| Chinese Text Project | |
| Simplified Chinese version |
《知北游 - Knowledge Rambling in the North》 | English translation: James Legge [?] | Books referencing 《知北游》 Library Resources |
| 1 | 知北游: | 知北游于玄水之上，登隐弅之丘，而适遭无为谓焉。知谓无为谓曰：“予欲有问乎若：何思何虑则知道？何处何服则安道？何从何道则得道？”三问而无为谓不答也，非不答，不知答也。知不得问，反于白水之南，登狐阕之丘，而睹狂屈焉。知以之言也问乎狂屈。狂屈曰：“唉！予知之，将语若，中欲言而忘其所欲言。”知不得问，反于帝宫，见黄帝而问焉。黄帝曰：“无思无虑始知道，无处无服始安道，无从无道始得道。” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: |
Knowledge had rambled northwards to the region of the Dark Water, where he ascended the height of Imperceptible Slope, when it happened that he met with Dumb Inaction. Knowledge addressed him, saying, 'I wish to ask you some questions: By what process of thought and anxious consideration do we get to know the Dao? Where should we dwell and what should we do to find our rest in the Dao? From what point should we start and what path should we pursue to make the Dao our own?' He asked these three questions, but Dumb Inaction gave him no reply. Not only did he not answer, but he did not know how to answer. Knowledge, disappointed by the fruitlessness of his questions, returned to the south of the Bright Water, and ascended the height of the End of Doubt, where he saw Heedless Blurter, to whom he put the same questions, and who replied, 'Ah! I know, and will tell you.' But while he was about to speak, he forgot what he wanted to say. Knowledge, (again) receiving no answer to his questions, returned to the palace of the Di, where he saw Huang-Di, and put the questions to him. Huang-Di said, 'To exercise no thought and no anxious consideration is the first step towards knowing the Dao; to dwell nowhere and do nothing is the first step towards resting in the Dao; to start from nowhere and pursue no path is the first step towards making the Dao your own.' | |
| 知问黄帝曰：“我与若知之，彼与彼不知也，其孰是邪？”黄帝曰：“彼无为谓真是也，狂屈似之，我与汝终不近也。夫知者不言，言者不知，故圣人行不言之教。道不可致，德不可至。仁可为也，义可亏也，礼相伪也。故曰：‘失道而后德，失德而后仁，失仁而后义，失义而后礼。礼者，道之华而乱之首也。’故曰：‘为道者日损，损之又损之，以至于无为，无为而无不为也。’今已为物也，欲复归根，不亦难乎！其易也，其唯大人乎！生也死之徒，死也生之始，孰知其纪！人之生，气之聚也，聚则为生，散则为死。若死生为徒，吾又何患！故万物一也，是其所美者为神奇，其所恶者为臭腐；臭腐复化为神奇，神奇复化为臭腐。故曰：‘通天下一气耳。’圣人故贵一。” | ||
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Knowledge then asked Huang-Di, saying, 'I and you know this; those two did not know it; which of us is right?' The reply was, 'Dumb Inaction is truly right; Heedless Blurter has an appearance of being so; I and you are not near being so. (As it is said), "Those who know (the Dao) do not speak of it; those who speak of it do not know it;" and "Hence the sage conveys his instructions without the use of speech." The Dao cannot be made ours by constraint; its characteristics will not come to us (at our call). Benevolence may be practised; Righteousness may be partially attended to; by Ceremonies men impose on one another. Hence it is said, "When the Dao was lost, its Characteristics appeared. When its Characteristics were lost, Benevolence appeared. When Benevolence was lost, Righteousness appeared. When Righteousness was lost, Ceremonies appeared. Ceremonies are but (the unsubstantial) flowers of the Dao, and the commencement of disorder." Hence (also it is further said), "He who practises the Dao, daily diminishes his doing. He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing nothing. Having arrived at this non-inaction, there is nothing that he does not do." Here now there is something, a regularly fashioned utensil - if you wanted to make it return to the original condition of its materials, would it not be difficult to make it do so? Could any but the Great Man accomplish this easily? 'Life is the follower of death, and death is the predecessor of life; but who knows the Arranger (of this connexion between them)? The life is due to the collecting of the breath. When that is collected, there is life; when it is dispersed, there is death. Since death and life thus attend on each other, why should I account (either of) them an evil? 'Therefore all things go through one and the same experience. (Life) is accounted beautiful because it is spirit-like and wonderful, and death is accounted ugly because of its foetor and putridity. But the foetid and putrid is transformed again into the spirit-like and wonderful, and the spirit-like and wonderful is transformed again into the foetid and putrid. Hence it is said, "All under the sky there is one breath of life, and therefore the sages prized that unity."' | ||
