Impartiality, Straw Dogs, The Bellows, Less Talking, The Uses of Emptiness, 虛用
"Heaven and earth are not Good
They treat the thousands of things like straw dogs.
The Wise Person is not Good
He treats the hundred clans like straw dogs.
The space between heaven and earth
Isn't like a bellows?
Empty, by not shriveled up,
Set it in motion and always more comes out.
Much talking, quickly exhausted.
It can't compare to watching over what is inside."
- Translated by
Michael
LaFargue, 1992, Chapter 5
Translated by Eva Wong 
Translated by Philip Ivahoe
By James Miller
Translated by Stephen Bokencamp
By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins
Translated by Thomas Cleary
By Livia Kohn
"Heaven and earth do not act from 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;
The 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."
- Translated by James Legge, 1891,
Chapter 5
By Alexander Simkins
By Derek Lin
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng
Translated by Thomas Cleary
"Heaven and earth are not like humans, they are impartial.
They regard all things as insignificant, as though they were playthings made of
straw.
The wise man is also impartial.
To him all men are alike and unimportant.
The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows,
It is empty but does not collapse,
It moves and more and more issues.
A gossip is soon empty, it is doubtful if he can be impartial."
- Translated by
Dwight Goddard and
Henri Borel, 1919,
Chapter 5
By Hu Xuzehi
Annotated translation by Victor Mair 
By Ha Poong Kim
By Hans-Georg Moeller 
By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall
By Wes Burgess
By Arthur Waley
"Heaven and Earth are impartial;
They see the ten thousand things as straw dogs.
The wise are impartial;
They see the people as straw dogs.
The space between heaven and Earth is like a bellows.
The shape changes but not the form;
The more it moves, the more it yields.
More words count less.
Hold fast to the center."
- Translated by Gia-fu Feng and
Jane English, 1989, Chapter 5
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni
Translated by Brian Walker
Translated by Arthur Waley
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
By Eva Wong
"Heaven and Earth are ruthless;
To them the Ten Thousand things are but as straw dogs.
The Sage too is ruthless;
To him the people are but as straw dogs.
Yet Heaven and Earth and all that lies between
Is like a bellows
In that it is empty, but gives a supply that never fails.
Work it, and more comes out.
Whereas the force of words is soon spent.
Far better is it to keep what is in the heart."
- Translated by
Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 5
Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Translated by Livia Kohn
Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way
"Nature is non-benevolent.
It regards the masses as straw dogs.
The Holy Man is non-benevolent.
He regards the masses as straw dogs.
The space between the heaven and the earth is like a bellows; though
unsupported, it does not warp; when in motion the more it expels.
Though words could exhaust this theme, they would not be so profitable as the preservation of its inner essence."
- Translated by
C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 5
Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching
The Tao of Zen
Tao Te Ching: Zen Teachings on the Taoist Classic
Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China
"Nature, immune
as to a sacrifice of straw dogs,
Faces the decay of its fruits.
A sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs,
Faces the passing of human generations.
The universe, like a bellows,
Is always emptying, always full:
The more it yields, the more it holds.
Men came to their wit's end arguing about it
And had better meet it at the marrow."
- Translated by
Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 5
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