DAO DE JING · THE DAO
Chapter 12
五色令人目盲，五音令人耳聾，五味令人口爽，馳騁畋獵令人心發狂，
難得之貨令人行妨。
是以聖人為腹不為目，故去彼取此。
JAMES LEGGE · ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1.
Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange, Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
2. Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, and prefers to seek the former.
About these texts
The Chinese follows the Wang Bi recension in the Sibu Beiyao edition, transcribed on Wikisource. The English is James Legge’s translation.
They are paired by chapter number. Wording and punctuation can differ between editions. The historical text and translation are distinct from any AI reflection.
The Chinese transcription is adapted by extracting chapter text and omitting commentary. Editorial contributions are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; the historical work is public domain. English source: Project Gutenberg, ebook 216; the underlying Legge translation is public domain in the USA.