| 知谓黄帝曰：“吾问无为谓，无为谓不应我，非不我应，不知应我也。吾问狂屈，狂屈中欲告我而不我告，非不我告，中欲告而忘之也。今予问乎若，若知之，奚故不近？”黄帝曰：“彼其真是也，以其不知也；此其似之也，以其忘之也；予与若终不近也，以其知之也。” | ||
| Knowledge said to Huang-Di, 'I asked Dumb Inaction, and he did not answer me. Not only did he not answer me, but he did not know how to answer me. I asked Heedless Blurter, and while he wanted to tell me, he yet did not do so. Not only did he not tell me, but while he wanted to tell me, he forgot all about my questions. Now I have asked you, and you knew (all about them) - why (do you say that) you are not near doing so?' Huang-Di replied, 'Dumb Inaction was truly right, because he did not know the thing. Heedless Blurter was nearly right, because he forgot it. I and you are not nearly right, because we know it.' | ||
| 狂屈闻之，以黄帝为知言。 | ||
| Heedless Blurter heard of (all this), and considered that Huang-Di knew how to express himself (on the subject). | ||
| 2 | 知北游: | 天地有大美而不言，四时有明法而不议，万物有成理而不说。圣人者，原天地之美而达万物之理。是故至人无为，大圣不作，观于天地之谓也。 |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | (The operations of) Heaven and Earth proceed in the most admirable way, but they say nothing about them; the four seasons observe the clearest laws, but they do not discuss them ; all things have their complete and distinctive constitutions, but they say nothing about them. The sages trace out the admirable operations of Heaven and Earth, and reach to and understand the distinctive constitutions of all things; and thus it is that the Perfect Man (is said to) do nothing and the Greatest Sage to originate nothing, such language showing that they look to Heaven and Earth as their model. | |
| 今彼神明至精，与彼百化，物已死生方圆，莫知其根也，扁然而万物自古以固存。六合为巨，未离其内；秋豪为小，待之成体。天下莫不沈浮，终身不故；阴阳四时运行，各得其序。惛然若亡而存，油然不形而神，万物畜而不知。此之谓本根，可以观于天矣。 | ||
| Even they, with their spirit-like and most exquisite intelligence, as well as all the tribes that undergo their transformations, the dead and the living, the square and the round, do not understand their root and origin, but nevertheless they all from the oldest time by it preserve their being. Vast as is the space included within the six cardinal points, it all (and all that it contains) lies within (this twofold root of Heaven and Earth); small as is an autumn hair, it is indebted to this for the completion of its form. All things beneath the sky, now rising, now descending, ever continue the same through this. The Yin and Yang, and the four seasons revolve and move by it, each in its proper order. Now it seems to be lost in obscurity, but it continues; now it seems to glide away, and have no form, but it is still spirit-like. All things are nourished by it, without their knowing it. This is what is called the Root and Origin; by it we may obtain a view of what we mean by Heaven. | ||
| 3 | 知北游: | 啮缺问道乎被衣，被衣曰：“若正汝形，一汝视，天和将至；摄汝知，一汝度，神将来舍。德将为汝美，道将为汝居，汝瞳焉如新出之犊而无求其故！”言未卒，啮缺睡寐。被衣大说，行歌而去之，曰：“形若槁骸，心若死灰，真其实知，不以故自持。媒媒晦晦，无心而不可与谋。彼何人哉！” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: |
