Zhi Bei You (Knowledge Wanders North)

仲尼曰：「古之人，外化而內不化，今之人，內化而外不化。與物化者，一不化者也。安化安不化，安與之相靡，必與之莫多。狶韋氏之囿，黃帝之圃，有虞氏之宮，湯武之室。君子之人，若儒墨者師，故以是非相x韲x*也，而況今之人乎！聖人處物不傷物。不傷物者，物亦不能傷也。唯無所傷者，為能與人相將迎。山林與！皋壤與！使我欣欣然而樂與！樂未畢也，哀又繼之。哀樂之來，吾不能禦，其去弗能止。悲夫，世人直為物逆旅耳！夫知遇而不知所不遇，知能能而不能所不能。無知無能者，固人之所不免也。夫務免乎人之所不免者，豈不亦悲哉！至言去言，至為去為。齊知之所知，則淺矣。」

Zhongni said: "People of old were transformed outside and not transformed inside; people today are transformed inside and not transformed outside. What transforms with things is the one that does not transform. Being at ease in transformation and at ease in non-transformation, being at ease in rubbing against them, one certainly does not seek more from them. The park of Xiwei, the garden of the Yellow Emperor, the palace of Youyu, the houses of Tang and Wu. Gentlemen of this kind, like the teachers of the Confucians and Mohists, still use right and wrong to [damaged character in the base text, see the note below] one another, to say nothing of people today! The sage dwells among things without harming things. One who does not harm things cannot be harmed by things. Only one who harms nothing can send off and welcome people. Mountains and forests! Banks and marshes! They make me glad and happy! Before the joy is over, sorrow follows. Sorrow and joy come, and I cannot resist them; they go, and I cannot stop them. How sad, that people of the world are merely inns for things! They know what they meet but do not know what they do not meet, they can do what they can do but cannot do what they cannot do. Not knowing and not being able are, of course, what no one avoids. To strive to avoid what people cannot avoid, is that not also sad! The perfect speech does away with speech, and the perfect action does away with action. To unify what one knows is shallow."

Truecharacterresembles敕over韭,but束shouldbereplacedwith朿.UTF-8無其正字，只好暫用相似字。應該是敕(朿+攴)在上，韭在下。見中文大辭典。

(Note in the base text, not part of the scripture:) The correct form of this character looks like the character for 'command' placed above the character for 'leek', but with the component 'bundle' replaced by 'thorn'. UTF-8 does not contain this correct character, so a similar character has been used for now. It should be the command character (thorn plus the 'tap' radical) on top and the leek below. See the Zhongwen Da Cidian.

老聃之役有庚桑楚者，偏得老聃之道，以北居畏壘之山，其臣之畫然知者去之，其妾之挈然仁者遠之；擁腫之與居，鞅掌之為使。居三年，畏壘大壤。畏壘之民相與言曰：「庚桑子之始來，吾灑然異之。今吾日計之而不足，歲計之而有餘。庶幾其聖人乎！子胡不相與屍而祝之，社而稷之乎？」

Among the disciples of Lao Dan there was one called Gengsang Chu, who had obtained a part of Lao Dan's Way. He went north to live on Mount Weilei. Among his attendants, those who clearly displayed knowledge left him, and among his concubines, those who showed off humaneness stayed distant; those who were swollen and clumsy lived with him, and those who were busy were at his service. After three years Weilei had a great harvest. The people of Weilei said to each other: "When Master Gengsang first came, we felt startled that he was strange. Now if we count by the day it is not enough, but if we count by the year there is a surplus. He is probably a sage! Why do you not together make him the impersonator of the dead at sacrifices, and set up altars of soil and grain for him?"

庚桑子聞之，南面而不釋然。弟子異之。庚桑子曰：「弟子何異於予？夫春氣發而百草生，正得秋而萬寶成。夫春與秋，豈無得而然哉？天道已行矣。吾聞至人，屍居環堵之室，而百姓猖狂不知所如往。今以畏壘之細民而竊竊焉欲俎豆予於賢人之間，我其杓之人邪？吾是以不釋於老耼之言。」

Master Gengsang heard this, faced south, and was not at ease. His disciples found it strange. Master Gengsang said: "Why do my disciples find me strange? When the spring qi stirs, the hundred plants grow, and just as autumn arrives the myriad fruits ripen. Do spring and autumn act like this without anything attained? The Way of Heaven has already been operating. I have heard that the perfect person dwells like an impersonator of the dead in a house of four walls, while the hundred clans run wild not knowing where to go. Now these petty people of Weilei whisper that they want to place me among the worthy and offer sacrificial vessels to me; am I one to be a model? That is why I am not at ease about Lao Dan's words."

