任为 · 天网恢恢疏而不失
Rèn Wéi
Classical Chinese Text
勇于敢则杀，勇于不敢则活。此两者，或利或害。天之所恶，孰知其故？是以圣人犹难之③。天之道，不争而善胜，不言而善应，不召而自来，繟然而善谋。天网恢恢，疏而不失。
Translation & Meaning
一味逞强果敢妄为就会招致杀身之祸，懂得敬畏克制、敢于不妄为反而能够保全生机。这两种勇，一种有益、一种有害。上天所厌弃的逞强妄作，谁能完全测透其中的深意呢？连圣人对此都深怀审慎敬畏。 自然天道的运行：从不与万物争竞却无往不胜，从不发声言语却分毫不爽地感应因果，无需呼召便依时自至，看似舒缓宽绰却筹划得周密无遗。 天道法则之网广大无边，网眼虽然看似宽疏，却从来不会漏失任何一丝因果。
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 勇 (yǒng): classical character (yǒng)
- 于 (yú): to / at / in
- 敢 (gǎn): dare / venture forward
- 则 (zé): classical character (zé)
- 杀 (shā): classical character (shā)
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 活 (huó): classical character (huó)
- 此 (cǐ): classical character (cǐ)
- 两 (liǎng): two / duality / polarity
- 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
- 或 (huò): tangible / perhaps / presence
- 利 (lì): benefits / nourishes
- 害 (hài): classical character (hài)
- 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
- 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
- 所 (suǒ): place / frontier / that which
- 恶 (è): ugly / aversion / evil
- 孰 (shú): classical character (shú)
- 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
- 人 (rén): person / human
- 犹 (yóu): classical character (yóu)
- 难 (nán): difficult / arduous
- 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
- 争 (zhēng): compete / contend / rival
- 而 (ér): yet / and / but
- 善 (shàn): goodness / skillful / kind
- 胜 (shèng): classical character (shèng)
- 言 (yán): words / speech
- 应 (yìng): classical character (yìng)
- 召 (zhào): classical character (zhào)
- 自 (zì): classical character (zì)
- 来 (lái): classical character (lái)
- 繟 (chǎn): classical character (chǎn)
- 然 (rán): classical character (rán)
- 谋 (móu): classical character (móu)
- 网 (wǎng): classical character (wǎng)
- 恢 (huī): classical character (huī)
- 疏 (shū): classical character (shū)
- 失 (shī): classical character (shī)
Commentary
青禾散人评注：“勇于不敢”是极高修养：敢于拒绝诱惑、敢于在众人狂热时按下暂停键。“天网恢恢，疏而不失”，自然规律虽从容不迫，却从不落空。