hard to govern is that they have much cleverness and so are artful and deceitful.

智，猶治也，以智而治國，所以謂之賊者，故謂之智也。民之難治，以其多智也，當務塞兌閉門，令無知無欲，而以智術動民。邪心既動，復以巧術防民之偽，民知其術，防隨而避之，思惟密巧，奸偽益滋，故曰，以智治國，國之賊也。

Zhi (智) says the same as governing. Because governing a state with cleverness is called robbing it, it is spoken of as cleverness. The people are hard to govern because they have much cleverness, so one ought to block the openings and shut the gate, leaving them without knowledge and without wanting; but instead one stirs the people with cleverness and stratagem. Once crooked hearts have been stirred, one goes on to block the people's falseness with craft and stratagem; and when the people learn the stratagem they evade it as fast as it is set, thinking in ways ever finer and more artful, so that cunning and falsehood swell all the more. Therefore it says that to govern a state with cleverness is to rob the state.

使智慧之人治國之政事，必遠道德，妄作威福，為國之賊也。

If clever men are set to govern the affairs of state, they are sure to move far from the Dao and its virtue and to deal out terror and favor as they please, and so they become robbers of the state.

稽，同也。今古之所同，則而不可廢，能知稽式，是謂玄德，玄德深矣，遠矣。

Ji (稽) means the same. It is what the present and antiquity share, so it is to be modeled on and cannot be discarded. If one can know the standard, this is called the dark virtue, and the dark virtue is deep and far.

不使智慧之人治國之政事，則民守正直，不為邪飾，上下相親，君臣同力，故為國之福也。

If clever men are not set to govern the affairs of state, the people keep to what is straight and do not put on crooked show; high and low are close to each other, and ruler and minister join their strength. Therefore it becomes the state's good fortune.

兩者謂智與不智也。常能智者為賊，不智者為福，是治身治國之法式也。

The two are cleverness and the absence of cleverness. To be always able to know that the clever man becomes a robber and the man without cleverness becomes good fortune — this is the standard for governing one's person and governing the state.

玄，天也。能知治身及治國之法式，是謂與天同德也。

The dark (玄) is heaven. If one can know the standard for governing one's person and governing the state, this is called being of one virtue with heaven.

玄德之人深不可測，遠不可及也。

A man of the dark virtue is so deep that he cannot be fathomed, so far that he cannot be reached.

反其真也。

It returns to its genuineness.

玄德之人與萬物反異，萬物欲益己，玄德施與人也。

A man of the dark virtue runs counter to the ten thousand things and differs from them: the ten thousand things want to add to themselves, while the dark virtue gives out to others.

玄德與萬物反異，故能至大順。順天理也。

The dark virtue runs counter to the ten thousand things and differs from them, and so it can reach the great accord. This is to accord with the pattern of heaven.