Utopia

the short of it:

Utopia is not found or created, but nurtured into existence.

80. Standing Alone.

(Suppose I had) a small kingdom with few people, and only some tens or hundreds of [people] available for service, -I would not use them. I would make the people think death a grievous thing; and they would not roam to a distance. Though they might have boats and carriages, they would not ride (away) in them. Though they might have armour, they would have no occasion to put it on. I would make the people return to the use of the quippas (knotted cords), -relish their food, -think their clothes elegant, -rest happily in their homes, -take pleasure in their (own simple) habits. While neighbouring nations might be within sight, and cocks crowing and dogs barking might be within hearing one of another, yet the people would grow old and die, without going and coming together.

Lau Tsze. Chalmers, John. The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of “the Old Philosopher,” Lau-tsze, Translated from the Chinese, with an Introduction by J. Chalmers. United Kingdom: Trübner, 1868.

80. ‘Standing Alone.’

80.1 In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred [people], there should be no employment of them; I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it).

80.2 Though they had boats and carriages, they should have no occasion to ride in them; though they had buff coats and sharp weapons, they should have no occasion to don or use them.

80.3 I would make the people return to the use of knotted cords (instead of the written characters).

80.4 They should think their (course) food sweet; their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common simple ways sources of enjoyment.

80.5 There should be a neighboring state within sight, and the voices of the fowls and dogs should be heard all the way from it to us, but I would make the people to old age, even to death, not have any intercourse with it.

Lao-tze. Legge, James. The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Tâoism. United Kingdom: Clarendon, 1891.

80. Remaining in Isolation.

80.1 In a small country with few people let there be aldermen and mayors who are possessed of power over [people] but would not use it. Induce people to grieve at death but do not cause them to move to a distance. Although they had ships and carriages, they should find no occasion to ride in them. Although they had armours and weapons, they should find no occasion to don them.

80.2 Induce people to return to [the old custom of] knotted cords and to use them [in the place of writing], to delight in their food, to be proud of their clothes, to be content with their homes, and to rejoice in their customs: then in a neighboring state within sight, the voices of the cocks and dogs would be within hearing, yet the people might grow old and die before they visited one another.

Lao-tze. Suzuki, D.T. and Carus, Paul. The Canon of Reason and Virtue: Lao-tze’s Tao Teh King. United States: Open court publishing Company, 1913.

tree buffalo and dude swirling together in a yin yang

the long of it:

Rare is the chapter that features Lao Tsu writing in first person (see Chap 67), but none so extensively as Chapter 80.

However, that is the least of mysteries here. All translators agree Lao Tsu is describing a small state with a small population. But no one can agree on what the people are doing in the second half of the first sentence (service, ability, and power, respectively, above).

A lot of translators agree it’s some sort of ability people possess. But a lot of scholars translate “service” or “ability” as some sort of “weaponry” (Ames 201), “weapons” (Henricks 156); or “military equipment” (Wang 189).

Many translators leave out the reference to weapons all together, instead calling them “tools of war” (Lau 142), “utensils/tools (of material civilization)” (Jiao b4:31-2), “labor-saving tools” (Pine 80), or “contrivances requiring ten times, a hundred times less labour” (Waley 217).

However, Lao Tsu is the master of double (in this case triple) entendre (see Chap 72). We’re not reaching far to assume it means all three: weapons, tools, and even people can all be used interchangeably.

Life Itself:

Whether Lao Tsu was talking about a small kingdom with few people and even fewer soldiers, or a small kingdom with few people and minimal technology, he isn’t having any of it.

Lao Tsu’s role as public servant in his ideal state is not to spur on people to distant pursuits, or scare people into fighting. Even though they might have the means or the technology to achieve more, he would not encourage it. Instead he would focus their attention on the important things of life. That is, life itself (“food,” “clothes” and “rest” -Chalmers).

Chapter 80 may be Lao Tsu’s most ambitious chapter. Far ahead of Chapters like 12 and 16, which, if taken to extremes, have us all sitting in a cave meditating our lives away. But Chapter 80 features the full utopia, and a more plausible simplicity. It’s a profound dream, and possibly the real ending to the book (see Chap 81).

Extra Credit:

Historical context goes a long way to explaining Chapter 80.

Like the initially-confusing Chapters 38 and 48 on Confucianism, Lao Tsu is referencing a specific philosophy unique to that era, Agriculturalism¹.

Taoism (along with Agriculturalism¹, Confucianism, Legalism and many others) was born during the Spring and Autumn period³ of pre-Chinese history (800 to 500 BCE).

This era witnessed not only burgeoning philosophical thought, but also a slow degradation of regional control into total chaos, the Warring States period⁴ (500 to 200 BCE).

These states used their people as cannon-fodder to battle neighboring states for more territory. And they used the latest advancements in weapons technology to get it (iron instead of bronze²). This would explain the layered meaning of people as weapons in the first sentence.

The Agriculturalism¹ Lao Tsu may be referencing in Chapter 80 is not a government-enforced Communist nightmare, but an ancient dream of how to maintain peace in the middle of a war-torn land. A common dream of that age.

The rest of the Tao Te Ching supports this hypothesis. Lao Tsu constantly references water, birds, mountains, and of course Mother Nature herself, the Tao. It’s the philosophy of Nature, and of simplicity.

Considering the modern-day movement towards sustainable agriculture and local economies, it’s impossible not to draw direct relevance between ancient China’s dream of agricultural paradise, and the modern world’s dwindling resources.

-TB