Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 38

	(About the attributes of the Dao)
上德不德，	(Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Dao) did not (seek) to show them,
是以有德；	and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure).
下德不失德，	(Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (sought how) not to lose them,
是以無德。	and therefore they did not possess them (in fullest measure).
上德無為而無以為；	(Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything.
下德為之而有以為。	(Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing.
上仁為之而無以為；	(Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so.
上義為之而有以為。	(Those who) possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had need to be so doing.
上禮為之而莫之應，	(Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it,
則攘臂而扔之。	they bared the arm and marched up to them.
故失道而後德，	Thus it was that when the Dao was lost, its attributes appeared;
失德而後仁，	when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared;
失仁而後義，	when benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared;
失義而後禮。	and when righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.
夫禮者，忠信之薄，	Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith,
而亂之首。	and is also the commencement of disorder;
前識者，	swift apprehension
道之華，	is (only) a flower of the Dao,
而愚之始。	and is the beginning of stupidity.
是以大丈夫處其厚，	Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid,
不居其薄；	and eschews what is flimsy;
處其實，	dwells with the fruit
不居其華。	and not with the flower.
故去彼取此。	It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.

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
德	彳+12	惪悳	dé ㄉㄜˊ	Morals, morality. / Good deeds. / Good fortune. / Reward kindness, thank. / Heart, feelings. / Same as 「得(1.1)」 dé ㄉㄜˊ: Get, obtain.	v2,p0841#17	p.371#08	p.518r3c01
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.
是	日+5	昰𣆞	shì ㄕˋ	Straight. / Right, correct. / Believe accurate, affirm. / Demonstrative pronoun: this. / Be (copula). / Auxiliary word, used after moving forward the object.	v2,p1497#05	p.493#26	p.639r1c01
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
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.
下	一+2	丅厥𠄟	xià ㄒㄧㄚˋ	under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down	v1,p0007#01	p.76#10	p.28r1c01
失	大+2		shī ㄕ	lose; make mistake, neglect	v1,p0525#01	p.249#09	p.368r3c01
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
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.
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.
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
仁	人+2	忈忎𡰥	rén ㄖㄣˊ	humaneness, benevolence, kindness	v1,p0107#01	p.91#07
義	羊+7	义	yì ㄧˋ	right conduct, righteousness	v5,p3133#02	p.952#32	p.1071r3c01
禮	示+13	禮礼𠃞𤔑礼	lǐ ㄌㄧˇ	social custom; manners; courtesy; rites	v4,p2409#14	p.847#07	p.985r2c04
莫	艸+7	𦮅䒬𦱴	mò mù ㄇㄛˋ ㄇㄨˋ	do not, is not, can not; negative	v5,p3217#15	p.1035#13	p.1141r3c03
應	心+13	応硬应	yīng yìng ㄧㄥㄧㄥˋ	should, ought to, must	v4,p2359#03	p.405#21	p.546r1c02
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
攘	手+17	𣀮	ràng rǎng níng xiǎng ráng ㄖㄤˋ ㄖㄤˇ ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄖㄤˊ	seize, take by force; repel	v3,p1985#02	p.463#11	p.597r2c07
臂	肉+13		bì bei bèi ㄅㄧˋ ㄅㄟ· ㄅㄟˋ	arm	v3,p2119#08	p.996#09	p.1104r6c03
