Jingshen — Quintessential Spirit精神訓
古未有天地之時，惟像無形，窈窈冥冥，芒芠漠閔，澒濛鴻洞，莫知其門。有二神混生，經天營地，孔乎莫知其所終極，滔乎莫知其所止息，於是乃別為陰陽，離為八極，剛柔相成，萬物乃形，煩氣為蟲，精氣為人。是故精神，天之有也；而骨骸者，地之有也。精神入其門，而骨骸反其根，我尚何存？是故聖人法天順情，不拘於俗，不誘於人，以天為父，以地為母，陰陽為綱，四時為紀。天靜以清，地定以寧，萬物失之者死，法之者生。夫靜漠者，神明之定也；虛無者，道之所居也。是故或求之於外者，失之於內；有守之於內者，失之於外。譬猶本與末也，從本引之，千枝萬葉，莫不隨也。
In ancient times, before there were heaven and earth, there were only images and no forms. All was deep and dark, vast and silent, mingled and empty, and none knew its gate. Two spirits were born out of that mingling. They laid out heaven and ordered earth. So deep were they that none knew where they came to an end. So overflowing were they that none knew where they came to rest. Then they divided and became yin and yang. They parted and became the eight limits. The hard and the soft completed each other, and the ten thousand things took form. The coarse breath became the creeping things. The pure breath became human beings. For this reason the spirit belongs to heaven, and the bones belong to earth. When the spirit enters its gate and the bones return to their root, what is left of me? For this reason the sage takes heaven for his model and follows his feelings. He is not bound by custom. He is not lured by other men. He takes heaven for his father and earth for his mother. He takes yin and yang for his cords and the four seasons for his order. Heaven is still and so it is clear. Earth is settled and so it is at peace. The ten thousand things die when they lose this and live when they take it for their model. Stillness and silence are the settling of the spirit's brightness. Emptiness and nothingness are where the Way dwells. For this reason the one who seeks outside loses within. The one who keeps guard within loses outside. It is like the root and the branch tips. Pull from the root, and the thousand branches and ten thousand leaves all follow.
夫精神者，所受於天也；而形體者，所稟於地也。故曰：一生二，二生三，三生萬物。萬物背陰而抱陽，沖氣以為和。故曰：一月而膏，二月而胅，三月而胎，四月而肌，五月而筋，六月而骨，七月而成，八月而動，九月而躁，十月而生。形體以成，五臟乃形。是故肺主目，腎主鼻，膽主口，肝主耳，外為表而內為裡，開閉張歙，各有經紀。故頭之圓也象天，足之方也象地。天有四時、五行、九解、三百六十六日，人亦有四支、五藏、九竅、三百六十六節。天有風雨寒暑，人亦有取與喜怒。故膽為雲，肺為氣，肝為風，腎為雨，脾為雷，以與天地相參也，而心為之主。是故耳目者，日月也；血氣者，風雨也。日中有踆烏，而月中有蟾蜍。日月失其行，薄蝕無光；風雨非其時，毀折生災；五星失其行，州國受殃。
The spirit is what is received from heaven. The body is what is given by earth. Therefore it is said: one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to the ten thousand things. The ten thousand things turn their backs on yin and hold yang in their arms, and the empty breath makes them harmonious. Therefore it is said: in the first month there is fat; in the second, a lump of flesh; in the third, the womb form; in the fourth, the flesh; in the fifth, the sinews; in the sixth, the bones; in the seventh, it is complete; in the eighth, it moves; in the ninth, it grows restless; in the tenth, it is born. When the body is complete, the five organs take shape. Thus the lungs govern the eyes, the kidneys govern the nose, the gallbladder governs the mouth, and the liver governs the ears. The outside is the surface and the inside is the lining. In opening and closing, in stretching and drawing in, each has its own order. Therefore the roundness of the head is modeled on heaven, and the squareness of the feet is modeled on earth. Heaven has the four seasons, the five phases, the nine divisions, and three hundred and sixty-six days. A person likewise has four limbs, five organs, nine openings, and three hundred and sixty-six joints. Heaven has wind and rain, cold and heat. A person likewise has taking and giving, joy and anger. Therefore the gallbladder is the cloud, the lungs are the breath, the liver is the wind, the kidneys are the rain, and the spleen is the thunder. In this they stand together with heaven and earth, and the heart is their master. For this reason the ears and eyes are the sun and the moon, and the blood and breath are the wind and the rain. In the sun there is a three-footed crow, and in the moon there is a toad. When the sun and moon lose their course, they are eaten away and give no light. When wind and rain come out of season, they break and tear and bring disaster. When the five planets lose their course, provinces and kingdoms suffer calamity.
