Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
小国寡民 (xiǎo guó guǎ mín)
Word for word from chapter 80
小国寡民 (xiǎo guó guǎ mín), “a small state with few people”, opens chapter 80 of the Dao De Jing and names Laozi's picture of a simple, contented society; it also means simply a small, thinly peopled country.
Character by character
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
|---|---|---|
| 国 | guó | the state |
| 寡 | guǎ | few, to lessen |
| 民 | mín | the people |
| 小国寡民 | A small country with a small population; above all, Laozi's ideal of a simple, self-sufficient and peaceful society. | |
Where it comes from
-
小国寡民，使有什伯之器而不用，
A small state with few people: let them have tools for ten or a hundred, and not use them;
How the meaning moved
The four characters open chapter 80: “A small state with few people: let them have tools for ten or a hundred, and not use them; let the people take death seriously and not travel far.” The chapter then draws its picture: boats and carts no one needs to ride, armor and weapons no one needs to display, people who “go back to knotting cords to keep records”, who “find their food sweet, their clothes beautiful, their homes peaceful, and delight in their customs.” Neighbors are close enough to hear each other's cocks and dogs, “yet the people grow old and die without ever visiting each other.”
This is the best-known picture of society in the book, and 小国寡民 became its name. Chinese history and philosophy textbooks use it for Laozi's social ideal, and readers have long argued over it: a dream of a simpler past, a criticism of the warring states of the time, or both. The phrase also has a plain sense: a country that is small and has few people. The Jin poet Pan Yue used it of the county he governed: “the affairs of a small state with few people: all day, quiet, nothing to do.”
Using it today
-
老子理想中的社会是小国寡民，人们安居乐业，不求远行。
lǎo zǐ lǐ xiǎng zhōng de shè huì shì xiǎo guó guǎ mín, rén men ān jū lè yè, bù qiú yuǎn xíng.
Laozi's ideal society is a small state with few people, where people live in peace, content with their work, and have no wish to travel far.
-
这个岛国人口不到十万，可以说是小国寡民。
zhè ge dǎo guó rén kǒu bù dào shí wàn, kě yǐ shuō shì xiǎo guó guǎ mín.
This island nation has fewer than a hundred thousand people: a small state with few people, you could say.