Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Legalism -> Shang Jun Shu -> Discussion about the People -> 5

民之情也治，其事也亂。	It is the nature of the people to be orderly, but it is circumstances that cause disorder.
故行刑，	Therefore, in the application of punishments,
重其輕者；	light offences should be regarded as serious;
輕者不生，	if light offences do not occur,
則重者無從至矣。	serious ones have no chance of coming.
此謂「治之於其治」也。	This is said to be "ruling the people while in a state of law and order".
行刑，	If in the application of punishments,
重其重者，	serious offences are regarded as serious,
輕其輕者；	and light offences as light,
輕者不止，	light offences will not cease and in consequence,
則重者無從止矣。	there will be no means of stopping the serious ones.
此謂「治之於其亂」也。	This is said to be "ruling the people while in a state of lawlessness".
故重輕，	So, if light offences are regarded as serious,
則刑去事成，	punishments will be abolished, affairs will succeed
國強；	and the country will be strong;
重重而輕輕，	but if serious offences are regarded as serious and light ones as light,
則刑至而事生，	then punishments will appear; moreover, trouble will arise
國削。	and the country will be dismembered.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
民	氏+1	𠘽	mín ㄇㄧㄣˊ	people, subjects, citizens	v3,p2131#01	p.598#01	p.750r3c01
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
情	心+8	𢚏啨	qíng ㄑㄧㄥˊ	feeling, sentiment, emotion	v4,p2312#13	p.389#31	p.533r4c03
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
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
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.
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
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
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
行	行+0	行	xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ	Walk, move (on foot). / Advance, move forward. / Leave, exit. / Patrol, go on inspection. / Inspection of the realm by the Son of Heaven. / Be married off. / Flow, circulate. / Channel, guide. / Revolution, circular motion. / Experience. / Luggage, belongings taken on a journey. / Do, carry out. / Actions. / Accomplishments. / Use, utilize. / Take over (an official duty). / Offer, present. / Moral conduct, behaviour. / A type of classical poem. / A piece of music. / Semi-cursive script. / Adverb: will, about to. / Adverb: again, once more. / Adverb: by chance, luckily. / Ambassador (official title). / Measure word for number of pourings of drinks.	v2,p0811#06	p.1108#31	p.1203r5c05
			háng ㄏㄤˊ	Road. / Track, pattern. / Row, line. / Row of soldiers in battle. / Unit of 25 soldiers. / Shaft of a feather (and by extension, wings). / Measure word for things which form rows. / Rank, position.
刑	刀+4		xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ	Punish. / Kill, put to death. / Harm, disaster. / Law, rules of punishment. / Rule by law. / A die used in casting. / A model, an example. / To emulate, imitate. / Achieve, establish. / Same as 「鉶」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Porcelain soup bowl. / Same as 「形(1.1)」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Body, thing with form. / Same as 「形(5)」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Exhibit, show.	v1,p0324#15	p.137#11	p.178r4c02
重	里+2	𡍴	zhòng ㄓㄨㄥˋ	Heavy. / Important, significant. / Valuable, noble. / Solemn, dignified. / Respect, attach importance to. / Difficult. / Addition, also. / Supplies for an army. / Extreme.	v6,p3680#02	p.1291#03	p.1357r6c01
			chóng ㄔㄨㄥˊ	Repeat, duplicate. / Layer, level. / Start afresh, do again.
輕	車+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
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.
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.
生	生+0	𤯓	shēng ㄕㄥ	life, living, lifetime; birth	v4,p2575#01	p.754#26	p.906r5c03
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
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
從	彳+8	従从	cóng ㄘㄨㄥˊ	Follow, accompany. / Cause to follow, make go along with. / Pursue, chase after. / Die with, bury along with the dead. / Listen to, do as required. / Eloquent. / Obedient, submissive. / Route to peaceful society, correct order. / Perform, participate in. / Blood relation through the male line. / Secondary, sub- (of official titles). / Preposition: from. / Preposition: towards. / Preposition: because of, due to. / Addition, also.	v2,p0829#12	p.368#18	p.514r5c01
			zòng ㄗㄨㄥˋ	North-south. / Alliance of states opposed to the Qin alliance. / Straight, upright. / Indulge, allow to. / Connective: even if.
			zōng ㄗㄨㄥ	Trace, vestige.
			sǒng ㄙㄨㄥˇ	See 從容。
至	至+0	𦤳𦤴𦤵𡊏	zhì dié ㄓˋ ㄉㄧㄝˊ	reach, arrive; extremely, very	v4,p2814#01	p.1001#11	p.1111r3c04
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
此	止+2		cǐ ㄘˇ	This. / Like this. / Here. / Adverb: then.	v2,p1438#03	p.574#10	p.735r4c01
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.
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
止	止+0	只	zhǐ ㄓˇ	stop, halt, desist; detain	v2,p1435#03	p.573#24	p.732r3c02
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.
成	戈+2	𢦩	chéng ㄔㄥˊ	completed, finished, fixed	v2,p1399#01	p.411#11
國	囗+8	圀國囗囶𢧌䆐囯国	guó ㄍㄨㄛˊ	nation, country, nation-state	v1,p0720#09	p.219#16	p.303r4c02
強	弓+8	强彊	qiáng qiǎng jiàng ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄑㄧㄤˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ	strong, powerful, energetic	v2,p0999#07	p.359#23	p.504r5c01
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.
削	刀+7		xuē xiāo ㄒㄩㄝㄒㄧㄠ	scrape off, pare, trim	v1,p0341#02	p.140#05	p.184r1c01

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.