Chinese Text Project Dictionary

Daoism -> Dao De Jing -> 16

	(Returning to the root)
致虛極，	The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree,
守靜篤。	and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.
萬物並作，	All things alike go through their processes of activity,
吾以觀復。	and (then) we see them return (to their original state).
夫物芸芸，	When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth,
各復歸其根。	we see each of them return to its root.
歸根曰靜，	This returning to their root is what we call the state of stillness;
是謂復命。	and that stillness may be called a reporting that they have fulfilled their appointed end.
復命曰常，	The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
知常曰明。	To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent;
不知常，	not to know it
妄作凶。	leads to wild movements and evil issues.
知常容，	The knowledge of that unchanging rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance,
容乃公，	and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things).
公乃王，	From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character;
王乃天，	and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like.
天乃道，	In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Dao.
道乃久，	Possessed of the Dao, he endures long;
沒身不殆。	and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
致	至+3	緻	zhì zhuì ㄓˋ ㄓㄨㄟˋ	send, deliver, present; cause	v4,p2815#06	p.1001#19	p.602r5c01
虛	虍+6	𣦄虚	xū ㄒㄩ	false, worthless; empty, hollow	v4,p2825#06	p.1074#11	p.1184r1c06
極	木+9	极	jí ㄐㄧˊ	extreme, utmost, furthest, final	v2,p1240#10	p.542#02	p.710r4c03
守	宀+3	𡬮𡬴	shǒu shòu ㄕㄡˇ ㄕㄡˋ	defend, protect, guard, conserve	v2,p0912#03	p.282#05	p.405r4c01
靜	靑+8	㣏静	jìng ㄐㄧㄥˋ	quiet, still, motionless; gentle	v6,p4049#01	p.1382#03	p.1463r3c02
篤	竹+10	笃	dǔ ㄉㄨˇ	deep, true, sincere, genuine	v5,p2997#06	p.894#29	p.1019r6c02
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
並	一+7	幷并竝	bìng bàng ㄅㄧㄥˋ ㄅㄤˋ	equal to; side by side; also, what is more; both	v1,p0246#02	p.78#14	p.37r2c05
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
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.
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
觀	見+18	覌𥍊𥸑𥷯观	guān guàn ㄍㄨㄢㄍㄨㄢˋ	see, observe, view; appearance	v6,p3677#05	p.1138#14	p.1231r6c04
復	彳+9	覆𢕛𠣸复	fù fòu ㄈㄨˋ ㄈㄡˋ	return; repeat; repeatedly	v2,p0834#02	p.369#22	p.516r2c04
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.
芸	艸+4	藝蕓	yún yì yùn ㄩㄣˊ ㄧˋ ㄩㄣˋ	rue, herb used to keep insects away; to cut grass or weeds; art, talent, ability, craft, technique, performance, acting, trick, stunt	v5,p3178#04	p.1021#07	p.1127r4c03
各	口+3		gè ㄍㄜˋ	each, individually, every, all	v1,p0583#01	p.174#18	p.248r6c03
歸	止+14	帰归𤾤	guī kuì ㄍㄨㄟㄎㄨㄟˋ	return; return to, revert to	v2,p1446#15	p.578#07	p.739r6c01
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.
根	木+6		gēn ㄍㄣ	root, base(d on); foundation	v2,p1208#02	p.524#07	p.691r3c02
曰	曰+0		yuē ㄩㄝ	Say, speak. / Call, name. / Particle.	v2,p1482#02	p.502#01	p.648r3c03
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
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.
命	口+5		mìng ㄇㄧㄥˋ	Order, command. / Written order, commandment. / Send (on a mission), dispatch. / A (diplomatic) mission. / Force, make do. / Instruct, tell. / Gift given by a ruler to his ministers by rank. / Will of heaven. / Fate. / Life, lifespan. / Call, name, assign a name to. / Know for certain.	v1,p0604#11	p.183#18	p.266r6c01
常	巾+8		cháng ㄔㄤˊ	common, normal, frequent, regular	v1,p0744#01	p.333#12	p.477r2c01
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.
明	日+4	朙	míng ㄇㄧㄥˊ	Bright, brilliant. / Daytime. / Clear, obvious. / Clarify, make clear. / Understand. / Straightforwardly, clearly. / Clear, clean. / Wise. / Make wise. / Spirit, god. / Respect. / Eyesight. / Good eyesight. / See clearly. / The following (day, month, year, etc.).	v2,p1491#08	p.491#12	p.631r3c01
不	一+3	不𠀚𠙐	bù ㄅㄨˋ	(3.1) 否定副詞：用於動詞、形容詞等前面，表示否定。 Negational adverb, used before verbs, adjectives, etc. to indicate negation.	v1,p0011#06	p.76#15	p.30r1c01
妄	女+3		wàng ㄨㄤˋ	absurd, foolish, reckless; false	v2,p1027#09	p.256#01	p.379r4c01
凶	凵+2	兇㐫𣧑	xiōng ㄒㄩㄥ	culprit; murder; bad, sad	v1,p0306#19	p.135#02	p.171r3c05
容	宀+7	𠕺	róng ㄖㄨㄥˊ	looks, appearance; figure, form	v2,p0933#17	p.287#03	p.421r6c01
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
公	八+2	㒶	gōng ㄍㄨㄥ	fair, equitable; public; duke	v1,p0242#01	p.126#28	p.151r3c01
王	玉+0		wáng ㄨㄤˊ	King, title of supreme ruler of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. / Ruler of a vassal state in the warring states period. / Highest title in feudal China. / Meet with the emperor. / Respectful term for one's paternal grandparents.	v2,p1099#10	p.727#02	p.888r1c02
			wàng ㄨㄤˋ	Rule as king, control all under heaven. / Enfeoff as king. / Flourish, abound.
			wǎng ㄨㄤˇ	To, go to.
天	大+1	𠀡𠀘𦴞兲靝𠕹	tiān ㄊㄧㄢ	sky, heaven; god, celestial	v1,p0522#01	p.248#04	p.358r4c01
道	辵+9	𨕥衟𡬹	dào ㄉㄠˋ	Road, path. / Journey. / Method. / Law, reason. / Doctrine, claim. / Skill, technique. / Principle, right way. / The Dao, the origin of all things in Daoism. / Speak, talk. / Take a course of action. / Take a course of action. / Rites paid to the spirit of roads. / Ancient administrative unit. / Daoism.	v6,p3864#01	p.1262#06	p.1326r3c02
			dǎo ㄉㄠˇ	Lead. / Flow smoothly.
久	丿+2	乆	jiǔ ㄐㄧㄡˇ	long time (ago); time passage, grow late	v1,p0033#03	p.81#19	p.47r1c02
沒	水+4	歿歾𣇶没	méi mò ㄇㄟˊ ㄇㄛˋ	not, have not, none; to drown, sink	v3,p1571#02	p.611#10	p.771r2c04
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.
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.
殆	歹+5		dài ㄉㄞˋ	dangerous, perilous; endanger	v2,p1384#12	p.580#04	p.741r4c02

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.