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-> -> 黄帝阴符经

《黄帝阴符经》

[Tang] 700-750 English translation: James Legge [?] Library Resources
1 黄帝阴符... :
观天之道,执天之行,尽矣。
Yinfu Jing:
If one observes the Way of Heaven, and maintains Its doings (as his own), all that he has to do is accomplished.

2 黄帝阴符... :
天有五贼,见之者昌。五贼在心,施行于天,宇宙在乎手,万物生乎身。
Yinfu Jing:
To Heaven there belong the five (mutual) foes, and he who sees them (and understands their operation) apprehends how they produce prosperity. The same five foes are in the mind of man, and when he can set them in action after the manner of Heaven, all space and time are at his disposal, and all things receive their transformations from his person.

3 黄帝阴符... :
天性,人也;人心,机也;立天之道以定人也。
Yinfu Jing:
The nature of Heaven belongs (also) to Man; the mind of Man is a spring (of power). When the Way of Heaven is established, the (Course of) Man is thereby determined.

4 黄帝阴符... :
天发杀机,斗转星移;地发杀机,龙蛇起陆;人发杀机,天地反覆;天人合发,万化定基。
Yinfu Jing:
When Heaven puts forth its power of putting to death, the stars and constellations lie hidden in darkness. When Earth puts forth its power of putting to death, dragons and serpents appear on the dry ground. When Man puts forth his power of putting to death, Heaven and Earth resume their (proper course). When Heaven and Man exert their powers in concert, all transformations have their commencements determined.

5 黄帝阴符... :
性有巧拙,可以伏藏。九窍之邪,在乎三要。可以动静。火生于木,祸发必克,奸生于国,时动必溃;知之修练,谓之圣人。
Yinfu Jing:
The nature (of man) is here clever and there stupid; and the one of these qualities may lie hidden in the other. The abuse of the nine apertures is (chiefly) in the three most important, which may be now in movement and now at rest. When fire arises in wood, the evil, having once begun, is sure to go on to the destruction of the wood. When calamity arises in a state, if thereafter movement ensue, it is sure to go to ruin. When one conducts the work of culture and refining wisely we call him a Sage.

6 黄帝阴符... :
天地万物之盗;万物人之盗;人万物之盗也。三盗既宜,三才既安。故曰:食其时,百骸理;动其机,万化安。
Yinfu Jing:
Heaven and Earth are the despoilers of all things; all things are the despoilers of Man; and Man is the despoiler of all things. When the three despoilers act as they ought to do, as the three Powers, they are at rest. Hence it is said, 'During the time of nourishment, all the members are properly regulated; when the springs of motion come into play, all transformations quietly take place.'

7 黄帝阴符... :
人知其神而神,不知其不神之所以神。日月有数,大小有定,圣功生焉,神明出焉。其盗机也,天下莫不能见,莫不能知。君子得之固躬,小人得之轻命。
Yinfu Jing:
Men know the mysteriousness of the Spirit's (action), but they do not know how what is not Spiritual comes to be so. The sun and moon have their definite times, and their exact measures as large and small. The service of the sages hereupon arises, and the spiritual intelligence becomes apparent. The spring by which the despoilers are moved is invisible and unknown to all under the sky. When the superior man has got it, he strengthens his body by it; when the small man has got it, he makes light of his life.

8 黄帝阴符... :
瞽者善听,聋者善视。绝利一源,用师十倍;三反昼夜,用师万倍。心生于物,死于物,机在目。天之无恩而恩生,迅雷烈风,莫不蠢然。
Yinfu Jing:
The blind hear well, and the deaf see well. To derive all that is advantageous from one source is ten times better than the employment of a host; to do this thrice in a day and night is a myriad times better. The mind is quickened (to activity) by (external) things, and dies through (excessive pursuit of) them. The spring (of the mind's activity) is in the eyes. Heaven has no (special feeling of) kindness, but so it is that the greatest kindness comes from It. The crash of thunder and the blustering wind both come without design.

9 黄帝阴符... :
至乐性馀,至静则廉。天之至私,用之至公。禽之制在炁。死者生之根,生者死之根。恩生于害,害于恩。愚人以天地文理圣,我以时物文理哲。人以愚虞圣,我以不愚虞圣。人以奇期圣,我以不奇期圣。
Yinfu Jing:
Perfect enjoyment is the overflowing satisfaction of the nature. Perfect stillness is the entire disinterestedness of it. When Heaven seems to be most wrapt up in Itself, Its operation is universal in its character. It is by its breath that we control whatever creature we grasp. Life is the root of death, and death is the root of life. Kindness springs from injury, and injury springs from kindness. The stupid man by studying the phenomena and laws of heaven and earth becomes sage; I by studying their times and productions become intelligent. He in his stupidity is perplexed about sageness; I in my freedom from stupidity am the same. He considers his sageness as being an extraordinary attainment; I do not consider mine so.

10 黄帝阴符... :
自然之道静,故天地万物生。天地之道浸,故阴阳胜。阴阳相推,而变化顺矣。
Yinfu Jing:
The method of spontaneity proceeds in stillness, and so it was that heaven, earth, and all things were produced. The method of heaven and earth proceeds gently and gradually, and thus it is that the Yin and Yang overcome (each other by turns). The one takes the place of the other, and so change and transformation proceed accordingly.

11 黄帝阴符... :
是故圣人知自然之道不可违,因而制之。至静之道,律历所不能契。爰有奇器,是生万象。八卦甲子,神机鬼藏。阴阳相胜之术,昭昭乎进乎象矣。
Yinfu Jing:
Therefore the sages, knowing that the method of spontaneity cannot be resisted, take action accordingly and regulate it (for the purpose of culture). The way of perfect stillness cannot be subjected to numerical calculations; but it would seem that there is a wonderful machinery, by which all the heavenly bodies are produced, the eight diagrams, and the sexagenary cycle; spirit-like springs of power, and hidden ghostlinesses; the arts of the Yin and Yang in the victories of the one over the other - all these come brightly forward into visibility.

URN: ctp:yinfujing