文心雕龍

文心雕龍 (劉勰，c.465-c. 520)
The Literature Mind And The Carving Of Dragon
Liu Xie
(Translation by Vincent Yu-chung Shih)


原道第一

1. On Tao, the Source


文之為德也大矣，與天地並生者何哉？夫玄黃色雜，方圓體分，日月疊璧，以垂麗天之象；山川煥綺，以鋪理地之形：此蓋道之文也。仰觀吐曜，俯察含章，高卑定位，故兩儀既生矣。惟人蔘之，性靈所鍾，是謂三才。為五行之秀，實天地之心，心生而言立，言立而文明，自然之道也。
Wen, or pattern, is a very great virtue indeed.  It is born together with heaven and earth.  Why do we say this? Because all color-patterns are mixed of black and yellow, and all shape-patterns are differentiated by round and square.  The sun and moon like two pieces of jade manifest the pattern of heaven; mountains and rivers in their beauty display the pattern of earth.  These are, in fact, the pattern (wen) of the Tao itself.  And as one sees above the sparkling heavenly bodies, and below the manifold forms of earth, so there is established a difference between high and low estate, giving rise to the two archetypal Forms (Yin and Yang).  Man, and man alone, forms with spirituality.  He is the refined essence of the five elements―indeed, the mind of the universe.  Now with the emergence of mind, language is created, and when language is created, writing (wen) appears.  This is the Tao of nature.   

傍及萬品，動植皆文∶龍鳳以藻繪呈瑞，虎豹以炳蔚凝姿；雲霞雕色，有逾畫工之妙；草木賁華，無待錦匠之奇。夫豈外飾，蓋自然耳。至於林籟結響，調如竽瑟；泉石激韻，和若球B：故形立則章成矣，聲發則文生矣。夫以無識之物，郁然有采，有心之器，其無文歟？
If we extend our observations, we find that all animals and plants have patterns of their own.  Dragons and phoenixes in their picturesque form embody the auspicious, tigers and leopards with their stripes and spots recall the individuality of virtuous men.  The sculptured colors of the clouds surpass the painter's art in their exquisite beauty, the blooming flower depends on no embroiderer's skill for its marvelous grace.   Can this beauty be considered external adornment?  No, it is natural, it is just so of itself.  The sounds of the forest wind blend into a melody like that of reed pipe or lute, the music of spring water striking the rock is as tuneful as the ring of jade chime or bronze bell.  In physical bodies there is plastic pattern, in sound there is musical pattern.  Now if insentient objects have such adornment, can that which is endowed with mind lack a pattern proper to itself?

人文之元，肇自太極，幽贊神明，《易》象惟先。庖犧畫其始，仲尼翼其終。而《乾》、《坤》兩位，獨制《文言》。言之文也，天地之心哉！若乃《河圖》孕八卦，《洛書》韞乎九疇，玉版金鏤之實，丹文綠牒之華，誰其屍之？亦神理而已。
Human pattern originated in the Supreme, the Ultimate.  "Mysteriously manifesting the divine light," the Images of the Book of Changes were the first such pattern.  Fu Xi began the Changes by drawing the eight trigrams, and Confucius completed it by writing the "atterned Words." …Patterned words are indeed the mind of the universe!  From the Plan of the Yellow River were born the eight trigrams, and from the scroll of the River Luo came the nine categories.  For these and for the fruits contained in the jade and gold decorated tablets and the flowers blooming in red words and green strips was anyone responsible?  No.  They are natural, organic expressions of the Divine.

自鳥跡代繩，文字始炳，炎遺事，紀在《三墳》，而年世渺邈，聲采靡追。唐虞文章，則煥乎始盛。元首載歌，既發吟詠之志；益稷陳謨，亦垂敷奏之風。夏后氏興，業峻鴻績，九序惟歌，勛德彌縟。逮及商周，文勝其質，《雅》、《頌》所被，英華曰新。文王患憂，繇辭炳曜，符采復隱，精義堅深。重以公旦多材，振其徽烈，詩緝頌，斧藻群言。至若夫子繼聖，獨秀前哲，熔鈞六經，必金聲而玉振；雕琢性情，組織辭令，木鐸啟而千里應，席珍流而萬世響，寫天地之輝光，曉生民之耳目矣。
When bird's markings replaced knotted cords, writing first came into being….


爰自風姓，暨於孔氏，玄聖創典，素王述訓，莫不原道心以敷章，研神理而設教，取象乎《河》、《洛》，問數乎蓍龜，觀天文以極變，察人文以成化；然後能經緯區宇，彌綸彝憲，發揮事業，彪炳辭義。故知道沿聖以垂文，聖因文以明道，旁通而無滯，日用而不匱。《易》曰∶「鼓天下之動者存乎辭。」辭之所以能鼓天下者，乃道之文也。
Both the first sage Fu Xi, who invented writing, and Confucius, the "Uncrowned King," who transmitted the teachings, drew their literary embellishment from the mind of the Tao, both of them taught by reference of divine principles.  Both took images from the Plan of the Yellow River and the Scroll of the River Luo, and both divined by means of milfoil stems and tortoise shells.  Both observed the pattern of the heavens in order to exhaust its changes; both studied the pattern of man in order to achieve transformation.  In this way they were able to master the warp and woof of the universe, to encompass permanent principles to achieve glorious deeds and make their words shine forth.  From this we know that the Tao is handed down in writing through the sages, and that the sages make the Tao manifest in their writings….  Words are able to arouse the world because they are the Pattern of the Tao.


   贊曰∶道心惟微，神理設教。光采元聖，炳耀仁孝。
         龍圖獻體，龜書呈貌。天文斯觀，民胥以效


(Part of the English version is missing.)


oringinally posted by y2005 and reformatted by Yeti of rainlane.com