--- title: "了凡四訓 · 舊序" description: "了凡四訓是明代居士袁了凡所著的家訓文集，融合儒家與佛教思想，成書於十六世紀。內容以立命之學、改過之法、積善之方、謙德之效四部分，闡述命運可通過行善修德改變，強調因果與自我革新。該書雖非正統佛經，但深受佛教界推崇，被視為居士修行的重要指南，對中國民間信仰與道德教育影響深遠，體現了人間佛教的實踐精神。" url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcy56sj800cll404onnw6das" --- ### 舊序 > Preface 逸名 > Anonymous 文有懸提也筆立就。馬上成功也傾倒也瀉如瓶出水也而出。又復至精至妙者。韓文公唐韓愈祭十二郎文十二郎名未詳愈之姪厚謹純明愈目為克家良子及卒愈為文祭之為祭文中千秋絕調選入古文讀本中是也。文有久已脫稿。日改月更。千錘打紅鐵使成器曰錘百鍊。至數十年而始為定本者。歐陽文忠公宋歐陽修瀧岡阡表瀧音雙瀧岡在江西永豐縣其先人墓地阡墓道也表表揚先德之文從太夫人口中敘述前德意真詞切字字血淚為墓誌中至文亦選入古文讀本中是也。袁了凡先生以韓韓愈歐歐陽修之筆。具韓宋韓琦有將才歷任陝西經略安撫招討使與范仲淹在兵間久名重當時邊人有謠曰軍中有一韓西賊聞之心膽寒軍中有一范西賊聞之驚破膽琦天資忠樸識量英偉決大策安社稷處危疑之際知無不為為無不濟澤及黎民威震國外封魏國公故皆稱韓魏公有安陽集刊行於世范宋范仲淹每感激論天下事奮不顧身一時士大夫受其感化競尚氣節守邊數年號令嚴明愛撫士卒羌人夏人交相畏憚以為此人腹中有數萬甲兵後參知政事裁削倖濫考覈嚴厲政海一清為人內剛外和為秀才時以天下為己任嘗以先天下之憂而憂後天下之樂而樂為言生平尤樂善好施置義田以贍族人卒諡文正有丹陽集行世之才。將其生平所得。著此四訓。訓子文四一為立命之學二為改過之法三為積善之方四為謙德之效以數十年修身治性。日新月盛之閱歷體驗。躬行實踐之意又加數十年字鍛句煉之潤飾。鍛煉改造也潤飾修正也故其文精深而博大。其理中正而精微。改過積善兩篇。是正文。改過之法。發揮有逐層推闡意諸惡莫作。積善之方。細講眾善奉行。立命之學。是現身說法。略如法華經觀音普門品云應以長者身得度者即現長者身而為說法應以居士身得度者即現居士身而為說法應以宰官身得度者即現宰官身而為說法應以大將軍身得度者即現大將軍身而為說法應以婦女身得度者即現婦女身而為說法應以童男女身得度者即現童男女身而為說法一切境界中有緣得度者皆即現之而為說法現身說法為迎機利導中最方便之一法門一篇大文。惟謙者肯反躬內省。回光返照自行糾察惟反己能自訟其過。訟過有發露攻治意惟自訟庶庶近也改過不吝。不吝含豪爽坦白意惟改過斯善事真切。惟善真然後可以立命。故首從奉母命。棄舉業舉業言求取科名之應試文字習醫。國人有一學詩書二學醫之諺以故文人學子言治生者多認學醫為捷徑既信孔公數。淡然無求。孔乃術士逸其名後聽雲谷教。轉移定數敘起。雲谷禪師事詳見卷尾傳文中今從略此三段。公之所謂謙則受教有地也。夫以鶴立雞羣之俊秀。肯棄青紫如敝屣。青紫言功名也敝屣言破草鞋也不獨其品之高。而其孝亦可知矣。袁母命子語宛如瀧岡阡表我不能教汝。此汝父之志也一段語。表太夫人之賢。於此亦可見矣。公之信孔公數非漫。含糊也信之。必待試其數。纖悉皆驗。纖悉皆驗言微細事情都應驗也然後深信不疑。而遂起讀書之念。何等謹慎。孔公起數。必待其考校名數皆合。然後再卜終身。使他由目前之不爽。爽失也不爽無一差錯也以堅其久遠日後之信。何等穩重。雲谷教了凡改過曰將向來從前也之相。盡情改刷。從前習氣如死却。從後日新如重生。在公聽之已了了。而豈常人所能領會。心中領受而會通也故於改過之法一篇中。反覆痛切言之。傳恥畏勇三個方法。講事理心三層難易。又恐人自謂無過可改。將蘧伯玉改過一段。以證人必有過。自不察耳。雲谷教了凡積善曰要從無思無慮處感格。感通也言以人心合天心也毋將迎。將送也迎接也毋將迎言不隨物而往不先物而動猶言事未至勿逆料既往勿追憶也毋覬覦希冀幸求之意數語。在了凡已盡得其旨矣。旨深意也仍恐人不窮理。窮深究也自謂行持。行持含操持弗失奉行弗怠意豈知造孽。孽惡業也故於積善之方篇。細論深辯之。文分三大段。段每十小股。首敘往事十條。以證因果不爽。因即因緣也來由也傳燈錄有言欲知前世因今生受者是欲知後世果今生作者是果由前因而得之後果也例如種瓜得瓜種豆得豆之意其精微處詳見大藏佛說諸因緣經中及坊間流通之諸因果書中為後人之效法。次論精理十六層。以防冒昧不辨究竟蒙目而前之意承當擔當也之錯路。猶如行人錯走路道也終標十大綱。以統領乎萬德。公自敘行持。由勉強以臻到也自然。首誓誓從折從言有古人對天設誓折矢立盟之意三千善。歷十餘年而始克告竣完全成就也次許三千。只四年而已滿。復許萬善。止三年。而以一事圓之。圓滿足也可見初行似不勝其難。行之既熟。自有得心應手之樂。人亦何憚而不為哉。憚怕難也自孔公算余至世俗之論矣一段。先將立命一結。汝之命。承上文。起下六想。六思。改過。三小段餘波。文雖餘尾。而言則愈緊。意則愈切。六退想。就宿命上教之謙德。此文以謙始。以謙終。而未明提一謙字。故以謙德之效為終篇。上半篇。寫丁馮趙夏四君謙德。讀之如見其人。下半敘畏巖不遜。遇道者改過一段。是一篇小立命。道者宛然一雲谷。畏巖何幸遇之。雲谷攝服也淡然無求自謙之了凡易。道者折挫也又直指人過失以折服也有求自滿之畏巖難。覰得準。打得重。責其心氣不平。文安得工。直探驪珠。見莊子「千金之珠必在九重之淵驪龍頷下」後人喻謂文字之得訣竅者曰探驪得珠使其不得不服既服而請教焉。教之轉變。積善。立命。彷彿雲谷與了凡語。嗚呼。茫茫天下。茫茫闊大也何處得逢宗匠。見袁宏三國名臣序贊「宗匠陶鈞羣才緝熙」以宗匠之陶鑄器具喻教育人才也如雲谷道者兩人乎。即或遇之。亦要受得起這般辣手。庶不負善知識一片菩心也。善知識善說正法善識人心病因病付藥導人為善導人出苦之良師友也菩心即菩薩心等視一切普濟一切之謂敢不勉哉。內思閑己之邪。順接日日知非一段。以起下改過之法。一篇文字。讚歎雲谷。歸結立命本題。故四訓不獨為千古名言。亦千古妙文也。此略言其段落耳。至於言外之旨。旨意也言外之旨言文中含意甚富望讀者善於領會也字中之意。非言可盡。細讀之自會。細精細會了解 > I see the text you've provided is a classical Chinese commentary on Yuan Liaofan's "Four Teachings" (了凡四訓). However, there's no actual instruction for translation specified—just the source text with annotations. Could you confirm if you would like me to translate this entire commentary into English? If so, here is the translation following your requested standards: --- This essay was written in a flash of inspiration,meaning it was completed instantly flowing out like water poured from a vessel.like water pouring out of a bottle Among writings of supreme refinement and excellence, Han Wengong'sHan Yu of the Tang Dynasty "Sacrificial Ode to His Nephew Shi'er Lang"Shi'er Lang's given name is unknown. He was Han Yu's nephew—honest, gentle, pure, and bright. Han Yu regarded him as a worthy heir to the family. When he died, Han Yu composed this elegy, which became the finest piece in the entire genre of funeral orations and was selected for inclusion in