弟子曰：「不然。夫尋常之溝，巨魚無所還其體，而鯢鰌為之制；步仞之丘陵，巨獸無所隱其軀，而㜸狐為之祥。且夫尊賢授能，先善與利，自古堯舜以然，而況畏壘之民乎！夫子亦聽矣！」

The disciples said: "It is not so. In a ditch eight or ten feet deep, a big fish has no place to turn, yet the loach and eel can prevail; on a hill of a few paces high, a huge beast has no place to hide its body, yet the fox spirit takes it as auspicious. Moreover, honoring the worthy, entrusting the able, putting goodness and benefit first has been so since Yao and Shun, to say nothing of the people of Weilei! Master, please just allow it!"

庚桑子曰：「小子來！夫函車之獸，介而離山，則不免於罔罟之患；吞舟之魚，碭而失水，則蟻能苦之。故鳥獸不厭高，魚鼈不厭深。夫全其形生之人，藏其身也，不厭深眇而已矣！且夫二子者，又何足以稱揚哉！是其於辯也，將妄鑿垣牆而殖蓬蒿也，簡髮而櫛，數米而炊，竊竊乎又何足以濟世哉！舉賢則民相軋，任知則民相盜。之數物者，不足以厚民。民之於利甚勤，子有殺父，臣有殺君，正晝為盜，日中穴阫。吾語女，大亂之本，必生於堯舜之間，其末存乎千世之後。千世之後，其必有人與人相食者也。」

Master Gengsang said: "Come here, children! A beast that can hold a carriage in its mouth, if it leaves the mountains alone, cannot escape the trouble of nets and snares; a fish that can swallow a boat, if it is washed out of the water, can be tormented by ants. So birds and beasts do not tire of heights, and fish and turtles do not tire of depths. One who preserves his form and life hides his body and simply does not tire of depth and obscurity! Moreover, those two men, how are they worthy of praise! In making distinctions they would recklessly breach walls to plant weeds, pick out hairs to comb them, and count rice grains to cook them, and how could such petty stirring help the world! Promote the worthy and the people trample one another; employ the clever and the people steal from one another. These few things are not enough to benefit the people. The people are very diligent about profit: there are sons who kill their fathers and ministers who kill their rulers, who rob in broad daylight and dig through walls at noon. I tell you, the root of great disorder will certainly be born between Yao and Shun, and its branches will exist a thousand generations later. A thousand generations later there will certainly be people eating people."

南榮趎蹵然正坐曰：「若趎之年者已長矣，將惡乎託業以及此言邪？」

Nanrong Chu sat up straight in alarm and said: "For someone like me whose years are already many, what studies can I rely on to reach such words?"

庚桑子曰：「全汝形，抱汝生，無使汝思慮營營。若此三年，則可以及此言矣。」

Master Gengsang said: "Preserve your form, guard your life, and do not let your thoughts bustle about. In this way, in three years you may reach such words."

南榮趎曰：「目之與形，吾不知其異也，而盲者不能自見；耳之與形，吾不知其異也，而聾者不能自聞；心之與形，吾不知其異也，而狂者不能自得。形之與形亦闢矣，而物或間之邪，欲相求而不能相得？今謂趎曰：『全汝形，抱汝生，勿使汝思慮營營。』趎勉聞道達耳矣！」

Nanrong Chu said: "For the eyes in relation to the body, I do not know how they differ, yet the blind cannot see by themselves; for the ears in relation to the body, I do not know how they differ, yet the deaf cannot hear by themselves; for the heart in relation to the body, I do not know how they differ, yet the mad cannot attain by themselves. Body and body are also open to each other, but perhaps things come between them, so that they seek one another but cannot reach one another? Now you tell me: 'Preserve your form, guard your life, and do not let your thoughts bustle about.' I strive to hear the Way, but it only reaches my ears!"

