Five colors blind; five tones deafen; five flavors cause tastelessness
檢欲 · Jiǎn Yù
Classical Chinese Text
五色令人目盲；五音令人耳聋；五味令人口爽①；驰骋畋猎，令人心发狂；难得之货，令人行妨；是以圣人为腹不为目，故去彼取此。
Translation & Meaning
Five colors blind; five tones deafen; five flavors cause tastelessness; excessive riding and hunting cause frenzies; rare-find goods cause hindrance; thus, a sage frees herself from indulgence and lives a moderate life.
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 五 (wǔ): classical character (wǔ)
- 色 (sè): classical character (sè)
- 令 (lìng): classical character (lìng)
- 人 (rén): person / human
- 目 (mù): classical character (mù)
- 盲 (máng): classical character (máng)
- 音 (yīn): music / tone
- 耳 (ěr): classical character (ěr)
- 聋 (lóng): classical character (lóng)
- 味 (wèi): classical character (wèi)
- 口 (kǒu): classical character (kǒu)
- 爽 (shuǎng): classical character (shuǎng)
- 驰 (chí): classical character (chí)
- 骋 (chěng): classical character (chěng)
- 畋 (tián): classical character (tián)
- 猎 (liè): classical character (liè)
- 心 (xīn): heart-mind / awareness
- 发 (fā): classical character (fā)
- 狂 (kuáng): classical character (kuáng)
- 难 (nán): difficult / arduous
- 得 (dé): obtain / acquire / gain
- 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
- 货 (huò): goods / treasure / items
- 行 (xíng): practice / teach / walk
- 妨 (fáng): classical character (fáng)
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
- 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
- 腹 (fù): belly / vital center
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
- 去 (qù): depart / lose / abandon
- 彼 (bǐ): classical character (bǐ)
- 取 (qǔ): classical character (qǔ)
- 此 (cǐ): classical character (cǐ)