The Great Learning of the Pure and Real

1. 真一The Real One

   Section 7 · The Real One: Introduction

   真一　本題

   Now, what is most essential to becoming a complete human being, the root from which all goods proceed, is first to know that the Solitary One is the Real Lord, who is fundamentally unconnected with the myriad things, and who has three grades as witness: the Root-Suchness, the Root-Allotment and the Root-Act. If this principle is not thoroughly penetrated, and there is even a slight error, one is of course no longer a person of the Pure and Real. Therefore, to illumine the heart and recognize the Lord, to cultivate the self and enlarge the Way, one must first come to the pure and real orthodox teaching, and further hope to meet those who have seen the Way and illumined worthies. Why? To have the orthodox teaching without an upright person is no different from sunlight shining on blind eyes: how could one tell black from white? To have an upright person without the orthodox teaching is no better than clear eyes walking at dusk: how could one keep to the right road? I fear there are those who cannot tell the upright from the deviant, and take another's views for their own sight. For the words and conduct of a teacher are like brush and ink; the student who empties his heart is like a blank tablet that receives the teacher's instructing brush. When the ink is flourished from time to time and the tablet is written full, if something is not upright, how could it be made blank again? Therefore seeking the Way and following a teacher is the first critical pass, no minor matter; one must by no means be careless and let it go at that.

   原夫成人至要，萬善根由，須首知單另之一乃真主，本與萬物無干，而有三品作證，曰本然，曰本分，曰本為。此理不徹，少有訛誤，自不係清真人矣。是故明心認主，修身宏道，必須始詣清真正教，更期見道明賢；何也？有正教而無正人，不異日光照于瞽目，何以分其皂白？有正人而無正教，豈啻明眼步于黃昏，烏得行于正路？恐有不辨正偏，惟以他見為見者，縱然師範言行，本如筆墨，後學虛心，若夫素簡，聽其訓筆，時揮文墨，書之滿簡，倘有不正，豈能再素？所以訪道從師，乃第一關頭，非他細務，切不可苟且而遂已也。

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   Scan, p. 20–21Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   5 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.

   • 善根由須首知→B reads善根由必須首知· substantive · p. 37 · B has 必 before 須. Ours lacks it; B read by both AI passes

   • 須首知單另之一→B reads須首知单另之一· orthographic · p. 37
   • 三品作證曰本然→B reads三品作証曰本然· orthographic · p. 37
   • 少有訛誤自不係→B reads少有訛悞自不係· orthographic · p. 37
   • 主修身宏道必須→B reads主修身弘道必須· orthographic · p. 39

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2. Section 8 · The Root-Suchness

   真一 · 第一章　本然

   What is called the Root-Suchness is this: originally existing without beginning, enduring forever without end, not belonging to yin and yang, fundamentally without counterpart; solitary and one, utmost in honour, with no other thing beside it; without years and months, without place, without form or appearance, without admixture, without obstruction, without near or far, without companion, without peer, without any 'how'; able to command being and non-being yet not falling into being or non-being, creating the myriad things yet not resembling the myriad things, utterly beyond comparison. This is the Root-Suchness that the Real Lord originally has.

   所謂本然者，原有無始，久遠無終，不屬陰陽，本無對待，獨一至尊，別無一物，無歲月，無方所，無形相，無攙染，無阻礙，無近遠，無伴侶，無比肩，無如何，能命有無而不落有無，造化萬物而不類萬物，絕無比似，此真主原有之本然也。

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   Scan, p. 21Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   1 difference in the 1794 woodblock (B) (0 of wording)

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

   • 類萬物絕無比似→B reads類萬物絶無比似· orthographic · p. 41

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3. Section 9 · The Root-Allotment

