第十二章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 12
Too much color, sound, flavor and excitement dulls the senses; the sage tends to what nourishes.
Text
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五色令人目盲，
Too many colors render people blind,
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五音令人耳聋，
Too many sounds render people deaf,
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五味令人口爽，
Too many flavors dull the palate,
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驰骋畋猎令人心发狂，
Racing and hunting madden the mind,
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难得之货令人行妨。
Hard-to-get goods makes people misbehave.
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是以圣人为腹不为目，
Therefore the sage provides for the soul, not for the senses.
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故去彼取此。
Thus let go of this, takes up that.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 五色 | wǔ sè | the five colors |
| 令 | lìng | to make, to cause |
| 人 | rén | people, others |
| 目 | mù | eyes |
| 盲 | máng | blind |
| 五音 | wǔ yīn | the five tones |
| 耳 | ěr | ears |
| 聋 | lóng | deaf |
| 五味 | wǔ wèi | the five flavors |
| 口 | kǒu | mouth, palate |
| 爽 | shuǎng | to spoil, to dull |
| 驰骋 | chí chěng | galloping |
| 畋猎 | tián liè | hunting |
| 心 | xīn | heart, mind |
| 发狂 | fā kuáng | to go mad |
| 难得 | nán dé | hard to obtain |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 货 | huò | goods, valuables |
| 行 | xíng | conduct, actions |
| 妨 | fáng | to harm, go astray |
| 是以 | shì yǐ | therefore, for this reason |
| 圣人 | shèng rén | the sage |
| 为 | wèi | for, for the sake of |
| 腹 | fù | belly |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 故 | gù | therefore |
| 去 | qù | to discard |
| 彼 | bǐ | that, the other |
| 取 | qǔ | to take, to seize |
| 此 | cǐ | this, these |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;
Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange,
Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, and prefers to seek the former.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 12
Chapter 12 is a warning about overstimulation. The five colors blind the eye, the five tones deafen the ear, the five flavors spoil the palate; racing and hunting drive the heart wild, and rare goods lead conduct astray. The groups of five were the standard lists of the time: the senses are pictured as swamped by everything offered to them.
The sage's answer is in line 6: he provides for the belly, not for the eye. The belly stands for what actually sustains a person, the eye for what draws one outward toward display and want. Wang Bi puts it this way: one who lives for the belly is nourished by things, one who lives for the eye is made their servant. The house English renders the line more freely, "for the soul, not for the senses".
The chapter ends with a formula that recurs in chapters 38 and 72: let go of that, take up this. The hard-to-get goods are those of chapter 3, where the sage also fills bellies and empties minds.