(Ones) good at sauntering, (leave) no trail; (ones) good at speaking,

巧用 · Qiǎo Yòng

Classical Chinese Text

善行，无辙迹；善言，无瑕谪；善数，不用筹策；善闭，无关楗而不可开；善结，无绳约而不可解。
是以圣人常善救人，故无弃人；常善救物，故无弃物。是谓袭明。
故善人者，不善人之师；不善人者，善人之资。不贵其师，不爱其资，虽智大迷，是谓要妙

Translation & Meaning

(Ones) good at sauntering, (leave) no trail; (ones) good at speaking, (bear) no flaw; (ones) good at numbering, (need) no abacus; (ones) good at locking, (need) no bolt to shut a door unopenable; (ones) good at tying, (need) no knots to fasten.

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 善 (shàn): goodness / skillful / kind
  • 行 (xíng): practice / teach / walk
  • 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
  • 辙 (zhé): classical character (zhé)
  • 迹 (jì): classical character (jì)
  • 言 (yán): words / speech
  • 瑕 (xiá): classical character (xiá)
  • 谪 (zhé): classical character (zhé)
  • 数 (shù): classical character (shù)
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 用 (yòng): use / function / apply
  • 筹 (chóu): classical character (chóu)
  • 策 (cè): classical character (cè)
  • 闭 (bì): classical character (bì)
  • 关 (guān): classical character (guān)
  • 楗 (jiàn): classical character (jiàn)
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 可 (kě): can / capable of being
  • 开 (kāi): classical character (kāi)
  • 结 (jié): classical character (jié)
  • 绳 (shéng): classical character (shéng)
  • 约 (yuē): classical character (yuē)
  • 解 (jiě): untangle / resolve
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 常 (cháng): constant / dynamic invariable
  • 救 (jiù): classical character (jiù)
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 弃 (qì): classical character (qì)
  • 物 (wù): things / phenomena / forms
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 袭 (xí): classical character (xí)
  • 明 (míng): classical character (míng)
  • 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 师 (shī): classical character (shī)
  • 资 (zī): classical character (zī)
  • 贵 (guì): prize / cherish / valuable
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 爱 (ài): classical character (ài)
  • 虽 (suī): classical character (suī)
  • 智 (zhì): classical character (zhì)
  • 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
  • 迷 (mí): classical character (mí)
  • 要 (yào): classical character (yào)
  • 妙 (miào): subtlety / mystical profundity