Controlling Desires, Quieting the People, Limiting Actions, Wise Leaders Exercise Restraint, Keeping the People at Rest, 安民
"Neglecting to praise the worthy deters people from emulating them,
Not prizing rare treasures deters a man from becoming a thief,
Ignoring the things which awaken desire keeps the heart at rest.
Therefore the wise ruler does not suggest unnecessary things,
He seeks to satisfy the minds of his people.
He seeks to allay appetites but strengthen bones.
He ever tries by keeping people in ignorance to keep them satisfied and those
who have knowledge he restrains from evil.
If he, himself, practices restraint then everything is in quietness."
- Translated by
Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel, 1919,
Chapter 3
Translated by Eva Wong 
Translated by Philip Ivahoe
By James Miller
Translated by Stephen Bokencamp
By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins
Translated by Thomas Cleary
By Livia Kohn
"Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the
people from rivalry among themselves;
Not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them
from becoming thieves;
Not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their
minds from disorder.
Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds,
fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.
He constantly tries to keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where
there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act on it.
When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal."
- Translated by
James Legge, 1891,
Chapter 3
Annotated and Explained by Derek Lin and Lama Surya Das
Translation and commentary by Victor Mair 
Translation by John Wu
"By not showing exclusive approval of those who are eminent in virtue, the
Sage prevents the people from quarrelling;
By not setting high store on things difficult to obtain, he prevents the people
from becoming robbers;
By closing his eyes to objects of desire, he secures his heart from corruption.
Wherefore the Sage, in governing, does so with a heart empty of all distractions
and temptations, but with a bosom full of justice and benevolence,
He makes his will pliant, his bodily frame-work firm;
He ever keeps the people from harmful knowledge and desires, and prevents those
who have such knowledge from daring to put it into practice.
He pursues a policy of inaction, and there is therefore nothing that is left
ungoverned."
- Translated by
Frederic H. Balfour, 1884, Chapter
3
"Bu shang xian, shi min bu zheng;
bu gui nan de zhi huo,
shi min bu wei dao;
bu jian ke yu,
shi min xin bu luan.
Shi yi sheng ren zhi zhi,
xu qi xin,
shi qi fu,
ruo qi zhi,
qiang qi gu,
chang shi min wu zhi wu yu;
shi fu zhi zhe bu gan wei ye.
Wei wu wei,
ze wu bu zhi."
- Pinyin
romanized transliteration, Chapter 3
By Alexander Simkins
By Derek Lin
By Ming-Dao Deng
By Benjamin Hoff
By Ming-Dao Deng
Translated by Thomas Cleary
Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 3
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
By Jonathan Star. Translation, commentary and research tools. New York, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Penguin, 2001. Concordance, tables, appendices, 349 pages. A
new rendition of the Tao Te Ching is provided, then a verbatim translation with
extensive notes. Detailed tables for each verse provide line number, all
the Chinese characters, Wade-Giles romanization, and a list of meanings for
each character. An excellent reference tool!
Yellow Bridge
Dao De Jing Comparison Table, Chapter 3 Provides side by side comparisons of translations of the Tao Te
Ching by James Legge,
D. T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard. Chinese characters for each paragraph in
the Chapter are on the left; place your cursor over the Chinese characters to
see the Pinyin romanization of the Chinese character and a list of meanings.
The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching
Tao Te Ching Commentaries - Google Search
Tao Te Ching: A
Bibliography and Index of Translations on the Web
Chapter 3 in the
Rambling
Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The
Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
Chapter 3, Chinese language research
database for the Tao Te Ching with detailed and extensive hyperlinks.
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
The largest collection of very nicely formatted complete versions of the Tao
Te Ching. The
collection includes 209 complete versions in 27 languages,
plus 28 Chinese versions. There are 112 English language
versions of the
Tao Te Ching available at this website. A variety of search methods and comparision methods are provided, as well a a detailed
index.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching
Thematic Index to the
81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui
Texts (Classics of Ancient China)
Tao Te Ching
Next Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #4
Previous Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #2
Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
April 14, 2011
Green
Way Research, Valley Spirit
Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was first distributed online on February 6, 2011
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Valley Spirit Grove, Red Bluff, California
Ripening Peaches: Daoist
Studies and Practices
One Old Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE