The Great Learning of the Pure and Real

1. 體一The Embodied One

   Section 15 · The Embodied One: Introduction

   體一　本題

   What is called the Embodied One is humankind. Its names too are various: the Heart of the Myriad Spirits, the Fruit of the Myriad Images, the Alchemical Furnace, the Pass of Life and Death, the Precious Mirror, the Great Completion. It is the ancient volume of the Real Lord's primal secret. For it is complete in both form and spirit, the highest and the lowest; there is nothing it does not cover and bear; it is truly the most complete of all kinds. The first mandate of the Former Heaven is called the true nature; it embodies the marvel of the Real One. The bodily mandate of the Latter Heaven is called the root nature; it embodies the principle of the Non-Ultimate. The union of yin and yang is called form-and-substance; it embodies the function of the Great Ultimate: seeing, hearing, perceiving and speaking, moving and resting, taking and giving, the whole body and all its hundred bones, none do not obey this one nature. Therefore it is by the One that is one's own self that one can verify the One of the Numerical One, and then by this Numerical One that one can verify the Solitary One; proceeding in order, one will be free of going astray. Thus a poem says: 'One ink-stone, two pools, extend the great brush; single, then double, then back to one again. Qian and kun, man and woman, are likewise so; follow the tracks, ascend the hall, and only then enter the chamber.' The Scripture says: 'Whoever recognizes himself can then verify the Utmost Sage and recognize the Real Lord.' This has three grades as witness: Knowing Recognition, Seeing Recognition and Continuing Recognition. Knowing Recognition means clear penetration; Seeing Recognition means intimacy; Continuing Recognition means union.

   所謂體認之一者人品，其名亦不一，曰萬靈之心，曰萬象之果，曰煉丹爐，曰生死關，曰寶鏡，曰大成。即真主元機之古冊也；因彼形神兼備，至高至下，無不覆載，實萬彙之至全，先天首命；謂之真性，體真一之妙，後天身命；謂之本性，體無極之理，陰陽合一；謂之形質，體太極之用，視聽聞言，行止取授，通身百骸，莫不聽此一性；故以當體之一，方可證數一之一，然后以此數一，始可證單另之一，循次而至，庶無岐誤也。是以詩云「一硯二池伸大筆，單而雙后還歸一，乾坤男婦亦如然，踐跡陞堂方入室」；經云「凡人認得自己，方能證至聖而認真主」。此有三品作證，曰知認，曰見認，曰續認。知認之謂明徹，見認之謂親切，續認之謂契合是也。

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   Scan, p. 28–29Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   4 uncertain readings in this passage

   • 二「一硯二池伸大筆or 一· unclear · two horizontal strokes (short over long) between 硯 and 池; could be 一 with a stray stroke; B also 一硯二池 (p. 29)
   • 后單而雙后還歸一or 後· variant · print uses 后 for 後 here and in 然后以此; kept (p. 29)
   • 岐庶無岐誤也or 歧· variant · 岐 for 歧 'go astray'; kept as printed (p. 29)
   • ；元機之古冊也；因彼or 。· damaged · punctuation mark after 也 is a broken two-dot mark; editorial ； (p. 28)

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   9 differences in the 1794 woodblock (B) (2 of wording)

   Our text follows the 1934 print; the other witness's readings are recorded here, not adopted.

   • 可證數一之一然→B reads可證數本之一然· substantive · p. 69 · B reads 數本之一 here and in §6 (twice); N 數一之一 throughout; B read by both AI passes
   • 認真主此有三品→B reads認真主亦有三品· substantive · p. 71 · B reads 亦 'also' where ours reads 此 'this'; B read by both AI passes

   • 即真主元機之古→B reads即真主玄機之古· orthographic · p. 69
   • 一始可證單另之一→B reads一始可証单另之一· orthographic · p. 71
   • 庶無岐誤也是以→B reads庶無岐悞也是以· orthographic · p. 71
   • 伸大筆單而雙后→B reads伸大筆单而雙后· orthographic · p. 71
   • 認得自己方能證→B reads認得自巳方能證· orthographic · p. 71
   • 己方能證至聖而→B reads己方能証至聖而· orthographic · p. 71
   • 三品作證曰知認→B reads三品作証曰知認· orthographic · p. 71

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2. Section 16 · Recognition by Knowing

   體一 · 第一章　知認

   What is called Knowing Recognition is to seek out and emulate the attestations of the sages and worthies, and to investigate in detail the true scriptures of the orthodox teaching, as when, seeing an object, one thinks of its feeling. Therefore this is to recognise the Real Lord with the body by way of all the conditions: consider how heaven is high and earth thick, water cool and fire hot, wind moving and earth still; sun and moon come and go, the stars revolve, the four seasons succeed one another, day and night roll up and unfold; metal and stone transform, plants and trees have fragrance and colour; in the water are scaled and shelled creatures, on land things that walk and fly. Each kind differs, hard and soft are unequal; more would add nothing, less would leave something lacking; nothing is not exactly fitting, and from antiquity to now it does not change. Were it even slightly otherwise, it would of itself be unsettled. Such a supremely wondrous arrangement: apart from the Real Lord, who could create it again? This is to attain the One from the myriad, just as at the season of flowers and leaves; yet alas, a slight separation remains. This is called taoheide [tawḥīd] (translated: 'practising the One'). At this stage one grasps only the traces of His acts; though it is not bound to the myriad things, it truly comes from learning. Having learned, one can know; having known, one can believe; having believed, one can be sincere; being sincere, one can be loyal; and loyalty is firmly undivided. Yet it is not that one has seen anything; there is in fact not the slightest doubt, only one stands fixed and does not shift, and this proves it to be true knowledge free of delusion.

   所謂知認者，訪效聖賢之參證，推詳正教之真經，譬之覩物思情，故此由諸緣而體認真主：若天高地厚，水涼火熱，風動土寧，日月往來，星辰旋轉，四時更替，晝夜捲舒，金石變化，草木香顏，水中鱗介，陸地飛行，品類各異，剛柔不等，多則無益，缺則不備，無不至當，今古不更；少不如是，自不安妥，似此至妙安排，除斯真主，孰能再造？茲乃自萬得一，正如花葉之時，惜乎少有所間，謂之討黑德［譯曰習一］；到此田地，惟得其作為之踪迹，雖不拘萬，實由於學，學而后能知，知而后能信，信而后能誠，誠而后能忠，忠固不二，然非有所見，其實無微疑，但以定立不遷，可證其為真知而不惑也。

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   Scan, p. 29–30Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   4 differences in the 1794 woodblock (B) (1 of wording)

   Our text follows the 1934 print; the other witness's readings are recorded here, not adopted.

   • 不遷可證其為真知而→B reads不遷可証為其真知而· substantive · p. 75 · Transposition: ours 其為, B 爲其. B also writes 証 for 證, an orthographic variant; B read by both AI passes

   • 聖賢之參證推詳正→B reads聖賢之叅証推詳正· orthographic · p. 73
   • 則無益缺則不備→B reads則無益鈌則不備· orthographic · p. 73
   • 萬實由於學學而→B reads萬實由于學學而· orthographic · p. 75

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3. Section 17 · Recognition by Seeing

   體一 · 第二章　見認

   What is called recognition by seeing is to transcend all conditioning ties, to experience it in person, and to recognize the Real Lord bodily through one's own self. From the First Ancestor [humankind] divided into male and female. The body images the yin and yang of the Supreme Ultimate, embraces the workings of heaven and earth, and penetrates the mystery of being and non-being; within it are stored nature and mandate, knowledge and ability; its spiritual clarity is lively and quick; in seeing, hearing, perceiving and speaking nothing is not supremely refined; it bears on the whole cosmos. So great an original mechanism: apart from the Real Lord, who could possess it of himself? Even fame and merit, wealth and rank, gain and loss, safety and danger are worldly affairs before one's eyes, and over them one has no power at all; how much less over the supreme matter of life and death? Suddenly one is startled awake, the intention turns and the heart returns, and one begins to distinguish the new-born from the Original Being. Lord and servant being clearly distinguished, it is surely not up to oneself: this is to attain the One from two. Though the wondrous clarity is manifest, one has not yet reached union; this is called yitihade [ittiḥād] (translated: 'the One of the self'). At this stage one first reaches the movement and stillness of action. One must know that loyalty to the ruler and filial piety to parents, the bonds and constants, ritual and right, are nothing but the dues of chance meetings in this floating life, and still one does not know that one has a self. Compared with creation, nature and mandate, life and death, and further with the body's return to abide forever, how could there be no recompense for sincere intention and loyal constancy? Because longing reaches its utmost, one now and then attains accord, just as one is self-less after wine yet at times wakes up. Hence the poem says: 'After drinking, in word and deed the body is unaware; all because this wine rules form and spirit. The light of moon and stars is not extinguished: in a moment it is gathered into the great brightness.' This rank is just like the interval between blossoming and bearing fruit, the moment between having a self and having none: most to be feared are violent rain and wild wind; one must guard it with a watchful heart, and only then does the barrier of self suddenly open, and one sees without testimony. Yet even this is not two; it happens when its time comes. At such a moment it can be proved only by being untainted by all ties; for this it is intimate and without gap.

