Tao Te Ching / received chapter text
Tao Te Ching Chapter 11: Usefulness of Emptiness
Read Tao Te Ching chapter 11 through wheel hubs, vessels, rooms, presence, absence, and use with original text, pinyin, translation, and source limits.
Compare the three made objects before interpreting the final paired claim about presence and absence.
三十輻，共一轂，當其無，有車之用。埏埴以為器，當其無，有器之用。鑿戶牖以為室，當其無，有室之用。故有之以為利，無之以為用。
Thirty spokes share one hub; where it is empty, the cart has its use. Clay is shaped into a vessel; where it is empty, the vessel has its use. Doors and windows are cut to make a room; where it is empty, the room has its use. Thus presence provides advantage, and absence provides use.
What this page helps you decide
Compare the three made objects before interpreting the final paired claim about presence and absence.
Five-pass close reading
Move from wording to bounded comparison.
Information checked: 2026-07-19| Reading pass | What to inspect | Useful result | Stop rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original wording | Spokes and hub, clay and vessel, openings and room form three parallel examples before the concluding pair. | Keep the Chinese line beside the English choice | Do not replace the passage with a quotation meme |
| Key term | Identify one term whose range matters | Compare the term inside this sentence | Do not force one gloss across every text |
| Sentence relation | Mark contrast, parallel, negation, sequence, or image | Read the full clause before extracting a lesson | Do not erase grammar for a smooth slogan |
| Passage job | Name what the line changes in the chapter | Connect image and argument | Do not claim the chapter says more than it does |
| Modern comparison | State one bounded present-day question | Keep responsibility and context visible | Stop before universal advice |
This page uses the received Chinese chapter text. Its translation is a working editorial reading and does not settle textual variants, every commentary, or later religious and philosophical use.
Chinese Text Project: Dao De Jing