Dao De Jing – Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) embodies Laozi’s philosophy on the operation of the Dao, the cosmic harmony between heaven and humanity, and the fundamental equality of all phenomena.

Heaven and Earth are impartial; they treat all things as straw dogs.
The sage is impartial; he treats the people as straw dogs.

Is not the space between Heaven and Earth like a bellows?
Empty, yet it does not collapse;
the more it moves, the more it yields.

Excessive speech leads quickly to exhaustion—
better to hold fast to the center.

Note

The Dao operates in both heaven and earth as well as in humanity. It lacks selfish preferences and shows no partiality, revealing an essential equality among all beings and all humans‌.

The action of the Dao resembles a bellows stoking a fire: though it appears like an empty vessel, it possesses transcendent utility‌.

We are like straw dogs or ritual straw figures: our relevance emerges only in specific contexts. Therefore, in adversity, it is wise to avoid despair; in prosperity, to reject arrogance‌.

Further Reading

The statement in Chapter Five, “Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs,” proposes the impartiality of natural laws, which echoes the transcendent nature of “Non-being” in Chapter One’s “Non-being is the beginning of heaven and earth.” Chapter One emphasizes the ineffability of the Tao and its transcendence beyond human emotions and cognition, while Chapter Five, through the concept of “not benevolent” (impartial) reveals the objectivity of heaven and earth in treating all things equally. Together, they construct the Daoist philosophical framework of “transcending subjective prejudices.”

The description in Chapter Five, “Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bellows?” corresponds with the idea in Chapter Forty, “All things under heaven are born of Being, and Being is born of Non-being.” Chapter Five uses the metaphor of a “bellows” to illustrate the emptiness and dynamic energy of the workings of heaven and earth, while Chapter Forty clarifies that “Non-being” is the ultimate source of all things. Together, they elucidate the Daoist cosmological view of “all things arising from emptiness.”

天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗；聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗。天地之間，其猶橐籥乎？虛而不屈，動而愈出。多言數窮，不如守中。