夫天地之道，至紘以大，尚猶節其章光，愛其神明，人之耳目曷能久熏勞而不息乎？精神何能久馳騁而不既乎？是故血氣者，人之華也，而五藏者，人之精也。夫血氣能專于五藏而不外越，則胸腹充而嗜欲省矣；胸腹充而嗜欲省，則耳目清、聽視達矣。耳目清，聽視達，謂之明。五藏能屬於心而乖，則㪍志勝而行不僻矣；㪍志勝而行之不僻，則精神盛而氣不散矣。精神盛而氣不散則理，理則均，均則通，通則神，神則以視無不見，以聽無不聞也，以為無不成也。是故憂患不能入也，而邪氣不能襲。故事有求之于四海之外而不能遇，或守之於形骸之內而不見也。故所求多者所得少，所見大者所知小。夫孔竅者，精神之戶牖也，而氣志者，五藏之使候也。耳目淫于聲色之樂，則五藏搖動而不定矣；五藏搖動而不不定，則血氣滔蕩而不休矣；血氣滔蕩而不休，則精神馳騁於外而不守矣；精神馳騁於外而不守，則禍福之至，雖如丘山，無由識之矣。使耳目精明玄達而無誘慕，氣志虛靜恬愉而省嗜欲，五藏定寧充盈而不泄，精神內守形骸而不外越，則望於往世之前，而視於來事之後，猶未足為也，豈直禍福之間哉？
The Way of heaven and earth is vast beyond measure, yet even so it moderates its display of light and is sparing of its spirit's brightness. How then can a person's ears and eyes labor long and never rest? How can the spirit gallop long and not be used up? For this reason the blood and breath are the flower of a person, and the five organs are the essence of a person. When the blood and breath can be kept whole within the five organs and do not spill outside, then the chest and belly are full and relish and desire grow few. When the chest and belly are full and relish and desire grow few, then the ears and eyes are clear and hearing and sight go through. Ears and eyes clear, hearing and sight going through: this is called brightness. When the five organs can belong to the heart with no discord, then the surging will prevails and conduct does not turn aside. When the surging will prevails and conduct does not turn aside, then the spirit flourishes and the breath is not scattered. When the spirit flourishes and the breath is not scattered, there is order. Where there is order, there is evenness. Where there is evenness, there is going through. Where there is going through, there is spirit power. With spirit power he looks, and there is nothing he does not see. He listens, and there is nothing he does not hear. He acts, and there is nothing he does not complete. For this reason care and trouble cannot enter him, and no wayward breath can strike him. So there are things a man seeks beyond the four seas and never meets, and things he guards inside his own frame and never sees. Therefore the one who seeks much gets little, and the one who looks at what is large knows what is small. The openings of the body are the doors and windows of the spirit. The breath and the will are the messengers and scouts of the five organs. When the ears and eyes run loose in the pleasures of sound and color, the five organs shake and will not settle. When the five organs shake and will not settle, the blood and breath flood over and do not rest. When the blood and breath flood over and do not rest, the spirit gallops outside and keeps no guard. When the spirit gallops outside and keeps no guard, then though disaster and good fortune come as big as hills and mountains, there is no way to know them. But let the ears and eyes be pure and bright and darkly penetrating, with nothing to lure them and nothing to long for. Let the breath and the will be empty and still, calm and glad, with relish and desire made few. Let the five organs be settled and at peace, full and not leaking. Let the spirit guard the frame within and not spill outside. Then to look back before the ages that are past and to see beyond the affairs that are to come would still not be enough to do. How much more than the bare space between disaster and good fortune!
故曰：其出彌遠者，其知彌少。以言乎精神之不可使外淫也。是故五色亂目，使目不明；五聲嘩耳，使耳不聰；五味亂口，使口爽傷；趣舍滑心，使行飛揚。此四者，天下之所養性也，然皆人累也。故曰：嗜欲者，使人之氣越；而好憎者，使人之心勞；弗疾去，則志氣日耗。
Therefore it is said: the farther a man goes out, the less he knows. This says that the spirit must not be let to run loose outside. For this reason the five colors disorder the eye and leave the eye unclear. The five sounds clamor in the ear and leave the ear undiscerning. The five flavors disorder the mouth and leave the mouth injured. Choosing and rejecting stir up the heart and set conduct flying. These four are what the world uses to nourish its nature, and yet all four are burdens on a person. Therefore it is said: relish and desire make a person's breath spill over, and liking and hating make a person's heart labor. If they are not quickly driven off, will and breath waste away day by day.