Nie Que asked about the Dao from Bei-yi, who replied, 'If you keep your body as it should be, and look only at the one thing, the Harmony of Heaven will come to you. Call in your knowledge, and make your measures uniform, and the spiritual (belonging to you) will come and lodge with you; the Attributes (of the Dao) will be your beauty, and the Dao (itself) will be your dwelling-place. You will have the simple look of a new-born calf, and will not seek to know the cause (of your being what you are).' Bei-yi had not finished these words when the other dozed off into a sleep. Bei-yi was greatly pleased, and walked away, singing as he went, 'Like stump of rotten tree his frame, Like lime when slaked his mind became. Real is his wisdom, solid, true, Nor cares what's hidden to pursue. 0 dim and dark his aimless mind! No one from him can counsel find. What sort of man is he?' | |
| 4 | 知北游: | 舜问乎丞曰：“道可得而有乎？”曰：“汝身非汝有也，汝何得有夫道？”舜曰：“吾身非吾有也，孰有之哉？”曰：“是天地之委形也；生非汝有，是天地之委和也；性命非汝有，是天地之委顺也；孙子非汝有，是天地之委蜕也。故行不知所往，处不知所持，食不知所味。天地之强阳气也，又胡可得而有邪？” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | Shun asked (his attendant) Cheng, saying, 'Can I get the Dao and hold it as mine?' The reply was, 'Your body is not your own to hold - how then can you get and hold the Dao?' Shun resumed, 'If my body be not mine to possess and hold, who holds it?' Cheng said, 'It is the bodily form entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Life is not yours to hold. It is the blended harmony (of the Yin and Yang), entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Your nature, constituted as it is, is not yours to hold. It is entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth to act in accordance with it. Your grandsons and sons are not yours to hold. They are the exuviae entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Therefore when we walk, we should not know where we are going; when we stop and rest, we should not know what to occupy ourselves with when we eat, we should not know the taste of our food - all is done by the strong Yang influence of Heaven and Earth'. How then can you get (the Dao), and hold it as your own?' | |
| 5 | 知北游: | 孔子问于老聃曰：“今日晏闲，敢问至道。” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | Confucius asked Lao Dan, saying, 'Being at leisure to-day, I venture to ask you about the Perfect Dao.' | |
| 老聃曰：“汝齐戒，疏𤅢而心，澡雪而精神，掊击而知！夫道，窅然难言哉！将为汝言其崖略。 | ||
| Lao Dan replied, 'You must, as by fasting and vigil, clear and purge your mind, wash your spirit white as snow, and sternly repress your knowledge. The subject of the Dao is deep, and difficult to describe - I will give you an outline of its simplest attributes. | ||
| 夫昭昭生于冥冥，有伦生于无形，精神生于道，形本生于精，而万物以形相生，故九窍者胎生，八窍者卵生。其来无迹，其往无崖，无门无房，四达之皇皇也。邀于此者，四肢强，思虑恂达，耳目聪明，其用心不劳，其应物无方。天不得不高，地不得不广，日月不得不行，万物不得不昌，此其道与！ | ||
| 'The Luminous was produced from the Obscure; the Multiform from the Unembodied; the Spiritual from the Dao; and the bodily from the seminal essence. After this all things produced one another from their bodily organisations. Thus it is that those which have nine apertures are born from the womb, and those with eight from eggs. But their coming leaves no trace, and their going no monument; they enter by no door; they dwell in no apartment: they are in a vast arena reaching in all directions. They who search for and find (the Dao) in this are strong in their limbs, sincere and far-reaching in their thinking, acute in their hearing, and clear in their seeing. They exercise their minds without being toiled; they respond to everything aright without regard to place or circumstance. Without this heaven would not be high, nor earth broad; the sun and moon would not move, and nothing would flourish: such is the operation of the Dao. | ||
| 且夫博之不必知，辩之不必慧，圣人以断之矣。若夫益之而不加益，损之而不加损者，圣人之所保也。渊渊乎其若海，魏魏乎其终则复始也，运量万物而不匮，则君子之道，彼其外与！万物皆往资焉而不匮，此其道与！ | ||
| 'Moreover, the most extensive knowledge does not necessarily know it; reasoning will not make men wise in it - the sages have decided against both these methods. However you try to add to it, it admits of no increase; however you try to take from it, it admits of no diminution - this is what the sages maintain about it. How deep it is, like the sea! How grand it is, beginning again when it has come to an end! If it carried along and sustained all things, without being overburdened or weary, that would be like the way of the superior man, merely an external operation; when all things go to it, and find their dependence in it - this is the true character of the Dao. | ||
