Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 76

	(A warning against (trusting in) strength)
人之生也柔弱，	Man at his birth is supple and weak;
其死也堅強。	at his death, firm and strong.
萬物草木之生也柔脆，	(So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle;
其死也枯槁。	at their death, dry and withered.
故堅強者死之徒，	Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death;
柔弱者生之徒。	softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.
是以兵強則不勝，	Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not conquer;
木強則共。	and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, (and thereby invites the feller.)
強大處下，	Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below,
柔弱處上。	and that of what is soft and weak is above.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
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
生	生+0	𤯓	shēng ㄕㄥ	life, living, lifetime; birth	v4,p2575#01	p.754#26	p.906r5c03
也	乙+2	𠃟匜	yě ㄧㄝˇ	Modal particle used at the end of a sentence, expressing assertion and affirmation. / Modal particle used at the end of a question for emphasis. / Modal particle used at the end of a cause-effect sentence to express explanation. / Modal particle used in the middle of a sentence to express a pause.	v1,p0050#05	p.84#04	p.55r1c01
柔	木+5		róu ㄖㄡˊ	soft; gentle, pliant	v2,p1192#02	p.519#05	p.686r3c01
弱	弓+7		ruò ㄖㄨㄛˋ	weak; fragile, delicate	v2,p0996#16	p.358#24	p.502r1c02
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.
死	歹+2	𠑾𣥴	sǐ ㄙˇ	die; dead; death	v2,p1380#06	p.578#22	p.740r6c06
堅	土+8	坚	jiān ㄐㄧㄢ	hard, strong, firm; resolute	v1,p0451#04	p.232#03	p.323r3c01
強	弓+8	强彊	qiáng qiǎng jiàng ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄑㄧㄤˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ	strong, powerful, energetic	v2,p0999#07	p.359#23	p.504r5c01
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
草	艸+6	艸艹屮	cǎo zào ㄘㄠˇ ㄗㄠˋ	grass, straw, thatch, herbs	v5,p3203#04	p.1030#17	p.1136r6c01
木	木+0		mù ㄇㄨˋ	tree; wood, lumber; wooden	v2,p1149#06	p.509#01	p.662r5c05
脆	肉+6	脃	cuì ㄘㄨㄟˋ	crisp; fragile, frail; brittle	v3,p2069#04	p.982#03	p.1097r3c07
枯	木+5		kū ㄎㄨ	dried out, withered, decayed	v2,p1178#03	p.517#03	p.684r1c01
槁	木+10		gǎo kào gāo ㄍㄠˇ ㄎㄠˋ ㄍㄠ	wither; withered, rotten, dead	v2,p1267#08	p.545#17	p.713r1c02
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
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.
徒	彳+7	𨑒𠫠	tú ㄊㄨˊ	disciple, follower; go on foot	v2,p0823#03	p.367#22	p.513r4c01
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
兵	八+5	𠈯𠡿	bīng ㄅㄧㄥ	soldier, troops	v1,p0244#04	p.127#10	p.162r1c02
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
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.
勝	力+10	𠢧𠅫𢾶胜	shèng shēng ㄕㄥˋ ㄕㄥ	victory; excel, be better than	v3,p2090#13	p.148#31	p.197r6c02
共	八+4	𦱹	gòng ㄍㄨㄥˋ	Occupy or accept together. / Together. / Total, in all. / Preposition: together with.	v1,p0243#02	p.127#05	p.160r5c02
			gōng ㄍㄨㄥ	Provide. / Respectful.
			gǒng ㄍㄨㄥˇ	Cup one's hands in obeisance or greeting。 / Rotate, turn around.
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.
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.
下	一+2	丅厥𠄟	xià ㄒㄧㄚˋ	under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down	v1,p0007#01	p.76#10	p.28r1c01
上	一+2	丄𠄞	shàng ㄕㄤˋ	top; superior, highest; go up, send up	v1,p0005#04	p.76#07	p.24r2c01

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.