Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 8

	(The placid and contented nature)
上善若水。	The highest excellence is like (that of) water.
水善利萬物而不爭，	The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things,
處衆人之所惡，	and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike.
故幾於道。	Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Dao.
居善地，	The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place;
心善淵，	that of the mind is in abysmal stillness;
與善仁，	that of associations is in their being with the virtuous;
言善信，	that of words is in their trustworthiness;
正善治，	that of government is in its securing good order;
事善能，	that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability;
動善時。	and that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.
夫唯不爭，	And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about his low position),
故無尤。	no one finds fault with him.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
上	一+2	丄𠄞	shàng ㄕㄤˋ	top; superior, highest; go up, send up	v1,p0005#04	p.76#07	p.24r2c01
善	口+9	譱𦎍𠾄𧮟	shàn ㄕㄢˋ	Good. / Take to be good, like. / Good person. / Strong point, merit. / Perfect. / Gentle, kind. / Friendly. / Good at doing. / Improve, make good. / Control, regulate. / Food.	v1,p0660#02	p.197#18	p.282r3c04
若	艸+5	若𦱡𦱶𧁇	ruò ㄖㄨㄛˋ	Iris. / Same as 「北海若」 běi hǎi ruò ㄅㄟˇ ㄏㄞˇ ㄖㄨㄛˋ: Ruo, a god of the Northern Sea. / Go by, accord with. / Choose. / Like, similar to. / Identical, the same. / As good as, comparable to. / To, arrive at. / You, your. / This way, like this. / Regarding, as regards. / If, should it be the case. / Or, alternatively. / But, yet. / Adjectival suffix.	v5,p3187#07	p.1023#12	p.1130r1c03
水	水+0	氵	shuǐ ㄕㄨㄟˇ	water, liquid, lotion, juice	v3,p1545#01	p.603#01	p.757r1c01
利	刀+5	利𥝢𥝤	lì ㄌㄧˋ	(3.2) 有利於，對...有利。 Beneficial to, good for.	v1,p0329#02	p.138#19	p.180r2c02
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
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.
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.
爭	爪+4	争𠫩𠄙	zhēng zhèng ㄓㄥㄓㄥˋ	to dispute, fight, contend, strive	v3,p2031#03	p.688#33	p.863r1c01
處	虍+5	処䖏处	chǔ ㄔㄨˇ	Stay, reside. / Settle. / Be in, located in. / Retire. / Appoint, serve in office. / Stop, rest. / Remain, stay. / Implement, carry out. / Handle, process. / Judge, form a judgement. / Decide, fix. / Distinguish, separate. / Standard, rule.	v4,p2822#12	p.1073#25	p.1183r5c02
			chù ㄔㄨˋ	Place, location. / Position, role.
衆	血+6	眾𠍸𠂝众	zhòng ㄓㄨㄥˋ	multitude, crowd; masses, public	v5,p3051#14	p.1107#16	p.1203r4c08
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.
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
幾	幺+9	𢆻𢆼几	jǐ jī ㄐㄧˇ ㄐㄧ	how many? how much?; a few, some	v2,p1095#08	p.342#14	p.486r2c02
於	方+4	烏𣱏𤕘于亏扵	yú ㄩˊ	Be (copula). / Be, exist. / Preposition: in. / Preposition: from or to. / Preposition: compared to. / Preposition: to, for, towards. / Preposition: by (indicating passive tense). / Preposition: with, using. / Preposition: due to, because of. / Preposition: by, according to. / Connective: just as. / Auxiliary word, no meaning.	v3,p2175#02	p.481#11	p.622r2c03
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.
居	尸+5	㞐㝒	jū ㄐㄩ	Sit down. / Wait. / Live, dwell. / Dwelling, residence. / Tomb. / Rank, position occupied. / Person occupying the rank of ruler. / Live peacefully. / Usually, normally. / Located in. / Defend (a post), guard (a region). / Remain behind to handle matters. / Have, possess. / Employ, implement. / Stop, rest, remain. / Store, stockpile. / Raise, rear (livestock). / Used before times expressing time elapsed: after.	v2,p0968#04	p.300#30	p.448r1c02
			jǔ ㄐㄩˇ	Movement, action.
			jù ㄐㄩˋ	Arrogant. / Straight. / Saw.
			jī ㄐㄧ	Modal particle expressing exclamation or questioning.
