老子 【道德經】
第十六章 (致虛極 守靜篤)
致虛極,守靜篤。萬物並作,吾以觀復:
夫物芸芸,各復歸其根。
歸根曰靜,是曰復命,復命曰常。
知常曰明,不知常,妄作,凶。
知常容;容乃公;公乃王(全);王(全)乃天;天乃道;
道乃久;歿身不殆。
DAO DE JING: "The Classic on The Way and Virtues"
Chapter 16 (To the Utmost, you yourself Empty)
-- by LAO ZI (circa 600 BC - 500 BC ?)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue
To the Utmost, you yourself Empty;
Remain in Silence and Clarity.
All Things are evolving together, thus --
I see the Life Cycles continuous.
All Things are different and changes churning;
Then, each to its Root will be returning.
"Retrun-to-the-Root" is "Stillness", called so;
It is called "Returning to Life" also.
"Return-to-Life" is the "Norm", that's e'er existing;
Knowing the "Norm" is called "True Understanding".
Not knowing the "Norm" but still forge forward blindly --
This will just put one in Harm's way needlessly.
Knowing the "Norm" makes one Accommodating, too --
Being all Accommodating makes one Impartial;
Impartiality draws the Masses to you --
Being a Just Leader is therefore Natural;
Being Natural is the "Dao" or the "Way" --
Acting according to Natural Laws is Eternal,
And throughout your Life you'd with Security stay.
Note:
The Way -- "Dao": The Way of Nature.
A useful interpretation in Chinese (for the above ancient text) copied from the net :
<《白話解》
老子 道德經 第五章說:「天地之間,其猶橐龠乎﹖"虛"而不屈,"動"而愈出。」就是在描述「致虛極」的部分。而本章提到,道除了「虛、動」之外,它還會「靜、篤」。如果「虛、動」代表生、在幕前(由道而出),那麼「靜、篤」就代表死、回幕後(回歸道)了。
致虛極,
常道總是一方面極力地保持空虛好讓萬物變化萬千多彩多姿。
守靜篤,
但另一方面常道又堅守原則讓萬物歸根 (歸根曰靜) 回到篤實的本來面目──回歸並與常道合而為一。
萬物並作,
萬物就在這兩個作用下自然成長興盛而達到平衡,
吾以觀復:
而我觀察到的是萬物總是在天地間周而復始的循環著:
夫物芸芸,各復歸其根。
芸芸眾生,都因常道而生,由始而終,落葉歸根,又回復到常道之中。
歸根曰靜,是曰復命,復命曰常。
落葉歸根,叫做靜,也就是去回覆老天爺的差遣,要去回覆老天爺的差遣是萬物的常態。
知常曰明;
能認知「回歸常道而合為一體」是萬物的常態,就是明白道理;
不知常,妄作凶。
不明白萬物本是一體而胡搞妄作,就凶了。
知常容;
能了解萬物是一體就能包容萬物;
容乃公;
能包容萬物才能公平對待萬物;
公乃全;
能公平對待萬物才能將萬物照顧周全;
全乃天;
能夠將萬物照顧周全才能天下太平;
天乃道;
天下太平後才能達到常道的境界;
道乃久。
達到常道的境界後大同世界才能維持久遠;
'沒'(歿)身不殆。
久遠到即使我們死後再投胎也不會遭到危難。>
A brief collection of my attempted English renditions of selected Chinese poems, both contemporary and classical. (Each original classical Chinese poem may be presented in both the traditional and simplified forms, followed by the English translation.) Comments and suggested amendments welcome. (But I may not have the time to respond to every comment.) I am a follower of Andrew W F Wong's excellent blog "Classical Chinese Poems in English".
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