Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
虚怀若谷 (xū huái ruò gǔ)
Reworked from chapter 15
虚怀若谷 (xū huái ruò gǔ), “a mind as open as a valley”, reworks chapter 15 of the Dao De Jing, “Open, like a valley”, and means humble and open to what others say.
Character by character
| 虚 | xū | empty, to empty |
|---|---|---|
| 怀 | huái | to carry in the bosom |
| 若 | ruò | like, as if |
| 谷 | gǔ | valley |
| 虚怀若谷 | Humble and open-minded, with room for other people's views, as a valley has room for all that flows into it. | |
Where it comes from
The idiom is not in the text as such: it reworks the line 旷兮其若谷.
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旷兮其若谷，混兮其若浊。
Open, like a valley. Obscure, like muddy water.
How the meaning moved
Chapter 15 describes the ancient masters of the Way, whose depth “cannot be known”, so that the chapter can only describe how they looked: wary as if wading across a river in winter, melting like ice, solid and plain, and “Open, like a valley.” The Chinese is 旷兮其若谷: wide and empty, like a valley. A valley is low and hollow, and so everything flows into it. The book comes back to the image in chapter 41: “the highest virtue seems like a valley”.
The four characters 虚怀若谷 are not in the book. They keep 若谷, “like a valley”, and add 虚怀, an empty bosom, a mind with room in it. Dictionaries trace the idiom to this line of chapter 15 and to 上德若谷 in chapter 41; the examples they give come from much later writers. The sense has narrowed to modesty: a person who is 虚怀若谷 listens, learns and does not think himself full. It is a common compliment for scholars and teachers.
Using it today
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这位老教授学问很深，却虚怀若谷，常常向年轻学生请教。
zhè wèi lǎo jiào shòu xué wèn hěn shēn, què xū huái ruò gǔ, cháng cháng xiàng nián qīng xué shēng qǐng jiào.
This old professor is very learned, yet humble and open, and often asks his young students for their views.
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领导要虚怀若谷，才能听到真话。
lǐng dǎo yào xū huái ruò gǔ, cái néng tīng dào zhēn huà.
A leader has to be open-minded to hear the truth.