   所謂見認者，超脫諸緣，親自經歷，由己身而體認真主。本因人祖，化分男女，體象太極陰陽，包羅天地之機，貫徹有無之妙，中藴性命知能，靈明活潑，視聽聞言，莫不至精，關乎宇宙，似此至大元機，除斯真主，孰能自有？雖功名富貴，得失安危，猶眼前世務，且一無所能，何況生死之至大乎？忽然驚悟，意轉心回，始辨新生原有。

   主僕分明，蓋不由己，茲乃自二得一，妙明雖顯，未及契合，是為以體哈德［譯曰自一］，到此田地，始及作為之動靜，須知忠君孝親，綱常禮義，無非浮生邂逅之酬，尚且不知有己，較之造化性命生死，更與身歸長住，豈得無誠意忠貞之報？蓋因渴慕至極，偶耳得契，即若酒後無己，但有時而醒，是以詩云「醉后言行身不悟，皆因斯酒禦形神，星月光輝非寂滅，少時收捲大明中」。至此品位，正如開花成果之間，有己無己之際，最忌猛雨狂風，必要存心保護，方始頓開己障，無證而見，然雖此亦不二，遇時而然，當此之際，但以萬緣不染可證，為此親切而無間也。

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   Scan, p. 30–32Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   2 uncertain readings in this passage

   • 住更與身歸長住，豈得or 往· unclear · glyph between 住 and 往 in this print; 長住 fits sense; B also 長住 (p. 31)
   • 藴中藴性命知能or 蘊· variant · printed with the 藴 form (p. 31)

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   14 differences in the 1794 woodblock (B) (2 of wording)

   Our text follows the 1934 print; the other witness's readings are recorded here, not adopted.

   • 中至此品位正如→B reads中至此第位正如· substantive · p. 79 · B reads 第位 where ours has 品位. 第位 may mean 'rank, station', or B's graph may be a damaged or abbreviated form. Check against other witnesses; B read by both AI passes
   • 不染可證為此親切而→B reads不染可証為其親切而· substantive · p. 81 · B 為其親切; N 為此親切; B read by both AI passes

   • 之妙中藴性命知→B reads之妙中蘊性命知· orthographic · p. 77
   • 此至大元機除斯→B reads此至大玄機除斯· orthographic · p. 77
   • 所能何況生死之→B reads所能何况生死之· orthographic · p. 77
   • 僕分明蓋不由己→B reads僕分明葢不由己· orthographic · p. 77
   • 蓋不由己茲乃自二→B reads蓋不由巳玆乃自二· orthographic · p. 77
   • 邂逅之酬尚且不→B reads邂逅之酧尚且不· orthographic · p. 79
   • 不知有己較之造→B reads不知有巳較之造· orthographic · p. 79
   • 貞之報蓋因渴慕→B reads貞之報葢因渴慕· orthographic · p. 79
   • 酒後無己但有時→B reads酒後無巳但有時· orthographic · p. 79
   • 之間有己無己之際最→B reads之間有巳無巳之際最· orthographic · p. 79
   • 始頓開己障無證→B reads始頓開巳障無證· orthographic · p. 81
   • 己障無證而見然→B reads己障無証而見然· orthographic · p. 81

