Translation:

Yin Tang asked Xia Ge, "Did anything exist at the beginning of Archaean?" Xia Ge replied, "There was nothing in Archaean times. How can there be anything now?" If later people say that there is nothing now, can they? " Yin Tang asked again, "So, there is no order of things?" Xia Ge replied: "There is no fixed criterion for the beginning and end of things.

The beginning may be the end, and the end may be the beginning. How can we know what they are? But if there is anything other than matter, what happened before it happened, I don't know. "

Yin Tang asked again, "So are there limits and exhaustions in all directions?" Xia Ge replied: "I don't know." Yin Tang asked 1 vigorously. Xia Gecai replied: "Since there is nothing, there is no limit. Since there is something, there is no end. So how can I know?"

because there is no limit for the empty, and there is no' no limit' outside, and there is no' no end' among the things that have no end. There is no limit, there is no limit, there is no end, and there is no end. So I know from here that there is no limit to nothingness, and there is no end to things, but I don't know that they are limited and endless. " Yin Tang listened and asked, "What's outside the four seas?"

Xia Ge replied, "It's like being in the four seas." Yin Tang asked, "What do you use to prove it?" Xia Ge replied: "I have been to Yingzhou to the east, and I have seen people there like here. I asked about the situation east of Yingzhou, and they said it was like Yingzhou. I walked west to Yizhou, where people were like here. I asked about the situation in the west of Yizhou, and they said it was just like Yizhou.

Original text:

Yin Tang asked Yu Xiage, "Was there anything in ancient times?" Xia Ge said, "There was nothing in ancient times, but what is evil now? Later generations will say that there is nothing today, but what? " Yin Tang said, "But what about things in no order?" Xia Ge said, "Things begin at the end, and the beginning is infinite. The beginning or the end, the end or the beginning, evil knows its discipline? However, I don't know anything except things, and I don't know anything before things. "

yin Tang said, "but what's the best in all directions?" Ge said, "I don't know." Tang Gu asked. Ge said, "If there is nothing, there is no promise. If there is something, there is nothing. How can I know?"? However, there is no infinity beyond the infinity, and there is no infinity in the infinity. There is no infinity after infinity, and there is no infinity after infinity. Therefore, I know that its infinity is endless, but I don't know that it has its utmost. " Tang asked again, "What is there outside the four seas?"

Ge said, "Youqi Prefecture is also." Tang said, "Are you honest?" Ge said, "I went east to camp, and the people were still there. Ask the east of the camp, and return to the camp. The people are still the same when they travel west to the country. Ask the west of the dog, and it is still a dog.

source: Liezi Tang Wen written by Lieyukou in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Extended information:

About the author:

Liezi (about 45 BC-375 BC, the Warring States Period, at the age of 75) was a representative figure of Taoism in the early Warring States Period. Famous Kou, also known as Yu Kou ("Liezi" is the honorific title for him by later generations), Huaxia nationality, was born in Putian (now Zhengzhou City, Henan Province) of the State of Zheng in Zhou Dynasty, and the ancient emperor was later than Shan. One of the top ten in the world before Qin Dynasty, a famous Taoist scholar? Thinker, philosopher, writer and educator.

Liezi, a thinker in the early Warring States period, is another representative figure of Taoist thought besides Laozi and Zhuangzi, at the same time as Zheng Miaogong. His learning originated from Huangdi Laozi and advocated quietism. There are eight volumes of Liezi in the Taoist part of the Records of Arts and Literature by Ban Gu in the later Han Dynasty.

Liezi, also known as Chong Xu Jing (written from 45 to 375 BC), is an important Taoist classic. Eight volumes of Liezi were recorded in Yiwenzhi, a Han book, which was lost early. The eight volumes of Liezi in this edition, in terms of ideological content and language use, may have been compiled by later generations based on ancient materials.

The book * * * contains 134 fables, myths and legends, which were compiled and supplemented by Zhang Zhan, a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with a wide range of topics, some of which are quite instructive.

It has a profound influence on philosophy, aesthetics, literature, science and technology, health preservation, music and religion. He is the author of Liezi Tang Wen, whose theory originated from Huangdi Laozi and belongs to Laozi and Zhuangzi. Established the pre-Qin philosophy school (Liezixue). He is an important inheritor of Taoist school between Laozi and Zhuangzi.

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