Chinese Text Project |
(The transformations of the Dao) | |
道生一, | The Dao produced One; |
一生二, | One produced Two; |
二生三, | Two produced Three; |
三生萬物。 | Three produced All things. |
萬物負陰而抱陽, | All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), |
沖氣以為和。 | while they are harmonised by the Breath of Vacancy. |
人之所惡, | What men dislike |
唯孤、寡、不穀, | is to be orphans, to have little virtue, to be as carriages without naves; |
而王公以為稱。 | and yet these are the designations which kings and princes use for themselves. |
故物或損之而益, | So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, |
或益之而損。 | and others are diminished by being increased. |
人之所教, | What other men (thus) teach, |
我亦教之。 | I also teach. |
強梁者不得其死, | The violent and strong do not die their natural death. |
吾將以為教父。 | I will make this the basis of my teaching. |
Character | Composition | Variants | Reading | Meaning | Hanyu | Kangxi | Cihai |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
道 | 辵+9 | 𨕥 衟 𡬹 | dào ㄉㄠˋ | (6) 道家所說的萬物之源。 The Dao, the origin of all things in Daoism. | v6,p3864#01 | p.1262#06 | p.1326r3c02 |
生 | 生+0 | 𤯓 | shēng ㄕㄥ | life, living, lifetime; birth | v4,p2575#01 | p.754#26 | p.906r5c03 |
一 | 一+0 | 弌 壹 | yī ㄧ | one; a, an; alone | v1,p0001#01 | p.75#01 | p.1r1c01 |
二 | 二+0 | 贰 弍 貳 | èr ㄦˋ | two; twice | v1,p0002#01 | p.86#01 | p.58r6c01 |
三 | 一+2 | 叁 弎 | sān sàn ㄙㄢ ㄙㄢˋ | three | v1,p0004#03 | p.76#05 | p.11r2c01 |
萬 | 禸+8 | 万 卍 㸘 𤍚 𢁭 | wàn ㄨㄢˋ | ten thousand; innumerable | v5,p3247#08 | p.1042#33 | p.1149r4c02 |
物 | 牛+4 | wù ㄨˋ | thing, substance, creature | v3,p1805#03 | p.699#09 | p.869r5c01 | |
負 | 貝+2 | 负 | fù ㄈㄨˋ | load, burden; carry, bear | v6,p3623#04 | p.1204#06 | p.1268r5c01 |
陰 | 阜+8 | 阴 隂 𨹉 霒 侌 𤽎 𨽙 𠊺 𣱙 瘖 | yīn yìn ān ㄧㄣ ㄧㄣˋ ㄢ | 'female' principle; dark; secret | v6,p4138#05 | p.1353#06 | p.1423r2c03 |
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. | ||||||
抱 | 手+5 | 抔 | bào ㄅㄠˋ | embrace, hold in arms, enfold | v3,p1856#04 | p.423#08 | p.565r4c03 |
陽 | 阜+9 | 昜 阦 氜 阳 𨹈 𨼘 𨽐 𣆄 | yáng ㄧㄤˊ | 'male' principle; light; sun | v6,p4144#03 | p.1355#15 | p.1429r3c02 |
沖 | 水+4 | 盅 冲 | chōng ㄔㄨㄥ | pour, infuse, steep; wash away | v3,p1565#03 | p.611#18 | p.771r6c02 |
氣 | 气+6 | 気 炁 𣱛 气 | qì xì ㄑㄧˋ ㄒㄧˋ | air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit | v3,p2011#14 | p.599#12 | p.751r5c04 |
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 |
為 | 火+5 | 爲 为 | wéi ㄨㄟˊ | Create, make. / Build, construct. / Do. / Plant, grow. / Govern. / Research, study. / Serve as. / Change into, become. / As, in the role of. / Count as, be considered as. / Called, named. / Expresses judgement: is. / Make, cause (to). / Have. / Take part in. / Write, author. / Connective: if. / Particle used in the middle of a sentence to move forward the object. / Modal particle used at the end of a sentence to express a rhetorical question. | v3,p2198#11 | p.669#10 | p.844r4c03 |
wèi ㄨㄟˋ | Help, assist. / Preposition: for, on behalf of. / Preposition: by (passive). / Preposition: because of, due to. / Preposition: with, together with. / Connective: because. / Say. / False, fake. | ||||||
和 | 口+5 | 龢 咊 惒 | hé huò huó hè ㄏㄜˊ ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄏㄨㄛˊ ㄏㄜˋ | harmony, peace; peaceful, calm | v1,p0602#01 | p.185#01 | p.267r3c01 |
人 | 人+0 | 𠔽 亻 | rén ㄖㄣˊ | Man, person. / Others, other people. / The people, ordinary men. / Talent, material. / [A man's] character. / Affairs of men, world of man. / Benevolence. | v1,p0101#10 | p.91#01 | p.80r2c01 |
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 |
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. | ||||||
唯 | 口+8 | wéi ㄨㄟˊ | Only, exclusively. / Connective: although, even though. / Connective: because. / Particle used at the beginning of a sentence to express hope or desire. / Particle used at the beginning of a sentence to express confirmation. / Particle, no meaning. | v1,p0642#05 | p.193#17 | p.277r1c02 | |
