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道德經白話解說自序

小子幸生世界進化、器學發明的時代。
水有輸船，陸有火車，騰空有飛機，沉水有潛艇，直是五洲如一家，萬國如一室。
況且所用、所見、所聽的一切機器，沒有不便利、不精美的，幸會多多，快樂多多。
我飲水思源，不能不欽佩感激發明器學的先哲。

雖然發明器學的先哲，本有福國利民之美意，並無害人之惡心，
不料竟有慘毒不仁之人，竊取器學之功用，製造毒鈴毒砲，殺戮天下同胞。
一切大器學家，雖有妙手靈心，不但無可如何，還為他人利用，助其製造兇器。
這一切精美機器，不但不能抵制鎗砲，反而為其運兵載餉、傳達消息。
如此看來，幸福反成禍殃，進化反成進毒；進化到極點，便將同胞送進槍林彈雨之中。
呵呵，這幸福還能享嗎？這進化還能進嗎？

竊知發明物質文明的先哲，靈魂有知，不惟痛恨製造槍砲之人，自己亦必後悔。
蓋聖人教育天下，必先教人有道德之知識，然後教人有技能之知識。
技能若有道德之心則可助道德，道德借技能而益彰；
若心懷詐謀，則技能反助其惡，道德敗壞，天下自亂。
不教人以道德，先教人以技能，則有技能而無道德之人，必流於荒亡，無所不為，且恃能而驕。

這是近數百年來，天下變亂之大病源。
小子隱痛於心，前已略說一二，但因潮流所趨，不敢詳言，恐說了無益，徒自取辱。

今年八月，天氣和平，正註完《道德經》，上泰山告成。
登頂四望，見愁惓陰凝之氣，遮空蔽日；聽悲號哀泣之聲，動地驚天。
不覺心痛目酸，實不忍緘默，乃向道人借筆墨，一字一淚，信手寫出心事，敬告天下同胞。
縱有人說我喪心病狂，亦所不辭。

譬如虎豹兕象諸猛獸，凶悍之勇，比強盜利害百倍；
然而為害之大，反不及強盜萬倍。
若有人教以技能，授以槍砲，必將人類吞食殆盡，猶不滿其欲壑。
故有道德之人，技能擇人而授，不肯輕傳，如達摩之拳術、道家之劍法，皆此理也。
豈是吝教？實為防患，不得不慎。

《大學》曰：「物有本末，事有終始，知所先後，則近道矣。」
道德為本，物質為末；道德宜先，物質為後。
不然，我國開化最早，聖人迭出，如黃帝、堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武、周公、孔孟，皆是神化不測之人。
或造農器、樂器、治水器，或造璇璣，或造指南針，或以材美稱，或以多聞稱，為全世界製造的鼻祖，不勝枚舉。
豈是不能造火車、輪船、一切機器？
乃徒講道德，不研究聲光電化之實用，先將民之道德培養好，然後教民技能。
天下計者，不在於此；暫且教之一二，敷衍夠用。
這是我國聖人以道治天下，不得不如此的辦法。
歐美不察，乃竟笑我國之學說迂腐。
我國學說固迂腐，然今日世界變亂到極點，敢請大器學家造個機器出來救一救。
雖然，這兵禍也不是物質家的過錯；假使當日道德與物質並行，今日何至有此奇禍？

然而歐美見我腐敗現象，笑之也宜。
獨怪我黃帝神明之子孫、孔孟中正之教徒，竟掇拾西人殺人學說之牙慧，竊取西人殺人機器之皮毛，將我二帝三王、孔曾思孟治天下之大經大法，一筆抹煞，直視同砒霜毒，何其迷惑至於此！
不知我道學不惟可救我國之貧弱，亦能救歐美之禍變。
這不是空言所能，必造成一種妙不可測之道器，方能抵制兵戰之兇器。

前著《息戰論》後，即想要製造，精思苦研三年，不怕無料。
今年春，楊獻廷先生講太上之道，說道氣已動，宜及時研究《道德經》。
又適逢劉笠青先生將所著《善言》寄來，其義為善與人同、大公無我。
於是我本此宗旨，也取《道德經》來看。
及看到「大制不割」「無名之樸」二句，恍然大悟，說：「法則與材料盡在此處呢！」

