Classica Sinica Medica

樸 简体 朴

pǔ

Pu · the uncarved

Also rendered: The uncarved block (Full form, from the Daodejing)

Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
pǔ
Simplified
朴
Literal
Wood in its natural state, before the axe and the knife.

In brief

The chapter’s word for people who have not been worked on: their food seems fine, their clothes sufficient, and high and low do not envy one another. It is a description of a social condition, not a mystical state.

樸 is unworked wood. Applied to people it means unshaped by appetite and by comparison — and the chapter is careful to say what that looks like: they relish their own food, accept their own clothes, delight in their own customs, and do not envy those above or below them.

Nothing here is otherworldly. The virtue being praised is the absence of wanting something else.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Unworked wood 樸
The base sense, before shaping
— — —
2
Unshaped people 其民故曰樸
People not worked on by craving or comparison
其民故曰樸 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

Display
2 passages
Huangdi Neijing · Suwen Suwen 1 · On Innate Vitality in Antiquity Read in context →
故美其食，任其服，樂其俗，高下不相慕，其民故曰樸 故美其食，任其服，乐其俗，高下不相慕，其民故曰朴
gù měi qí shí, rèn qí fú, lè qí sú, gāo xià bù xiāng mù, qí mín gù yuē pǔ
Their food seemed fine to them, their clothing sufficient, their customs a delight; high and low did not envy one another — such people were called uncarved.
A social description, not a metaphysical one: no one is comparing.
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
夫上古聖人之教下也，皆謂之虛邪賊風，避之有時，恬惔虛无，真氣從之，精神内守，病安從來？是以志閑而少欲，心安而不懼，形勞而不倦。氣從以順，各從其欲，皆得所願。故美其食，任其服，樂其俗，高下不相慕，其民故曰樸。是以嗜欲不能勞其目，淫邪不能惑其心，愚智賢不肖，不懼於物，故合於道。 夫上古圣人之教下也，皆谓之虚邪贼风，避之有时，恬惔虚无，真气从之，精神内守，病安从来？是以志闲而少欲，心安而不惧，形劳而不倦。气从以顺，各从其欲，皆得所愿。故美其食，任其服，乐其俗，高下不相慕，其民故曰朴。是以嗜欲不能劳其目，淫邪不能惑其心，愚智贤不肖，不惧于物，故合于道。
Fú shàng gǔ shèng rén zhī jiào xià yě, jiē wèi zhī xū xié zéi fēng, bì zhī yǒu shí, tián dàn xū wú, zhēn qì cóng zhī, jīng shén nèi shǒu, bìng ān cóng lái? shì yǐ zhì xián ér shǎo yù, xīn ān ér bù jù, xíng láo ér bù juàn. qì cóng yǐ shùn, gè cóng qí yù, jiē dé suǒ yuàn. gù měi qí shí, rèn qí fú, lè qí sú, gāo xià bù xiāng mù, qí mín gù yuē pǔ. shì yǐ shì yù bù néng láo qí mù, yín xié bù néng huò qí xīn, yú zhì xián bù xiào, bù jù yú wù, gù hé yú dào.
When the sages of high antiquity taught those below them, they all said this: as for the deficient evils and thieving winds, avoid them in season; be tranquil and detached, empty and without striving, and the true qi will follow you; keep essence and spirit guarded within, and from where could illness come? Therefore the will is at leisure and desires are few, the heart is at peace and knows no fear, the body labours and does not weary. The qi follows and goes smoothly, each follows what he wishes, and all obtain what they want. So they find their food sweet, they are easy in their clothes, they delight in their customs, and high and low do not envy one another — such people may be called the uncarved. Hence craving cannot weary their eyes and debauchery cannot confuse their hearts; the foolish, the wise, the worthy and the worthless alike are not made fearful by things, and so they accord with the way.
「其民故曰樸」——樸讀 pǔ，謂未雕之木；**「樸」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

樸素
pǔ sù
plain, unadorned
The modern compound, close to the base sense
歸樸
guī pǔ
return to the uncarved
The Daoist programme the chapter echoes

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

This siteuncarvedKeeps the carpentry image the graph carries.
Common Englishsimplicity, the simple lifeLoses the sense of material not yet worked.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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