| 中国有人焉，非阴非阳，处于天地之闲，直且为人，将反于宗。自本观之，生者，暗醷物也。虽有寿夭，相去几何？须臾之说也。奚足以为尧、桀之是非？ | ||
| 'Here is a man (born) in one of the middle states. He feels himself independent both of the Yin and Yang, and dwells between heaven and earth; only for the present a mere man, but he will return to his original source. Looking at him in his origin, when his life begins, we have (but) a gelatinous substance in which the breath is collecting. Whether his life be long or his death early, how short is the space between them! It is but the name for a moment of time, insufficient to play the part of a good Yao or a bad Jie in. | ||
| 果蓏有理，人伦虽难，所以相齿。圣人遭之而不违，过之而不守。调而应之，德也；偶而应之，道也。帝之所兴，王之所起也。 | ||
| 'The fruits of trees and creeping plants have their distinctive characters, and though the relationships of men, according to which they are classified, are troublesome, the sage, when he meets with them, does not set himself in opposition to them, and when he has passed through them, he does not seek to retain them; he responds to them in their regular harmony according to his virtue; and even when he accidentally comes across any of them, he does so according to the Dao. It was thus that the Dao flourished, thus that the kings arose. | ||
| 人生天地之间，若白驹之过郤，忽然而已。注然勃然，莫不出焉；油然漻然，莫不入焉。已化而生，又化而死，生物哀之，人类悲之。解其天弢，堕其天𧙍，纷乎宛乎，魂魄将往，乃身从之，乃大归乎！ | ||
| 'Men's life between heaven and earth is like a white colt's passing a crevice, and suddenly disappearing. As with a plunge and an effort they all come forth; easily and quietly they all enter again. By a transformation they live, and by another transformation they die. Living things are made sad (by death), and mankind grieve for it; but it is (only) the removal of the bow from its sheath, and the emptying the natural satchel of its contents. There may be some confusion amidst the yielding to the change; but the intellectual and animal souls are taking their leave, and the body will follow them: This is the Great Returning home. | ||
| 不形之形，形之不形，是人之所同知也，非将至之所务也，此众人之所同论也。彼至则不论，论则不至。明见无值，辩不若默。道不可闻，闻不若塞。此之谓大得。” | ||
| 'That the bodily frame came from incorporeity, and will return to the same, is what all men in common know, and what those who are on their way to (know) it need not strive for. This is what the multitudes of men discuss together. Those whose (knowledge) is complete do not discuss it - such discussion shows that their (knowledge) is not complete. Even the most clear-sighted do not meet (with the Dao) - it is better to be silent than to reason about it. The Dao cannot be heard with the ears - it is better to shut the ears than to try and hear it. This is what is called the Great Attainment.' | ||
| 6 | 知北游: | 东郭子问于庄子曰：“所谓道，恶乎在？”庄子曰：“无所不在。”东郭子曰：“期而后可。”庄子曰：“在蝼蚁。”曰：“何其下邪？”曰：“在稊稗。”曰：“何其愈下邪？”曰：“在瓦甓。”曰：“何其愈甚邪？”曰：“在屎溺。”东郭子不应。 |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | Dong-guo Zi asked Zhuangzi, saying, 'Where is what you call the Dao to be found?' Zhuangzi replied, 'Everywhere.' The other said, 'Specify an instance of it. That will be more satisfactory.' ' It is here in this ant.' 'Give a lower instance.' 'It is in this panic grass.' 'Give me a still lower instance.' 'It is in this earthenware tile.' 'Surely that is the lowest instance?' 'It is in that excrement.' To this Dong-guo Zi gave no reply. | |
| 庄子曰：“夫子之问也，固不足质。正获之问于监市履狶也，每下愈况。汝唯莫必，无乎逃物。至道若是，大言亦然。周、遍、咸三者，异名同实，其指一也。尝相与游乎无何有之宫，同合而论，无所终穷乎！尝相与无为乎！澹而静乎！漠而清乎！调而闲乎！寥已吾志，无往焉而不知其所至；去而来而不知其所止，吾已往来焉而不知其所终；彷徨乎冯闳，大知入焉而不知其所穷。物物者与物无际，而物有际者，所谓物际者也；不际之际，际之不际者也。谓盈虚衰杀，彼为盈虚非盈虚，彼为衰杀非衰杀，彼为本末非本末，彼为积散非积散也。” | ||
