Dì èr zhāng: Tiānxià jiē zhī měi zhī wèi měi, sī è yǐ; jiē zhī shànzhī wéi shàn, sī bùshàn yǐ. Gù yǒu wū xiāngshēng, nányì xiāng chéng, chángduǎn xiāngxíng, gāo xià xiāng qīng, yīn shēng xiāng hé, qiánhòu xiāng suí. Shì yǐ shèngrén chù wúwéi zhī shì, xíng bù yán zhī jiào, wànwù zuò yān ér bùcí, shēng ér bù yǒu, wéi ér bù shì, gōng chéng ér fú jū. Fū wéi fú jū, shì yǐ bù qù. ------------------------------------------------------ 2. Abstraction When beauty is abstracted Then ugliness has been implied; When good is abstracted Then evil has been implied.
So alive and dead are abstracted from nature, Difficult and easy abstracted from progress, Long and short abstracted from contrast, High and low abstracted from depth, Song and speech abstracted from melody, After and before abstracted from sequence.
The sage experiences without abstraction, And accomplishes without action; He accepts the ebb and flow of things, Nurtures them, but does not own them, And lives, but does not dwell.