庚桑子曰：「辭盡矣。曰，奔蜂不能化藿蠋，越雞不能伏鵠卵，魯雞固能矣。雞之與雞，其德非不同也，有能與不能者，其才固有巨小也。今吾才小，不足以化子。子胡不南見老子！」

Master Gengsang said: "I have said all I can. It is said that the wasp cannot hatch a bean caterpillar, the Yue chicken cannot hatch a swan's egg, but the Lu chicken can. Chicken and chicken, their natures are not different; one can and one cannot because their capacities are by nature large or small. Now my capacity is small and not enough to transform you. Why do you not go south and see Laozi!"

南榮趎贏糧，七日七夜至老子之所。

Nanrong Chu, carrying provisions, arrived at Laozi's place after seven days and seven nights.

老子曰：「子自楚之所來乎？」南榮趎曰：「唯。」

Laozi said: "Did you come from the land of Chu?" Nanrong Chu said: "Yes."

老子曰：「子何與人偕來之眾也？」南榮趎懼然顧其後。

Laozi said: "Why did you come with so many people?" Nanrong Chu turned and looked behind him in fright.

老子曰：「子不知吾所謂乎？」

Laozi said: "Do you not know what I mean?"

南榮趎俯而慙，仰而歎曰：「今者吾忘吾答，因失吾問。」

Nanrong Chu bowed his head in shame, then lifted it and sighed, saying: "Just now I forgot my answer and so lost my question."

老子曰：「何謂也？」

Laozi said: "What do you mean?"

南榮趎曰：「不知乎？人謂我朱愚。知乎？反愁我軀。不仁則害人，仁則反愁我身；不義則傷彼，義則反愁我己。我安逃此而可？此三言者，趎之所患也，願因楚而問之。」

Nanrong Chu said: "If I do not know, people say I am dull. If I know, it worries my body. If I am not humane, I harm others; if I am humane, it worries my person. If I am not righteous, I injure the other; if righteous, it worries myself. How can I escape these before I am right? These three sentences are what afflict me, and I wish to ask about them by borrowing the name of Chu."

老子曰：「向吾見若眉睫之間，吾因以得汝矣。今汝又言，而信之。若規規然若喪父母，揭竿而求諸海也。女亡人哉！惘惘乎，汝欲反汝情性而無由入，可憐哉！」

Laozi said: "Just now I looked between your brows and lashes, and from that I had already grasped you. Now you speak, and it is confirmed. You are anxious like one who has lost his parents, holding a pole and going into the sea to search for them. You are a lost person! Bewildered, you want to return to your nature and feelings but have no way in. Pitiable!"

南榮趎請入就舍，召其所好，去其所惡，十日自愁，復見老子。

Nanrong Chu asked to enter and stay in the guest house; he called back what he liked and discarded what he disliked, and after ten days of worrying by himself, he went again to see Laozi.

老子曰：「汝自灑濯，熟哉鬱鬱乎！然而其中津津乎猶有惡也。夫外韄者不可繁而捉，將內揵；內韄者不可繆而捉，將外揵。外內韄者，道德不能持，而況放道而行者乎！」

Laozi said: "You wash yourself, thoroughly; yet you are still gloomy! Still within you there is a trickle of evil. What is bound outside cannot be caught by fussy grasping, and you will have to lock it from within; what is bound inside cannot be caught by entangled grasping, and you will have to lock it from outside. For those bound both outside and inside, the Way and virtue cannot hold, to say nothing of one who goes abroad leaving the Way alone!"

南榮趎曰：「里人有病，里人問之，病者能言其病，病者猶未病也。若趎之聞大道，譬猶飲藥以加病也，趎願聞衞生之經而已矣。」

Nanrong Chu said: "When a person in the village is ill, and the villagers ask him, if the sick man can state his illness, he is not yet truly ill. As for me hearing the great Way, it is like drinking medicine to worsen the illness; I only wish to hear the classic of guarding life."