wěi ㄨㄟˇ | Sound of affirmation. / Affirm. | ||||||
孤 | 子+5 | gū ㄍㄨ | Become orphaned. / An orphan. / Alone, isolated. / Modest way of referring to oneself used by rulers. / Fall short of. / Discard, reject. | v2,p1014#01 | p.279#08 | p.401r1c01 | |
寡 | 宀+11 | 關 | guǎ ㄍㄨㄚˇ | Few. / Lack, reduce. / A widow; be widowed. / A widower or unmarried man. / Modest way of referring to oneself used by rulers. | v2,p0947#07 | p.290#19 | p.427r2c02 |
不穀 | 一+3 禾+10 | 不 𠀚 𠙐 糓 谷 | bù gǔ ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨˇ | 「不善」:古代君王自稱的謙辭。 Modest way of referring to oneself used by rulers. | v1,p0011#06 v3,p2164#11 | p.76#15 p.858#05 | p.30r1c01 p.995r1c02 |
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. | ||||||
公 | 八+2 | 㒶 | gōng ㄍㄨㄥ | fair, equitable; public; duke | v1,p0242#01 | p.126#28 | p.151r3c01 |
稱 | 禾+9 | 偁 穪 秤 称 | chēng chèng chèn ㄔㄥ ㄔㄥˋ ㄔㄣˋ | call; name, brand; address; say | v4,p2619#02 | p.856#24 | p.994r2c02 |
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 | |
或 | 戈+4 | 𢈿 | huò ㄏㄨㄛˋ | Pronoun: some, someone, something. / Have. / Sometimes. / Again. / Either, perhaps. / Expressive particle. / Confuse, be at a loss. | v2,p1402#08 | p.412#18 | p.552r5c01 |
損 | 手+10 | 扻 损 | sǔn ㄙㄨㄣˇ | diminish; impair; injure | v3,p1931#10 | p.446#06 | p.587r1c02 |
益 | 皿+5 | 益 𠍳 | yì ㄧˋ | profit, benefit; advantage | v4,p2560#06 | p.793#18 | |
教 | 攴+7 | 敎 | jiào jiāo ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄐㄧㄠ | teach, class | v2,p1459#09 | p.472#05 | |
我 | 戈+3 | 𠨂 𢦓 𢦠 | wǒ ㄨㄛˇ | First-person pronoun: I. / One's own side in general. / Expresses closeness. / Egoism, self-involvement. | v2,p1401#02 | p.412#01 | p.552r1c01 |
亦 | 亠+4 | 𠅃 | yì ㄧˋ | Original character for 腋. / Also. / Just, merely. / Again. / Modal particle at the beginning or middle of a sentence. / Accumulate. | v1,p0281#03 | p.88#09 | p.78r2c02 |
強 | 弓+8 | 强 彊 | qiáng qiǎng jiàng ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄑㄧㄤˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ | strong, powerful, energetic | v2,p0999#07 | p.359#23 | p.504r5c01 |
梁 | 木+7 | 梁 𣹷 渿 樑 | liáng ㄌㄧㄤˊ | bridge; beam; rafters; surname | v2,p1220#05 | p.528#01 | p.697r5c01 |
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. | ||||||
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. | ||||||
得 | 彳+8 | 𢔶 䙷 𢔨 | dé ㄉㄜˊ | Get, obtain. / Plunder. / Covet. / Success. / Fitting, appropriate. / Compatible. / Satisfied, pleased. / Possible, can. / Same as 「德(1)」 dé ㄉㄜˊ: Morals, morality. / Same as 「德(3)」 dé ㄉㄜˊ: Reward kindness, thank. | v2,p0828#03 | p.367#31 | p.513r6c02 |
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. | ||||||
死 | 歹+2 | 𠑾 𣥴 | sǐ ㄙˇ | die; dead; death | v2,p1380#06 | p.578#22 | p.740r6c06 |
吾 | 口+4 | 𠮣 | wú ㄨˊ | First person pronoun: I, we. / Defend, resist. | v1,p0585#13 | p.180#03 | p.260r5c01 |
yú ㄩˊ | See 吾吾. | ||||||
yá ㄧㄚˊ | Yunyu, an ancient district. | ||||||
將 | 寸+8 | 𤕭 𢪇 将 畺 | jiāng ㄐㄧㄤ | Take. / Use. / Push forward. / Drive. / Help, support. / Help financially. / Advance, go forward. / Carry out, execute. / Follow. / Comply, submit. / Do, carry out. / Accompany, see off. / Transmit. / Express. / Offer (as a sacrifice). / Look after, raise. / Protect. / Strong, robust. / Long time. / Carry, lead. / Side, beside. / Will, about to. / Close to, almost. / How? / Preposition: with. / Connective: and, with. / Connective: or, otherwise. / Connective: if, supposing. / Particle used after a verb. / A kind of insect. | v4,p2375#10 | p.294#16 | p.434r1c03 |
jiàng ㄐㄧㄤˋ | Command troops. / Military commander. / Appoint as military commander. | ||||||
qiāng ㄑㄧㄤ | Please, humbly request. / [Onomatopoeia] | ||||||
zāng ㄗㄤ | Female sheep. | ||||||
父 | 父+0 | fù fǔ ㄈㄨˋ ㄈㄨˇ | father; KangXi radical 88 | v3,p2039#01 | p.690#01 | p.864r1c01 |
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