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Riyue

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吝嗇, 應當用的財物捨不得用。"嗇"是老子思想中的重要概念, 它有愛惜精神, 積蓄力量意義, 與六十七章的"儉"的意義相近。

Somebody here, who can elaborate this? - suggestions for a matching translation of se in english?

usually you find the translation

frugal- being sparing...

i am missing the idea of sustainibility - the sinograph includes a circling, a coming back - under grain

-

we find this character in daodejing # 59

治人,

事天,

莫若嗇。

夫惟嗇是以早服。

早服謂之重積德。

重積德則無不克。

無不克則莫知其極。

莫知其極可以有國。

有國之母可以長久。

是謂深根固柢,

長生久視之道。

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Thank you. Yes- it helps - ... it seems to me that we have to use several words in english to describe thie meaning of se 嗇- as we have to understand it in the context of ddj 59... always managing our resources in a way - that we can start the next year a new sowing...

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The Chinese text you have states that it is close to 儉, which is one of the "three treasures" of the 67 th chapter.

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Heya WallaMike, sorry for only seeing your request now. What I do is bounce the character through several websites:

 

YellowBridge Chinese-English Talking Dictionary

 

Etymology

 

nciku - Online English Chinese Dictionary, Learn Chinese Mandarin Online

 

Learn Chinese Characters

 

Chineselanguage.org

 

Laozi Daodejing Siegelschrift - Sealscript 老子 道德經 篆書 - Laotse Taoteking

 

I look for consensus between them but pay very close attention to the pictographic meanings from the Seal Script. Then I fill out my translation template:

 

Character:

Pinyin:

Pictograph:

Definition:

 

I find most translators will take the root pictographic meaning and interpret it according to their view of the world. I find it useful to dig into a character myself to find my own translation.

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