Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Chinese Text Project	Chinese Text Project
	Simplified Chinese version

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 63

	(Thinking in the beginning)
为无为，	(It is the way of the Dao) to act without (thinking of) acting;
事无事，	to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them;
味无味。	to taste without discerning any flavour;
大小多少，	to consider what is small as great, and a few as many;
报怨以德。	and to recompense injury with kindness.
图难于其易，	(The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy,
为大于其细；	and does things that would become great while they are small.
天下难事，	All difficult things in the world
必作于易，	are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy,
天下大事，	and all great things
必作于细。	from one in which they were small.
是以圣人终不为大，	Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great,
故能成其大。	is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things.
夫轻诺必寡信，	He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith;
多易必多难。	he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.
是以圣人犹难之，	Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy,
故终无难矣。	and so never has any difficulties.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
为	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.
无	火+8	𣟒𣚨𠘩无无	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
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
味	口+5		wèi ㄨㄟˋ	taste, smell, odor; delicacy	v1,p0597#06	p.182#13	p.265r4c04
大	大+0	𠘲	dà ㄉㄚˋ	Large, great. / Exceed, be greater than. / Venerate, treat as being great. / Many. / Thick, coarse. / Elder. / Respectful term of address. / Adverb expressing high level or broad range.	v1,p0520#01	p.248#01	p.342r3c03
			tài ㄊㄞˋ	Most (superlative). / Too much. / Peaceful, tranquil.
小	小+0		xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ	Small. / Make small. / View as small. / Thin. / Insufficient. / Short (time), fleeting. / Young. / Slightly, somewhat. / Low level. / A person of low rank. / A person of bad moral character. / Humble term for oneself.	v1,p0560#12	p.296#18	p.438r2c01
多	夕+3	夛𡖇𡖈	duō ㄉㄨㄛ	much, many; more than, over	v2,p0862#02	p.246#11	p.339r4c01
少	小+1		shǎo shào ㄕㄠˇ ㄕㄠˋ	few, less, inadequate	v1,p0561#02	p.296#20	p.442r4c01
报	土+9	报	bào ㄅㄠˋ	report, tell, announce	v1,p0466#04	p.234#05	p.324r4c01
怨	心+5	𢘖𠨝𢛪𢘔𢘈	yuàn ㄩㄢˋ	hatred, enmity, resentment	v4,p2281#07	p.382#01	p.527r4c01
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
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
图	囗+11	図圗𡈖𡇴圕图	tú ㄊㄨˊ	diagram; chart, map, picture	v1,p0725#06	p.220#18	p.308r3c03
难	隹+11	𩁢𩁬𩀙𩁣𩁲𩁩𩀏𩁤难	nán ㄋㄢˊ	(1.1) 不易，困难。 Difficult, not easy.	v6,p4108#05	p.1370#05	p.1446r3c01
于	方+4	乌𣱏𤕘于亏扵	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
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.
易	日+4	易	yì ㄧˋ	change; easy	v2,p1494#01	p.492#03	p.633r6c01
细	糸+5	细	xì ㄒㄧˋ	fine, tiny; slender, thin	v5,p3380#05	p.919#36	p.1038r4c01
天下	大+1 一+2	𠀡𠀘𦴞兲靝𠕹丅厥𠄟	tiān xià ㄊㄧㄢㄒㄧㄚˋ	世界。 "All under heaven", the world.	v1,p0522#01 v1,p0007#01	p.248#04 p.76#10	p.358r4c01 p.28r1c01
必	心+1		bì ㄅㄧˋ	surely, most certainly; must	v4,p2267#02	p.375#02	p.522r5c01
作	人+5	胙𢓓	zuò ㄗㄨㄛˋ	(3) 开始。 Begin.	v1,p0134#06	p.99#07	p.99r3c01
作	人+5	胙𢓓	zuò ㄗㄨㄛˋ	Arise, stand up. / Grow, flourish. / Begin. / Create, make. / Work, effort. / Serve as, work as. / When, at such time as.	v1,p0134#06	p.99#07	p.99r3c01
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
圣人	耳+7 人+0	垩𦕡𠄵圣𠔽亻	shèng rén ㄕㄥˋ ㄖㄣˊ	出类拔萃的人。 Sage, outstanding person.	v4,p2789#06 v1,p0101#10	p.967#22 p.91#01	p.1082r6c06 p.80r2c01
终	糸+5	𣊂𤽘𣧩𠔾𡦿𢍐𣈩𤽬夊终	zhōng ㄓㄨㄥ	end; finally, in the end	v5,p3384#05	p.921#01	p.1039r4c06
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.
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
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.
成	戈+2	𢦩	chéng ㄔㄥˊ	completed, finished, fixed	v2,p1399#01	p.411#11
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.
轻	车+7	𨌷𨓷轻	qīng ㄑㄧㄥ	Light, low weight. / Small, thin. / Light and quick, agile. / Easy, casual. / Frivolous, careless. / Reduce, lighten. / Show contempt for, view as unimportant.	v5,p3534#05	p.1244#09	p.1301r6c01
诺	言+9	喏诺	nuò ㄋㄨㄛˋ	promise; assent, approve	v6,p3984#01	p.1173#02	p.1251r3c03
寡	宀+11	关	guǎ ㄍㄨㄚˇ	(1.2) 缺少，减少。 Lack, reduce.	v2,p0947#07	p.290#19	p.427r2c02
信	人+7	伩㐰䚱	xìn ㄒㄧㄣˋ	(3) 信用，守信用。 Trust, trustworthy.	v1,p0165#01	p.105#25	p.109r2c01
犹	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.
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
矣	矢+2	𠤘	yǐ ㄧˇ	Modal particle used to express declaration. / Modal particle used to express exclamation. / Modal particle used to express an order or request.	v4,p2580#04	p.823#37	p.955r5c01

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