Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 51

	(The operation (of the Dao) in nourishing things)
道生之，	All things are produced by the Dao,
德畜之，	and nourished by its outflowing operation.
物形之，	They receive their forms according to the nature of each,
勢成之。	and are completed according to the circumstances of their condition.
是以萬物莫不尊道而貴德。	Therefore all things without exception honour the Dao, and exalt its outflowing operation.
道之尊，	This honouring of the Dao
德之貴，	and exalting of its operation
夫莫之命常自然。	is not the result of any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute.
故道生之，	Thus it is that the Dao produces (all things),
德畜之；	nourishes them,
長之育之；	brings them to their full growth, nurses them,
亭之毒之；	completes them, matures them,
養之覆之。	maintains them, and overspreads them.
生而不有，	It produces them and makes no claim to the possession of them;
為而不恃，	it carries them through their processes and does not vaunt its ability in doing so;
長而不宰，	it brings them to maturity and exercises no control over them;
是謂玄德。	- this is called its mysterious operation.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
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.
生	生+0	𤯓	shēng ㄕㄥ	life, living, lifetime; birth	v4,p2575#01	p.754#26	p.906r5c03
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
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
畜	田+5	嘼𠬀	chù ㄔㄨˋ	Domestic animals.	v4,p2538#04	p.761#12	p.913r3c03
			xù ㄒㄩˋ	Raise (livestock). / Raise, look after (a family). / Cultivate. / Contain, accommodate. / Love.
物	牛+4		wù ㄨˋ	thing, substance, creature	v3,p1805#03	p.699#09	p.869r5c01
形	彡+4		xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ	Body, thing with form. / Human body. / Form, appearance. / Lay of the land. / Circumstances. / Condition, situation. / Form, create. / Exhibit, show. / Compare. / Mould, die. / Same as 「刑(4.1)」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Law, rules of punishment. / Same as 「鉶」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Porcelain soup bowl.	v2,p0852#10	p.363#06	p.507r4c01
勢	力+11	势	shì ㄕˋ	power, force; tendency	v1,p0377#03	p.149#04	p.199r2c03
成	戈+2	𢦩	chéng ㄔㄥˊ	completed, finished, fixed	v2,p1399#01	p.411#11
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
萬	禸+8	万卍㸘𤍚𢁭	wàn ㄨㄢˋ	ten thousand; innumerable	v5,p3247#08	p.1042#33	p.1149r4c02
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
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.
尊	寸+9		zūn ㄗㄨㄣ	respect, revere, venerate; honor	v1,p0509#06	p.295#10	p.435r4c01
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.
貴	貝+5	𡭙𧸋贵	guì ㄍㄨㄟˋ	expensive, costly, valuable	v6,p3632#09	p.1206#15	p.1271r6c01
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.
命	口+5		mìng ㄇㄧㄥˋ	Order, command. / Written order, commandment. / Send (on a mission), dispatch. / A (diplomatic) mission. / Force, make do. / Instruct, tell. / Gift given by a ruler to his ministers by rank. / Will of heaven. / Fate. / Life, lifespan. / Call, name, assign a name to. / Know for certain.	v1,p0604#11	p.183#18	p.266r6c01
常	巾+8		cháng ㄔㄤˊ	common, normal, frequent, regular	v1,p0744#01	p.333#12	p.477r2c01
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
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
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
長	長+0	镸𨱗𠤐𠑷𠔊𠑻𠑿𡕣长	cháng zhǎng zhàng ㄔㄤˊ ㄓㄤˇ ㄓㄤˋ	long; length; excel in; leader	v6,p4050#01	p.1328#07	p.1399r3c04
育	肉+4	毓	yù ㄩˋ	produce, give birth to; educate	v3,p2052#05	p.976#14	p.1091r2c04
亭	亠+7		tíng ㄊㄧㄥˊ	pavilion; erect	v1,p0286#02	p.89#03	p.79r4c02
毒	毋+4	𦸕𧉉	dú dài ㄉㄨˊ ㄉㄞˋ	poison, venom; poisonous	v4,p2382#05	p.589#06	p.745r5c01
養	食+6	䍩𢼝养	yǎng yàng ㄧㄤˇ ㄧㄤˋ	raise, rear, bring up; support	v7,p4452#08	p.1419#26	p.1491r4c09
覆	襾+12	復复	fù ㄈㄨˋ	cover; tip over; return; reply	v4,p2808#09	p.1129#09	p.1226r5c03
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.
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.
恃	心+6		shì ㄕˋ	rely on, presume on, trust to	v4,p2293#15	p.383#19	p.528r5c01
宰	宀+7	𡪤𡨧𠈾	zǎi ㄗㄞˇ	Minister of a high noble or great officer. / Governor, senior official of a municipality. / Local officials in general. / Prime minister. / Dominate, rule. / Slaughter livestock. / Butcher. / Person in charge of cutting sacrifical meat. / Grave, tomb.	v2,p0935#06	p.286#04	p.419r3c01
謂	言+9	谓	wèi ㄨㄟˋ	To (when speaking to someone). / Say, speak. / Call, name. / Meaning, what is meant. / Discuss, comment on (a person). / How? / Same as 「為(21.3)」 wèi ㄨㄟˋ: Preposition: because of, due to.	v6,p3997#06	p.1173#12	p.1251r6c01
			wéi ㄨㄟˊ	Same as 「為(10)」 wéi ㄨㄟˊ: Count as, be considered as.
玄	玄+0	𤣥伭	xuán xuàn ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄒㄩㄢˋ	deep, profound, abstruse; KangXi radical 95	v1,p0280#03	p.725#01	p.883r1c01

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