養德 · 尊道而貴德

Yǎng Dé

Classical Chinese Text

道生之，德畜之，物形之，势成之。是以万物莫不尊道而贵德。
道之尊，德之贵，夫莫之命而常自然。
故道生之，德畜之，长之育之，亭之毒之，养之覆之。
生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德。

Translation & Meaning

大道化生萬物，內德滋養萬物，質料賦予萬物具體形態，時勢環境促成萬物成熟。因此世間萬物沒有不尊崇大道而珍貴內德的。 大道之所以崇高，內德之所以珍貴，正在於它們從不發號施令強加干涉，而是恆常順任萬物自然生長。 所以大道生發萬物，內德蓄養萬物；使它們發育成長，使它們安頓成熟，給它們養護庇蔭。生養萬物卻不佔為己有，有所施為卻不自恃恩功，引導滋長卻不強行主宰，這就叫做深遠崇高的「玄德」。

Commentary

青禾散人評注：真正的權威無需強制命令（莫之命而常自然）。父母育子、師長育人、領袖帶隊皆當如此：護持成長，卻尊重其獨立天性而不控制主宰。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
  • 生 (shēng): give birth to / arise
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 德 (dé): Intrinsic Virtue / inner power
  • 畜 (chù): classical character (chù)
  • 物 (wù): things / phenomena / forms
  • 形 (xíng): contrast / appearance
  • 势 (shì): classical character (shì)
  • 成 (chéng): complete / fulfill
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 万 (wàn): ten thousand / myriad / all
  • 莫 (mò): classical character (mò)
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 尊 (zūn): classical character (zūn)
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 贵 (guì): prize / cherish / valuable
  • 夫 (fū): for / indeed / now
  • 命 (mìng): classical character (mìng)
  • 常 (cháng): constant / dynamic invariable
  • 自 (zì): classical character (zì)
  • 然 (rán): classical character (rán)
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 长 (cháng): long / enduring / grow
  • 育 (yù): classical character (yù)
  • 亭 (tíng): classical character (tíng)
  • 毒 (dú): classical character (dú)
  • 养 (yǎng): classical character (yǎng)
  • 覆 (fù): classical character (fù)
  • 有 (yǒu): manifest being / cosmos / to possess
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 恃 (shì): classical character (shì)
  • 宰 (zǎi): classical character (zǎi)
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 玄 (xuán): mystery / fathomless depth