Tao Te Ching Chapter 5
第5章
天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗；聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗。天地之間，其猶橐籥乎？虛而不屈，動而愈出。多言數窮，不如守中。
Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows?
'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;
'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more.
Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;
Your inner being guard, and keep it free.
English: James Legge (1891), The Tâo Teh King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 39 (1891) — public domain. Chinese: Wang Bi recension (王弼本), commentary removed.
Character glossary
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 萬wànten thousand; innumerable
- 物wùthing, substance, matter; creature
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 芻chúto mow, to cut grass; hay, fodder
- 狗gǒudog
- 聖shèngholy, sacred; sage, saint
- 人rénman, person; people
- 百bǎione hundred; numerous, many
- 姓xìngname, family name, surname; clan, people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 間jiānbetween, among; midpoint; space, place,
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 橐tuóbag, sack; a hollow tub open at both end
- 籥yuèkey; woodwind instrument
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 虛xūfalse; worthless, hollow, empty; vain
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 屈qūto bend, to flex; bent, crooked, crouche
- 動dòngto move, to happen; movement, action
- 愈yùto recover, to heal; more and more
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 多duōmuch, many, multi-; more than, over
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 數shùcount, number, several
- 窮qióngpoor, destitute; to exhaust
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 守shǒuto defend, to guard, to protect; to cons
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
Similar passages
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi How to Govern
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Analects 8.7
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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