《老子》“玄”与“玄德”新释

New Interpretations of Lao-Tse’s “Xuan and “Xuan de”

"玄"与"玄德"是《老子》中非常重要的两个概念,历来解说者众,然多一间有隔。从文化发生学和五行说的角度看,所谓"玄德"即"水德",而"玄"除后起的玄妙诸义外,主要指水或水之特性:其黑而兼赤之色给人幽昧深妙之感,其本身既为万物之始又兼具生生不息之性。在某种意义上可以说,"玄"与"玄德"就是以母体和女性生命力为旨归的"水德"哲学。与此相关,"玄牝"指深幽莫测可以容水之母体,"玄鉴"是践行"水德"的重要方式,"玄通""玄同"则成为"水德"在世间万物中的呈现状态。仔细辨析、认知这些概念及其关联,可以从本源处深化对老子哲学的理解。

"Xuan" and "Xuan de," two of the crucial concepts in Lao-Tse, had various interpretations from many scholars down in the history but many of them didn’t seize the essence. From the perspectives of Culture Formation and the Five Elements theory, "Xuan de" refers to the virtue of water, and "Xuan" mainly refers to the characteristics of water. Its dark colour gives rise to a sense of depth, and it has been attributed to the origin of creation and nature of infinity. In a sense, these concepts can be interpreted as the "water virtue" philosophy which focuses itself on motherhood and female vitality. Therefore, "xuan pin" refers to the matrix that holds water, and "xuan jian" is an important way to practice water virtue, while "xuan tong" is the manifestation of water virtue in the world. If we take a close study of these concepts and their relations, we may get a deeper understanding of Lao-Tse’s philosophy.