   真一 · 第二章　本分

   What is called the Root-Allotment is the movement and stillness of the Root-Suchness. Although it abides forever as an undivided unity, when its principles are manifested they are not the same. That is: the Real One is unconnected with the Numerical One; being originally one, it is solitary and one from beginning to end. Its real being does not fall into being or non-being; being originally existent, it exists forever, transcendent. It lives not by a mandate; being always living, there is nothing it does not quicken. It knows not by a heart; knowing all-pervasively, there is nothing it does not know. It is able not by any aid; being able from the root, there is nothing it cannot do. It sees not with eyes; its seeing is unobstructed, so there is nothing it does not see. It hears not with ears; its hearing has no direction, so there is nothing it does not hear. It speaks not with a tongue; its speech is unconstrained, so there is nothing it does not say. It wills not by deliberation; its willing is original, so there is nothing not subject to its will. It is eternal not by design; being originally eternal, it is lasting in every respect. All these are the movement and stillness of the Root-Suchness. Yet in stillness it moves, and in moving it is as if unmoving; in movement it is ceaselessly manifold. If one speaks of its stillness, its workings are nonetheless everywhere manifest; if one speaks of its movement, its traces are never seen. Hence both movement and stillness are named, lying precisely between the Root-Suchness and its acting. Know that before heaven and earth existed, the Real Lord wished to manifest His original power; so with His original knowledge He predetermined the myriad things that were to be used, together with all their beginnings and ends, inner and outer, with nothing lacking and not the slightest alteration. In the end there is not one thing that passes beyond His willing, knowing and power. It is not that knowledge and power bind the myriad things; rather, the myriad things of themselves cannot go beyond them. The Scripture says: 'The Real Lord, the Original Being, was solitary and one, and originally not a single thing was with Him; then, within His will, He brought the myriad things to mind.' This is the predetermination (qadar) of the Real Lord's movement and stillness.

   所謂本分者，乃本然之動靜，雖長守而渾一，其理顯則不同，即真一非干數一，原來一，故始終獨一；真有不落有無，原來有，故超然長有；原活不以命，總是活，故無不活；原知不以心，通然知，故無不知；原能不以助，本來能，故無不能；原觀不以目，觀無礙，故無不觀；原聽不以耳，聽無方，故無不聽；原言不以舌，言無拘，故無不言；任憑不以思，原任憑，故無不憑；永久不以謀，原永久，故無不久；茲皆本然之動靜也。但靜則動，動如不動，動則紛紛不已；若言其靜，機無不顯，若言其動，未見其跡，所以動靜兩稱，正于本然為作之間也。須知未有天地之先，真主要顯己之原能，遂以其原知，預定當用之萬物，及諸始終內外，略無餘欠，毫無更易，終無一物，超其要為知能之外，非以知能束縛萬物，乃萬物自不能越耳。經云，「真主原有獨一，本無一物與同，然後于任憑中，提記了萬物」。茲乃真主動靜之前定也。

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   Scan, p. 21–23Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   1 uncertain reading in this passage

   • 動但靜則動，動如不動or 如如· misprint · N prints 但靜則動，動如不動 (PDF p. 22); B (1794, p. 45) reads 但靜則如如不動，動則紛紛不已, a clean parallel. N's reading is probably a corruption of 如如; kept as printed (p. 22)

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   3 differences in the 1794 woodblock (B) (3 of wording)

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

   • 不以思原任憑故→B reads不以思要任憑故· substantive · p. 45 · B has 要 where ours has 原. Every parallel clause reads 原X (原永久, 原言, etc.), so B's 要 is probably a cutting error in B; B read by both AI passes
   • 但靜則動動如不動→B reads但靜則如如不動· substantive · p. 45 · B 但靜則如如不動，動則紛紛不已, a clean parallel (如如 "thus-thus, unmoved"); N 但靜則動，動如不動，動則紛紛不已, probably a corruption of 如如 in N or its source; B read by both AI passes
   • 縛萬物乃萬物自→B reads縛萬物萬物自· substantive · p. 47 · B lacks 乃. It reads 非以知能束縛萬物萬物自不能越耳, running from the end of column 3 into column 4. B's reading is grammatical as it stands, so this could be an omission in B or an addition in ours; B read by both AI passes

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4. Section 10 · The Root-Act

