(If) all that is under heaven has Tao, dismissed war horses plow field

儉欲 · Jiǎn Yù

Classical Chinese Text

天下有道，却走马以粪，天下无道，戎马生于郊。祸莫大于不知足；咎莫大于欲得。故知足之足，常足矣。

Translation & Meaning

(If) all that is under heaven has Tao, dismissed war horses plow fields. (If) all that is under heaven hasn’t Tao, foals are born in battlefield. (There is) no misfortune bigger than discontentment; (there is) no bigger fault than greed. So the contentment of being content, (leads to) the constant contentment.

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 有 (yǒu): manifest being / cosmos / to possess
  • 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
  • 却 (què): classical character (què)
  • 走 (zǒu): classical character (zǒu)
  • 马 (mǎ): classical character (mǎ)
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 粪 (fèn): classical character (fèn)
  • 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
  • 戎 (róng): classical character (róng)
  • 生 (shēng): give birth to / arise
  • 于 (yú): to / at / in
  • 郊 (jiāo): classical character (jiāo)
  • 祸 (huò): classical character (huò)
  • 莫 (mò): classical character (mò)
  • 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
  • 足 (zú): classical character (zú)
  • 咎 (jiù): classical character (jiù)
  • 欲 (yù): intent / desire / craving
  • 得 (dé): obtain / acquire / gain
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 常 (cháng): constant / dynamic invariable
  • 矣 (yǐ): [modal particle of realization]