"Cai Gen Tan" by Ming Hong Yingming

(Classics of Sinology Full Annotation Full Translation)

Part I: Self-cultivation

Do not clear the water, do not overlook the people

The filth of the earth is multi-organism, and the clear water is often without fish. Therefore, a gentleman always has a quantity of dirt and dirt, and he must not hold a good and clean and solitary exercise.

【Notes】

(1) Dirty: dirt.

(2) Dirt containing dirt: dirt, stolen things. It refers to the magnanimity that can accommodate all the dirty things, and the text refers to the magnanimity that can accommodate all things.

(3) Alone: Come and go alone.

【Translation】

Places with a lot of dirt are usually conducive to the reproduction of a variety of organisms, and there is usually no fish in the clear water. Therefore, having the magnanimity to accommodate everything can be called a gentleman, to accommodate the faults and shortcomings of others, we must not be too high and alone.

Not filthy, reedful and foolish

Do not be too pure, and all filth and impurity must be tolerated; and do not be too clear with people, and all good and evil are wise and foolish, and be tolerant.

(1) Holding the body: the meaning of cultivating the body and mind, which refers to being a person.

(2) Jiao (jiao) clean: clean and bright.

(3) Runa: Accommodated.

(4) Good and evil, virtuous and foolish: all kinds of people.

We must not be too lonely and self-congratulatory, and we must appropriately tolerate the shortcomings of others; we must not distinguish too clearly when interacting with people, and we must learn to deal with all kinds of people.

I am still, repair my garden machine

Those who grasp the undecided, it is advisable to disappear the dust and noise, so that this mind does not see desire and is not chaotic, and it is still in the body of Chengwu; those who are firm in the practice should also be mixed with the world, so that this mind can see that it is desired and not chaotic, so as to nourish my garden.

(1) Extinction: There is no sign.

(2) Hustle: Refers to the hustle and bustle of the world.

(3) Mixed traces: mixed together, hidden and not revealed.

When you can't control yourself, you must stay away from the hustle and bustle of the world, so that you are not tempted by all kinds of desires, so that you can maintain the purity of your heart; when you can control your desires well, you must go into the noisy world, so that your heart will not move when the temptation of interests is kept, so that you can cultivate yourself a clean and self-righteous character.