Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 54

	(The cultivation (of the Dao), and the observation (of its effects))
善建不拔，	What (Dao's) skilful planter plants Can never be uptorn;
善抱者不脫，	What his skilful arms enfold, From him can never be borne.
子孫以祭祀不輟。	Sons shall bring in lengthening line, Sacrifices to his shrine.
修之於身，	Dao when nursed within one's self,
其德乃真；	His vigour will make true;
修之於家，	And where the family it rules
其德乃餘；	What riches will accrue!
修之於鄉，	The neighbourhood where it prevails
其德乃長；	In thriving will abound;
修之於國，	And when 'tis seen throughout the state,
其德乃豐；	Good fortune will be found.
修之於天下，	Employ it the kingdom o'er,
其德乃普。	And men thrive all around.
故以身觀身，	In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observation of different cases;
以家觀家，	in the family;
以鄉觀鄉，	in the neighbourhood;
以國觀國，	in the state;
以天下觀天下。	and in the kingdom.
吾何以知天下然哉？	How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the sky?
以此。	By this (method of observation).

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
善	口+9	譱𦎍𠾄𧮟	shàn ㄕㄢˋ	Good. / Take to be good, like. / Good person. / Strong point, merit. / Perfect. / Gentle, kind. / Friendly. / Good at doing. / Improve, make good. / Control, regulate. / Food.	v1,p0660#02	p.197#18	p.282r3c04
建	廴+6		jiàn ㄐㄧㄢˋ	build, establish, erect, found	v1,p0404#10	p.353#04	p.496r6c01
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.
拔	手+5	抜	bá bèi ㄅㄚˊ ㄅㄟˋ	uproot, pull out	v3,p1850#03	p.426#01	p.570r1c01
抱	手+5	抔	bào ㄅㄠˋ	embrace, hold in arms, enfold	v3,p1856#04	p.423#08	p.565r4c03
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.
脫	肉+7	脱	tuō ㄊㄨㄛ	Remove skin and bones from meat. / Remove, take off. / Leave, exit. / Escape, evade. / Emit, utter.	v3,p2081#01	p.984#12	p.1097r6c02
子	子+0	㜽𢀈𢀉𡐫𣕓只	zǐ ㄗˇ	Child, heir. Refers to both sons and daughters. / Love, charity. / Respectful term for a man. / People in general. / Fourth of the five levels of nobility. / First of the twelve earthly branches of the zodiac.	v2,p1006#06	p.277#01	p.395r1c01
孫	子+7	孙	sūn xùn ㄙㄨㄣㄒㄩㄣˋ	grandchild, descendent; surname	v2,p1016#05	p.279#23	p.401r6c02
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
祭	示+6		jì zhài ㄐㄧˋ ㄓㄞˋ	sacrifice to, worship	v4,p2397#07	p.843#07	p.982r1c02
祀	示+3	𥛴	sì ㄙˋ	to sacrifice, worship	v4,p2387#01	p.840#01	p.976r5c02
輟	車+8	𨌸辍	chuò ㄔㄨㄛˋ	stop, suspend, halt	v5,p3542#10	p.1244#32	p.1303r2c02
修	人+8		xiū ㄒㄧㄡ	study; repair; cultivate	v1,p0159#02	p.106#05	p.110r3c01
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
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
身	身+0		shēn ㄕㄣ	Pregnant. / The body (of a person or animal). / Itself. / I, myself. / Personally, directly. / Personally experience or carry out. / Life. / One's own moral character, ability, etc. / A world in buddhist doctrine.	v6,p3807#01	p.1237#01	p.1295r6c01
			yuān ㄩㄢ	Same as 「身毒」 yuān dú ㄩㄢㄉㄨˊ: India.
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.
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
乃	丿+1	廼𢏩𢎧迺𠄎𠧤	nǎi ㄋㄞˇ	Second person pronoun: you. / Demonstrative pronoun: like this, thus. / Adverb: expresses affirmation. / Adverb: expresses limiting of scope: only, just. / Adverb: and then. / Adverb: just. / Adverb: expresses two contradictory or contrasting states of affairs. / Adverb: expresses beginning, origin. / Connective: hence / Adverb: regarding, as for. / Connective: if. / Particle, no meaning.	v1,p0031#05	p.81#12	p.46r6c01
真	目+5	眞	zhēn ㄓㄣ	real, actual, true, genuine	v1,p0249#07	p.805#01	p.950r2c04
家	宀+7	傢宊𠖔𡩅𡧚	jiā jie gū ㄐㄧㄚㄐㄧㄝ· ㄍㄨ	house, home, residence; family	v2,p0930#15	p.286#17	p.420r1c02
餘	食+7	馀余	yú yé ㄩˊ ㄧㄝˊ	surplus, excess, remainder	v7,p4456#09	p.1420#25	p.1492r3c03
鄉	邑+9	郷鄕乡	xiāng xiǎng xiàng ㄒㄧㄤㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ	country; rural; village	v6,p3786#04	p.1275#02
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
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
豐	豆+11	豊𣍈𧯮丰	fēng ㄈㄥ	abundant, lush, bountiful, plenty	v6,p3569#02	p.1193#12	p.1261r4c01
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
普	日+8		pǔ ㄆㄨˇ	universal, general, widespread	v2,p1521#02	p.496#29	p.642r2c04
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
觀	見+18	覌𥍊𥸑𥷯观	guān guàn ㄍㄨㄢㄍㄨㄢˋ	see, observe, view; appearance	v6,p3677#05	p.1138#14	p.1231r6c04
吾	口+4	𠮣	wú ㄨˊ	First person pronoun: I, we. / Defend, resist.	v1,p0585#13	p.180#03	p.260r5c01
			yú ㄩˊ	See 吾吾.
			yá ㄧㄚˊ	Yunyu, an ancient district.
何	人+5		hé ㄏㄜˊ	Ask, enquire. / What. / Who, which one. / How, in what way. / Why, for what reason. / Where, in what place. / How much, to what extent.	v1,p0130#04	p.98#15	p.97r2c04
			hē ㄏㄜ	Criticize, condemn.
			hè ㄏㄜˋ	Carry on one's back. / Bear, carry a burden.
知	矢+3	𢇻𥎿	zhī ㄓ	Know, understand. / Perception. / Recognize. / Knowledge. / Know about, make sense of. / Be friendly with. / Control, get on top of.	v4,p2581#02	p.824#01	p.955r5c02
			zhì ㄓˋ	Wisdom.
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
哉	口+6	才	zāi ㄗㄞ	Begin, start. / Modal particle expressing exclamation. / Modal particle expressing questioning or a rhetorical question.	v1,p0611#07	p.189#08	p.270r2c01
此	止+2		cǐ ㄘˇ	This. / Like this. / Here. / Adverb: then.	v2,p1438#03	p.574#10	p.735r4c01

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.