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4. Section 18 · Continuous Recognition

   體一 · 第三章　續認

   What is called continuous recognition is to overcome entirely partiality and private self-views, to restore wholly the source of bright virtue, and to recognize the Real Lord through selflessness. For the self originally has beginning and end, and has coming and going; the Real Lord originally has no rising or ceasing, and has no place. If with a human nature that has beginning and end one wishes to fathom the Real Lord who has neither rising nor ceasing, how is that different from water and fire, or square and round? To force them together into one arrangement is certainly impossible. For although human seeing, hearing, knowing and ability can exhaust principle and investigate things, they cannot comprehend the Original Being through and through; the self must be wholly melted down, and only then is the wondrous clarity suddenly manifest, and from this the movement and stillness of the Original Suchness become clear. Only then does one know by the Lord's knowing, see by the Lord's seeing, and speak by the Lord's speaking. This is 'from the One to the One', and is called wahadete (translated: 'the pure One'). At this ultimate rank, neither clinging nor apart, there is not the least use of self; nothing is not by the Lord. This is called union. It is all because the outer and inner of the Latter Heaven are both refined and the original of the Former Heaven is alone disclosed: the wind still and the water level, the sun high and the clouds scattered. Though form and spirit remain, movement and stillness are yet one; it can be proved only by pure selflessness, because it is continuous and merged. A former worthy said: 'When the created new-born continues into the Original Being, the traces of the new-born's private self are naturally left with nothing remaining.' Is this not the meaning? The Utmost Sage said: 'I recognized the Real Lord by the Real Lord; were it not for the Real Lord, I could not have recognized the Real Lord.' Only here does one complete the fruit and become a complete human, fixed in the One without shifting, and without bearing witness. At this point one knows that the Non-Ultimate, the Former Heaven, is the time of first sowing: going from above to below is called descent; this is the original seed, and at its beginning there is no witnessing. The Human Ultimate, the Latter Heaven, is the time of watering: going from below to above is called ascent; its basis is the bearing of fruit. The tree is stored in the seed and the fruit appears from the tree; returning to the root and going back to the origin, the fruit is the seed. Though they are not two, there truly is increase: were it not for the red, the green and the fragrance, this whole round of growth would have been in vain. For the generation of heaven and earth and of the myriad affairs and things was for this matter alone, to form a great causal bond. Only the human being bears this heavy charge, and ought to pass beyond the barrier of all beings and go through a hundred thousand dangers; only then does one attain the complete true fruit, highest and unsurpassed, without place, and in the end without witnessing as well. Know that there are three fruits: the First Ancestor is the fruit of the myriad things; the sages are the fruit among humankind; the Utmost Sage Muhammad is the fruit of the sages. At this ultimate rank the Original Suchness of the Real Lord is made manifest. Alas, the people of the world drown in this sea of suffering and betray this weighty trust; compared with them, other kinds of creatures truly do better!

   所謂續認者，克盡偏私自見，復全明德之源，由無己而體認真主，蓋因自己原有始終，而有來去，真主本無起盡，而無力所；設以有始有終之人品，而欲窮無起無盡之真主，何異於水火方圓？强自合為一局，必不能也。因人之視聽知能，雖能窮理格物，不能了徹原有，必須己有全鎔，始得妙明頓顯，本然動靜，自此方明；然后知以主知，見以主見，言以主言，茲乃自一而一，謂之穵哈德特［譯曰純一］；至此極品，不即不離，略無自用，莫不以主，是為契合；皆緣後天之表裏兼精，先天之本來獨露，風靜水平，日高雲散，形神雖在，動靜卻一，但以清淨無己可證，為其相續而渾同也。昔賢有云「凡受造之新生，相續於原有，其新生私己之迹，自無餘矣」；其是義也哉？至聖有云「予以真主而體認真主，若非真主，自不能認得真主」；至此方始成果成人，卽定一不遷，而無作證也。

