道德经全文和注释 (英文版)

Dr.Wayne WANG

1. The Way
The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.

To experience without intention is to sense the world;
To experience with intention is to anticipate the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.

Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.

【原文】
　　道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。
　　无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。
　　故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。
　　此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄。
　　玄之又玄，众妙之门。

Dr.Wayne WANG

81. The Sage
Honest people use no rhetoric;
Rhetoric is not honesty.
Enlightened people are not cultured;
Culture is not enlightenment.
Content people are not rich;
Riches are not contentment.

So the sage does not serve himself;
The more he does for others, the more he is satisfied;
The more he gives, the more he receives.
Nature flourishes at the expense of no one;
So the sage benefits all men and contends with none.

【原文】
       信言不美，美言不信；
       善者不辩，辩者不善；
       知者不博，博者不知。
       圣人不积。
       既以为人己愈有，既以与人己愈多。
       天之道，利而不害；圣人之道，为而不争。

Dr.Wayne WANG

10. Harmony
Embracing the Way, you become embraced;
Breathing gently, you become newborn;
Clearing your mind, you become clear;
Nurturing your children, you become impartial;
Opening your heart, you become accepted;
Accepting the world, you embrace the Way.

Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
This is harmony.

【原文】
        载营魄抱一，能无离乎？
        抟气致柔，能婴儿乎？
        涤除玄鉴，能无疵乎？
        爱民治国，能无为乎？
        天门开阖，能为雌乎？
        明白四达，能无知乎？
        生之，畜之，生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德。

Dr.Wayne WANG

80. Utopia
Let your community be small, with only a few people;
Keep tools in abundance, but do not depend upon them;
Appreciate your life and be content with your home;
Sail boats and ride horses, but don't go too far;
Keep weapons and armour, but do not employ them;
Let everyone read and write,
Eat well and make beautiful things.

Live peacefully and delight in your own society;
Dwell within cock-crow of your neighbours,
But maintain your independence from them.

【原文】
       小国寡民。使有什佰之器而不用，使民重死而不远徙。虽有舟车，无所乘之；虽有甲兵，无所陈之。使民复结绳而用之。甘其食，美其服，安其居，乐其俗。邻国相望，鸡犬之声相闻，民至老死，不相往来。

Dr.Wayne WANG

79. Reconciliation
When conflict is reconciled, some hard feelings remain;
This is dangerous.

The sage accepts less than is due
And does not blame or punish;
For harmony seeks agreement
Where justice seeks payment.

The ancients said: "nature is impartial;
Therefore it serves those who serve all."

【原文】
       和大怨，必有余恕，安可以为善？
       是以圣人执左契而不责于人。
       有德司契，无德司彻。
       天道无亲，常与善人。

Dr.Wayne WANG

78. Yielding
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water,
Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong,
For they can neither control nor do away with it.

The soft overcomes the hard,
The yielding overcomes the strong;
Every person knows this,
But no one can practice it.

Who attends to the people would control the land and grain;
Who attends to the state would control the whole world;
Truth is easily hidden by rhetoric.

【原文】
       天下莫柔弱于水，而攻坚强者莫之能胜，以其无以易之。
       柔之胜刚，弱之胜强，天下莫不知，而莫能行。
       是以圣人云：爱国之垢，是谓社稷主；受国之不祥，是谓天下王。
       正言若反。

Dr.Wayne WANG

77. Need
Is the action of nature not unlike drawing a bow?
What is higher is pulled down, and what is lower is raised up;
What is taller is shortened, and what is thinner is broadened;
Nature's motion decreases those who have more than they need
And increases those who need more than they have.

It is not so with Man.
Man decreases those who need more than they have
And increases those who have more than they need.

To give away what you do not need is to follow the Way.
So the sage gives without expectation,
Accomplishes without claiming credit,
And has no desire for ostentation.

【原文】
       天之道，其犹张弓者欤？高者抑之，下者举之，有余者损之，不足者补之。
       天之道，损有余而补不足；人之道则不然，损不足以奉有余。
       孰能有余以奉天下？唯有道者。
       是以圣人为而不恃，功成而不处，其不欲见贤也。

Dr.Wayne WANG

76. Flexibility
A newborn is soft and tender,
A crone, hard and stiff.
Plants and animals, in life, are supple and succulent;
In death, withered and dry.
So softness and tenderness are attributes of life,
And hardness and stiffness, attributes of death.

Just as a sapless tree will split and decay
So an inflexible force will meet defeat;
The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground
While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.

【原文】
       人之生也柔弱，其死也坚强；
       草木之生也柔脆，其死也枯槁。
       故坚强者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。
       是以兵强则灭，木强则折。
       强大处下，柔弱处上。

Dr.Wayne WANG

75. Rebellion
When rulers take grain so that they may feast,
Their people become hungry;
When rulers take action to serve their own interests,
Their people become rebellious;
When rulers take lives so that their own lives are maintained,
Their people no longer fear death.

When people act without regard for their own lives
They overcome those who value only their own lives.

【原文】
       民之饥，以其上食税之多，是以饥。
       民之难治，以其上之有为，是以难治。
       民之轻死，以其上求生之厚，是以轻死。
       夫唯无以生为者，是贤于贵生。

Dr.Wayne WANG

74. Execution
If people were not afraid of death,
Then what would be the use of an executioner?

If people were only afraid of death,
And you executed everyone who did not obey,
No one would dare to disobey you.
Then what would be the use of an executioner?

People fear death because death is an instrument of fate.
When people are killed by execution rather than by fate,
This is like carving wood in the place of a carpenter.
Those who carve wood in place of a carpenter

【原文】
       民不畏死，奈何以死惧之？
       若使民常畏死，而为奇者，我得执而杀之……孰敢？
       常有司杀者杀。
       夫代司杀者杀，是代大匠斫。
       夫代大匠斫者，鲜有不伤其手者矣。

Dr.Wayne WANG

73. Fate
Who is brave and bold will perish;
Who is brave and subtle will benefit.
The subtle profit where the bold perish
For fate does not honour daring.
And even the sage dares not tempt fate.

Fate does not attack, yet all things are conquered by it;
It does not ask, yet all things answer to it;
It does not call, yet all things meet it;
It does not plan, yet all things are determined by it.

Fate's net is vast and its mesh is coarse,
Yet none escape it.

【原文】
       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。
       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。