the Anthology of Classical Prose. is a prime example. Other writings remain in draft form for years, revised month after month, hammered and refinedhammering red-hot iron into shape is called forging through a hundred temperings, until decades later they finally reach their definitive form. Ouyang Wenzhonggong'sOuyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty "Inscription on the Longgang Grave Path"Long is pronounced shuang. Longgang is located in Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province, at the gravesite of his ancestors. Qian means the grave path. Biao means an inscription honoring ancestral virtue. The narrative comes through his mother's words, describing past virtues with sincere feeling and precise diction—every character bearing blood and tears. It is considered the supreme piece of epitaph writing and was also selected for the Anthology of Classical Prose. is such a case. Mr. Yuan Liaofan, wielding the brush of HanHan Yu and OuOuyang Xiu, possessed the talents of HanHan Qi of the Song Dynasty had military genius. He served successively as Military Commissioner, Pacification Commissioner, and Commander-in-Chief in Shaanxi. Spending years at the front alongside Fan Zhongyan, he earned great renown. Border troops had a saying: "When Han is in the army, the Western bandits' hearts turn cold with fear; when Fan is in the army, the Western bandits' courage shatters." Qi was naturally loyal and simple, with magnificent judgment. He made great decisions, stabilized the state, and acted decisively in times of crisis. His beneficence reached the common people, and his might shook foreign nations. He was enfeoffed as Duke of Wei. His collected works, An Yang Ji, were published. and Fan.Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty was always moved to speak out on matters of state, risking his own safety without hesitation. Scholars of his time were inspired by his example and came to prize integrity. Guarding the frontier for years, his orders were strict and clear, and he treated his soldiers with compassion. The Qiang and Xia peoples both feared and respected him, saying this man had "tens of thousands of armored troops in his belly." Later, as Vice Grand Councilor, he trimmed excess and corruption, enforced rigorous evaluations, and cleansed the political landscape. In person he was inwardly firm yet outwardly gentle. As a young scholar, he took the world's welfare as his own responsibility, often declaring: "Worry before all the world worries; rejoice after all the world rejoices." Throughout his life he delighted in doing good and giving generously, establishing charitable farmland to support his clan. He was posthumously honored as Wenzheng. His collected works, Dan Yang Ji, were published. He distilled the wisdom of his entire life into these Four TeachingsFour teachings for his son: first, the study of establishing destiny; second, the method of reforming faults; third, the way of accumulating goodness; fourth, the power of humility.