Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
多藏厚亡 (duō cáng hòu wáng)
Reworked from chapter 44
多藏厚亡 (duō cáng hòu wáng), “much hoarding, heavy loss”, shortens a line of chapter 44 of the Dao De Jing and means that the more you amass, the more you lose.
Character by character
| 多 | duō | much, many |
|---|---|---|
| 藏 | cáng | to hoard |
| 厚 | hòu | thick, heavy, generous |
| 亡 | wáng | loss, to lose |
| 多藏厚亡 | The more wealth you hoard, the heavier your loss will be. | |
Where it comes from
The idiom is not in the text as such: it reworks the line 多藏必厚亡.
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是故甚爱必大费，
So great attachment is sure to cost much,
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多藏必厚亡，知足不辱，
and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss. Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced;
How the meaning moved
Chapter 44 opens with three questions: “Fame or your life: which is dearer? Your life or your goods: which is worth more? Gain or loss: which does more harm?” Its answer: “So great attachment is sure to cost much, and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss.” The idiom is the second half of that answer, 多藏必厚亡, without 必, “is sure to”. The chapter then gives the remedy: “Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced; knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.”
In the chapter, what is lost is not only the goods: whoever clings to fame and wealth spends his life on them. Chapter 9 makes the same point: “Treasure-filled halls, cannot be defended.” The four-character form is old: the Book of the Later Han (后汉书) tells of Zhe Xiang, who was “moved by the meaning of 多藏厚亡” and gave away his gold, silk and property to kin near and far. Today the idiom belongs to written Chinese, as a warning against greed and hoarding.
Using it today
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他一辈子省吃俭用，到老才明白多藏厚亡的道理，把积蓄捐给了家乡的学校。
tā yī bèi zi shěng chī jiǎn yòng, dào lǎo cái míng bai duō cáng hòu wáng de dào lǐ, bǎ jī xù juān gěi le jiā xiāng de xué xiào.
He scrimped all his life and only understood in old age that much hoarding means heavy loss; he gave his savings to the school in his home town.
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古人说多藏厚亡，钱财攒得太多，未必是福。
gǔ rén shuō duō cáng hòu wáng, qián cái zǎn de tài duō, wèi bì shì fú.
The ancients said that much hoarding brings heavy loss: piling up too much money is not necessarily a blessing.