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Zhuangzi said, 'Your questions, my master, do not touch the fundamental point (of the Dao). They remind me of the questions addressed by the superintendents of the market to the inspector about examining the value of a pig by treading on it, and testing its weight as the foot descends lower and lower on the body. You should not specify any particular thing. There is not a single thing without (the Dao). So it is with the Perfect Dao. And if we call it the Great (Dao), it is just the same. There are the three terms, "Complete," "All-embracing," "the Whole." These names are different, but the reality (sought in them) is the same; referring to the One thing. 'Suppose we were to try to roam about in the palace of No-where - when met there, we might discuss (about the subject) without ever coming to an end. Or suppose we were to be together in (the region of) Non-action - should we say that (the Dao was) Simplicity and Stillness? or Indifference and Purity? or Harmony and Ease? My will would be aimless. If it went nowhere, I should not know where it had got to; if it went and came again, I should not know where it had stopped; if it went on going and coming, I should not know when the process would end. In vague uncertainty should I be in the vastest waste. Though I entered it with the greatest knowledge, I should not know how inexhaustible it was. That which makes things what they are has not the limit which belongs to things, and when we speak of things being limited, we mean that they are so in themselves. (The Dao) is the limit of the unlimited, and the boundlessness of the unbounded. 'We speak of fulness and emptiness; of withering and decay. It produces fulness and emptiness, but is neither fulness nor emptiness; it produces withering and decay, but is neither withering nor decay. It produces the root and branches, but is neither root nor branch; it produces accumulation and dispersion, but is itself neither accumulated nor dispersed.' | ||
| 7 | 知北游: | 婀荷甘与神农同学于老龙吉。神农隐几阖户昼瞑，婀荷甘日中奓户而入，曰：“老龙死矣！”神农隐几拥杖而起，嚗然放杖而笑，曰：“天知予僻陋慢訑，故弃予而死。已矣！夫子无所发予之狂言而死矣夫！” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | A-he Gan and Shen Nong studied together under Lao-long Ji. Shen Nong was leaning forward on his stool, having shut the door and gone to sleep in the day time. At midday A-he Gan pushed open the door and entered, saying, 'Lao-long is dead.' Shen Nong leant forward on his stool, laid hold of his staff and rose. Then he laid the staff aside with a clash, laughed and said, 'That Heaven knew how cramped and mean, how arrogant and assuming I was, and therefore he has cast me off, and is dead. Now that there is no Master to correct my heedless words, it is simply for me to die!' | |
| 弇堈吊闻之，曰：“夫体道者，天下之君子所系焉。今于道，秋豪之端，万分未得处一焉，而犹知藏其狂言而死，又况夫体道者乎！视之无形，听之无声，于人之论者，谓之冥冥，所以论道，而非道也。” | ||
| Yan Gang, (who had come in) to condole, heard these words, and said, 'It is to him who embodies the Dao that the superior men everywhere cling. Now you who do not understand so much as the tip of an autumn hair of it, not even the ten-thousandth part of the Dao, still know how to keep hidden your heedless words about it and die - how much more might he who embodied the Dao do so! We look for it, and there is no form; we hearken for it, and there is no sound. When men try to discuss it, we call them dark indeed. When they discuss the Dao, they misrepresent it.' | ||
| 于是泰清问乎无穷曰：“子知道乎？”无穷曰：“吾不知。”又问乎无为。无为曰：“吾知道。”曰：“子之知道，亦有数乎？”曰：“有。”曰：“其数若何？”无为曰：“吾知道之可以贵，可以贱，可以约，可以散。此吾所以知道之数也。”泰清以之言也问乎无始，曰：“若是，则无穷之弗知，与无为之知，孰是而孰非乎？”无始曰：“不知深矣，知之浅矣；弗知内矣，知之外矣。”于是泰清中而叹曰：“弗知乃知乎！知乃不知乎！孰知不知之知？”无始曰：“道不可闻，闻而非也；道不可见，见而非也；道不可言，言而非也。知形形之不形乎？道不当名。” | ||
