谈“常无欲以观其妙”的句读

Talk on the Understanding of "Without desire you can observe the essence of the change of all things, "in 《Daodejing》

老子《道德经》第一章中的“故常无欲以观其妙,常有欲以观其徼”的句读有两种,一种是“故常无欲,以观其妙,常有欲,以观其徼”,把逗号放在“欲”的后面;一种是“故常无,欲以观其妙;常有,欲以观其徼”,把逗号放在“欲”的前面。这两种句读的分歧,由来已久。我以为应当把逗号放在“欲”的后面。

There are two ways to the understanding of the sentence in Chapter 1 of 《Daodejing》by Laozi, one way is: ' Without desire you can observe the essence of the change of all things; with desire you can see the hope of all things. '; the other is: 'Always with nothing, you hope to observe the essence of the change of all things; always with holding, you want to see the hope of all things. '. There has been difference between the two. In the opinion of the author, the former is better.