水｜wATER
向水致敬！
Salute to water!
《道德經》—— 第八章：
“Tao Te Ching”*1- Chapter 8:
上善若水。
水善利萬物而不爭，處眾人之所惡，故幾於道。
居善地，心善淵，與善人，言善信，政善治，事善能，動善時。
夫唯不爭，故無尤。
The highest vIRTUE is like being wATER.
wATER is gOOD to eVERYTHING and does not fight for any fame and fortune, it is staying at the place that others do not like, thence it is the closest to tAO*2.
(wATER is gOOD at) Staying at any place with eASE; having qIETNESS like in an abyss in the heart; being kIND to others; talking hONESTLY; governing with iNACTION; being cAPABLE of handling things; acting at rIGHT tIMING.
As there’s nO fIGHTING against the world, therefore there’s nO rESENTMENT.
..,
nOTES:
*1: According to legend, “Tao Te Ching” was written during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States period (476-221 BC) by Lao Tzu (ancient philosopher, writer and offical) who was born in late Eastern Zhou (771-256 BC). “Tao Te Ching” is one of the great classical philosophical books and made a far-reaching impact on Taoism.
*2: Tao is not a thing and cannot be named or described in words, but a kind of concept – “Truth”, which we need to learn from the world, things and lives. In this chapter, “Water is the closest to Tao” means, water is closest to “the truth of everything”.