For information of what this thread is about, see the parent thread
Do not exalt the worthy [xian], and so keep the common folk from contention. Do not value goods hard to get, and so stop the common folk from becoming thieves. Do not let them see desirable things, and so spare the hearts/minds of the common folk from disorder.
“The worthy” [xian] is like saying “the resourceful” [neng]. “Exalt” is a name by which we recognize excellence, and “value” is a term for assigning high worth. If only the resourceful were given office, what would be the point of exalting them? If things were used only because they were useful, what would be the point of valuing them? However, because we exalt the worthy and make their names illustrious, giving more honor than their offices deserve, people act as if they are always in shooting contests, trying to determine who is the more able, and, because we put more value on goods than their use warrants, those who covet such things compete to rush after them, even digging through or climbing over walls to ransack chests, risking their lives in thievery. Therefore, if desirable things are not seen, hearts/minds will not be subject to such disorder.
This opening passage reminds me of III.16 from the Analects of Confucius:
The notion if, of course, where one’s emphasis is. In archery, the aim is more important than strength, just as in statecraft it is better to tend to the basic welfare of the populace instead of focusing on extravagance. However, I think that the Daodejing goes a little too far in this censure, as the rest of this passage will show, and begins to advocate virtue by removal of temptation rather than genuine virtue which, though it may be exposed to temptation, will not yield.
Therefore the way the sage governs is to keep their hearts/minds empty and their bellies full.
The heart/mind cherish knowledge and the belly cherishes food, so he keeps that which has capacity for knowledge empty and that which lacks the capacity for knowing filled.
Here we begin to see the dangerous, Legalistic edge to Daoism. However, let’s not be too harsh here. Initially, all this passage seems to invoke is the sort of noblesse oblige that we expect from politicians of all stripes – if you keep the population well-fed, the chances of them rising up in rebellion is incredibly small. It is essentially the same idea as modern pork-barrel spending, whereby politicians buy their continued existence by keeping their constituents fat and content. Would the French Revolution have occurred were it not for the bread riots? I think not!
He keeps their wills weak and their bones strong.
Their bones, lacking the capacity for knowing, provide the means for them to stand trunklike; their wills, prone to stir things up, are the agents of disorder.
Once the people are well fed, the next trick is to put them to work! The intelligencia are always grumbling about something-or-other, but the blue-collar working class are too busy making a living to take action and change the status quo. That is why Lenin felt the Vanguard was so important, and the Daodejing takes steps to prevent that sort of opposition from arising.
Traditionally, there is an added line in the commentary from a later commentator (Lu Deming, for those interested), which reads: If the heart/mind is empty, the will is weak. I think this more-or-less sums up the idea of this entire passage.
He always keeps the common folk free from the capacity for knowing and feeling desire.
He preserves their authenticity [zhen].
Again, here we see the stress on creating virtue by removing temptation. The authentic person, in this case, is one who knows his place (as I discussed in part 2) and doesn’t challenge the status-quo but rather conforms to it.
And prevents the knowledgeable from ever daring to act.
The knowledgeable [zhi] refers to those who know how to act.
This drives home the idea of preventing the rise of a vanguard-like group trying to force change in society. Those who are educated have had their authenticity destroyed and begin to question, question, question. Such questions disrupt the flow of society.
Because he acts without conscious effort, nothing remains ungoverned.
Again, this hearkens back to my commentary on the second passage of the DDJ. The Daoist sage delegates authority to trustful ministers and sees to it that everyone knows there place. This passage then goes on to describe how to best keep people in their place.