yǐwú-wéiběn 以无为本
Wu Is the Origin.
将“无”作为世界的本体或本原。老子曾提出“有生于无”。魏晋时期的何晏、王弼等人进一步发挥这一思想,主张天地万物都“以无为本”。他们认为,任何具体的事物都不能作为另外一个具体事物的本体或本原,更不能成为整个世界的本体或本原。天地万物的发生与存在都依赖于一个更根本的、超越于有形事物之上的“无”。只有无形无名的本体才能使众多的具体事物发挥各自的功用。
Wu (无) is regarded as the original source or ontological existence of the world in classical Chinese thinking. Laozi claimed that “you (有) is born out of wu.” This concept was further developed by He Yan, Wang Bi, and other thinkers of the Wei and Jin dynasties, who maintained that heaven, earth, and all things in the world originate from wu. No specific being, they argued, can be the original source or ontological existence of another being, much less of the world. The formation and existence of everything depend on wu, which is the fundamental source that transcends all tangible beings. Only an intangible and unidentifiable ontological existence gives countless specific beings their functions.
引例 Citation:
◎天下之物,皆以有为生。有之所始,以无为本。将欲全有,必反于无也。(王弼《老子注》)
(天下的事物都以有形的状态存在着,有形之物的发生,以“无”作为其本体。想要保全有形之物,必须返归于“无”。)
All things under heaven exist by means of you. The formation and existence of you originate from wu. To maintain you we must return to wu. (Wang Bi: Annotations on Laozi)