鉴远 · 不出户知天下

Jiàn Yuǎn

Classical Chinese Text

不出户，知天下；不窥牖，见天道。其出弥远，其知弥少。是以圣人不行而知，不见而明，不为而成。

Translation & Meaning

不必迈出家门，便能通晓天下的常理；不必窥望窗外，便能洞见自然的法则。 心神越是向外奔逐驰求，对生命本源真知的体悟反而越少。 因此圣人无需外逐奔波而洞悉根本，无需凭感官表象而心境澄明，无需妄作强求而万事顺应天成。

Commentary

青禾散人评注：万事万物同构于一理。若心无定见，纵使阅尽万卷碎片资讯，亦是“其出弥远，其知弥少”；反观自心本性，天道已在方寸之间。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 出 (chū): emerge / issue forth / originate
  • 户 (hù): classical character (hù)
  • 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 窥 (kuī): classical character (kuī)
  • 牖 (yǒu): classical character (yǒu)
  • 见 (jiàn): see / display / manifest
  • 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 弥 (mí): classical character (mí)
  • 远 (yuǎn): classical character (yuǎn)
  • 少 (shǎo): classical character (shǎo)
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 行 (xíng): practice / teach / walk
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 明 (míng): classical character (míng)
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 成 (chéng): complete / fulfill