扔	手+2		rēng rèng ㄖㄥㄖㄥˋ	throw, hurl; throw away, cast	v3,p1828#01	p.417#13	p.559r3c01
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
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.
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
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.
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.
忠	心+4		zhōng ㄓㄨㄥ	loyalty, devotion, fidelity	v4,p2273#15	p.377#13	p.524r1c02
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.
薄	艸+13		bó báo bò bù ㄅㄛˊ ㄅㄠˊ ㄅㄛˋ ㄅㄨˋ	thin, slight, weak; poor, stingy	v5,p3307#03	p.1060#12	p.1168r6c05
亂	乙+12	𠧎𠧏𠮗乱	luàn ㄌㄨㄢˋ	Chaos, disorder. / Confusion, confused state of mind. / Turmoil, unrest, revolt. / Rebellion, uprising. / Disturb, corrupt. / Lecherous, wicked. / Confuse, mix up. / Rule, administer. / Traverse, cross. / Reach, pass. / Last section of a piece of music. / Last words of a piece of writing. / Complete, finish.	v1,p0057#10	p.84#33	p.57r5c01
首	首+0	𩠐𥃻	shǒu ㄕㄡˇ	head; first; leader, chief; a poem	v7,p4500#01	p.1427#32	p.1495r2c04
前	刀+7	歬𣦃	qián ㄑㄧㄢˊ	in front, forward; preceding	v1,p0248#04	p.140#15	p.184r4c01
識	言+12	𧨺识	shi shì shí zhì ㄕ· ㄕˋ ㄕˊ ㄓˋ	recognize, understand, know	v6,p4019#16	p.1181#17	p.1255r4c01
華	艸+8	崋䔢蕐华	huá huā huà ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄏㄨㄚㄏㄨㄚˋ	flowery; illustrious; Chinese	v5,p3213#01	p.1039#14	p.1144r1c02
愚	心+9		yú ㄩˊ	stupid, doltish, foolish	v4,p2321#07	p.395#12	p.537r6c06
始	女+5	𠃭乨兘𠙉	shǐ ㄕˇ	begin, start; then, only then	v2,p1041#12	p.258#16	p.381r1c02
大丈夫	大+0 一+2 大+1	𠘲	dà zhàng fū ㄉㄚˋ ㄓㄤˋ ㄈㄨ	有志氣有作為的男子。 Great man, man of ambition and achievement.	v1,p0520#01 v1,p0009#02 v1,p0521#01	p.248#01 p.76#04 p.248#11	p.342r3c03 p.10r6c05 p.367r2c01
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.
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.
厚	厂+7	垕𡦩	hòu ㄏㄡˋ	thick; substantial; greatly	v1,p0072#06	p.161#26	p.229r2c02
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.
實	宀+11	実宲𡾍寔实	shí ㄕˊ	Prosperous, wealthy. / Wealth, possessions. / Goods, supplies. / Full. / Fit into, stuff into. / Fruit, seed. / Result. / Real thing, actual content. / Fact, thing which happened. / True, honest. / Firm, unwavering. / In fact, actually. / Prove, show to be true. / Carry out, implement. / Term in arithmetic for a multiplicand or dividend. / Really, indeed so. / This. / Particle used in a sentence after moving forward the object.	v2,p0952#03	p.291#04	p.427r6c01
去	厶+3		qù ㄑㄩˋ	Leave, go away from. / Send away. / Remove, get rid of. / Banish, discard. / Lose, cease to possess. / Distance, separation. / Previous, past. / Later, after.	v1,p0384#08	p.164#10	p.232r1c04
			jǔ ㄐㄩˇ	Collect, keep.
			qū ㄑㄩ	Expel.
彼	彳+5		bǐ ㄅㄧˇ	(1.1) 那。與「此」相對。 That.	v2,p0817#10	p.365#25	p.509r6c02
取	又+6		qǔ ㄑㄩˇ	(4.2) 採取，擇取。 Take, choose, pick out.	v1,p0395#01	p.166#04	p.236r3c01
此	止+2		cǐ ㄘˇ	This. / Like this. / Here. / Adverb: then.	v2,p1438#03	p.574#10	p.735r4c01

Enjoy this site? Please help.

Site design and content copyright 2006-2024. When quoting or citing information from this site, please link to the corresponding page or to https://ctext.org. Please note that the use of automatic download software on this site is strictly prohibited, and that users of such software are automatically banned without warning to save bandwidth. 沪ICP备09015720号-3

Comments? Suggestions? Please raise them here.