Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Legalism -> Shang Jun Shu -> Discussion about the People -> 9

民之所欲萬，而利之所出一。	The things which the people desire are innumerable, but that from which they benefit is one and the same thing.
民非一則無以致欲，	Unless the people be made one, there is no way to make them attain their desire.
故作一。	Therefore, they are unified;
作一則力摶，	as a result of this unification, their strength is consolidated,
力摶則強；	and in consequence of this consolidation, they are strong;
強而用，	if, being strong, they are made use of,
重強。	they are doubly strong.
故能生力，能殺力，曰：「攻敵之國」，必疆。	Therefore, a country that knows how to produce strength and how to reduce it is said to be one that attacks the enemy, and is sure to become strong.
塞私道以窮其志，啟一門以致其欲，使民必先其所惡，然後致其所欲，故力多。	It bars all private roads for gratifying their ambition, and opens only one gate through which they can attain their desire; thus, without doubt, it can make the people first do what they hate, in order thereafter, to reach what they desire; and so their strength will be great.
力多而不用則志窮，志窮則有私，有私則有弱。	If their strength is great, but not made use of, ambition is gratified; and this being so, there will be private interest and in consequence there will be weakness.
故能生力，不能殺力，曰：「自攻之國」，必削。	Therefore, a country that knows how to produce strength, but not how to reduce it, is said to be one that attacks itself, and it is certain to be dismembered.
故曰王者國不蓄力，家不積粟。	So it is said that if a state has attained supremacy, it does not reserve its strength and the family does not hoard grain.
國不蓄力，	That the state does not reserve its strength
下用也；	means that its subjects are used,
家不積粟，	and that the family does not hoard grain
上藏也。	means that the superiors keep it in the granaries.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
民	氏+1	𠘽	mín ㄇㄧㄣˊ	people, subjects, citizens	v3,p2131#01	p.598#01	p.750r3c01
之	丿+3	㞢	zhī ㄓ	Towards; go to. / Demonstrative pronoun: this, these. / Third person pronoun: him, her, it. / Auxiliary word: of. / Auxiliary word: used between subject and predicate, cancels independence of a clause. / Auxiliary word: used in a sentence for aesthetic purpose only, no meaning.	v1,p0043#01	p.82#04	p.47r2c02
所	戶+4	𢨷	suǒ ㄙㄨㄛˇ	Place. / Location. / A suitable place or location. / Measure word, used for counting buldings. / Used before a verb, creates a noun-like phrase. / If. Mainly used in oaths and curses. / Used together with 為 to indicate the passive tense. / Indicates an approximate number. / Number, number of times. / Meaning.	v3,p2259#01	p.415#16	p.556r1c01
欲	欠+7	慾	yù ㄩˋ	desire, want, long for; intend	v3,p2140#07	p.567#36	p.729r4c02
萬	禸+8	万卍㸘𤍚𢁭	wàn ㄨㄢˋ	ten thousand; innumerable	v5,p3247#08	p.1042#33	p.1149r4c02
而	而+0		ér ㄦˊ	Whiskers. / Like, similar to. / Pronoun: you. / Pronoun: this, like this. / Connective: and, with. / Connective: and, then. / Connective: if, supposing. / Connective: yet, however. / Connective: therefore, hence. / Connective: expresses method or state. / Particle: of. / Expressive particle.	v4,p2810#01	p.961#18	p.1080r2c03
			néng ㄋㄥˊ	Same as 「能(3)」 néng ㄋㄥˊ: Able to, competent. / Same as 「能(2.1)」 néng ㄋㄥˊ: Ability, talent.