—the fruit of decades of self-cultivation, with experience that grew fresher day by day,meaning personally practiced and verified further polished through years of painstaking refinement of wording.Forge means to transform and refine; polish means to revise and perfect. Thus his prose is both profound and expansive. His principles are upright yet exquisitely subtle. The chapters on reforming faults and accumulating goodness form the core text. "The Method of Reforming Faults" develops the teaching of avoiding all evil. "The Way of Accumulating Goodness" explains in detail the practice of performing all good deeds. "The Study of Establishing Destiny" is a lesson taught through living examplesimilar to how the Lotus Sutra's Universal Gate chapter says: "To those who can be saved through the body of an elder, he appears as an elder and teaches them; to those who can be saved through the body of a householder, he appears as a householder; to those who can be saved through the body of an official, he appears as an official; to those who can be saved through the body of a great general, he appears as a great general; to those who can be saved through the body of a woman, he appears as a woman; to those who can be saved through the body of a boy or girl, he appears as a boy or girl." In all circumstances, for those with the affinity to be saved, he appears accordingly and teaches. Teaching through personal example is the most expedient method for guiding people according to their capacities.—a grand essay in itself. Only the humble are willing to turn inward and examine themselves.turning the light back and self-examining Only those who examine themselves can confess their own faults.confessing faults means exposing and correcting them Only those who confess their faults can reform without hesitation.without hesitation means with open generosity and honesty Only through reforming faults can one's good deeds become genuine. Only with genuine goodness can one establish one's destiny. Thus the text begins with Yuan following his mother's command to abandon the imperial examinationsexamination writing refers to the test essays for seeking official rank and study medicine.Among the Chinese there was a saying, "First study poetry and history; second study medicine." For this reason, scholars seeking a livelihood often regarded medicine as a shortcut. Then, having come to believe in Master Kong's predictions, he became tranquil and free of worldly desires.Kong was a fortune-teller whose name is lost. Later, hearing the teachings of Chan Master Yungu, he learned to transcend the fixed patterns of fate.The story of Chan Master Yungu appears in full in the biography at the end of this volume; here it is abbreviated. These three stages—this is what Yuan means by saying that humility creates the ground for receiving guidance. Consider a man of outstanding brilliance—a crane standing among chickens—willing to cast aside rank and honor like a worn-out sandal.qīng zǐ means official rank; bì xǐ means a broken straw sandal This shows not only the loftiness of his character but also his filial devotion. Madam Yuan's words to her son echo the passage in the "Longgang Grave Path Inscription": "I cannot teach you; these were your father's aspirations." The wisdom of the matriarch is likewise evident here. Yuan's belief in Master Kong's predictions was not careless.careless means vague and uncertain He required that Kong's predictions be tested—down to the smallest detail, everything proved accurate.meaning even the minutest matters were verified Only then did he believe deeply without doubt and resume his studies. What caution this shows! Master Kong, for his part, would not give an extended forecast until his predictions about Yuan's examination results all proved correct. He used the accuracy of immediate eventsshuǎng means error; bù shuǎng means without a single mistake to strengthen Yuan's long-term faith. What prudence this shows! When Yungu taught Liaofan to reform his faults, he said: "Completely erase and scour away your former patterns. Let