第五章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 5
Heaven and earth are impartial, like a bellows that is empty yet never exhausted; better to keep to the center.
Text
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天地不仁，以万物为刍狗；
Heaven and earth are inhumane, they treat all things like ritual dolls.
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圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。
The sage is inhumane, he treats the people like ritual dolls.
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天地之间，其犹橐龠乎？
Space in the cosmos, is it just like bellows?
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虚而不屈，动而愈出。
Empty although unpressed, pressed although not empty.
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多言数穷，不如守中。
Describing its extremes leads to exhaustion, and is inferior to holding the center (not naming).
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 天地 | tiān dì | heaven and earth |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 仁 | rén | humaneness, humane |
| 以 | yǐ | to take (as) |
| 万物 | wàn wù | the myriad things |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 刍狗 | chú gǒu | straw dogs |
| 圣人 | shèng rén | the sage |
| 百姓 | bǎi xìng | the common people |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 间 | jiān | the space between |
| 其 | qí | it, he, they (subject) |
| 犹 | yóu | just like |
| 橐龠 | tuó yuè | the bellows |
| 乎 | hū | question particle |
| 虚 | xū | empty, to empty |
| 而 | ér | and yet, but |
| 屈 | qū | to run out |
| 动 | dòng | to move |
| 而 | ér | and, and then |
| 愈 | yù | the more |
| 出 | chū | to come out, emerge |
| 多 | duō | much, many |
| 言 | yán | words, to speak |
| 数 | shuò | often, repeatedly |
| 穷 | qióng | at an end, exhausted |
| 不如 | bù rú | is not as good as |
| 守 | shǒu | to keep, to guard |
| 中 | zhōng | the middle |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
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.
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.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 5
Chapter 5 says that heaven and earth, and the sage who takes them as his model, do not act out of 仁 (humaneness). They treat the myriad things, and the sage treats the people, like straw dogs: figures of straw that were honored during a sacrifice and thrown away after it. The point is impartiality rather than cruelty: nothing is singled out for favor.
The second image makes the space between heaven and earth a bellows. It is empty yet never runs out, and the more it moves, the more comes out. Emptiness is again the source of use, as with the vessel of chapter 4. The chapter ends on speech: many words soon come to an end, and it is better to keep to the center.
Straw dogs are the reading most commentators follow, and this site with them. Wang Bi took the two words apart: heaven and earth do not grow grass (刍) for beasts, yet beasts eat grass, nor breed dogs (狗) for people, yet people eat dogs. Either way, things are left to themselves. Speaking little returns in chapter 23.