利	刀+5	利𥝢𥝤	lì ㄌㄧˋ	Sharp. / Fast, speedy. / Favourable, lucky. / Convenient, useful. / Profits, benefits. / Beneficial to, good for. / Profit, interest. / Diarrhea.	v1,p0329#02	p.138#19	p.180r2c02
出	凵+3	岀	chū ㄔㄨ	Go out, exit. / Outside, without. / Take up a post. / Exile, banish. / Abandon (one's wife). / Free, release. / Give out, hand over. / Give, offer. / Send out, distribute. / Exceed. / Appear, emerge. / Create, make. / Produce, cause to grow. / Bear, give birth. / Origin, place of birth. / Part of an object which extends outwards. / Measure word: times, occurrences. / Measure word: section.	v1,p0307#08	p.135#11	p.172r1c01
一	一+0	弌壹	yī ㄧ	one; a, an; alone	v1,p0001#01	p.75#01	p.1r1c01
非	非+0		fēi ㄈㄟ	Violate, go against (a rule). / Wrong, bad. / Not real, untrue. / Oppose, object to. / Slander, condemn. / Sarcasm, irony. / Absence of, not have. / Adverb: not, is not.	v6,p4086#01	p.1382#11	p.1463r6c02
			fěi ㄈㄟˇ	Same as 「誹(2)」 fěi ㄈㄟˇ: Slander.
則	刀+7	𠟻𠟭𠞋𠟔则	zé ㄗㄜˊ	Method, rule. / Mimic, emulate. / Level, grade. / Adverb used to emphasize an assertion. / Adverb used to express scope: only. / Connective expressing continuation: then, and then. / Connective emphasizing comparison. / Connective expressing contrast. / Connective expressing allowance: yet, even so. / Connective expressing unexpected turn of events. / Connective expressing suppostion: if.	v1,p0340#06	p.139#31	p.183r5c05
無	火+8	𣟒𣚨𠘩无橆	wú ㄨˊ	Not have. / Philosophical category referring to absence, non-existence, or vacuity. / Adverb expressing negation: not. / Adverb expressing questioning: or not. / Connective: regardless of. / Connective: even if. / Particle used at the beginning of a sentence, no meaning. / Do not. / Barren, uncultivated.	v3,p2211#15	p.673#26	p.848r2c04
以	人+3	㠯	yǐ ㄧˇ	Use. / Believe. / Command. / Lead. / Connect, implicate. / Have. / Cause, reason. / Preposition: because. / Preposition: from, in. / Preposition: at [some time]. / Preposition: using. / Preposition: in accordance with. / Preposition: relying upon. / Preposition: in the capacity of. / Preposition: with, together with. / Connective: indicates the following action is the objective of the preceding one. / Connective: used between adverbial clause and verb to express modification. / Connective: and. / Connective: but. / Connective: and so, thus. / Particle: used together with some words expressing direction and time. / Modal particle. / Same as 「已(1)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Stop, discontinue. / Same as 「已(7.2)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Adverb: already. / Same as 「已(7.3)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Adverb: extremely.	v1,p0105#07	p.94#01	p.87r6c01
致	至+3	緻	zhì zhuì ㄓˋ ㄓㄨㄟˋ	send, deliver, present; cause	v4,p2815#06	p.1001#19	p.602r5c01
故	攴+5		gù ㄍㄨˋ	Cause. / State of affairs. / Event, incident. / Plot. / Old. / Past, original. / Death. / On purpose. / Originally. / Hence, thus.	v2,p1453#05	p.469#25	p.601r5c01
作	人+5	胙𢓓	zuò ㄗㄨㄛˋ	Arise, stand up. / Grow, flourish. / Begin. / Create, make. / Work, effort. / Serve as, work as. / When, at such time as.	v1,p0134#06	p.99#07	p.99r3c01
力	力+0	力𠠲	lì ㄌㄧˋ	power, capability, influence	v1,p0364#04	p.146#05	p.191r4c03
摶	手+11	抟	tuán zhuān ㄊㄨㄢˊ ㄓㄨㄢ	roll around with hand; model	v3,p1942#11	p.452#03	p.590r3c05
強	弓+8	强彊	qiáng qiǎng jiàng ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄑㄧㄤˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ	strong, powerful, energetic	v2,p0999#07	p.359#23	p.504r5c01
用	用+0	𤰆𠛁	yòng ㄩㄥˋ	use, employ, apply, operate; use	v1,p0097#05	p.755#24	p.908r6c02
重	里+2	𡍴	zhòng ㄓㄨㄥˋ	Heavy. / Important, significant. / Valuable, noble. / Solemn, dignified. / Respect, attach importance to. / Difficult. / Addition, also. / Supplies for an army. / Extreme.	v6,p3680#02	p.1291#03	p.1357r6c01
			chóng ㄔㄨㄥˊ	Repeat, duplicate. / Layer, level. / Start afresh, do again.