past habits die as if dead; from now on, renew yourself each day as if reborn." To Yuan, these words were immediately clear—but how could an ordinary person grasp them?meaning to receive and comprehend in the mind This is why in the chapter on reforming faults, Yuan speaks with such urgent, heartfelt repetition. He presents the three methods of shame, fear, and courage, and explains the three levels of difficulty: matters, principles, and mind. Fearing readers might claim they have no faults to correct, he cites Qu Boyu's example of self-reform to prove that everyone has faults—they simply fail to notice them. When Yungu taught Liaofan to accumulate goodness, he said: "You must connect with the divine through a state free of thought and worry. Do not chase after things or cling to the past.sòng means to send away; yíng means to welcome. Not chasing means not being carried away by external things nor reacting before they arrive—meaning do not anticipate what hasn't happened or dwell on what has passed. Do not harbor covetous hopes.meaning to long for and seek after things" Yuan had already grasped the essence of these few wordszhǐ means profound meaning—yet still he worried that others, without deeply studying principle,qíong means to investigate deeply might believe they were practicing virtuemeaning to uphold without lapse and practice without slackening when in fact they were creating wrongdoing.niè means evil karma Therefore, in the chapter on accumulating goodness, he examines and argues this point in meticulous detail. The chapter divides into three major sections, each containing ten sub-sections. The first section recounts ten historical cases to prove the unfailing law of cause and effect.Yīn means cause or origin. The Transmission of the Lamp says: "If you wish to know the causes of your past life, look at what you receive in this one; if you wish to know the fruits of your future life, look at what you do in this one." The fruit arises from prior causes. This is like planting melons and reaping melons, planting beans and reaping beans. The subtle details are explained in the Buddhist canon's sūtras on causation and in the various books on karma circulated among the public. These serve as models for later generations. The second section discusses sixteen layers of subtle principle to prevent people from rashlymeaning to rush forward blindly without discerning the final outcome taking the wrong path.like a traveler who takes the wrong road The final section presents ten main categories that encompass the ten thousand virtues. Yuan describes his own practice—how he moved from forcing himselfmeaning arriving at a destination to acting with natural spontaneity. His first vowthe character shì combines "to break" with "words," evoking the ancient practice of making vows before heaven and swearing oaths by breaking arrows was three thousand good deeds, which took over ten years to complete.meaning fully accomplished His second vow was also three thousand, and this time it took only four years. His third vow was ten thousand good deeds, achieved in just three years—and completed through a single act.yuán means to fulfill completely From this we see that initial practice may seem overwhelming, but once one becomes familiar with it, there comes a natural joy of mastery. So why should anyone shrink from the effort?dàn means to fear difficulty The passage beginning "From Master Kong's prediction of my fate" through "the ordinary opinions of the world" concludes the section on establishing