夫人之所以不能終其壽命，而中道夭于刑戮者，何也？以其生生之厚。夫惟能無以生為者，則所以修得生也。夫天地運而相通，萬物總而為一。能知一，則無一之不知也；不能知一，則無一之能知也。譬吾處於天下也，亦為一物矣，不識天下之以我備其物與？且惟無我而物無不備者乎？然則我亦物也，物亦物也，物之與物也，又何以相物也？雖然，其生我也，將以何益？其殺我也，將以何損？夫造化者既以我為坯矣，將無所違之矣。吾安知夫刺灸而欲生者之非惑也？又安知夫絞經而求死者之非福也？或者生乃徭役也？而死乃休息也？天下茫茫，孰知之哉？其生我也不強求已，其殺我也不強求止。欲生而不事，憎死而不辭，賤之而弗憎，貴之而弗喜，隨其天資而安之不極。吾生也有七尺之形，吾死也有一棺之土。吾生之比於有形之類，猶吾死之淪於無形之中也。然則吾生也物不以益眾，吾死也土不以加厚，吾又安知所喜憎利害其間者乎？夫造化者之攫援物也，譬猶陶人之埏埴也，其取之地而已為盆盎也，與其未離於地也無以異，其已成器而破碎漫瀾而複歸其故也，與其為盆盎亦無以異矣。夫臨江之鄉，居人汲水以浸其園，江水弗憎也；苦洿之家，決洿而注之江，洿水弗樂也。是故其在江也，無以異其浸園也；其在洿也，亦無以異其在江也。是故聖人因時以安其位，當世而樂其業。
Why is it that people cannot finish out the span of their years, but die young halfway on the road, under punishment and execution? Because they make too much of living. Only the one who can make no business of life has the means to cultivate life and gain it. Heaven and earth revolve and go through to each other, and the ten thousand things gather and become one. If a man can know the one, there is nothing he does not know. If he cannot know the one, there is nothing he can know. Take myself: I dwell in the world and I too am one thing among things. Do I not see that the world fills out its stock of things by me? Or is it only without me that things lack nothing? If so, I am a thing and other things are things too. Thing and thing, then: how should the one treat the other as a mere thing? Even so, when it gives me birth, what does it add? When it kills me, what does it take away? The maker of transformations has already taken me for his clay, and I shall go against nothing. How do I know that the man who takes needle and moxa because he wants to live is not deluded? And how do I know that the man who hangs himself because he seeks death is not blessed? Perhaps life is forced labor and death is rest. The world is vast and dim. Who knows it? When it gives me birth, I do not press to have done with it. When it kills me, I do not press to have it stop. I wish to live and make no business of it. I hate to die and do not refuse it. I am held cheap and do not hate it. I am held dear and do not rejoice. I follow what heaven gave me and rest in it and do not push to the end. In life I have a frame seven feet long. In death I have a coffin's worth of earth. My life set beside the things that have form is like my death sinking into what has no form. So while I live things are no more numerous for it, and when I die the earth is no thicker for it. How then should I know what is glad or hateful, what is gain or harm, in all of this? The maker of transformations takes hold of things and draws them along as a potter kneads clay. When he has taken it from the ground and it has become a bowl, that is no different from its never having left the ground. When it has been made a vessel and is broken and scattered and returns again to what it was, that too is no different from its being a bowl. In a village beside the river, the people draw water to soak their gardens, and the river water does not hate it. In a house with a foul pool, they break the pool open and pour it into the river, and the pool water does not enjoy it. Therefore its being in the river is no different from its soaking the garden, and its being in the pool is no different from its being in the river. For this reason the sage goes along with the time and rests in his place. He meets his age and delights in his work.
夫悲樂者，德之邪也；而喜怒者，道之過也；好憎者，心之暴也。故曰：其生也，天行；其死也，物化。靜則與陰俱閉，動則與陽俱開。精神澹然無極，不與物散，而天下自服。故心者，形之主也；而神者，心之寶也。形勞而不休則蹶，精用而不已則竭。是故聖人貴而尊之，不敢越也。夫有夏後氏之璜者，匣匱而藏之，寶之至也。夫精神之可寶也，非直夏後氏之璜也。是故聖人以無應有，必究其理；以虛受實，必窮其節；恬愉虛靜，以終其命。是故無所甚疏，而無所甚親。抱德煬和，以順於天。與道為際，與德為鄰，不為福始，不為禍先，魂魄處其宅，而精神守其根，死生無變於己，故曰至神。所謂真人者也，性合於道也。故有而若無，實而若虛；處其一不知其二，治其內不識其外。明白太素，無為複樸，體本抱神，以游于天地之樊。芒然仿佯於塵垢之外，而消搖於無事之業。浩浩蕩蕩乎，機械之巧弗載於心。
Sorrow and joy are a swerving of virtue. Delight and anger are a fault against the Way. Liking and hating are a violence done to the heart. Therefore it is said: his life is the moving of heaven, and his death is the changing of a thing. In stillness he closes together with yin. In motion he opens together with yang. When the spirit is calm and without limit and is not scattered among things, the world submits of itself. So the heart is the master of the frame, and the spirit is the treasure of the heart. When the frame labors and does not rest, it falls. When the essence is used and does not stop, it runs dry. For this reason the sage holds it dear and honors it and does not dare to go beyond it. The man who owns a jade half-disc of the Xiahou clan puts it in a box and hides it away, and that is the height of treasuring. But the spirit is worth treasuring far more than a jade half-disc of the Xiahou clan. For this reason the sage answers what is there with what is not there, and always searches out its pattern. He receives the full with the empty, and always goes to the end of its joints. Calm and glad, empty and still, he finishes out his span. For this reason there is nothing he is very distant from and nothing he is very close to. He holds virtue in his arms and warms his harmony, and so he follows heaven. He borders on the Way and neighbors on virtue. He is not the first to good fortune and not the forerunner of disaster. His hun and his po stay in their dwelling, and his spirit guards its root. Death and life work no change in him, and so he is called utmost spirit. This is what is meant by the true man, whose nature accords with the Way. So he has and seems to have nothing. He is full and seems empty. He dwells in the one and does not know the two. He orders what is within and takes no notice of what is outside. Clear and white is the great plain. Doing nothing, he returns to the unworked wood. He takes the root for his body and holds the spirit in his arms, and so he roams in the hedged field of heaven and earth. Dimly he wanders beyond dust and dirt, and strolls at ease in the work of having no business. Vast and wide, he carries no clever contrivance in his heart.
