--- title: "了凡四訓 · 重刻跋" 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/cmcy56sj900cwl404fq2mx9f4" --- ### 重刻了凡四訓跋 > Postscript to the Reprint of Liaofan's Four Lessons 袁了凡先生誡子文四篇。乃奉行感應篇功過格之骨髓。其首曰立命之學。蓋數雖前定。命可轉移。勉人奮發。毋甘暴棄。不受善言曰自暴不能有為曰自棄故首之以立命。先開其端緒。凡人之不肯遷善回心向善者皆自以為無過也。夫不止惡而行善。如注水於漏器。但見其損。不見其增。遂以為無效者。乃自誤也。故先曰諸惡莫作。次曰眾善奉行。若諸惡仍作。眾善奉行。則剛剛扯直。若諸惡仍作。數善略行。則自然見禍不見福矣。故其二曰改過之法。夫改過乃立命之下手第一著工夫也。世人未嘗無起信行善者。而往往局拘也於常見。不合古人者多。故其三曰積善之方。積善一篇。論行善有真假端曲陰陽是非偏正半滿大小難易之辨。可謂推闡盡致矣。闡昌善切層層開示更無剩義故積善篇乃立命之正軌也。猶言必由之路也夫初學行善。如貧子驟穿華服。不免有驕矜之意。驕自滿意矜誇張意貢高我慢。裾傲無禮薄視一切。錙銖天下。錙銖輕微也六銖曰錙合二十四銖成一兩錙銖天下猶言目空一世也滿招損。謙受益。故終之以謙德之效。夫謙虛則為善惟日不足。故謙德篇乃立命之克保有終也。文雖四大段。其實一篇也。從前善本如慈谿縣名屬浙江甯波府葉思敬之省心集。東魯山東三槐堂王氏重刊陰騭文注證。卷末附梓文。皆全刊四訓。逮及也後坊書坊刻善書。不達不明白也立言本旨。本意也專刻立命一篇。又復刪節其原文。貽傳也誤後學。非淺鮮少也也。公此文如精金美玉。為明代鉅文。非僅泛常通常勸世文可比。茲敬重錄付梓。附錄俞淨意公遇竈神記。因是篇攻治意惡。抉出世人通病處。詳四訓之所未詳。同為有功於人心世道曠古希有之至文。故是篇緊接四訓之後。次附彭二林先生所撰之了凡居士傳。又次附憨山大師所撰之雲谷禪師傳。並加以不厭求詳之注釋。更於一切警策處。綴以圈點。為海內外閱者作快讀之一助焉。尤惜陰謹撰 > Mr. Yuan Liaofan's Four Essays Admonishing His Son are the very marrow of practicing the Tract of Response and Retribution and the Ledger of Merits and Demerits. The first essay is titled "The Study of Establishing Destiny." Though fate is predetermined, destiny can be changed—this encourages people to strive and not resign themselves to ruin. To reject good advice is called self-ruin; to be incapable of effort is called self-abandonment. Therefore it begins with establishing destiny, first opening the way. People who refuse to turn toward goodness to change one's heart and turn toward goodness all believe they have no faults. To fail to stop evil while doing good is like pouring water into a leaky vessel—one sees only the loss, never the increase, and so concludes it is useless. This is self-deception. Therefore it first says, "Do no evil," and next says, "Practice all that is good." If one still commits evil while practicing all good, the two exactly cancel each other out. If one still commits evil and only occasionally does some good, then naturally one sees disaster but not blessing. Therefore the second essay is "The Method of Correcting Faults." Correcting faults is the very first practical step in establishing destiny. People in the world are not without those who awaken faith and do good, yet they are often bound constrained by conventional views and frequently fail to match the ancients. Therefore the third essay is "The Method of Accumulating Good." The essay on accumulating good discusses how doing good has distinctions of true and false, upright and crooked, hidden and manifest, right and wrong, partial and complete, half and full, great and small, difficult and easy—it may be said to expound this exhaustively. expound: to lay open layer by layer with nothing left unstated Thus the essay on accumulating good is the proper path of establishing destiny. that is, the road one must travel When beginners first do good, it is like a poor man suddenly wearing fine clothes—they cannot avoid feelings of arrogance and pride, arrogance: self-satisfaction; pride: showing off haughtiness and conceit, rude and disrespectful looking down on everything, and treating the whole world as trifling. trifling: slight and insignificant; six zhu make one zi, and twenty-four zhu make one liang—"trifling the world" means to look down on all with empty eyes Fullness invites loss; humility receives benefit. Therefore it ends with "The Efficacy of Humble Virtue." When one is humble, in doing good one feels only that each day is not enough. Thus the essay on humble virtue is what enables establishing destiny to be preserved and sustained to the end. Though the text has four great sections, it is in fact one single essay. Former good editions, such as the省心集 (Collection of Introspection) by Ye Sijing of Cixi a county name, belonging to Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang, and the重刊陰騭文注證 (Reprinted Annotated Evidence of the Tract on Hidden Virtue) by the Sanhuai Hall the Wang family of Donglu Shandong, with supplementary texts appended at the end of the volume, all published the Four Lessons in full. But later bookshops publishing houses, in printing moral books, did not understand did not comprehend the original intent of the author's words original meaning, and printed only the single essay "Establishing Destiny," and moreover abridged its original text, leading later students astray. This is no small matter small; slight. Mr. Yuan's text is like fine gold and beautiful jade, a great work of the Ming dynasty, not to be compared with ordinary common moral exhortations. I now respectfully reprint it for publication. Appended is "Record of Mr. Yu Jingyi Meeting the Stove God," because this piece attacks and cures evil in the mind, exposing the common failings of people in the world, and explains in detail what the Four Lessons did not. Together they are rare and supreme writings beneficial to people's hearts and to society. Therefore this piece follows immediately after the Four Lessons. Next is appended "Biography of Layman Liaofan" by Mr. Peng Erlin. Next is appended "Biography of Chan Master Yungu" by Master Hanshan. Detailed annotations are also added, and at every point of warning and encouragement, dots and circles are marked, as an aid to readers at home and abroad for enjoyable reading. Respectfully written by You Xiyin.