[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [辯正論](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110) › 6.142 # 辯正論 6.142 辯正論 6.142 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [6.142](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6.142) 通人曰。古來名儒及河上公注五千文。視之不見。名曰夷。夷者精也。聽之不聞。名曰希。希者神也。摶之不得。名曰微。微者氣也。是謂無狀之狀。無物之象。故知氣體眇莽。所以迎之不見其首。氣形清虛。故云隨之不見其後。此則敘道之本從氣而生。所以上清經云。吾生眇莽之中甚幽冥。幽冥之中生於空同。空同之內生於太元。太元變化三氣明焉。一氣清。一氣白。一氣黃。故云。一生二。二生三。案生神章云。老子以元始三氣合而為一。是至人法體。精是精靈。神是變化。氣是氣象。如陸簡寂藏矜顧歡諸揉孟智周等。老子義云。合此三氣以成聖體。又云。自然為通相之體。三氣為別相之體。檢道所宗以氣為本。考三氣之內有色有心。既為色心所成。未免生死之患。何得稱常。 > The versatile scholar said: 'The renowned Confucians of antiquity and Heshanggong commented on the Five-Thousand-Word Text: "Looking at it, it is not seen: its name is the Plain. The Plain is essence. Listening to it, it is not heard: its name is the Rarefied. The Rarefied is spirit. Grasping at it, it cannot be obtained: its name is the Subtle. The Subtle is qi." This is called the shape without shape, the image without thing. Therefore we know the substance of qi is vast and indistinct; hence "meeting it, one does not see its head". The form of qi is pure and vacant; hence "following it, one does not see its rear". This describes the root of the Dao as being born from qi. Thus the Shangqing jing states: "I was born in the vast and indistinct, exceedingly dark and obscure. In the dark and obscure, I was born in the Void-Identical; within the Void-Identical, I was born in the Great Primordial. The Great Primordial transformed, and the Three Qis became manifest: one qi was clear, one qi was white, and one qi was yellow. Therefore it is said: 'One produces two, and two produces three.'" According to the Shengshen zhang: "Laozi combined the three qis of the Primordial Beginning into one, which is the Dharma-body of the Perfected Man. Essence is spiritual essence; spirit is transformation; qi is phenomenal appearance." As Lu Jianji \[Xiujing\], Zang Jin, Gu Huan, Zhu Rou, Meng Zhiyou, and others wrote in their interpretations of Laozi: "Combining these three qis forms the sage body." They also state: "Spontaneity is the body of the common characteristic; the three qis are the body of the distinctive characteristic." Examining what Daoism takes as supreme, it takes qi as the root. Inspecting within the three qis, there are form and mind. Since it is formed of form and mind, it cannot escape the calamity of birth and death: how can it be called eternal?' > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 6.141](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6.141) - [Next: 6.143](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6.143) - [Up: 6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110~en-mt.6.142) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [折疑論](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2118.5.52) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6.142](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2110.6.142) · Pramāṇa