是故死生亦大矣，而不為變。雖天地覆育，亦不與之摟抱矣。審乎無瑕，而不與物糅；見事之亂，而能守其宗。若然者，正肝膽，遺耳目，心志專于內，通達耦于一，居不知所為，行不知所之，渾然而往，逯然而來，形若槁木，心若死灰。忘其五藏，損其形骸。不學而知，不視而見，不為而成，不治而辯，感而應，迫而動，不得已而往，如光之耀，如景之放，以道為紃，有待而然。抱其太清之本，而無所容與，而物無能營。廓惝而虛，清靖而無思慮。大澤焚而不能熱，河、漢涸而不能寒也。大雷毀山而不能驚也，大風晦日而不能傷也。是故視珍寶珠玉，猶石礫也；視至尊窮寵，猶行客也；視毛嬙、西施，猶䫏醜也。以死生為一化，以萬物為一方，同精於太清之本，而游于忽區之旁。有精而不使，有神而不行，契大渾之樸，而立至清之中。
For this reason death and life are great matters, and yet they work no change in him. Though heaven and earth cover him and nourish him, he does not clasp them to himself. He examines what is flawless and does not mix with things. He sees the confusion of affairs and can still guard their ancestor. Such a man sets liver and gall straight and leaves ear and eye behind. His heart and will are whole within. He goes through and is matched with the one. At rest he does not know what he is doing. Moving, he does not know where he is going. Blurred, he goes. Unhurried, he comes. His frame is like withered wood, and his heart like dead ashes. He forgets his five organs and pares away his frame. He does not study and yet knows. He does not look and yet sees. He does not act and yet completes. He does not govern and yet distinguishes. He feels and answers. He is pressed and moves. He goes when he cannot help it, like the shining of light, like the casting of a shadow. He takes the Way for his cord, and he is so because something waits upon it. He holds the root of Taiqing in his arms, with nothing to give himself over to, and no thing can work upon him. Wide and empty, clear and quiet, he has no thought and no scheme. The great marsh may burn and cannot make him hot. The He and the Han may run dry and cannot make him cold. Great thunder may shatter mountains and cannot startle him. A great wind may darken the sun and cannot harm him. For this reason he looks on rare treasures, on pearls and jade, as on stones and gravel. He looks on the highest honor and the utmost favor as on a passing guest. He looks on Mao Qiang and Xi Shi as on an ugly person. He takes death and life for one transformation and the ten thousand things for one quarter. He makes his essence one with the root of Taiqing and roams beside the region of the sudden. He has essence and does not use it. He has spirit and does not set it going. He fits the unworked wood of the great mingling and stands in the midst of utmost clarity.
是故其寢不夢，其智不萌，其魄不抑，其魂不騰。反覆終始，不知其端緒，甘暝太宵之宅，而覺視於昭昭之宇，休息於無委曲之隅，而游敖於無形埒之野。居而無容，處而無所，其動無形，其靜無體，存而若亡，生而若死，出入無間，役使鬼神。淪于不測，入於無間，以不同形相嬗也，終始若環，莫得其倫。此精神之所以能登假於道也。是故真人之所游。若吹呴呼吸，吐故內新，熊經鳥伸，鳧浴蝯躩，鴟視虎顧，是養形之人也，不以滑心。使神滔蕩而不失其充，日夜無傷而與物為春，則是合而生時於心也。
For this reason he does not dream in his sleep. His cleverness does not sprout. His po is not pressed down. His hun does not rise up. He turns back and forth through end and beginning and does not know the thread of it. He sleeps sweetly in the dwelling of the great night and wakes and looks about in the house of bright day. He rests in a corner where nothing bends or twists, and roams in a field with no form and no boundary. He dwells and has no shape. He stays and has no place. His motion has no form. His stillness has no body. He is there and seems gone. He lives and seems dead. He goes in and out where there is no gap, and sets ghosts and spirits to work. He sinks into the unfathomable. He enters where there is no gap. He passes on from one unlike form to another. End and beginning are like a ring, and no one can find their order. This is how the spirit is able to climb up to the Way. This is where the true man roams. As for blowing and puffing and breathing in and out, spitting out the stale and taking in the new, hanging like a bear and stretching like a bird, bathing like a duck and leaping like an ape, peering like an owl and turning the head like a tiger, these are men who nourish the frame, and they do not stir up the heart. But to let the spirit range wide and not lose its fullness, to pass day and night unharmed and make spring together with things, this is to join with them and give birth to the seasons in the heart.
