陋、德｜sHABBY, vIRTUE

#陋、#德｜#sHABBY, #vIRTUE

靈魂沒有軀殼與思想之分，最重要是靈魂本身如何。
sOUL does not make distinction between the bODY and the mIND, the most important thing is just how the sOUL is.

劉禹錫（七七二年至八四二年，詩人，哲學家，作家，唐代文學的代表人物之一）－《陋室銘》：
Yang Xiong (772-842, poet, philosopher, author and one of the representative person of Tang literature) – Epigraph for “A Shabby House” (original written in Classical Chinese):

山不在高，有仙則名。
水不在深，有龍則靈。
斯是陋室，惟吾德馨。
苔痕上階綠，草色入廉青。
談笑有鴻儒，往來無白丁。
可以調素琴，閱金經。
無絲竹之亂耳，無案牘之勞形。
南陽諸葛廬，西蜀子雲亭。
孔子云：「何陋之有？」
mOUNTAIN, no matter how hIGH, will be well kNOWN if sAGE dWELLS there.
lAKE, no matter how dEEP, will have aURA if aquatic dRAGON lIVES there.
This is a sHABBY house, I only wish that I have great vIRTUE.
The mOSS cOVERED the steps and turned them into gREEN, the colour of gRASS that sHINES through the curtain is green.
Here, the people who talk and laugh are eRUDITE and the people who hang out together are not vULGAR.
Here one can play the uNADORNED zither and read the bUDDHIST texts.
Here there is neither aNNOYING instrumental playing nor eXHAUSTING official work.
Here is like the Zhuge’s*₁ cottage in Nanyang or the Yangxiong’s*₂ pavilion in Western Shu.
Confucius*₃ said, “Is it tHAT sHABBY?”*₄

..,

nOTES:

*₁: Zhuge Liang (181–234), famous politician, military strategist, writer and inventor, also served as a chancellor and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.

*₂: Yang Xiong (53-18 BC), philosopher, litterateur, author and official of the Western Han Dynasty.

*₃: Confucius (551–479 BC) was an educator, philosopher and official of Lu State in the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1043-256 BC) during Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), he was the founder of Confucianism and developed his Confucian theory of the five virtue elements: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust.

*₄: The original sentence is from the book 9 of “The Analects of Confucius”, the chapter 14 -「君子居之，何陋之有？」, it means “A place where a real man dwells, is it that shaby?”.