地	土+3	埊𨻐埅𠏂嶳	dì de ㄉㄧˋ ㄉㄜ·	earth; soil, ground; region	v1,p0420#12	p.224#06	p.312r6c01
心	心+0	㣺忄	xīn ㄒㄧㄣ	heart; mind, intelligence; soul	v4,p2267#01	p.375#01	p.521r1c01
淵	水+8	𣶒囦𠝃渊	yuān ㄩㄢ	gulf, abyss, deep	v3,p1681#01	p.632#08	p.807r1c02
與	臼+8	与𢌱𦦲𠔔	yǔ ㄩˇ	Give. / Follow, go along with. / Comrade, ally. / Association, contact. / Oppose. / Engage [an enemy]. / Approve, consent to. / Help. / Wait. / Preposition indicating passive tense. / Preposition: to, with. / Preposition: with. / Preposition: as. / Preposition: in, on. / Connective: and, with. / Connective: with its ... / Connective: or.	v1,p0251#04	p.1004#13	p.1113r2c03
			yù ㄩˋ	Participate, take part in.
			yǔ ㄩˇ	Interfere in.
			yú ㄩˊ	Auxiliary word: used at the end of a sentence to express questioning , exclamation, or a rhetorical question. / Auxiliary word: used in the middle of a sentence to express a pause.
仁	人+2	忈忎𡰥	rén ㄖㄣˊ	humaneness, benevolence, kindness	v1,p0107#01	p.91#07
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
信	人+7	伩㐰䚱	xìn ㄒㄧㄣˋ	True, words fitting the truth. / As expected. / Really, actually. / Trust, trustworthy. / Reliable, orderly. / Believe, have confidence in. / Clarify, determine. / Clear, clear-cut. / Certificate, (object of) proof. / Sealed letter, written proof. / Envoy, messenger. / Freely, as one wishes. / Stay for two nights in succession.	v1,p0165#01	p.105#25	p.109r2c01
			shēn ㄕㄣ	Straight, linear. / Uphold, promote.
正	止+1	㱏𣥔𤴓𧾸	zhèng ㄓㄥˋ	(12) 通「政」：政治，政事。 Government, state affairs.	v2,p1436#01	p.574#02	p.732r5c02
治	水+5	乿	zhì ㄓˋ	Rule, administer. / Well ruled, peaceful and orderly. / Punish, execute. / Cure, treat (an illness). / Prepare. / Construct. / Research, study.	v3,p1599#06	p.614#07	p.776r5c02
事	亅+7	亊叓𠭏	shì ㄕˋ	Office, duty. / Job, career. / Things, affairs. / Accident, incident. / Engage (in), pursue. / Serve.	v1,p0023#03	p.85#24	p.58r3c02
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.
動	力+9	㣫𨔝动	dòng ㄉㄨㄥˋ	move, happen; movement, action	v1,p0375#06	p.148#14	p.196r4c02
時	日+6	旹时	shí ㄕˊ	Season. / Unit of time equal to two hours. / [The passage of] time. / Time, times. / Age, period, epoch. / Occasion, opportune moment. / On time. / Then, at that time. / Always, constantly. / Same as 「伺(1)」 sì ㄙˋ: Wait until, wait for (a chance).	v2,p1505#05	p.494#22	p.639r3c04
夫	大+1		fū ㄈㄨ	General term for adult men. / Adult labourers in particular. / Soldier. / Respectful term for a man. / Husband. / Unit of area equal to one hundred mu.	v1,p0521#01	p.248#11	p.367r2c01
			fú ㄈㄨˊ	Demonstrative pronoun: this, these. / Modal particle used at the start of a sentence for emphasis or to indicate an assertion. / Modal particle used in the middle of a sentence to soften the tone. / Modal particle used at the end of a sentence to express 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.
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
尤	尢+1	怣	yóu ㄧㄡˊ	especially, particularly	v1,p0551#14	p.298#03	p.444r5c06

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