   此際方知無極先天，乃初種之時，自上而下謂之降，是為原種，始無作證也。人極後天，乃澆灌之時，自下而上謂之昇，本因結果也；樹藏種中，果從樹顯，返本歸原，果即是種，雖然不二，實有增益，若非紅翠馨香，負此一番發育矣。原夫生天生地，萬事萬物，特為此件，結大因緣；惟有人品，承此重任，理當超越萬有關頭，歷盡百千危險，始得成全正果，最高無上，及無方所，終亦無證也。須知成果有三，人祖乃萬物之果；衆聖乃人中之果；至聖穆海默德乃衆聖之果，到此極品，方顯真主之本然也。悲夫世人溺此苦海，負茲重託，較之誠不若異類矣！

   ✦AI

   Scan, p. 32–34Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   4 uncertain readings in this passage

   • 力真主本無起盡，而無力所or 方· misprint · N prints 力 plainly (PDF p. 32, enlarged); B (1794, p. 81) reads 無方所, the expected phrase (cf. §8 無方所). A misprint in N, kept as printed (p. 32)
   • 穵謂之穵哈德特or 乞· unclear · small glyph read as 穵 (穴 over 乙, wā), which gives a clean transliteration of waḥdat; first read as 乞; B (p. 83) has the same glyph, 穴 over 乙 (p. 32)
   • 卽卽定一不遷，而無作證or 即· variant · printed 卽 here (即 elsewhere on these pages) (p. 33)
   • 卻形神雖在，動靜卻一or 却· variant · printed 卻 form (p. 33)

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   19 differences in the 1794 woodblock (B) (4 of wording)

   Our text follows the 1934 print; the other witness's readings are recorded here, not adopted.

   • 盡而無力所設以→B reads盡而無方所設以· slip in our print · p. 81 · B 方所, the expected phrase (無方所, cf. §8); N prints 力 plainly, a misprint; B read by both AI passes
   • 渾同也昔賢有云凡受→B reads渾同也賢云凡受· substantive · p. 85 · B lacks 昔 and 有: it reads 賢云 where ours reads 昔賢有云; B read by both AI passes
   • 為此件結大因緣→B reads為此件極大因緣· substantive · p. 89 · B reads 極大 ('exceedingly great'); ours 結大 ('to form a great' karmic link). Both readings make sense; B read by both AI passes
   • 至聖穆海默德乃→B reads至聖穆罕默德乃· substantive · p. 89 · The name is transliterated differently. 穆罕默德 is the standard form; ours 穆海默德 may be an error in the 1934 text; B read by both AI passes

   • 源由無己而體認→B reads源由無巳而體認· orthographic · p. 81
   • 蓋因自己原有始→B reads蓋因自巳原有始· orthographic · p. 81
   • 主何異於水火方→B reads主何異于水火方· orthographic · p. 83
   • 火方圓强自合為→B reads火方圓強自合為· orthographic · p. 83
   • 有必須己有全鎔→B reads有必須已有全鎔· orthographic · p. 83
   • 極品不即不離略→B reads極品不卽不離略· orthographic · p. 85
   • 在動靜卻一但以→B reads在動靜却一但以· orthographic · p. 85
   • 清淨無己可證為其相→B reads清淨無巳可証為其相· orthographic · p. 85
   • 生相續於原有其→B reads生相續于原有其· orthographic · p. 85
   • 新生私己之迹自→B reads新生私巳之迹自· orthographic · p. 85
   • 而無作證也此際→B reads而無作証也此際· orthographic · p. 87
   • 始無作證也人極→B reads始無作証也人極· orthographic · p. 87
   • 歸原果即是種雖→B reads歸原果卽是種雖· orthographic · p. 87
   • 終亦無證也須知→B reads終亦無証也須知· orthographic · p. 89
   • 負茲重託較之誠→B reads負茲重托較之誠· orthographic · p. 91

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Chinese: transcribed by AI (Claude) from the 1934 print scanned by the National Library of China (Wikimedia Commons, public domain), collated throughout with the woodblock re-cut in 1794 (乾隆五十九年重鐫; University of Michigan copy, digitised by Google), whose readings are listed under each section and which supplies what library stamps cover in the print. The head-notes printed above the text (already in the 1794 woodblock) are left out. The whole of Wang Daiyu's text is here; characters the AI reading was unsure of, and misprints of the 1934 print, are underlined and listed under each section. The English is by AI (Claude); Murata's translation is in copyright and cited only. How this text was established.