仁德 · 执大象天下往
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Classical Chinese Text
执大象①，天下往。往而不害，安平太。乐与饵，过客止，道之出口，淡乎其无味，视之不足见，听之不足闻，用之不足既。
Translation & Meaning
秉持无形无偏的大道本象，天下人便会自然归向。众人归来而彼此互不伤害，于是人人得享安宁、平和与泰然。 美妙的音乐与丰盛的美食，只能让过路行客暂时驻足停留；而大道一旦表述出来，却平淡得像清水一样毫无浓烈滋味——看它似乎不值一见，听它似乎不值一闻，然而真正践行运用起来，却受用无穷、永不枯竭。
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 执 (zhí): classical character (zhí)
- 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
- 象 (xiàng): appearance / image / form
- 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
- 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
- 往 (wǎng): classical character (wǎng)
- 而 (ér): yet / and / but
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 害 (hài): classical character (hài)
- 安 (ān): classical character (ān)
- 平 (píng): classical character (píng)
- 太 (tài): classical character (tài)
- 乐 (lè): classical character (lè)
- 与 (yǔ): classical character (yǔ)
- 饵 (ěr): classical character (ěr)
- 过 (guò): classical character (guò)
- 客 (kè): classical character (kè)
- 止 (zhǐ): classical character (zhǐ)
- 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
- 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
- 出 (chū): emerge / issue forth / originate
- 口 (kǒu): classical character (kǒu)
- 淡 (dàn): classical character (dàn)
- 乎 (hū): classical character (hū)
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
- 味 (wèi): classical character (wèi)
- 视 (shì): classical character (shì)
- 足 (zú): classical character (zú)
- 见 (jiàn): see / display / manifest
- 听 (tīng): classical character (tīng)
- 闻 (wén): classical character (wén)
- 用 (yòng): use / function / apply
- 既 (jì): classical character (jì)
Commentary
青禾散人评注：感官刺激（乐与饵）浓烈却短暂，过后徒留空虚；大道至味平淡如水，初品无奇，久行则终身受用不尽。