What does Lao Tzu mean by a small country with few people?

Meaning: A country should not be vast in territory and abundant in resources and sparsely populated.

-From the Spring and Autumn Period, Chapter 80 of Li Er's Tao Te Ching-Small country and few people, original text:

A small country with few people makes people need something but not use it, and makes people die without moving far away. Although there is a boat, there is nothing to sit on. Although there are soldiers, there is nothing to show off. Let people use it again. Be willing to eat, wear, live and enjoy. When neighboring countries confront each other, the voices of chickens and dogs are endless, and the people are miserable until they die.

A country should not be too big and its population should be small. Even if there are all kinds of electrical appliances, there is no need; Let ordinary people pay attention to their own lives, and they will not leave their homes and go far away. Even if there is a boat and a car, there is no place to ride. Even if there is armor and weapons, there is no room for it. Let the people return to that era of knots and memories.

The country is rich and strong, and it has reached its peak. Let the people eat well, dress beautifully, live comfortably and live happily. Countries can see each other and hear chickens and dogs, but there is no communication between people from birth to death.

Extended data:

Advantages and disadvantages of a small country with few people;

1, advantages:

Exposing the rulers' oppression of the people, condemning the extravagant life of the ruling class, opposing the war and criticizing the society at that time should be affirmed to a certain extent. Political stability is conducive to rest and recuperation.

2. Disadvantages:

Politically denying the emergence of a big country with a vast territory and a large number of people, economically denying the emergence and development of new classes, new technologies and cultural knowledge, trying to regress to the primitive society of ignorance and lead a "sweet" and "beautiful" quiet life, reflecting the passive retreat of intellectuals of the declining aristocratic class in the face of social and economic development and new things. It embodies the conservatism and passivity of Taoist political and economic thought.

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