能	肉+6		néng ㄋㄥˊ	A type of bear. / Ability, talent. / Man of ability, man of talent. / Able to, competent. / Comply with, be friendly towards. / Encompass, obtain. / To, arrive at. / Then, thus. / Same as 「而(4.3)」 ér ㄦˊ: Connective: if, supposing. / Only, merely. / Even if. / Thus, in this way. / Three-legged turtle.	v3,p2074#01	p.981#16	p.1095r5c02
			nài ㄋㄞˋ	Withstand, endure.
			tái ㄊㄞˊ	Same as 「台(1.1)」 tái ㄊㄞˊ: Name of a celestial body.
			tài ㄊㄞˋ	State, form.
生	生+0	𤯓	shēng ㄕㄥ	life, living, lifetime; birth	v4,p2575#01	p.754#26	p.906r5c03
殺	殳+7	殺煞𢁛𢽅𢿹𢽆𢼡𢿔𧤿杀	shā ㄕㄚ	Kill. / Corrupt, ruin. / Die. / Fight, kill each other.	v3,p2157#01	p.585#11	p.743r4c02
			shài ㄕㄞˋ	Wither, decline. / Decrease, reduce us of. / Decline, fall.
			sà ㄙㄚˋ	Dim, gloomy appearance.
曰	曰+0		yuē ㄩㄝ	(1) 說。 Say, speak.	v2,p1482#02	p.502#01	p.648r3c03
攻	攴+3		gōng ㄍㄨㄥ	attack, assault; criticize	v2,p1449#06	p.468#16	p.600r1c01
敵	攴+11	敌	dí ㄉㄧˊ	enemy, foe, rival; resist	v2,p1475#04	p.474#48	p.607r1c02
國	囗+8	圀國囗囶𢧌䆐囯国	guó ㄍㄨㄛˊ	nation, country, nation-state	v1,p0720#09	p.219#16	p.303r4c02
必	心+1		bì ㄅㄧˋ	surely, most certainly; must	v4,p2267#02	p.375#02	p.522r5c01
疆	田+14	畺將	jiāng qiáng jiàng ㄐㄧㄤㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄐㄧㄤˋ	boundary, border, frontier	v4,p2554#05	p.766#33	p.918r4c05
塞	土+10	塞𡺶	sāi sè sài ㄙㄞㄙㄜˋ ㄙㄞˋ	stop up, block, seal, cork; pass, frontier; fortress	v1,p0475#01	p.236#09	p.326r5c02
私	禾+2	厶	sī ㄙ	private, personal; secret	v4,p2589#06	p.849#05	p.987r3c01
道	辵+9	𨕥衟𡬹	dào ㄉㄠˋ	Road, path. / Journey. / Method. / Law, reason. / Doctrine, claim. / Skill, technique. / Principle, right way. / The Dao, the origin of all things in Daoism. / Speak, talk. / Take a course of action. / Take a course of action. / Rites paid to the spirit of roads. / Ancient administrative unit. / Daoism.	v6,p3864#01	p.1262#06	p.1326r3c02
			dǎo ㄉㄠˇ	Lead. / Flow smoothly.