因事體重大，於是學穆罕默德的齋戒沐浴，清真了身心；又學基督教的禱祝，求了上帝；
又從《論語》得來孔子七十歲用的矩，子游在武城使的牛刀；又從佛經得來妙觀察智。
然後用佛法觀察天下之形式，看準了天運正午，地氣已開；用孔子的矩，所作智的法則，造出器來，人不認，造的器終適用。
量老子無名之樸，量準了這樸，雖渾然一體，前人就像用化學之法已化分開成兩大部分、八十一小段，且經製造家百餘人任意造作。
大匠造成大器，小工作成小器，好歹不必論，此時皆不相宜。

幸這樸是神樸，雖為匠人鑿而小之，卻取之不盡，用之不竭，又能返還元質，渾淪完全。
我因此又驚又喜，不敢動手，於是攝住妄想，專一了氣，形如槁木，心如死灰，覺天和已至，神已來舍，乃以神遇而不以目視。
拿了牛刀，信手而割，比庖丁解牛還神妙。
解完一看，仍渾然一體，是君子不器之器；細細再看，卻無形而有形，亦分為兩大部、八十一小段。
用刀時，批大郤、導大窾；因前人之固然，所以也同前人數目，惟形式及用法皆與前人不同。
雖不及前人之精妙，然卻適合今日之用度。

其形式前半部酷肖老子所騎變化飛騰的青牛；後半部有似孔子所坐中堂上所說同軌之車。
前半部主運行，牛力極大，凡日月所照、霜露所墜、舟車所至、人力所通、有血氣之地皆能到。
後半部主裝載，車中空間極寬闊，凡《詩》《書》《易》《禮》《春秋》《孝經》《論語》《大學》《中庸》《孟子》，聖賢之一切經傳皆能載着，並格外加上諸子百家、《二十四史》以備參考。
惟小子因時勢關係，開於萬卷書中，拋棄小康之糟粕，騰寫大同之精華。
這牛車所到之處，發出祥光和氣，結成仁義道德，自然國安民樂，真是好寶器，人人見了喝彩稱奇。

獨有一個不懂事的朋友說：「你造的這道器好是好，何不請人坐在車上演說呢？」
我答他說：「第一幅圖上，你看沒有人嗎？」
但器成以後，我又愁着一牛一車如何能遊行天下。
適幸遇葉西亭先生來厲，見之甚歡喜，集資在上海請人仿造一千個，皆與此相同。
但小子未入專門學堂，未研究器學，不明物理，不懂製造，所造未必適用。
謹敢貢於各國，求大器學家指教，為幸。

還有一句要緊的話，也要預先聲明：如果不適用，自不必說了；倘若有用，將來天下太平之時，還要收回。
因為老子無名之樸，早已說是「大制不割」。
我不忍全球變亂，竊取而強造成道器以救世，用完後仍還原質，將無名之樸歸還老子，不敢久假不歸，還要昭示大信呢。

中華民國八年夏正八月十五日
山東歷城童子 江希張 記

Preface to the Vernacular Explanation of the Dao De Jing

I am fortunate to have been born in an age of world progress and the invention of the mechanical sciences.
Over water there are transport ships; on land, trains; in the sky, airplanes; under the sea, submarines.
It is as if the five continents are one family, the nations of the world one household.
Moreover, in everything we use, see, and hear, all machines are convenient and exquisitely made.
There are many happy encounters and much joy.
Remembering the source while drinking the water, I cannot help but admire and thank the pioneers of mechanical science.

Although the pioneers of mechanical science had the noble intention of benefiting the nation and the people, with no thought of harming others,
unexpectedly there arose cruel and inhumane people who stole the fruits of these sciences to create poison bells and cannons, slaughtering our fellow human beings.
All the great mechanical scientists, though endowed with skillful hands and keen minds, were not only powerless to stop them, but were even exploited to help produce such weapons.
These fine machines not only failed to resist the guns and cannons but also served to transport troops and supplies, and to transmit messages.
Thus, happiness turned into calamity, progress became poison; progress at its extreme would send one’s own people into the hail of bullets and rain of shells.
Ha! Can this “happiness” still be enjoyed? Can this “progress” still advance?

