Listen to this articlelài yǔ Xīshī, dào tōng wéi yī 厉与西施，道通为一
A Scabby Person and the Beautiful Lady Xishi Are the Same in the Eyes of Dao.
身长癞疮的人与美丽的西施，从道的角度看都可相通为一。厉，通“癞”，指长有癞疮的人。这是庄子关于审美相对性的著名论述。原意指身长癞疮的人与著名的美女没有区别，因为她们都是“道”的产物及体现。美丑的判断只是人们主观上的感觉而已，而且美丑之间还可相互转化。庄子的这一思想，强调从造物的本原看，美丑都符合道，都具有内在的同一性。这个思想启发后世的文艺评论家从相反相成的维度去看待自然万物与文学创作。
This is a famous statement made by Zhuangzi on how beauty is relative. Originally it meant there was no difference between a beauty and an ugly person, because they both came from and reflected Dao. The character 厉 (lai) meant 癞 (lai, covered in scabs) in ancient Chinese. Whether a person is beautiful or ugly is but a subjective perspective in the mind of the beholder. Besides, beauty can turn into ugliness, and vice versa. Zhuangzi, from the perspective of the origin of all things, stressed that beauty and ugliness are both in accord with Dao and are inherently the same. This idea has encouraged later literary critics to look at all things, including literary works, from the perspective that opposite things complement each other.
引例 Citations：
◎举莛与楹，厉与西施，恢诡谲怪，道通为一。(《庄子·齐物论》）
（细小的草茎与高大的庭柱，身长癞疮的人与美丽的西施，还有各种诡变怪异的事物，从道的角度来说都可相通为一。）
In the light of Dao, a small blade of grass or a tall pillar, someone as ugly as a favus patient or someone as beautiful as Lady Xishi, as well as crafty and strange things, are all the same. (Zhuangzi)
◎大用外腓，真体内充。（司空图《二十四诗品·雄浑》）
（道表现于各种客观事物，而真实的精神本质却是内蕴其中的。）
Dao manifests in an array of objective things, but its genuine spirit lies within them. (Sikong Tu: Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry)