窮	穴+10	竆穷	qióng ㄑㄩㄥˊ	poor, destitute, impoverished	v4,p2737#12	p.867#10	p.1000r6c05
其	八+6	丌亓	qí ㄑㄧˊ	Third-person possessive pronoun: his, her, its, their. / Demonstrative pronoun: that, those. / Adverb expressing estimation or guess. / Adverb expressing imperative. / Adverb expressing rhetorical question. / Adverb expressing future tense. / Connective expressing hypothesis: if, supposing. / Connective expressing choice: or. / Connective expressing concession: even if. / Particle used after an adjective. / Particle: of. / Particle used for emphasis after single-character adjectives or onomatopoeia. / Particle used in the middle of a sentence to alter the tempo.	v1,p0245#01	p.127#18	p.162r5c01
			jì ㄐㄧˋ	Particle used after bi and he.
			jī ㄐㄧ	Modal particle expressing interrogative tone. / A year.
志	心+3	誌𢗍志	zhì ㄓˋ	purpose, will, determination; annals	v4,p2269#04	p.376#21	p.523r3c03
啟	攴+7	啓启	qǐ ㄑㄧˇ	open; begin	v2,p1463#08	p.196#26	p.280r1c01
門	門+0	门	mén ㄇㄣˊ	gate, door, entrance, opening	v7,p4281#01	p.1329#53	p.1403r4c05
使	人+6	𡥐𠭆	shǐ ㄕˇ	Order, send (on a mission). / Cause, make. / Allocate, use. / Indulge in.. / Send as an envoy. / Envoy, messenger. / Connective: if, supposing.	v1,p0145#02	p.101#05	p.101r3c03
先	儿+4		xiān ㄒㄧㄢ	first, former, previous	v1,p0267#02	p.124#05	p.134r3c02
惡	心+8	惡亞僫恶	è ㄜˋ	Evil. / Bad, not good. / Bad person. / Harm. / Vicious. / Turgid, fierce. / Ugly. / A poor harvest. / Disease, illness. / Uncomfortable, unhappy. / Dirt. / Excrement.	v4,p2307#12	p.391#25	p.535r4c01
			wù ㄨˋ	Hate. / Shame. / Avoid. / Slander, attack.
			wū ㄨ	Interrogative pronoun: how, what. / Exclamation.
然	火+8	燃𤓉	rán ㄖㄢˊ	Burn. / Demonstrative pronoun: like this, like that. / Expresses affirmation: true, indeed so. / Believe correct, affirm. / Adverb: actually, thus. / Connective: but, however, yet. / Particle used at the end of a sentence to express comparison. Like, as if. / Particle used after an adjective or adverb to express state. / Particle used at the end of a sentence to express affirmative mode.	v3,p2213#05	p.675#12	p.852r5c01
後	彳+6	𨒥𢔏后	hòu ㄏㄡˋ	Behind, to the rear of. / To be left behind. / Later in time. / Future. / Descendents, offspring.	v2,p0822#03	p.366#18	p.511r2c01
多	夕+3	夛𡖇𡖈	duō ㄉㄨㄛ	much, many; more than, over	v2,p0862#02	p.246#11	p.339r4c01
不	一+3	不𠀚𠙐	bù ㄅㄨˋ	Not have. / To not be. / Negational adverb, used before verbs, adjectives, etc. to indicate negation. / Negational adverb expressing prohibition: do not. / Negational adverb expressing rhetorical question: is not...?	v1,p0011#06	p.76#15	p.30r1c01
			fǒu ㄈㄡˇ	Same as 「否(1.2)」 fǒu ㄈㄡˇ: Adverb used together with an affirmative word, expressing its negative or opposite. / Same as 「否(1.3)」 fǒu ㄈㄡˇ: Adverb used at the end of a question to form a yes-no question.
			fū ㄈㄨ	Sepal of a flower.
			pī ㄆㄧ	Same as 「丕(1)」 pī ㄆㄧ: Large.
			bǐ ㄅㄧˇ	Show disdain for.