destiny. Then "Your destiny" carries forward the preceding text and introduces the six reflections on decline and the six reflections on growth, followed by the reform of faults—three concluding passages. Though these are mere afterwaves, the language grows more urgent and the meaning more penetrating. The six reflections on decline teach humility through the lens of destiny. This entire work begins with humility and ends with humility, yet the word "humility" is never explicitly mentioned—which is why the chapter on the power of humility serves as the final piece. The first half of that chapter portrays the humility of four gentlemen—Ding, Feng, Zhao, and Xia—so vividly that readers feel they can see them. The second half narrates the story of Wei Yan, who was arrogant and disrespectful until he met a Daoist master who corrected him—a miniature lesson in establishing destiny. The Daoist master is like another Yungu. How fortunate Wei Yan was to encounter him! Yungu found it easy to guide the naturally humble, self-effacing Liaofan. The Daoist master, however, had the harder task of breaking through the pride of Wei Yan, who was attached to his own desires and full of self-satisfaction. He saw clearly, struck hard, and rebuked the turbulence of Wei Yan's heart, pointing out that such a mind could never produce refined writing. He went straight for the pearl beneath the dragon's chinSee Zhuangzi: "A pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold must lie in the ninefold deep abyss, under the chin of the black dragon." Later, people used "plucking the pearl from the dragon" to describe writing that grasps the essential trick.—forcing Wei Yan to concede. Once convinced, Wei Yan asked for instruction, and the Daoist taught him about transformation, accumulating goodness, and establishing destiny—echoing the words of Yungu to Liaofan. Alas! In this vast, boundless world,máng máng means vast and boundless where can one find such great mastersfrom Yuan Hong's "Preface to the Three Kingdoms Ministers": "Great masters mold talents and enlighten the multitude." The metaphor of a master craftsman molding clay vessels is used to describe the education of capable people. as Yungu and this Daoist? And even if one meets them, one must be able to withstand such fierce handling—only then can one truly appreciate the bodhisattva heart of a good spiritual teacher.A good spiritual teacher is one who skillfully explains the true Dharma, recognizes the root of people's illnesses, prescribes the right medicine for each condition, guides people toward goodness, and leads them out of suffering. A bodhisattva heart means regarding all beings equally and working universally for their salvation. How dare we not strive? "Inwardly, reflect on the evils of your own idle mind" flows directly into the next section, "Daily recognize your faults," which leads to the chapter on reforming errors. This whole essay praises Yungu and brings the narrative back to its central theme of establishing destiny. Thus the Four Teachings are not merely eternal words of wisdom—they are also an eternal work of literary art. What I have described here touches only on the structure. As for the meaning beyond the wordszhǐ means meaning. "Meaning beyond the words" indicates that the text contains rich implications, and readers should be adept at comprehending them. and the significance within each character—these cannot be fully expressed in speech. Read carefully, and you will understand on your own.xì means meticulous; huì means to comprehend