Tao Te Ching glossary 道德經

Each entry is the argument behind one ruling: what the character is, its oldest forms, how the text uses it, and why the English reads as it does. 51 entries, each rendered from the translation's repository.

保 bǎo keep safe settled 常 cháng the ever-present / ever / always settled 持 chí hold settled 慈 cí tenderness settled 大 dà great — large where the scale is physical or political, greater in comparatives, master of a craftsman settled 道 dào the Tao / way settled 德 dé integrity settled 帝 dì god — any god at its one occurrence settled 復命 fù mìng returning to what is given settled 敢 gǎn push / venture — the forward press to take settled 公 gōng impartiality / impartial (the quality) · lord / minister (the office) settled 貨 huò goods settled 極 jí the far end — where a thing runs out open 精 jīng vital essence / essence settled 可 kě can be (可 + verb) / can (可以 + verb) / cannot (不可) settled 亂 luàn disorder settled 命 mìng the allotted course — what is spoken over a thing and sent with it open 明 míng clear-seeing / clarity — see clearly in predicate position, clear as a modifier settled 母 mǔ mother settled 樸 pǔ uncarved wood / the uncarved settled 器 qì vessel / tool / implement settled 強 qiáng strong — strengthen where it takes an object, forcing where it strains against a thing's nature settled 全 quán whole · stay whole · keep whole (transitive) settled 仁 rén humaneness settled 弱 ruò yielding — and weaken only where it takes an object settled 善 shàn masterful / masterful at · the masterful & the unmasterful (of people) · good (only where the text names the category) settled 身 shēn body settled 生 shēng give birth to / bear / bring forth settled 事 shì affairs / undertakings (noun) · to serve, to attend to (verb) settled 士 shì in service settled 恃 shì rely on — the heart putting its weight on something settled 守 shǒu hold to settled 天 tiān sky (as a tier) · nature / the natural (as an agent) settled 天地 tiān dì sky and earth settled 王 wáng ruler / sovereign · to rule (verb) settled 萬物 wàn wù the countless things settled 為 wéi do / handle / serve as settled 我 & 吾 wǒ / wú the self seen / the self seeing settled 無 & 有 wú / yǒu absence / presence settled 無為 wú wéi non-doing settled 信 xìn trust / trustworthy settled 心 xīn heart settled 虛 xū empty (adjective) · to empty (verb) open 玄 & 妙 xuán / miào dark or profound / subtle settled 一 yī the one (lowercase) · plain numeral where it counts settled 爭 zhēng contend / contention settled 執 zhí grasp settled 治 zhì govern settled 知足 zhī zú knowing you have enough / contentment settled 眾 zhòng the crowd / the many settled 自然 zì rán of itself / of themselves · so of itself settled