有	月+2		yǒu ㄧㄡˇ	Have, possess. / Store, collect. / Occupy. / Hold on to, retain. / Have in abundance. / Good harvest. / Obtain. / Only. / Be, exist. / Occur, happen. / Make. / Particle used before a noun with no meaning. / Particle used before a monosyllabic adjective with no meaning. / Particle used before a verb with no meaning. / Still, yet. / Some people. / Region.	v3,p2041#05	p.504#20	p.656r5c01
			yòu ㄧㄡˋ	Help, assist. / Same as 「又(3)」 yòu ㄧㄡˋ: Moreover.
弱	弓+7		ruò ㄖㄨㄛˋ	weak; fragile, delicate	v2,p0996#16	p.358#24	p.502r1c02
自	自+0	𦣹鼻	zì ㄗˋ	Oneself. / Begin, beginning. / From. / Originally. / Natural, naturally. / Supposing, if. / Even, even if.	v5,p3046#01	p.1000#07	p.1108r3c01
削	刀+7		xuē xiāo ㄒㄩㄝㄒㄧㄠ	scrape off, pare, trim	v1,p0341#02	p.140#05	p.184r1c01
故	攴+5		gù ㄍㄨˋ	(8) 連詞：所以，因此。 Hence, thus.	v2,p1453#05	p.469#25	p.601r5c01
曰	曰+0		yuē ㄩㄝ	Say, speak. / Call, name. / Particle.	v2,p1482#02	p.502#01	p.648r3c03
王	玉+0		wáng ㄨㄤˊ	King, title of supreme ruler of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. / Ruler of a vassal state in the warring states period. / Highest title in feudal China. / Meet with the emperor. / Respectful term for one's paternal grandparents.	v2,p1099#10	p.727#02	p.888r1c02
			wàng ㄨㄤˋ	Rule as king, control all under heaven. / Enfeoff as king. / Flourish, abound.
			wǎng ㄨㄤˇ	To, go to.
者	老+4		zhě ㄓㄜˇ	Pronoun used after verbs, adjectives, etc. in place of a person or thing. / Pronoun used after numbers in place of a thing. / Pronoun used after time or negation to express "when" or "if". / Expressive particle used in a declarative sentence after the subject. / Expressive particle used in a sentence after the subject to express cause or explanation.	v4,p2780#05	p.961#01	p.1080r1c01
			zhuó ㄓㄨㄛˊ	In, located in.
蓄	艸+10		xù ㄒㄩˋ	store, save, hoard, gather	v5,p3269#03	p.1051#02	p.1161r1c03
家	宀+7	傢宊𠖔𡩅𡧚	jiā jie gū ㄐㄧㄚㄐㄧㄝ· ㄍㄨ	house, home, residence; family	v2,p0930#15	p.286#17	p.420r1c02
積	禾+11	积	jī ㄐㄧ	accumulate, store up, amass	v4,p2626#16	p.859#24	p.996r2c02
粟	米+6	𥾄𥸫𥹟𠧼䅇	sù ㄙㄨˋ	unhusked millet; grain	v5,p3146#17	p.908#14	p.1025r6c01
下	一+2	丅厥𠄟	xià ㄒㄧㄚˋ	under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down	v1,p0007#01	p.76#10	p.28r1c01
也	乙+2	𠃟匜	yě ㄧㄝˇ	Modal particle used at the end of a sentence, expressing assertion and affirmation. / Modal particle used at the end of a question for emphasis. / Modal particle used at the end of a cause-effect sentence to express explanation. / Modal particle used in the middle of a sentence to express a pause.	v1,p0050#05	p.84#04	p.55r1c01
上	一+2	丄𠄞	shàng ㄕㄤˋ	top; superior, highest; go up, send up	v1,p0005#04	p.76#07	p.24r2c01
藏	艸+14	蔵匨	cáng zàng zāng ㄘㄤˊ ㄗㄤˋ ㄗㄤ	hide, conceal; hoard, store up	v5,p3311#11	p.1064#22	p.1173r5c01

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