World  Sacred  Scriptures

The wisdom of Wang Bi

14 quote(s)  | Page 1 / 1




S haring virtue with heaven, one embodies Tao (…) reaching the point that he will be with utmost nothingness. (…) Nothingness is something which water and fire cannot destroy, metal and stone cannot injure. When applied to one’s heart, the tiger and the rhinoceros have no place to thrust their teeth and horns, and war weapons have no place to stab their sharp points. Then what danger and harm will one have?


quote 4041  | 
commentary on the Tao Te King, 16.11-13, trad. P.J. Lin, 1977, p.29 




F ollowing the pathway and uniting with the ultimate, it is therefore called root of Heaven and Earth.


quote 4035  | 
commentary on the Tao Te King, 6.1, trad. P.J. Lin, 1977, p.13 




T herefore constantly void of desire and empty, one may discern the mystery of the origin of things.


quote 4031  | 
commentaire du D.D.J., 1.3, trad. P.J. Lin, 1977, p.4 

see also commentaries 19.1, 20.3, 20.6, 20.14, 37.4, 80.4




U nknown even to my ears, eyes, body, I do not know how to name it; thus it cannot be investigated further, but merges together to make one.


quote 4028  | 
commentaire du D.D.J., 14.1, trad. P.J. Lin, 1977, p.24 




T hose who know men are merely clever; there are less than those who know themselves and surpass cleverness


quote 4024  | 
commentary on the Tao Te King, 33.1, trad. P.J. Lin, 1977, p.60 




N on-being is inherent in the one. But when we look for it in the multiplicity of things, it is like Tao which can be looked for but not seen, listened to but not heard, reached for but not touched.


quote 2280  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 47, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




F ollow Nature and place perfect principle in the forefront. If we follow it, there will be fortune, and if we disobey it, there will be misfortune.


quote 2279  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 42, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




T he ten thousand things have ten thousand different forms but in the final analysis they are one. How did they become one? Because of non-being…. Therefore in the production of the myriad things, I know its master. Although things exist in ten thousand different forms, their material forces are blended as one.


quote 2278  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 42, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




A ll things in the world came from being, and the origin of being is Used on non-being. In order to have being in total, it is necessary to return to non-being.


quote 2277  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 40, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




O ne is the beginning Of number and the ultimate of things. All things are produced by the one and this is why it is the master of all. And all things achieve their completion because of the one.


quote 2276  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 39, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




H ow is virtue to be attained? It is to be attained through Tao. How is virtue to be completely fulfilled? It is through non-being as its function. As non-being is its function, all things will be embraced. Therefore in regard to things, if they are understood as non-being all things will be in order, whereas if they are understood as being, it is impossible to avoid the fact that they are products (phenomena). Although Heaven and Earth are extensive, non-being is the mind, and although sages and kings are great, vacuity (hsu) is their foundation. Therefore it is said that by returning and seeing [absolute quiet and perfect non-being], the mind of Heaven and Earth will be revealed.


quote 2275  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 38, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




S pirit has no physical form and has no spatial restrictions, whereas concrete things (ch'i) are produced through an integration of elements. When there is an integration without form, it is therefore called a spiritual thing. The nature of the myriad things is spontaneity.


quote 2274  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 29, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




A ll being originated from non-being. The time before physical forms and names appeared was the beginning of the myriad things. After forms and names appear, Tao (the Way) develops them, nourishes them, and places them in peace and order; that is, becomes their Mother. This means that Tao produces and completes things with the formless and nameless. Thus they are produced and completed but do not know why. Indeed it is the mystery of mysteries.


quote 2273  | 
WANG PI, Lao Tzu chu, or Commentary on the Lao Tzu, ch. 1, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 




T o return is to revert to the original [substance]. The original [substance] is the mind of Heaven and Earth. […] Thus although Heaven and Earth are vast, possesssing the myriad things in abondance, where thunder moves and winds circulate, and while there is an infinite variety of changes and transformations, yet its original [substance] is absolutely quiet and perfect non-being. Therefore only with the cessation of activities within Earth can the mind of Heaven and Earth be revealed. If being were to be the mind [of Heaven and Earth], things of different categories will not be able to exist together.


quote 2272  | 
WANG PI, COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF CHANGES, Commentary on hexagram no. 24, fu or to return, in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 19. 



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On other page(s):  History and calligraphy of Wang Bi





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