| Hereupon Grand Purity asked Infinitude, saying, 'Do you know the Dao?' 'I do not know it,' was the reply. He then asked Do-nothing, Who replied, 'I know it.' 'Is your knowledge of it determined by various points?' 'It is.' 'What are they?' Do-nothing said, 'I know that the Dao may be considered noble, and may be considered mean, that it may be bound and compressed, and that it may be dispersed and diffused. These are the marks by which I know it.' Grand Purity took the words of those two, and asked No-beginning, saying, 'Such were their replies; which was right? and which was wrong? Infinitude's saying that he did not know it? or Do-nothing's saying that he knew it?' No-beginning said, 'The "I do not know it" was profound, and the "I know it" was shallow. The former had reference to its internal nature; the latter to its external conditions.' Grand Purity looked up and sighed, saying, 'Is "not to know it" then to know it? And is "to know it" not to know it? But who knows that he who does not know it (really) knows it?' No-beginning replied, 'The Dao cannot be heard; what can be heard is not It. The Dao cannot be seen; what can be seen is not It. The Dao cannot be expressed in words; what can be expressed in words is not It. Do we know the Formless which gives form to form? In the same way the Dao does not admit of being named.' | ||
| 无始曰：“有问道而应之者，不知道也。虽问道者，亦未闻道。道无问，问无应。无问问之，是问穷也；无应应之，是无内也。以无内待问穷，若是者，外不观乎宇宙，内不知乎太初，是以不过乎昆仑，不游乎太虚。” | ||
| No-beginning (further) said, 'If one ask about the Dao and another answer him, neither of them knows it. Even the former who asks has never learned anything about the Dao. He asks what does not admit of being asked, and the latter answers where answer is impossible. When one asks what does not admit of being asked, his questioning is in (dire) extremity. When one answers where answer is impossible, he has no internal knowledge of the subject. When people without such internal knowledge wait to be questioned by others in dire extremity, they show that externally they see nothing of space and time, and internally know nothing of the Grand Commencement. Therefore they cannot cross over the Kun-lun, nor roam in the Grand Void.' | ||
| 8 | 知北游: | 光曜问乎无有曰：“夫子有乎，其无有乎？”光曜不得问，而孰视其状貌，窅然空然，终日视之而不见，听之而不闻，搏之而不得也。光曜曰：“至矣！其孰能至此乎！予能有无矣，而未能无无也，及为无有矣，何从至此哉！” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | Starlight asked Non-entity, saying, 'Master, do you exist? or do you not exist?' He got no answer to his question, however, and looked stedfastly to the appearance of the other, which was that of a deep void. All day long he looked to it, but could see nothing; he listened for it, but could hear nothing; he clutched at it, but got hold of nothing. Starlight then said, 'Perfect! Who can attain to this? I can (conceive the ideas of) existence and non-existence, but I cannot (conceive the ideas of) non-existing non-existence, and still there be a nonexisting existence. How is it possible to reach to this?' | |
| 9 | 知北游: | 大马之捶钩者，年八十矣，而不失豪芒。大马曰：“子巧与？有道与？”曰：“臣有守也。臣之年二十而好捶钩，于物无视也，非钩无察也。是用之者，假不用者也以长得其用，而况乎无不用者乎！物孰不资焉？” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | The forger of swords for the Minister of War had reached the age of eighty, and had not lost a hair's-breadth of his ability. The Minister said to him, 'You are indeed skilful, Sir. Have you any method that makes you so?' The man said, 'Your servant has (always) kept to his work. When I was twenty, I was fond of forging swords. I looked at nothing else. I paid no attention to anything but swords. By my constant practice of it, I came to be able to do the work without any thought of what I was doing. By length of time one acquires ability at any art; and how much more one who is ever at work on it! What is there which does not depend on this, and succeed by it?' | |