I believe that if the souls of the pioneers of material civilization are aware, they would not only loathe those who make weapons, but also regret it themselves.
The sages, in educating the world, always first teach the knowledge of morality, and only then the knowledge of skill.
With moral heart, skills can assist morality, and morality, borrowing from skills, can shine all the more.
If the heart is full of deceit and cunning, skills will aid evil; morality will decay, and the world will fall into disorder.
If one does not teach morality first, but teaches skills first, then those with skill but without morality will inevitably fall into corruption, do all manner of wrongs, and grow arrogant in their abilities.

This is the great underlying cause of the world’s turmoil in the past few centuries.
I have long carried this pain in my heart, but due to the trends of the age I dared not speak of it in detail, fearing it would be useless to say and would only bring ridicule upon myself.

In August of this year, the weather was peaceful, and I had just finished annotating the Dao De Jing.
I went up Mount Tai to mark its completion.
From the summit, I looked in all directions and saw oppressive clouds shrouding the sky and sun;
I heard cries of grief and wailing that shook the earth and startled the heavens.
My heart ached and my eyes grew moist.
Unable to keep silent, I borrowed pen and ink from a Daoist, and with each word like a tear, I freely wrote down my thoughts to sincerely inform my fellow countrymen.
Even if some say I am mad, I do not care.

It is like the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants among beasts — fierce in courage, a hundred times more dangerous than robbers —
yet the harm they cause is a million times less than that of robbers armed with skill and weapons.
If someone were to teach them skills and give them guns, they would surely devour all humankind and still not be satisfied.
Thus, those with morality pass on skills selectively, not carelessly, just as Bodhidharma’s martial arts and the Daoist sword techniques were taught —
not out of stinginess, nor unwillingness for others to have skills, but to prevent future harm, and so caution was necessary.

The Great Learning says: “All things have a root and branches; all affairs have a beginning and an end. Knowing what comes first and what comes after brings one close to the Dao.”
Morality is the root; material things are the branches.
Morality should come first; material things after.
Otherwise, though our country was among the earliest to be civilized, producing sages in succession — such as the Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, King Wen, King Wu, Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Mencius — all were people of unfathomable divine transformation.
Some invented agricultural tools, musical instruments, and water control devices; some created the armillary sphere; some invented the compass; some were famed for their fine materials; some for their great learning.
They were the forerunners of all the world’s inventions, too many to list.
Was it that they could not make trains, ships, and all kinds of machines?
No — they simply first taught morality, not the practicalities of sound, light, electricity, and chemistry, until the people’s morality was established, and then taught skills.
In governing the world, this was the necessary method of our sages.

The West did not understand this and laughed at our teachings as old-fashioned.
Our teachings may indeed seem old-fashioned, yet the world today is in utter chaos.
I dare ask the great mechanical scientists to create a machine that can save us.
Even so, this calamity of war is not the fault of the materialists;
if morality and material progress had advanced together in earlier days, how could today’s strange disasters have come about?

However, it is understandable that the West laughs at us.
What is truly astonishing is that we, the descendants of the divinely wise Yellow Emperor and the upright disciples of Confucius and Mencius,
have picked up the scraps of the Western doctrines of killing, stolen the outer shell of their killing machines, and have erased in one stroke the great laws of governance handed down from our two emperors, three kings, Confucius, Zeng, Si, and Meng,
regarding them as deadly poison. How deluded to this extreme!
They do not know that our Daoist learning can not only save our nation from poverty and weakness, but can also save the West from calamity.
This is no empty boast — only by creating a marvelous and unfathomable “Dao Device” can we counter the deadly weapons of war.

