任德 · 圣人常无心

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Classical Chinese Text

圣人常无心，以百姓①之心为心。善者，吾善之，不善者，吾亦善之，德善；信者，吾信之，不信者，吾亦信之，德信。圣人在天下，歙歙焉为天下浑其心，百姓皆注其耳目，圣人皆孩之。

Translation & Meaning

圣人内心从不预设立场与私见，总是体察并顺应天下百姓的真实心愿。 善良的人，我以善意相待；尚不够善良的人，我同样以善意感化包容，从而成就圆满的善德。守信的人，我以诚信相待；尚不够守信的人，我同样以诚信相感召，从而成就真正的信德。 圣人立身于天下，收敛锋芒、谦和谨慎，使天下人心归于浑厚质朴。百姓往往倾注耳目于外在声色智巧，圣人则慈和护念，引导众人回归如赤子孩童般的纯真。

Commentary

青禾散人评注：“圣人常无心”如同明镜无私：镜中本无固定影像，故万物来照皆如实显现。超越以怨报怨的分别计较，以本体之善信涵化众生。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 常 (cháng): constant / dynamic invariable
  • 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
  • 心 (xīn): heart-mind / awareness
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 百 (bǎi): classical character (bǎi)
  • 姓 (xìng): classical character (xìng)
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 善 (shàn): goodness / skillful / kind
  • 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
  • 吾 (wú): I / myself
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 亦 (yì): classical character (yì)
  • 德 (dé): Intrinsic Virtue / inner power
  • 信 (xìn): truth / fidelity / honesty
  • 在 (zài): classical character (zài)
  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 歙 (xī): classical character (xī)
  • 焉 (yān): classical character (yān)
  • 浑 (hún): classical character (hún)
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 皆 (jiē): all / universally
  • 注 (zhù): classical character (zhù)
  • 耳 (ěr): classical character (ěr)
  • 目 (mù): classical character (mù)
  • 孩 (hái): classical character (hái)