《庄子·大宗师》札记三则——“在太极之先而不为高”“朝彻”和“彼方且与造物者为人”

Three Notes of The Great and Venerable Teacher of Zhuangzi

《庄子·大宗师》“在太极之先而不为高”的“之先而”三字,乃“之上而”三字合文连书而被误写的结果,“先”本当作“上”字。“朝彻”有五种训解,但以司马彪、郭象《注》最为准确。其字面意思是晨旦之时光明降临,天地通彻,与昏夜相对。隐喻体道者的内心达到了明白、通达的觉悟境界。对于“朝彻”,以往学者仅据《大宗师》本文作训解,现在可以根据竹书《凡物流形》和帛书《二三子问》的相关文句来作出解释。“与造物者为人”之“人”字,乃“匕”字之形讹,“匕”读为“匹”。“与造物者为匕(匹)”,即与造物者为朋匹,为匹偶。王引之云“为人犹为偶”,仅得其意,而不知“人”字即“匕”字之误。

The three words “之先而zhī-xiān-ér” in the sentence “在太极之先而不为高(Although Tao exists) prior to the Taiji, yet it could not be considered the highest” of Zhuangzi is mistakenly written because of the three words “之上而zhī-shàng-ér” being written together.“先xiān” originally should be the word “shàng上”. Meanwhile, the literal meaning of “朝彻zhāo-chè” means that light comes at dawn, and the heaven and the earth become bright, which is opposite to the night. And it uses a metaphor to express that the one who tries to understand Dao has reached the realm of a thorough understanding and broadness. As for “朝彻zhāochè”, now we can explain it according to the relevant texts of the bamboo manuscript All Things Flow into Form and the silk manuscript Several Disciples . The word “人man” in “与造物者为人make man accompany and befriend the creator” should originally be the word “匕bǐ”, which was mistakenly written because of similar forms, and “匕bǐ” should be read as “匹pǐ”. The whole sentence means to accompany and befriend the creator. Wang Yinzhi said that “为人make man” means 为偶“make friend”, but he still did not know the word “人man” is a mistaken form of “匕bǐ”.