第二十一章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 21
The Way is vague and obscure, yet holds image, substance and essence: the origin of all things.
Text
-
孔德之容，惟道是从。
The great virtue's form, only originates from the Way.
-
道之为物，惟恍惟惚。
The Way as a "thing" is only obscure and vague.
-
惚兮恍兮，其中有象；
How obscure! How vague! In it there is form.
-
恍兮惚兮，其中有物。
How vague! How obscure! In it there is materiality.
-
窈兮冥兮，其中有精；
How deep! How dark! In it there is essence.
-
其精甚真，其中有信。
Its essence is very real: within lies truth.
-
自古及今，其名不去，
From the antiquity to the present, its name has never left it,
-
以阅众甫。
and the study of all its origins.
-
吾何以知众甫之状哉？
How do I know the form of all its origins?
-
以此。
By this.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 孔 | kǒng | great, vast |
| 德 | dé | virtue |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 容 | róng | form, bearing |
| 惟 | wéi | only |
| 道 | dào | the Way |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 从 | cóng | to follow |
| 之 | zhī | that (clause particle) |
| 为 | wéi | to be, to count as |
| 物 | wù | thing, beings |
| 恍 | huǎng | vague, shadowy |
| 惚 | hū | elusive, indistinct |
| 兮 | xī | ah (particle) |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 中 | zhōng | the middle |
| 有 | yǒu | to have, to possess |
| 象 | xiàng | image, form |
| 窈 | yǎo | deep, dim |
| 冥 | míng | dark, obscure |
| 精 | jīng | essence, vital seed |
| 甚 | shèn | very |
| 真 | zhēn | true, genuine |
| 信 | xìn | trust, good faith |
| 自 | zì | oneself, by oneself |
| 古 | gǔ | antiquity, ancient |
| 及 | jí | to reach, up to |
| 今 | jīn | now, the present |
| 名 | míng | name |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 去 | qù | to leave, go away |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of, with |
| 阅 | yuè | to review, to pass through |
| 众 | zhòng | all, the many |
| 甫 | fǔ | the beginnings |
| 吾 | wú | I |
| 何以 | hé yǐ | how, by what |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 状 | zhuàng | shape, form |
| 哉 | zāi | exclamation particle |
| 此 | cǐ | this, these |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
The grandest forms of active force
From Tao come, their only source.
Who can of Tao the nature tell?
Our sight it flies, our touch as well.
Eluding sight, eluding touch,
The forms of things all in it crouch;
Eluding touch, eluding sight,
There are their semblances, all right.
Profound it is, dark and obscure;
Things' essences all there endure.
Those essences the truth enfold
Of what, when seen, shall then be told.
Now it is so; 'twas so of old.
Its name--what passes not away;
So, in their beautiful array,
Things form and never know decay.
How know I that it is so with all the beauties of existing things? By this (nature of the Tao).
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 21
Chapter 21 says what can be said of the Way when it is spoken of as a thing. It begins with 孔德 (great virtue), whose form follows the Way alone. The Way itself is vague and elusive, 惟恍惟惚, yet within that vagueness there is an image, there is a thing, there is an essence, and the essence is real and holds something trustworthy.
The chapter moves from the faintest to the most solid: image, thing, essence, truth. It then turns to time. From of old until now its name has not gone, and through it one can view 众甫, the beginnings of all things. How does the speaker know what the beginnings are like? By this.
众甫 is a rare expression. This site follows Wang Bi, who explains it as the beginnings of things; the silk manuscripts write 众父, the fathers of all. The last line, "by this", is short and open: Wang Bi takes "this" to mean what has just been said. The vague and elusive comes from chapter 14, and the thing formed before heaven and earth follows in chapter 25.