老子曰：「衞生之經，能抱一乎？能勿失乎？能無卜筮而知吉凶乎？能止乎？能已乎？能捨諸人而求諸己乎？能翛然乎？能侗然乎？能兒子乎？兒子終日嗥而嗌不嗄，和之至也；終日握而手不掜，共其德也；終日視而目不瞚，偏不在外也。行不知所之，居不知所為，與物委蛇而同其波。是衞生之經已。」

Laozi said: "The classic of guarding life: can you embrace the One? Can you not lose it? Can you know good and ill fortune without divination? Can you stop? Can you cease? Can you put down others and seek yourself? Can you be unconstrained? Can you be simple and open? Can you be like an infant? An infant cries all day yet its throat is not hoarse, because its harmony is perfect; it grips all day yet its hand does not curl, because it shares in that virtue; it looks all day yet its eye does not blink, because it is not attached to anything outside. When it walks it does not know where it goes, when it stays it does not know what it does, and it goes along with things, following their waves. This is the classic of guarding life."

南榮趎曰：「然則是至人之德已乎？」

Nanrong Chu said: "Then is this the virtue of the perfect person?"

曰：「非也。是乃所謂冰解凍釋者，能乎？夫至人者，相與交食乎地而交樂乎天，不以人物利害相攖，不相與為怪，不相與為謀，不相與為事，翛然而往，侗然而來。是謂衞生之經已。」

(Laozi) said: "No. This is only what is called ice dissolving and melting, can you do it? The perfect person eats together with others on Earth and enjoys together with others in Heaven, is not entangled by human and material benefits and harms, does not make strange things with others, does not plan with others, does not undertake business with others, goes freely and comes simply. This is called the classic of guarding life."

曰：「然則是至乎？」

(Nanrong Chu) said: "Then is this the utmost?"

曰：「未也。吾固告汝曰：『能兒子乎！』兒子動不知所為，行不知所之，身若槁木之枝而心若死灰。若是者，禍亦不至，福亦不來。禍福無有，惡有人災也！」

(Laozi) said: "Not yet. I originally told you: 'Can you be like an infant!' An infant moves without knowing what it does and walks without knowing where it goes; its body is like the branch of a dry tree and its heart like dead ashes. One like this is not reached by calamity and not visited by fortune. With neither calamity nor fortune, how could there be human disasters!"

宇泰定者，發乎天光。發乎天光者，人見其人，[物見其物。]人有脩者，乃今有恆；有恆者，人舍之，天助之。人之所舍，謂之天民；天之所助，謂之天子。

One whose inner space is greatly settled emits the light of Heaven. One who emits the light of Heaven is seen by people as a person (the base text supplies: and things see him as a thing). People who cultivate this now have constancy; one with constancy is where people come to dwell and Heaven comes to help. Those whom people dwell with are called people of Heaven, and those whom Heaven helps are called sons of Heaven.

學者，學其所不能學也；行者，行其所不能行也；辯者，辯其所不能辯也。知止乎其所不能知，至矣；若有不即是者，天鈞敗之。

Those who study, study what cannot be studied; those who act, act what cannot be acted; those who debate, debate what cannot be debated. To stop knowledge at what it cannot know is to reach the utmost; if anyone is not like this, the Heavenly potter's wheel ruins him.

備物以將形，藏不虞以生心，敬中以達彼，若是而萬惡至者，皆天也，而非人也，不足以滑成，不可內於靈臺。靈臺者有持，而不知其所持，而不可持者也。

Preparing goods to nourish the body, hiding the unexpected to give birth to the heart, being reverent within so as to reach beyond: if myriad evils come in this way, they are all Heaven and not human, not enough to disturb completion, and not to be admitted into the spirit-terrace. The spirit-terrace has what it holds, yet does not know what it holds, and yet it cannot be held.

不見其誠己而發，每發而不當，業入而不捨，每更為失。為不善乎顯明之中者，人得而誅之；為不善乎幽閒之中者，鬼得而誅之。明乎人、明乎鬼者，然後能獨行。

If one does not see one's own sincerity and sets forth, every setting forth is unfitting, work enters without being let go, and every change is a loss. One who does what is not good in the light, people can punish him; one who does what is not good in the dark, ghosts can punish him. One who is clear before people and clear before ghosts can then walk alone.

