| Chinese Text Project |
| (The use of emptiness) | |
| 天地不仁， | Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; |
| 以萬物為芻狗； | they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. |
| 聖人不仁， | The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; |
| 以百姓為芻狗。 | they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with. |
| 天地之間，其猶橐籥乎？ | May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows? |
| 虛而不屈， | 'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power; |
| 動而愈出。 | 'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more. |
| 多言數窮， | Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see; |
| 不如守中。 | Your inner being guard, and keep it free. |
| Character | Composition | Variants | Reading | Meaning | Hanyu | Kangxi | Cihai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 天 | 大+1 | 𠀡 𠀘 𦴞 兲 靝 𠕹 | tiān ㄊㄧㄢ | sky, heaven; god, celestial | v1,p0522#01 | p.248#04 | p.358r4c01 |
| 地 | 土+3 | 埊 𨻐 埅 𠏂 嶳 | dì de ㄉㄧˋ ㄉㄜ· | earth; soil, ground; region | v1,p0420#12 | p.224#06 | p.312r6c01 |
| 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. | ||||||
| 仁 | 人+2 | 忈 忎 𡰥 | rén ㄖㄣˊ | humaneness, benevolence, kindness | v1,p0107#01 | p.91#07 | |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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. | ||||||
| 芻 | 艸+4 | 蒭 𦷝 刍 | chú ㄔㄨˊ | mow, cut grass; hay, fodder | v1,p0260#01 | p.1021#10 | p.1127r6c02 |
| 狗 | 犬+5 | gǒu ㄍㄡˇ | dog, canis familiaris | v2,p1341#05 | p.709#12 | p.874r6c03 | |
| 聖人 | 耳+7 人+0 | 堊 𦕡 𠄵 圣 𠔽 亻 | shèng rén ㄕㄥˋ ㄖㄣˊ | 出類拔萃的人。 Sage, outstanding person. | v4,p2789#06 v1,p0101#10 | p.967#22 p.91#01 | p.1082r6c06 p.80r2c01 |
| 百姓 | 白+1 女+5 | 佰 𦣻 𤯧 𤯣 | bǎi xìng ㄅㄞˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ | (2) 庶民，平民。 Ordinary people, common people. | v4,p2643#01 v2,p1037#12 | p.785#04 p.259#05 | p.932r4c01 p.381r6c02 |
| 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 |
| 間 | 門+4 | 閒 间 | jiān jiàn jiǎn ㄐㄧㄢ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄢˇ | interval, space; place, between | v7,p4288#06 | p.1333#01 | p.1408r3c01 |
| 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. | ||||||
| 猶 | 犬+9 | 犹 | yóu ㄧㄡˊ | A species of monkey / Same, similar. / Similarly, in the same way. / Like, similar to. / Can, able to. / Fitting, suitable. / Still, nevertheless. / Additionally, furthermore. / Connective expression concession: although, despite. / Connective expression supposition: if. / Stratagem, plot. / Method, way. / Scheme, conspire. / Road, path. / Criticize, fault. / Relaxed, at ease. / Same as 「由(1.1)」 yóu ㄧㄡˊ: Do, carry out. / Same as 「由(5.2)」 yóu ㄧㄡˊ: Preposition: from. / Same as 「由(5.1)」 yóu ㄧㄡˊ: Preposition: due to, because of. / Name of a river in modern Shaanxi, flowing into the Yellow River. / Same as 「已(7.3)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Adverb: extremely. | v2,p1359#09 | p.715#20 | p.878r1c06 |
| yáo ㄧㄠˊ | Tremble, shake. | ||||||
| yōu ㄧㄡ | Good, superior. | ||||||
| 橐 | 木+12 | 𡇈 槖 | tuó dù luò tuò ㄊㄨㄛˊ ㄉㄨˋ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄊㄨㄛˋ | a sack, a bag opening at both ends | v2,p1289#05 | p.553#08 | p.720r6c03 |
| 籥 | 竹+17 | 龠 | yuè ㄩㄝˋ | key; woodwind instrument | v5,p3032#12 | p.905#18 | p.1023r6c07 |
| 乎 | 丿+4 | 虖 | hū ㄏㄨ | (1.1) 語氣詞：表示疑問或反問，相當於「嗎」或「呢」。 Modal particle expressing questioning or a rhetorical question. | v1,p0036#08 | p.82#07 | p.47r3c03 |
| 虛 | 虍+6 | 𣦄 虚 | xū ㄒㄩ | false, worthless; empty, hollow | v4,p2825#06 | p.1074#11 | p.1184r1c06 |
| 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. | ||||||
| 屈 | 尸+5 | 𡕜 𡲶 𡲗 | qū ㄑㄩ | bend, flex; bent, crooked; crouch | v2,p0970#11 | p.301#07 | p.448r5c02 |
| 動 | 力+9 | 㣫 𨔝 动 | dòng ㄉㄨㄥˋ | move, happen; movement, action | v1,p0375#06 | p.148#14 | p.196r4c02 |
| 愈 | 心+9 | 癒 愉 瘉 | yù ㄩˋ | more and more, even more | v4,p2322#15 | p.394#03 | p.536r6c03 |
| 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 |
| 多 | 夕+3 | 夛 𡖇 𡖈 | duō ㄉㄨㄛ | much, many; more than, over | v2,p0862#02 | p.246#11 | p.339r4c01 |
| 言 | 言+0 | 訁 𢍗 𢍬 | yán ㄧㄢˊ | Speak, say. / Discuss, debate. / Tell. / Doctrine, theory, words. / One word. / Sentence. / Particle, no meaning. | v6,p3936#01 | p.1146#01 | p.1236r5c03 |
| 數 | 攴+11 | 数 | shù shǔ cù shuò ㄕㄨˋ ㄕㄨˇ ㄘㄨˋ ㄕㄨㄛˋ | number; several; count; fate | v2,p1474#01 | p.475#04 | p.607r4c01 |
| 窮 | 穴+10 | 竆 穷 | qióng ㄑㄩㄥˊ | poor, destitute, impoverished | v4,p2737#12 | p.867#10 | p.1000r6c05 |
| 如 | 女+3 | rú ㄖㄨˊ | Go to. / According to, in accordance with. / Like, similar to. / As good as, comparable to. / Should. / Or, alternatively. / If, should it be the case. / As for, as regards. / Adjectival suffix. | v2,p1025#09 | p.255#21 | p.378r5c02 | |
| 守 | 宀+3 | 𡬮 𡬴 | shǒu shòu ㄕㄡˇ ㄕㄡˋ | defend, protect, guard, conserve | v2,p0912#03 | p.282#05 | p.405r4c01 |
| 中 | 丨+3 | 𠁧 𠁩 塚 | zhōng zhòng ㄓㄨㄥ ㄓㄨㄥˋ | central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain | v1,p0028#10 | p.79#03 | p.37r4c02 |
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