Mending the Inborn Nature莊子 外篇 繕性
1A people veiled and darkened
繕性於俗，俗學以求復其初；滑欲於俗，思以求致其明；謂之蔽蒙之民。
There are those who mend their nature by the ways of the age and look to the learning of the age to get back their beginning, and those who muddle their desires by the ways of the age and look to thinking to reach their own brightness. They are called a people veiled and darkened.
2Stillness nourishes knowing
古之治道者，以恬養知；生而无以知為也，謂之以知養恬。知與恬交相養，而和理出其性。夫德，和也；道，理也。德无不容，仁也；道无不理，義也；義明而物親，忠也；中純實而反乎情，樂也；信行容體而順乎文，禮也。禮樂徧行，則天下亂矣。彼正而蒙己德，德則不冒。冒則物必失其性也。
Those of old who ordered the Way nourished their knowing with calm. They lived, yet they did nothing by means of knowing, and this is called nourishing calm by means of knowing. Knowing and calm nourished each other in turn, and harmony and pattern came forth from their nature.
Virtue is harmony. The Way is pattern. That virtue holds everything is benevolence. That the Way patterns everything is rightness. That rightness is clear and things draw close is loyalty. That the inward is pure and true and turns back to the real is music. That good faith is carried out and the bearing follows the forms is ritual.
When ritual and music are practiced everywhere, the world falls into disorder. When the other is upright and you cover over your own virtue, then virtue does not spread over. If it is made to spread over, things are certain to lose their nature.
3The utmost oneness (至一)
古之人，在混芒之中，與一世而得澹漠焉。當是時也，陰陽和靜，鬼神不擾，四時得節，萬物不傷，羣生不夭，人雖有知，无所用之，此之謂至一。當是時也，莫之為而常自然。
The people of old dwelt in the midst of the blurred and the boundless, and together with the whole age they found calm and quiet.
In that time yin and yang were harmonious and still. Ghosts and spirits made no trouble. The four seasons kept their proper turns. The ten thousand things were not harmed. No living creature died young. People had knowing, but there was no use for it. This is called the utmost oneness (至一).
In that time nobody did anything, and things were always so of themselves.
4Virtue sinks and declines
逮德下衰，及燧人伏羲始為天下，是故順而不一。德又下衰，及神農黃帝始為天下，是故安而不順。德又下衰，及唐虞始為天下，興治化之流，𣻏淳散朴，離道以善，險德以行，然後去性而從於心。心與心識知而不足以定天下，然後附之以文，益之以博。文滅質，博溺心，然後民始惑亂，无以反其性情而復其初。
When virtue had sunk and declined, Suiren and Fuxi first ruled the world. So people followed, but they were no longer one.
Virtue sank and declined again, and Shennong and the Yellow Emperor first ruled the world. So people were at peace, but they no longer followed.
Virtue sank and declined again, and Yao and Shun first ruled the world. They set going the stream of governing and reforming. They muddied the pure and scattered the uncarved block. They left the Way for goodness and put virtue in danger by their doing. After that people put aside their nature and followed the mind.
Mind knew mind, and still that was not enough to settle the world. After that they added ornament to it and increased it with wide learning. Ornament wiped out the substance, and wide learning drowned the mind. After that the people first grew confused and disordered, and there was no way for them to turn back to their nature and the real and to get back their beginning.
5The age and the Way lose each other
由是觀之，世喪道矣，道喪世矣，世與道交相喪也，道之人何由興乎世，世亦何由興乎道哉！道无以興乎世，世无以興乎道，雖聖人不在山林之中，其德隱矣。
Seen from this, the age has lost the Way and the Way has lost the age. The age and the Way have lost each other. How then is a man of the Way to rise in the age, and how is the age to rise in the Way?
The Way has no means of rising in the age, and the age has no means of rising in the Way. So even if the sage is not in the midst of the mountain forests, his virtue is hidden.
6What it means to be hidden
隱，故不自隱。古之所謂隱士者，非伏其身而弗見也，非閉其言而不出也，非藏其知而不發也，時命大謬也。當時命而大行乎天下，則反一无迹；不當時命而大窮乎天下，則深根寧極而待；此存身之道也。
He is hidden. He does not hide himself.
The hidden scholars of old did not crouch down and keep out of sight. They did not shut their mouths and say nothing. They did not store away their knowing and leave it unopened. It was that the time and fate had gone greatly awry.
When the time and fate meet a man and he moves greatly in the world, he returns to oneness and leaves no trace. When the time and fate do not meet him and he is greatly hemmed in by the world, he sinks his roots deep, rests in the utmost, and waits. This is the way of keeping oneself whole.
7He only sets himself straight
古之行身者，不以辯飾知，不以知窮天下，不以知窮德，危然處其所而反其性已，又何為哉！道固不小行，德固不小識。小識傷德，小行傷道。故曰，正己而已矣。樂全之謂得志。
Those of old who kept themselves whole did not dress up their knowing with clever talk. They did not use knowing to hem in the world. They did not use knowing to hem in virtue. They stood alone in their own place and turned back to their nature. What else was there to do?
The Way is not a thing for small doing. Virtue is not a thing for small knowing. Small knowing harms virtue. Small doing harms the Way. Therefore it is said. He only sets himself straight. To have joy whole is what is called getting what one wished for.
8A people set upside down
古之所謂得志者，非軒冕之謂也，謂其无以益其樂而已矣。今之所謂得志者，軒冕之謂也。軒冕在身，非性命也，物之儻來，寄者也。寄之，其來不可圉，其去不可止。故不為軒冕肆志，不為窮約趨俗，其樂彼與此同，故无憂而已矣。今寄去則不樂，由是觀之，雖樂，未嘗不荒也。故曰，喪己於物，失性於俗者，謂之倒置之民。
What the ancients called getting what one wished for did not mean the high carriage and the ceremonial cap. It meant only that nothing could be added to their joy.
What people now call getting what one wished for means the high carriage and the ceremonial cap. But carriage and cap upon the body are not your nature and your fate. They are things that come by chance and lodge with you for a while. Being lodgers, their coming cannot be blocked and their going cannot be stopped.
So a man does not run wild in his purposes for the sake of carriage and cap, and he does not follow the ways of the age because he is poor and hemmed in. His joy there and his joy here are the same, and so he simply has no cares.
Now when the thing that lodged with him departs, he is not joyful. Seen from this, even while he had joy, he was never anything but wasted.
Therefore it is said. Those who lose themselves in things and lose their nature in the ways of the age are called a people set upside down.