且人有戒形而無損於心，有綴宅而無耗精。夫癩者趨不變，狂者形不虧，神將有所遠徙，孰暇知其所為！故形有摩而神未嘗化者，以不化應化，千變萬化，而未始有極。化者，複歸於無形也；不化者，與天地俱生也。夫木之死也，青青去之也。夫使木生者豈木也？猶充形者之非形也。故生生者未嘗死也，其所生則死矣；化物者未嘗化也，其所化則化矣。輕天下，則神無累矣；細萬物，則心不惑矣；齊死生，則志不懾矣；同變化，則明不眩矣。眾人以為虛言，吾將舉類而實之。
Moreover, a man may have his frame marked by punishment and take no loss in his heart. He may have his dwelling patched together and waste none of his essence. The leper still runs the same. The madman's frame is not diminished. Their spirit is about to move far away, and who has leisure to know what it is doing! So a man whose frame is worn away while his spirit has never changed uses the unchanging to answer change. Through a thousand changes and ten thousand transformations he has never begun to reach an end. What changes returns again to the formless. What does not change is born together with heaven and earth. When a tree dies, it is the green that has left it. Then is what makes the tree live the tree itself? No more than what fills a frame is the frame. So what gives life to the living has never died, while what it gave life to dies. What transforms things has never been transformed, while what it transformed is transformed. Make light of the world, and the spirit carries no burden. Make small the ten thousand things, and the heart is not led astray. Make death and life even, and the will does not take fright. Make all changes one, and brightness is not dazzled. Ordinary people call this empty talk. I shall bring forward examples and make it solid.
人之所以樂為人主者，以其窮耳目之欲，而適躬體之便也。今高臺層榭，人之所麗也；而堯樸桷不斫，素題不枅。珍怪奇異，人之所美也；而堯糲粢之飯，藜藿之羹。文繡狐白，人之所好也；而堯布衣掩形，鹿裘禦寒。養性之具不加厚，而增之以任重之憂。故舉天下而傳之於舜，若解重負然。非直辭讓，誠無以為也。此輕天下之具也。禹南省方，濟于江，黃龍負舟，舟中之人五色無主，禹乃熙笑而稱曰：「我受命於天，竭力而勞萬民，生寄也，死歸也，何足以滑和？」視龍猶蝘蜓，顏色不變，龍乃弭耳掉尾而逃。禹之視物亦細矣。鄭之神巫相壺子林，見其徵，告列子。列子行泣報壺子。壺子持以天壤，名實不入，機發於踵。壺子之視死生亦齊矣。子求行年五十有四，而病傴僂，脊管高於頂，〈月曷〉下迫頤，兩脾在上，燭營指天。匍匐自窺于井，曰：「偉哉！造化者其以我為此拘拘邪？」此其視變化亦同矣。故睹堯之道，乃知天下之輕也；觀禹之志，乃知天下之細也；原壺子之論，乃知死生之齊也；見子求之行，乃知變化之同也。
The reason people delight in being a ruler of men is that it lets them exhaust the desires of ear and eye and suit the comfort of their own body. High terraces and tiered pavilions are what people find fine, yet Yao left his rafters untrimmed and set no bracket on his plain pillar heads. Rare and strange and wonderful things are what people find lovely, yet Yao ate coarse millet and a soup of goosefoot and bean leaves. Embroidered patterns and white fox furs are what people are fond of, yet Yao covered his body with hempen clothes and kept off the cold with a deerskin coat. His means of nourishing his nature grew no richer, and only the worry of a heavy charge was added to him. So when he raised up the world and handed it to Shun, it was as though he were loosing a heavy load. It was not simply that he yielded. There was truly nothing in it for him to do. This is the gear for making light of the world. Yu was touring the south and crossing the Jiang when a yellow dragon took the boat on its back. The people in the boat turned five colors and lost their wits, but Yu laughed cheerfully and declared, "I received my mandate from heaven. I spend my strength and toil for the myriad people. Life is a lodging and death is a going home. How is this enough to disturb my harmony?" He looked on the dragon as on a lizard, and his face did not change color, and the dragon then laid back its ears, swung its tail, and fled. Yu's way of looking at things made them small indeed. The spirit shaman of Zheng read the face of Huzi Lin, saw the signs in it, and told Liezi. Liezi went weeping and reported to Huzi. Huzi held himself with heaven and earth. Name and substance did not enter him, and the trigger sprang from his heels. Huzi's way of looking at death and life made them even indeed. Ziqiu had lived fifty-four years when he fell ill with a hunched back. His spine rose higher than the crown of his head. His 〈月曷〉 pressed down against his chin. His two thighs were up above, and his zhuying pointed at heaven. He crawled along and looked at himself in a well and said, "How grand! Has the maker of transformations made me crooked like this?" This was his way of looking at change and making it all one. So look at the way of Yao, and you know how light the world is. Look at the will of Yu, and you know how small the world is. Trace the discourse of Huzi, and you know how even death and life are. See the conduct of Ziqiu, and you know how change is all one.