| 10 | 知北游: | 冉求问于仲尼曰：“未有天地可知邪？”仲尼曰：“可。古犹今也。”冉求失问而退，明日复见，曰：“昔者吾问‘未有天地可知乎’，夫子曰：‘可。古犹今也。’昔者吾昭然，今日吾昧然，敢问何谓也？”仲尼曰：“昔之昭然也，神者先受之；今之昧然也，且又为不神者求邪？无古无今，无始无终。未有子孙而有子孙，可乎？”冉求未对。仲尼曰：“已矣，末应矣！不以生生死，不以死死生。死生有待邪？皆有所一体。有先天地生者物邪？物物者非物。物出不得先物也，犹其有物也。犹其有物也，无已。圣人之爱人也终无已者，亦乃取于是者也。” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: | Ran Qiu asked Zhongni, saying, 'Can it be known how it was before heaven and earth?' The reply was, 'It can. It was the same of old as now.' Ran Qiu asked no more and withdrew. Next day, however, he had another interview, and said, 'Yesterday I asked whether it could be known how it was before heaven and earth, and you, Master, said, "It can. As it is now, so it was of old." Yesterday, I seemed to understand you clearly, but to-day it is dark to me. I venture to ask you for an explanation of this.' Zhongni said, 'Yesterday you seemed to understand me clearly, because your own spiritual nature had anticipated my reply. Today it seems dark to you, for you are in an unspiritual mood, and are trying to discover the meaning. (In this matter) there is no old time and no present; no beginning and no ending. Could it be that there were grandchildren and children before there were (other) grandchildren and children?' Ran Qiu had not made any reply, when Zhongni went on, 'Let us have done. There can be no answering (on your part). We cannot with life give life to death; we cannot with death give death to life. Do death and life wait (for each other)? There is that which contains them both in its one comprehension. Was that which was produced before Heaven and Earth a thing? That which made things and gave to each its character was not itself a thing. Things came forth and could not be before things, as if there had (previously) been things - as if there had been things (producing one another) without end. The love of the sages for others, and never coming to an end, is an idea taken from this.' | |
| 11 | 知北游: | 颜渊问乎仲尼曰：“回尝闻诸夫子曰：‘无有所将，无有所迎。’回敢问其游。”仲尼曰：“古之人，外化而内不化；今之人，内化而外不化。与物化者，一不化者也。安化安不化，安与之相靡，必与之莫多。狶韦氏之囿，黄帝之圃，有虞氏之宫，汤、武之室。君子之人，若儒、墨者师，故以是非相𩐋也，而况今之人乎！圣人处物不伤物。不伤物者，物亦不能伤也。唯无所伤者，为能与人相将、迎。山林与！皋壤与！使我欣欣然而乐与！乐未毕也，哀又继之。哀乐之来，吾不能御，其去弗能止。悲夫！世人直为物逆旅耳！夫知遇而不知所不遇，知能能而不能所不能。无知无能者，固人之所不免也。夫务免乎人之所不免者，岂不亦悲哉！至言去言，至为去为。齐知之所知，则浅矣。” |
| Knowledge Rambling in the...: |
Yan Yuan asked Zhongni, saying, 'Master, I have heard you say, "There should be no demonstration of welcoming; there should be no movement to meet" - I venture to ask in what way this affection of the mind may be shown.' The reply was, 'The ancients, amid (all) external changes, did not change internally; now-a-days men change internally, but take no note of external changes. When one only notes the changes of things, himself continuing one and the same, he does not change. How should there be (a difference between) his changing and not changing? How should he put himself in contact with (and come under the influence of) those external changes? He is sure, however, to keep his points of contact with them from being many. The park of Xi-wei, the garden of Huang-Di, the palace of the Lord of Yu, and the houses of Tang and Wu - (these all were places in which this was done). But the superior men (so called, of later days), such as the masters of the Literati and of Mohism, were bold to attack each other with their controversies; and how much more so are the men of the present day! Sages in dealing with others do not wound them; and they who do not wound others cannot be wounded by them. Only he whom others do not injure is able to welcome and meet men. 'Forests and marshes make me joyful and glad; but before the joy is ended, sadness comes and succeeds to it. When sadness and joy come, I cannot prevent their approach; when they go, I cannot retain them. How sad it is that men should only be as lodging-houses for things, (and the emotions which they excite)! They know what they meet, but they do not know what they do not meet; they use what power they have, but they cannot be strong where they are powerless. Such ignorance and powerlessness is what men cannot avoid. That they should try to avoid what they cannot avoid, is not this also sad? Perfect speech is to put speech away; perfect action is to put action away; to digest all knowledge that is known is a thing to be despised.' |
URN: ctp:zhuangzi/knowledge-rambling-in-the-north