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Chapter 5

天地不仁

天tiān地dì不bù仁rén，
以yǐ万wàn物wù为wéi刍chú狗gǒu；
圣shèng人rén不bù仁rén，
以yǐ百bǎi姓xìng为wéi刍chú狗gǒu。
天tiān地dì之zhī间jiān，
其qí犹yóu橐tuó蘥yuè乎hū？
虚xū而ér不bù屈qū，
动dòng而ér愈yù出chū。
多duō言yán数shù穷qióng，
不bù如rú守shǒu中zhōng。

a> Heaven and earth are not ren: they treat the things of the world as straw dogs. The sage is not ren: he treats the people as straw dogs.

b> All between heaven and earth is like a great bellows-- Empty, yet it does not collapse, The more it is moved the more it issues forth.

c> Many words are soon exhausted; Better to preserve the central.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.