Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
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。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Heaven and earth are not humane; they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs.The sage is not humane; he treats the hundred families as straw dogs.The space between heaven and earth—is it not like a bellows?Empty yet never exhausted; set in motion, it brings forth ever more.Many words soon come to nothing; better to hold to the center.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Heaven and earth know no humaneness; they use all things as straw dogs.The sage, too, shows no partiality; he treats the people as straw dogs.Is the space between heaven and earth not like a smith’s bellows?Empty, it never gives out; set in motion, it brings forth more and more.Too many words soon exhaust themselves; better to hold to the center.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. 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.
2. 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.