夫至人倚不拔之柱，行不關之塗，稟不竭之府，學不死之師。無往而不遂，無至而不通。生不足以掛志，死不足以幽神，屈伸俯仰，抱命而婉轉。禍福利害，千變萬化，孰足以患心！若此人者，抱素守精，蟬蛻蛇解，游於太清，輕舉獨往，忽然入冥。鳳凰不能與之儷，而況斥鷃乎！勢位爵祿，何足以概志也！晏子與崔杼盟，臨死地而不易其義。殖、華將戰而死，莒君厚賂而止之，不改其行。故晏子可迫以仁，而不可劫以兵；殖、華可止以義，而不可縣以利。君子義死，而不可以富貴留也；義為，而不可以死亡恐也。彼則直為義耳，而尚猶不拘於物，又況無為者矣。
The utmost man leans on a pillar that cannot be pulled up and walks a road that is never shut. He draws from a storehouse that is never used up and studies with a teacher who does not die. Wherever he goes he arrives. Wherever he comes he goes through. Life is not enough to hang his will upon, and death is not enough to darken his spirit. Bending and stretching, looking down and looking up, he holds his lot in his arms and turns along with it. Disaster and fortune, gain and harm, may change a thousand times and transform ten thousand times, and what of them is enough to trouble his heart! Such a man holds the plain in his arms and guards his essence. Like a cicada shedding its shell, like a snake sloughing its skin, he roams in Taiqing. He rises lightly and goes alone, and all at once he enters the dark. The phoenix cannot be his mate, much less the little quail! Power and place, rank and salary, what are they worth in his will! Yanzi swore a covenant with Cui Zhu, and even facing the place of death he did not change what was right. Zhi and Hua were about to fight and die, and the lord of Ju tried to stop them with a rich bribe, but they did not alter their conduct. So Yanzi could be pressed by benevolence but could not be cowed by arms. Zhi and Hua could be stopped by what was right but could not be hung upon a gain. The gentleman dies for what is right and cannot be kept back by wealth and rank. He acts for what is right and cannot be frightened by death. Those men were only doing what was right, and even so they were not bound by things. How much more the one who does nothing.
堯不以有天下為貴，故授舜。公子劄不以有國為尊，故讓位。子罕不以玉為富，故不受寶。務光不以生害義，故自投於淵。由此觀之，至貴不待爵，至富不待財。天下至大矣，而以與佗人；身至親矣，而棄之淵；外此，其餘無足利矣。此之謂無累之人，無累之人，不以天下為貴矣！上觀至人之論，深原道德之意，以下考世俗之行，乃足羞也。故通許由之意，《金滕》、《豹韜》廢矣；延陵季子不受吳國，而訟間田者慚矣；子罕不利寶玉，而爭券契者愧矣；務光不汙於世，而貪利偷生者悶矣。故不觀大義者，不知生之不足貪也；不聞大言者，不知天下之不足利也。
Yao did not hold it precious to possess the world, and so he handed it to Shun. Prince Zha did not hold it honorable to possess a state, and so he yielded his place. Zihan did not count jade as wealth, and so he would not take the treasure. Wuguang would not harm what was right for the sake of his life, and so he threw himself into the deep. Seen from this, utmost honor does not wait on rank, and utmost wealth does not wait on goods. The world is the greatest of things, and they gave it to another. The body is the closest of things, and he cast it into the deep. Outside these, all the rest is not worth a gain. Such a man is called a man without burdens, and a man without burdens does not hold the world precious! Look up at the discourses of the utmost man and search deep into the meaning of the Way and its virtue, then look down and examine the conduct of the common world, and there is shame enough. So once you go through to the meaning of Xu You, the Jinteng and the arts of war are set aside. Jizi of Yanling would not take the state of Wu, and men who go to law over a strip of field are shamed. Zihan counted precious jade no gain, and men who fight over deeds and contracts are ashamed. Wuguang would not be soiled by the age, and men who covet gain and live on by any means are left downcast. So one who has not seen the great meaning does not know that life is not worth coveting. One who has not heard the great words does not know that the world is not worth a gain.
今夫窮鄙之社也，叩盆拊瓴，相和而歌，自以為樂矣。嘗試為之擊建鼓，撞巨鐘，乃性仍仍然，知其盆瓴之足羞也。藏《詩》、《書》，修文學，而不知至論之旨，則拊盆叩瓴之徒也。夫以天下為者，學之建鼓矣。尊勢厚利，人之所貪也；使之左據天下圖，而右手刎其喉，愚夫不為。由此觀之，生尊於天下也。聖人食足以接氣，衣足以蓋形，適情不求餘，無天下不虧其性，有天下不羨其和。有天下，無天下，一實也。今贛人敖倉，予人河水，饑而餐之，渴而飲之，其入腹者不過簞食瓢漿，則身飽而敖倉不為之減也。腹滿而河水不為之竭也。有之不加飽，無之不為之饑，與守其篅𥫱、有其井，一實也。人大怒破陰，大喜墜陽，大憂內崩，大怖生狂。除穢去累，莫若未始出其宗，乃為大通。清目而不以視，靜耳而不以聽，鉗口而不以言，委心而不以慮。棄聰明而反太素，休精神而棄知故，覺而若昧，以生而若死，終則反本未生之時，而與化為一體。死之與生，一體也。
Now in a poor village at the altar feast they beat a basin and slap a jar, join in and sing, and take themselves to be merry. But try beating a great drum for them and striking a huge bell, and their mood goes flat, for they know their basin and jar are something to be ashamed of. To store away the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents and cultivate letters and learning, and still not know the point of the utmost discourse, is to be one of those who slap a basin and beat a jar. The man who takes the world for his business is the great drum of learning. High place and rich gain are what people covet. But let a man hold the map of the world in his left hand and cut his own throat with his right, and even a fool will not do it. Seen from this, life is more honorable than the world. The sage eats enough to carry on his breath and wears enough to cover his frame. He suits his feelings and seeks no surplus. Without the world he does not mar his nature. With the world he does not let his harmony spill over. Having the world and not having it are one and the same. Now give a man the Aocang granary and give a man the water of the He. When he is hungry he eats, and when he is thirsty he drinks, and what goes into his belly is no more than a basket of food and a gourd of drink. His body is full, and the Aocang granary is no less for it. His belly is filled, and the He is not used up for it. Having them, he is no fuller. Lacking them, he is no hungrier. It is one and the same as keeping his own bin and owning his own well. When a man is greatly angry he breaks his yin. When he is greatly glad he casts down his yang. When he greatly grieves he crumbles within. When he is greatly afraid he goes mad. To clear away filth and put off burdens, nothing is so good as never having left one's ancestor at all, and that is the great going through. Clear the eyes and do not use them to look. Still the ears and do not use them to listen. Shut the mouth and do not use it to speak. Let the heart go and do not use it to think. Cast off hearing and sight and turn back to the great plain. Let the spirit rest and throw away knowledge and cunning. Awake, he seems dim. Alive, he seems dead. In the end he returns to the root, to the time before he was born, and becomes one body with transformation. Death and life are one body.