券內者，行乎無名；券外者，志乎期費。行乎無名者，唯庸有光；志乎期費者，唯賈人也。人見其跂，猶之魁然。與物窮者，物入焉；與物且者，其身之不能容，焉能容人！不能容人者無親，無親者盡人。兵莫憯於志，鏌鋣為下；寇莫大於陰陽，無所逃於天地之間。非陰陽賊之，心則使之也。

One who is in accord with the inner acts in namelessness; one who is in accord with the outer has his aims in seeking and spending. One who acts in namelessness is only ordinary and yet has radiance; one whose aims are in seeking and spending is only a merchant. People see him standing on tiptoe and still think him tall. One who exhausts himself with things, things enter; one who is careless with things cannot even be contained in his own body, how could he contain others! One who cannot contain others has no kin, and one without kin treats all people as outsiders. No weapon is more grievous than the will, with Moye still lower; no bandit is greater than yin and yang, and there is no escaping them between Heaven and Earth. It is not yin and yang that harm him; it is his heart that makes him so.

道通，其分也。其成也毀也。所惡乎分者，其分也以備；所以惡乎備者，其有以備。故出而不反，見其鬼；出而得，是謂得死。滅而有實，鬼之一也。以有形者象無形者而定矣！

The Way is open, and this is its division. Its completion is also its destruction. What is disliked about division is that it divides by completeness; what is disliked about completeness is that it has the use to complete. So one who goes out and does not return sees ghosts; one who goes out and gains something, this is called gaining death. When something has been extinguished and yet there is still substance, it is a kind of ghost. To use what has form to resemble what has no form: then one is settled!

出無本，入無竅，有實而無乎處，有長而無乎本剽，有所出而無竅者有實。有實而無乎處者，宇也；有長而無本剽者，宙也。有乎生，有乎死；有乎出，有乎入。入出而無見其形，是謂天門。天門者，無有也。萬物出乎無有。有不能以有為有，必出乎無有，而無有一無有。聖人藏乎是。

What comes out has no root, what goes in has no aperture; there is substance without place, there is length without beginning or end, there is something that comes out without aperture which is substance. Substance without place is space (yu); length without beginning or end is time (zhou). There is birth and there is death; there is going out and there is going in. Going in and out without showing form: this is called the gate of Heaven. The gate of Heaven is nonexistence. The myriad things come out of nonexistence. Being cannot use being to make being; it must come from nonexistence, and nonexistence is a single nonexistence. The sage hides here.

古之人，其知有所至矣。惡乎至？有以為未始有物者，至矣，盡矣，弗可以加矣！其次以為有物矣，將以生為喪也，以死為反也，是以分已。其次曰始無有，既而有生，生俄而死；以無有為首，以生為體，以死為尻；孰知有無死生之一守者，吾與之為友。是三者雖異，公族也，昭景也，著戴也，甲氏也，著封也：非一也。

The people of old had a knowing that reached something. What did it reach? Some held that there had never been anything at all, which reached the end and exhausted it, so that nothing could be added! Next, some held that there were things, and took life as loss and death as return, and so already had divisions. Next, some said: at first there was no being, then there was life, and life soon died; they took nonexistence as the head, life as the body, and death as the rump; who knows that being and nonbeing, death and life, are maintained as one, I will take him as a friend. These three, though different, are of one clan, as the Zhao and Jing clans are known by what they honor and the Jia clan by its fief: they are not one.

有生，黬也，披然曰移是。嘗言移是，非所言也。雖然，不可知者也。臘者之有膍胲，可散而不可散也；觀室者周於寢廟，又適其偃焉！為是舉移是。

Having life is a darkness and cloud, confusedly speaking of this and that. Let me try to speak of this and that; it is not what one should speak of. Even so, it cannot be known. At the year-end sacrifice there are the spleen and hooves, which can be divided and yet cannot be divided; one viewing the houses goes through the ancestral temples and then also goes to the privy! For this I raise the matter of this and that.

請常言移是。是以生為本，以知為師，因以乘是非。果有名實，因以己為質。使人以為己節，因以死償節。若然者，以用為知，以不用為愚；以徹為名，以窮為辱。移是，今之人也，是蜩與學鳩同於同也。

Let me speak further of this and that. It takes life as root, knowledge as teacher, and so rides on right and wrong. If indeed there are names and realities, then it takes itself as substance. It leads people to think it is their own integrity, and so repays that integrity with death. Such people take use as knowledge and non-use as stupidity; take success as fame and failure as shame. This and that are people today, and this is the cicada and the little dove sharing the same sameness.

