道 Dao Knowledge Base

The Three Answers That Aren't

Knowledge goes north to the Dark Water and asks the three questions of the Way — what thinking, what dwelling, what path — of a being named for not-doing, who does not answer. Then he asks a madman, who knows and forgets mid-sentence. Then he asks the Yellow Emperor, who answers in full — and names himself the furthest from it. The chapter's opening inversion: the one who cannot answer is truly right; the one who answers fluently is, by his own verdict, far.

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The passage

知北遊於玄水之上，登隱弅之丘，而適遭無為謂焉。知謂無為謂曰：“予欲有問乎若：何思何慮則知道？何處何服則安道？何從何道則得道？“三問而無為謂不答也。非不答，不知答也。知不得問，反於白水之南，登狐闋之上，而睹狂屈焉。知以之言也問乎狂屈。狂屈曰：“唉，予知之，將語若。“中欲言而忘其所欲言。知不得問，反於帝宮，見黃帝而問焉。黃帝曰：“無思無慮始知道，無處無服始安道，無從無道始得道。“知問黃帝曰：“我與若知之，彼與彼不知也，其孰是邪？“黃帝曰：“彼無為謂真是也，狂屈似之，我與汝終不近也。夫知者不言，言者不知，故聖人行不言之教。道不可致，德不可至。仁可為也，義可虧也，禮相偽也，故曰：‘失道而後德，失德而後仁，失仁而後義，失義而後禮。禮者，道之華而亂之首也。‘故曰：‘為道者日損，損之又損之，以至於無為，無為而無不為也。‘今已為物也，欲復歸根，不亦難乎！其易也，其唯大人乎！生也死之徒，死也生之始，孰知其紀！人之生，氣之聚也，聚則為生，散則為死。若死生為徒，吾又何患？故萬物一也。是其所美者為神奇，其所惡者為臭腐，臭腐復化為神奇，神奇復化為臭腐。故曰：通天下一氣耳。聖人故貴一。“知謂黃帝曰：“吾問無為謂，無為謂不應我，非不我應，不知應我也。吾問狂屈，狂屈中欲告我而不我告，非不我告，中欲告而忘之也。今予問乎若，若知之，奚故不近？“黃帝曰：“彼其真是也，以其不知也。此其似之也，以其忘之也。予與若，終不近也，以其知之也。“狂屈聞之，以黃帝為知言。

Knowledge went roaming north to the Dark Water, climbed the hill of Hidden Fen, and there happened upon Non-action-called. Knowledge said to Non-action-called: “I would like to ask you something: what thinking, what considering, knows the Way? What dwelling, what serving, rests in the Way? What following, what path, gains the Way?” Three questions, and Non-action-called did not answer. Not refusing to answer — not knowing how to answer. Knowledge, getting no answer, turned back to the south of the White Water, climbed the hill of Fox Perch, and there saw Mad Bend. Knowledge put the same words to Mad Bend. Mad Bend said: “Ah — I know it! Let me tell you.” But midway through what he meant to say, he forgot what he meant to say. Knowledge, getting no answer, turned back to the Emperor’s palace, saw the Yellow Emperor, and asked him. The Yellow Emperor said: “No thinking, no considering — then you know the Way. No dwelling, no serving — then you rest in the Way. No following, no path — then you gain the Way.” Knowledge asked the Yellow Emperor: “You and I know it — they and they do not. Which of us is right?” The Yellow Emperor said: “That Non-action-called is truly right; Mad Bend resembles it; you and I never come close to it. Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know — therefore the sage practices the teaching without words. The Way cannot be delivered, its power cannot be reached. Humanity can be practiced, duty can be eroded, ritual is mutual pretense. Therefore it is said: ‘When the Way was lost, there was its power; when the power was lost, there was humanity; when humanity was lost, there was duty; when duty was lost, there was ritual. Ritual is the flower of the Way and the beginning of disorder.’ Therefore it is said: ‘The one who practices the Way loses daily; losing and losing again, arriving at not-doing — not-doing, yet nothing left undone.’ Now, having become a thing, to want to return to the root — is that not difficult? If there is ease in it, does it not belong to the great person alone? Life is death’s companion; death is life’s beginning. Who knows their law? A person’s life is qi gathered; gathered, it is life; scattered, it is death. If life and death are companions, what do I have to worry about? Therefore all things are one. What they take as fine, they call the marvelous; what they detest, they call the foul. The foul turns back into the marvelous, the marvelous turns back into the foul. Therefore it is said: through heaven and earth it is one qi. Hence the sage prizes the One.” Knowledge said to the Yellow Emperor: “I asked Non-action-called, and it did not respond — not failing to respond, but not knowing how to respond to me. I asked Mad Bend, and he meant to tell me but did not tell me — not failing to tell, but meaning to tell and then forgetting. Now I ask you, and you know it — how is it you are not close?” The Yellow Emperor said: “That one is truly right because he does not know. This one resembles it because he forgets. You and I never come close, because we know.” Mad Bend heard of it and held the Yellow Emperor to have spoken well.

Why this passage matters

Its paired episode in the same chapter is Taiqing Asks the Infinite.

Sources