貪損 · 無以生為者是賢於貴生
Tān Sǔn
Classical Chinese Text
民之饥，以其上食税之多，是以饥。民之难治，以其上之有为，是以难治。民之轻死，以其上求生之厚，是以轻死。夫唯无以生为者，是贤于贵生。
Translation & Meaning
百姓之所以遭受饑荒貧困，是因為上位者橫徵暴斂、吞噬賦稅太多，所以百姓才陷入饑餒。 百姓之所以難以治理，是因為上位者好大喜功、政令折騰不休，所以才變得難以治理。 百姓之所以被迫輕生冒死，是因為上位者貪求奢華奉養太過度，所以百姓才走投無路而輕視死亡。 唯有不把奉養私欲享樂當作人生目標的人，才真正高明於那些刻意鑽營厚養的人。
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 民 (mín): classical character (mín)
- 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
- 饥 (jī): classical character (jī)
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 上 (shàng): elevate / utmost / high
- 食 (shí): classical character (shí)
- 税 (shuì): classical character (shuì)
- 多 (duō): classical character (duō)
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 难 (nán): difficult / arduous
- 治 (zhì): govern / bring order / rule
- 有 (yǒu): manifest being / cosmos / to possess
- 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
- 轻 (qīng): classical character (qīng)
- 死 (sǐ): classical character (sǐ)
- 求 (qiú): classical character (qiú)
- 生 (shēng): give birth to / arise
- 厚 (hòu): classical character (hòu)
- 夫 (fū): for / indeed / now
- 唯 (wéi): only / precisely because
- 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
- 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
- 贤 (xián): talents / worthy / clever
- 于 (yú): to / at / in
- 贵 (guì): prize / cherish / valuable
Commentary
青禾散人評注：老子目光如炬，將底層民生疾苦的根源直指上位者的「食稅之多、有為折騰、求生之厚」。簡政輕賦、恬淡寡欲，方為長治久安之道。