蹍市人之足，則辭以放驁，兄則以嫗，大親則已矣。故曰，至禮有不人，至義不物，至知不謀，至仁無親，至信闢金。

If one steps on a stranger's foot in the market, one apologizes with indulgence and arrogance; if it is an elder brother, one comforts him; if it is a close relative, one lets it go. So it is said: perfect ritual has those who do not treat people as people, perfect righteousness does not treat things as things, perfect knowledge does not plan, perfect humaneness has no kin, and perfect trust sets gold aside.

徹志之勃，解心之謬，去德之累，達道之塞。貴富顯嚴名利六者，勃志也。容動色理氣意六者，謬心也。惡欲喜怒哀樂六者，累德也。去就取與知能六者，塞道也。此四六者，不蕩胸中則正，正則靜，靜則明，明則虛，虛則無為而無不為也。道者，德之欽也；生者，德之光也；性者，生之質也。性之動，謂之為，為之偽謂之失。知者，接也；知者，謨也。知者之所不知，猶睨也。動以不得已之謂德，動無非我之謂治，名相反而實相順也。

Break through the perversities of the will, release the errors of the heart, remove the burdens on virtue, and open the blockages of the Way. Honor, wealth, prominence, dignity, fame and profit, these six perplex the will. Appearance, movement, color, reasoning, qi and intention, these six err the heart. Hatred, desire, joy, anger, sorrow and delight, these six burden virtue. Leaving, approaching, taking, giving, knowing and ability, these six block the Way. If these four sixes do not stir in the breast, one is upright; uprightness is stillness; stillness is clarity; clarity is emptiness; and emptiness is non-action with nothing left undone. The Way is what virtue reveres; life is the radiance of virtue; nature is the substance of life. The stirring of nature is called acting, and the falsity of acting is called loss. Knowing is contact; knowing is planning. What the knower does not know is still like looking sideways. Moving because one cannot do otherwise is called virtue; moving with nothing but myself is called governing; the names oppose each other but the realities accord.

羿工乎中微而拙乎使人無己譽；聖人工乎天而拙乎人；夫工乎天而俍乎人者，唯全人能之。唯蟲能蟲，唯蟲能天。全人惡天，惡人之天，而況吾天乎人乎！

Yi was skilled at hitting fine targets but poor at making people not praise him; the sage is skilled in Heaven but poor with people; one who is skilled in Heaven and also good with people is only the complete person. Only an insect can act as an insect, and only an insect can unite with Heaven. The complete person dislikes Heaven, dislikes the Heaven of people, to say nothing of my taking Heaven as human and human as Heaven!

一雀適羿，羿必得之，或也。以天下為之籠，則雀無所逃。是故湯以胞人籠伊尹，秦穆公以五羊之皮籠百里奚。是故非以其所好籠之而可得者，無有也。

When a sparrow passes by Yi, Yi will certainly get it, but only by chance. If the whole world is made a cage, the sparrow has no way to escape. So Tang used a cook to cage Yi Yin, and Duke Mu of Qin used five sheepskins to cage Baili Xi. So there is no one who could be caged without using what he likes and yet be obtained.

介者拸畫，外非譽也。胥靡登高而不懼，遺死生也。夫復謵不餽而忘人，忘人，因以為天人矣！故敬之而不喜，侮之而不怒者，唯同乎天和者為然。出怒不怒，則怒出於不怒矣；出為無為，則為出於無為矣！欲靜則平氣，欲神則順心。有為也。欲當則緣於不得已，不得已之類，聖人之道。

One who has suffered the foot-cutting punishment discards ornament, putting praise and blame outside. A convict climbs high without fear, abandoning life and death. One who is threatened and does not return it and yet forgets others, forgetting others, is then thought of as a person of Heaven! So one who is respected and not pleased, insulted and not angry, is only one who is united with Heaven's harmony. Anger issues and yet is not anger, so anger comes from non-anger; action issues and yet is not action, so action comes from non-action! To wish for stillness, level the qi; to wish for spirit, accord the heart. This is acting. To wish to be fitting, follow what cannot be avoided; things of the kind that cannot be avoided are the Way of the sage.