今夫繇者揭钁臿，負籠土，鹽汗交流，喘息薄喉。當此之時，得茠越下，則脫然而喜矣。岩穴之間，非直越下之休也。病疵瘕者，捧心抑腹，膝上叩頭，踡跼而諦，通夕不寐。當此之時，噲然得臥，則親戚兄弟歡然而喜，夫修夜之寧，非直一噲之樂也。故知宇宙之大，則不可劫以死生；知養生之和，則不可縣以天下；知未生之樂，則不可畏以死；知許由之貴於舜，則不貪物。牆之立，不若其偃也，又況不為牆乎！冰之凝，不若其釋也，又況不為冰乎！自無蹠有，自有蹠無，終始無端，莫知其所萌，非通於外內，孰能無好憎？無外之外，至大也；無內之內，至貴也；能知大貴，何往而不遂！衰世湊學，不知原心反本，直雕琢其性，矯拂其情，以與世交。故目雖欲之，禁之以度；心雖樂之，節之以禮。趨翔周旋，詘節卑拜，肉凝而不食，酒澄而不飲，外束其形，內總其德，鉗陰陽之和，而迫性命之情，故終身為悲人。達至道者則不然，理情性，治心術，養以和，持以適，樂道而忘賤，安德而忘貧。性有不欲，無欲而不得；心有不樂，無樂而不為。無益情者不以累德，而便性者不以滑和。故縱體肆意，而度制可以為天下儀。
Now the man at forced labor lifts hoe and spade and carries baskets of earth. Salt sweat runs down him and his breath comes hard in his throat. At such a time, if he can rest in the shade of a tree, he is relieved and glad. The space of a cave in the cliffs is far more than the rest of a tree's shade. A man sick with a swelling in his belly clutches his chest and presses his stomach, bows his head to his knees, curls up and groans, and does not sleep the night through. At such a time, if he can lie down for a moment, his kin and brothers rejoice with him. And the peace of a long night is far more than the pleasure of one moment lying down. So if you know how great the universe is, you cannot be cowed with death and life. If you know the harmony that nourishes life, you cannot be hung upon the world. If you know the joy of not yet being born, you cannot be frightened with death. If you know that Xu You was more honorable than Shun, you will not covet things. A standing wall is not so good as a fallen one, much less never being a wall at all! Frozen ice is not so good as melted ice, much less never being ice at all! Things go from nothing into being, and from being into nothing. End and beginning have no thread, and none knows where they sprout. Unless a man goes through both outside and inside, who can be free of liking and hating? The outside that has no outside is the utmost greatness. The inside that has no inside is the utmost honor. If a man can know that greatness and that honor, where can he go and not arrive! The gathered learning of a fallen age does not know how to trace the heart and turn back to the root. It only carves and polishes its nature, bends and thwarts its feelings, and so makes its dealings with the age. So though the eye desires a thing, they forbid it with measure. Though the heart takes pleasure in a thing, they cut it short with ritual. They hurry and wheel about, bend their joints and bow low, let the meat congeal and do not eat it, let the wine settle clear and do not drink it. Outside they bind their frame. Inside they gather up their virtue. They bit and bridle the harmony of yin and yang and press hard upon the feelings of nature and destiny, and so all their lives they are men of sorrow. One who has reached the utmost Way is not like this. He orders his feelings and his nature and governs the arts of his heart. He nourishes them with harmony and holds them with what fits. He delights in the Way and forgets his low station. He rests in virtue and forgets his poverty. His nature has what it does not desire, and so there is no desire he does not get. His heart has what it does not enjoy, and so there is no joy he does not make. What brings his feelings no gain he does not let burden his virtue. What suits his nature he does not let disturb his harmony. So he lets his body go loose and his will run free, and his measure and rule can still be a model for the world.