After writing On Ceasing War, I wished to create such a device.
I pondered it diligently for three years, fearing no lack of materials.
This spring, Mr. Yang Xianting lectured on the Supreme Dao, saying the energy of the Dao had already stirred, and it was time to study the Dao De Jing.
Around the same time, Mr. Liu Liqing sent me his work Good Words, which embodies the meaning of sharing goodness with others and being selfless.
Inspired by this, I also took up the Dao De Jing to read.
When I came to the lines “The great carving does not cut” and “The nameless uncarved block,” I suddenly realized — the method and the materials are all here!

Because of the importance of the matter, I followed the Islamic way of purification, fasting, and bathing to cleanse body and mind;
I prayed in the Christian manner to God;
I drew from the Analects the principle of Confucius’ “carpenter’s square” at seventy, and from Ziyou in Wucheng using the butcher’s knife;
I drew from the Buddhist sutras the wisdom of wondrous observation.
Then, using Buddhist insight to observe the state of the world, I saw that the heavenly cycle was at noon, the earth’s energy had opened;
using Confucius’ square and the principles of wisdom, I made the device.
People did not recognize it, but in the end it was fit for use.
Measuring Laozi’s nameless uncarved block, I found it whole, though previous generations had divided it chemically into two great parts and eighty-one sections,
allowing over a hundred craftsmen to make whatever they wished — great artisans made great devices, small workers made small devices — suitable or unsuitable, all were out of place.

Fortunately, this block is a divine block.
Though carved by craftsmen, it can never be exhausted, and it can return to its original substance, whole and complete.
I was both amazed and delighted, and dared not act rashly.
I stilled my wandering thoughts, focused my energy, my body like dead wood, my heart like cold ashes,
feeling the harmony of Heaven had arrived and the spirit had come to dwell.
I met it with spirit, not with the eyes.
Taking the butcher’s knife, I cut freely, more wondrously than Butcher Ding cutting up an ox for Lord Wen Hui.
When done, it was still whole — a device of the gentleman who is not a device.
Looking closely, it was formless yet had form, divided into two great parts and eighty-one sections.
When cutting, I opened great clefts and guided great hollows;
due to the nature of the original, the number was the same as before, but the form and use differed entirely.
Though less refined than before, it suited today’s needs.

The front half resembled Laozi’s flying, transforming blue ox; the back half resembled the same-track carriage described by Confucius in the central hall.
The front half was for travel, with tremendous ox-power, able to reach all places under the sun and moon, where frost and dew fall, where boats and carts go, where human strength reaches — anywhere with living beings.
The back half was for carrying cargo, with a spacious interior, able to carry all the classics of the sages — the Poetry, History, Changes, Rites, Spring and Autumn, Classic of Filial Piety, Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius —
plus the various masters and the Twenty-Four Histories for reference.
Due to current circumstances, I cast aside the dross of petty comfort and wrote out the essence of Great Harmony.
Wherever this ox-cart went, it emitted auspicious light and harmonious energy, forming benevolence, righteousness, and morality; naturally the country would be secure and the people at peace.
It was truly a treasure, praised by all who saw it.

Only one ignorant friend said: “Your Dao Device is good, but why not have someone sit in it and give speeches?”
I replied: “In the first illustration, do you not see that there is no one?”
Yet, after it was made, I worried — how could one ox and one cart travel the whole world?
By fortune, Mr. Ye Xiting came to visit, saw it with great joy, raised funds, and had a thousand identical ones made in Shanghai.
But I have never attended a technical school, never studied mechanics, know nothing of physics, and do not understand manufacturing.
Whether my creation is suitable or not, I humbly offer it to all nations, hoping great mechanical scientists will give guidance.

There is one more important matter to state in advance: if it is not suitable, there is nothing more to say;
if it is useful, then when the world is at peace, I must take it back.
For Laozi’s nameless uncarved block has long been said to be “The great carving does not cut.”
I could not bear the world’s chaos, so I took it to forcibly create a Dao Device to save the world.
Once used, it must be returned to its original substance, the nameless block given back to Laozi.
I dare not keep what I have borrowed; my pledge will be clear for all to see.

Fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, summer of the 8th year of the Republic (1919)
Jiang Xizhang of Licheng, Shandong