成象 · 玄牝之門

Chéng Xiàng

Classical Chinese Text

谷神不死①，是谓玄牝②。
玄牝之门，是谓天地之根。
绵绵呵！其若存！用之不堇。

Translation & Meaning

空谷般虛懷而神妙的生機永不消亡，這便叫做深微孕育萬物的母體「玄牝」。 玄牝化生萬物的門戶，正是天地得以生成的根本。 它連綿不絕、若有若無地存在著，無論如何發揮作用都永不耗盡。

Commentary

青禾散人評注：山谷因空曠而迴響不絕，大道因虛靜而創生不息。「綿綿若存，用之不堇」亦是呼吸吐納與凝神養氣的樞機：綿密細長，不急不躁，生機自然源源不斷。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 谷 (gǔ): classical character (gǔ)
  • 神 (shén): classical character (shén)
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 死 (sǐ): classical character (sǐ)
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 玄 (xuán): mystery / fathomless depth
  • 牝 (pìn): classical character (pìn)
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 门 (mén): gateway / portal of reality
  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 地 (dì): classical character (dì)
  • 根 (gēn): classical character (gēn)
  • 绵 (mián): classical character (mián)
  • 呵 (hē): [exclamation particle]
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 若 (ruò): classical character (ruò)
  • 存 (cún): exist / remain / dwell
  • 用 (yòng): use / function / apply
  • 堇 (jǐn): classical character (jǐn)