今夫儒者不本其所以欲，而禁其所欲；不原其所以樂，而閉其所樂。是猶決江河之源，而障之以手也。夫牧民者，猶畜禽獸也，不塞其囿垣，使有野心，系絆其足，以禁其動，而欲修生壽終，豈可得乎！夫顏回、季路、子夏、冉伯牛，孔子之通學也，然顏淵夭死，季路菹于衛，子夏失明，冉伯牛為厲。此皆迫性拂情，而不得其和也。故子夏見曾子，一臞一肥。曾子問其故，曰：「出見富貴之樂而欲之，入見先王之道又說之。兩者心戰，故臞；先王之道勝，故肥。」推其志，非能貪富貴之位，不便侈靡之樂，直宜迫性閉欲，以義自防也。雖情心鬱殪，形性屈竭，猶不得已自強也。故莫能終其天年。
Now the Confucians do not go back to the reason a man desires, but forbid what he desires. They do not trace the reason he takes pleasure, but shut off what he enjoys. This is like opening the source of the Jiang and the He and then damming it with a hand. Herding the people is like keeping birds and beasts. If you do not block the wall of their park, so that they keep a wild heart, and then tie their feet to stop them moving, and still want them to cultivate life and finish out their years, how can it be done! Yan Hui, Jilu, Zixia, and Ran Boniu were the accomplished students of Confucius. Yet Yan Yuan died young, Jilu was minced in Wei, Zixia lost his sight, and Ran Boniu became a leper. All of these pressed hard on their nature and went against their feelings, and so they did not gain their harmony. So when Zixia saw Zengzi, he was first gaunt and then plump. Zengzi asked him why, and he said, "I went out and saw the pleasure of wealth and rank and desired it. I came in and saw the Way of the former kings and delighted in that too. The two fought in my heart, and so I was gaunt. The Way of the former kings won, and so I am plump." Follow out his will, and it was not that he was unable to covet a place of wealth and rank, or that he found extravagant pleasure uncomfortable. He simply thought he ought to press upon his nature and shut off his desires and fence himself in with what was right. Though his feelings and his heart were stifled and his frame and his nature were bent and drained, still he forced himself on against his will. Therefore none of them could finish out the years heaven gave them.
若夫至人，量腹而食，度形而衣，容身而遊，適情而行，餘天下而不貪，委萬物而不利，處大廓之宇，遊無極之野，登太皇，馮太一，玩天地於掌握之中。夫豈為貧富肥臞哉！故儒者非能使人弗欲，而能止之；非能使人勿樂，而能禁之。夫使天下畏刑而不敢盜，豈若能使無有盜心哉！越人得髯蛇，以為上肴，中國得之而棄之無用。故知其無所用，貪者能辭之；不知其無所用，廉者不能讓也。夫人主之所以殘亡其國家，損棄其社稷，身死於人手，為天下笑，未嘗非為非欲也。夫仇由貪大鐘之賂而亡其國，虞君利垂棘之璧而禽其身，獻公豔驪姬之美而亂四世，桓公甘易牙之和而不以時葬，胡王淫女樂之娛而亡上地。使此五君者適情辭餘，以己為度，不隨物而動，豈有此大患哉！
As for the utmost man, he measures his belly and eats, gauges his frame and dresses, takes room for his body and roams, suits his feelings and goes. He leaves the world over and does not covet it. He hands over the ten thousand things and counts them no gain. He dwells in the house of the great expanse and roams in the field without limit. He climbs to Taihuang and leans on Taiyi and plays with heaven and earth in the palm of his hand. What has he to do with poor and rich, plump and gaunt! So the Confucians cannot make people free of desire, only stop them. They cannot make people take no pleasure, only forbid them. To make the world afraid of punishment so that it dare not steal, how is that like being able to make it have no thieving heart! When a man of Yue gets a bearded snake, he makes it the finest dish. When the central states get one, they throw it away as useless. So one who knows a thing is of no use can refuse it even if he is greedy. One who does not know it is of no use cannot yield it even if he is honest. When a ruler of men ruins his state, casts away and loses his altars of soil and grain, dies at another man's hand and becomes the laughingstock of the world, it has never been for anything but a wrong desire. Chouyou coveted the bribe of a great bell and lost his state. The lord of Yu counted the jade of Chuiji a gain and was taken captive. Duke Xian was taken with the beauty of Li Ji and threw four generations into disorder. Duke Huan found the seasoning of Yi Ya sweet and was not buried in his season. The king of Hu drowned in the delights of women and music and lost the land of Shangdi. If these five lords had suited their feelings and refused the surplus, and taken themselves for their measure and not moved after things, how would they have had such great troubles!
故射者非矢不中也，學射者不治矢也；禦者非轡不行，學禦者不為轡也。知冬日之箑、夏日之裘無用於己，則萬物之變為塵埃矣。故以湯止沸，沸乃不止，誠知其本，則去火而已矣。
So the archer cannot hit without an arrow, but the one who is learning to shoot does not work on the arrow. The driver cannot go without reins, but the one who is learning to drive does not make reins. Know that a fan on a winter day and a fur coat on a summer day are of no use to you, and the changes of the ten thousand things become dust. So if you use boiling water to stop water boiling, the boiling will not stop. Truly know the root of it, and you have only to take away the fire.