虚用 · 守中如橐龠

Xū Yòng

Classical Chinese Text

天地不仁，以万物为刍狗①；圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。
天地之间，其犹橐龠乎？虚而不屈，动而俞出。多闻数穷，不若守于中。

Translation & Meaning

天地没有偏私的情感造作，一视同仁地任凭万物自然生长荣枯；圣人没有主观偏爱的干预，平等无私地让百姓自作自息。 天地之间生机流转，不正像一座巨大的风箱吗？内部空虚而不穷竭，一旦鼓动便生生不息地涌出风力。 政令与巧言繁多，反而更快陷入困窘，倒不如静守内心的虚明中道。

Commentary

青禾散人评注：“不仁”并非冷酷，而是超越个人好恶的最高公正——如阳光普照万物而不索感恩。风箱唯因其“虚”，方能生风不息；人心唯因其“守中”不偏执，方能应物无穷。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 地 (dì): classical character (dì)
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 仁 (rén): benevolence / kindness
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 万 (wàn): ten thousand / myriad / all
  • 物 (wù): things / phenomena / forms
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 刍 (chú): classical character (chú)
  • 狗 (gǒu): classical character (gǒu)
  • 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 百 (bǎi): classical character (bǎi)
  • 姓 (xìng): classical character (xìng)
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 间 (jiān): classical character (jiān)
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 犹 (yóu): classical character (yóu)
  • 橐 (tuó): classical character (tuó)
  • 龠 (yuè): classical character (yuè)
  • 乎 (hū): classical character (hū)
  • 虚 (xū): empty / clear / open
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 屈 (qū): classical character (qū)
  • 动 (dòng): action / motion / movement
  • 俞 (yú): classical character (yú)
  • 出 (chū): emerge / issue forth / originate
  • 多 (duō): classical character (duō)
  • 闻 (wén): classical character (wén)
  • 数 (shù): classical character (shù)
  • 穷 (qióng): classical character (qióng)
  • 若 (ruò): classical character (ruò)
  • 守 (shǒu): classical character (shǒu)
  • 于 (yú): to / at / in
  • 中 (zhōng): classical character (zhōng)