   真一 · 第三章　本為

   What is called the Root-Act is the overflow of His solitariness, wholly containing the marvel of the formless; this is called Capacity-Being. It may be likened to an ink-pool: even the pure essence of the myriad spirits and the patterned writing of heaven and earth all depend on this being, and only afterwards, with the brush of the Deputy, is the principle it holds first set forth. But before it is set forth, it is with the Real One neither identical nor separate: divided, it cannot be parted; joined, it is still distinct. Within it is hidden the spring of preservation and nourishment, and already the sign of the will is manifest, known and seen by the Lord alone. This is the domain of the Real Lord's Root-Act. It has six names: the One Root and Real Ancestor, the Lord of All, the Root-Act, the Source of Transformation, Capacity-Being, and the Overflowing Light. Someone asks: 'The Real Lord is by nature all-pervading and perfectly full; how can one speak of an overflow? If there were something overflowing, the Real Lord's Original Being would be diminished.' I reply: Because He is solitary, one and most honoured, His Original Being without counterpart, He of Himself put forth universal compassion and willed to make the myriad things; He commanded being and non-being and let each follow its own course. At this moment substance and function were first distinguished. Because it issues from Original Being, it is called Capacity-Being and termed the Overflowing Light. Substance and function are inseparable; where then is any diminution? What is called Capacity-Being is the being that is able to issue forth: as the power of Original Oneness gives them oneness, the power of Original Being gives them being, the power of Original Life gives them life, the power of Original Knowledge gives them knowledge, the power of Original Power gives them power, the power of Original Sight gives them sight, the power of Original Hearing gives them hearing, and the power of Original Speech gives them speech. Thus it is between Original Being and Capacity-Being that the principles of things first arise. Therefore Original Being has no arising and no ending, no inside and no outside, whereas Capacity-Being can begin and end, can be outer and inner. This is what is meant. A poem says: 'Why does the flame within water preserve things? Outside the water, melting away, it burns itself. Within and without, clearly the same heat; go on and search out this melting and preserving.' Its meaning makes especially clear that the Real One has no partner. Thereafter, by His original knowledge, He predetermined the original state of humankind, spirits and immortals, together with the reasons of all the conditions that guard them. Precisely at this moment He first decreed the many marvels, which arose complete within Capacity-Being, and their colours and forms were perfected in the making. The myriad affairs and things are not originally existent; all receive their mandate from the Real Lord's preserving and nourishing Root-Suchness and from the movement and stillness of His Root-Act.

   所謂本為者，乃其單另之餘，總具無形之妙，是為能有，譬之墨池，雖萬靈之精粹，天地之文章，莫不賴于此有，然後以代理之筆，始發其所蘊之理；但未發之時，其與真一不即不離，分之不開，合之有別，中藏保養之機，已顯任憑之兆，惟主知見，茲乃真主本為之境界也。其稱有六，曰一本真宗，曰一切之主，曰本為，曰化源，曰能有，曰餘光。或曰，「真主自然貫通圓滿，安得曰餘？若有所餘，則真主之原有有虧矣」？曰：因其獨一至尊，原有無對，自發普慈，要為萬物，勅命有無，任其自便，此際始分體用，因其發于原有，是為能有，謂之餘光，體用不離，于何有虧？所謂能有者，乃能發之有，若原一之能與之一，原有之能與之有，原活之能與之活，原知之能與之知，原能之能與之能，原觀之能與之觀，原聽之能與之聽，原言之能與之言；是故原有之與能有之中，始興物理，所以原有無起無盡，無內無外；能有則能始能終，能表能裏，此之謂也。詩云「何為水裏炎存物？水外消然便自焚，中外分明同一熱，還進究竟此消存」。其義特明真一無偶，然後以其原知，預定人品神仙之本來，與其護衛諸緣之所以，正于此際，始敕衆妙，而興具于能有，其色相成全于作為，萬事萬物，本非原有，皆受命于真主保養之本然，與其本為之動靜也。

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   Scan, p. 23–25Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

   3 uncertain readings in this passage

   • 興始敕衆妙，而興具于能有or 與· unclear · middle component looks like 同 (興); 與 is visually close in this type; B reads 始勅衆妙與具 (與, without 而): see collation (p. 25)
   • 興能有之中，始興物理or 與· unclear · clearly 興 at zoom (contrast with 與 in adjacent column), but easily misread at normal size; B looks like 與 here too (始與物理), not confirmed (p. 24)
   • 勅要為萬物，勅命有無or 敕· variant · printed 勅 (variant of 敕); kept (p. 24)

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   8 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.

   • 真宗曰一切之主曰本為→B reads真宗曰四海元首曰本為· substantive · p. 51 · The second of the six epithets differs. B reads 四海元首; ours reads 一切之主. B's reading runs across the column break: 四 ends col. 1 and 海元首 begins col. 2; B read by both AI passes
   • 明同一熱還進究竟此→B reads明同一爇還須究竟此· substantive · p. 53 · B 還須究竟 "must still search out"; N 還進究竟; B read by both AI passes
   • 然後以其原知預→B reads然後以原知預· substantive · p. 55 · B lacks 其; B read by both AI passes
   • 敕衆妙而興具于能→B reads敕衆妙與具于能· substantive · p. 55 · B 始勅衆妙與具于能有 (without 而; 與 for 興); B read by AI, checked by eye on the scan

   • 者乃其單另之餘→B reads者乃其单另之餘· orthographic · p. 49
   • 真一不即不離分→B reads真一不卽不離分· orthographic · p. 49
   • 為萬物勅命有無→B reads為萬物勑命有無· orthographic · p. 51
   • 此際始敕衆妙而→B reads此際始勅衆妙而· orthographic · p. 55

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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.