Huangdi Yinfu Jing Zhu — 黃帝陰符經註, attributed to Zhang Guo

This is a commentary on the Huangdi Yinfu Jing 黃帝陰符經 (the Yellow Emperor's Classic of the Hidden Accordance, also rendered "Scripture on the Hidden Talisman"), attributed in its preface to a certain "minister" Zhang Guo — likely, by tradition, the Tang-dynasty figure later canonized as the immortal Zhang Guolao, though the attachment of his name to this commentary cannot be treated as certain. The base scripture itself is one of the most compressed and contested texts in the Daoist Canon, traditionally ascribed to the Yellow Emperor but almost certainly composed centuries later; it survives in more than one recension, and this commentary preserves what is sometimes called the "Zhang Guo version," running to roughly four hundred characters of scripture with commentary woven directly beneath each line.

The commentary has three moving parts, and this translation keeps them visible as the source presents them: the base scripture's own sentences, standing alone as short unbracketed lines; the commentator's interlinear notes, marked in the source by 〔 〕 brackets and rendered here as indented commentary; and, quoted within those notes, the voice of an older exegetical tradition the commentator calls simply "the Chuan" (傳, "the Tradition" or "the Transmission") — apparently an existing commentary the author found in a Daoist scripture repository and copied in rather than composed himself, as the preface explains. Much of the commentary's energy goes toward correcting one Li Quan 李筌, a rival Tang commentator on the same scripture, whom the author repeatedly accuses of reading the text's military and cosmological language too literally — turning "the five thieves" into the five flavors, "stealing" into the exploits of eagles and mongooses, and the sage's authority over life and death into vulgar claims of hoarded women's vitality. The preface itself is written in the first person plural of a courtier addressing a ruler ("臣," "your servant"), suggesting the commentary was compiled and submitted as a work of scholarship rather than composed as private meditation notes.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, printed in full below the translation. The base scripture that this commentary quotes and explains has itself been translated into English more than once before (see the colophon for named prior translations); to our knowledge, however, the commentary text presented here — Zhang Guo's preface and interlinear notes, together with the quoted "Chuan" tradition and the polemic against Li Quan — has no prior complete published English translation, and this rendering was made independently, without reference to any of them.

Translation

Commentary on the Yellow Emperor's Classic of the Hidden Accordance, with Preface

The Hidden Accordance has existed since the Yellow Emperor — it is the mechanism by which the sage embodies Heaven and puts the Way to use. The scripture says: whoever grasps the pivot changes ten thousand times and only grows more abundant, until he becomes king; whoever loses the pivot changes ten thousand times and only grows more diminished, until he is destroyed. Afterward Yi Yin and Lü Wang grasped a fragment of it, and it was still enough to rescue the living — how much more so for a sage? Its text is spare; its meaning is dark. Several earlier sages have left commentaries on it, each hiding some things and revealing others, so that later students find it hard to master; though each commentary has something to recommend it, approaching the text without one is like climbing to Heaven with no stairs.

In recent times, Li Quan falsely invoked shamans and spirit-mediums and recklessly composed a commentary of his own, merely mixing in worldly affairs and thoroughly muddying the source. Without shame at his narrow view — peering at the sky through a tube — he presumed to offer his opinion of the ocean's depth, letting small-minded people steal a glance and imagine they had grasped the workings of Heaven. How sad. Your servant, though foolish and ignorant, always felt this was not so — one who hears the Way in the morning may die content in the evening. By chance, in a repository of Daoist scriptures, I came upon a Transmission on the Hidden Accordance (陰符傳), not knowing from what age its author came; its diction and reasoning are dark and far-reaching, as though it fit with the natural pattern of things itself. I have therefore arranged it and attached it as commentary, in the hope that gentlemen to come will not lose the scripture's true intent.

The Text Proper

Commentary on the Yellow Emperor's Classic of the Hidden Accordance, by Master Zhang Guo

Observe the way of Heaven, hold to the working of Heaven — that is all there is to it.

To observe the way of the natural — there is nothing there to observe. One does not observe it with the eye but observes it with the mind. The mind is deep and subtle and has nothing it sees; so it can illumine the nature of the natural. Only what is deep and subtle can illumine — this is what is meant by yin, "hidden." To hold to the working of the natural — there is nothing there to hold. One does not hold it with the hand but holds it with the pivot (機). The pivot moves and passes through and has nothing that binds it; so it can accord with the pattern of the natural — this is what is meant by fu, "accordance." Illumine it with the mind, accord with it through the pivot — and the meaning of "Hidden Accordance" is exhausted. Li Quan takes yin to mean "dark" and fu to mean "to unite," and places this reading at the very head of the text — how deep his confusion runs.

So Heaven has five thieves; whoever perceives them flourishes.

The five thieves are fate, matter, season, achievement, and spirit. The Chuan says: the sage's pattern of order is drawn on a grand scale and does not attend to the small; his body is whole and unblemished, yet he does not conceal his own flaws. So when dwelling among the level and easy he guides with the Way, spreading virtue to transform others; when treading the dangerous and steep he uses expedient means, releasing the pivot to rescue them. His task lies in correcting Heaven and Earth; his plan lies in helping human relations along. And so with great righteousness he removes the world's harms, with great benevolence he raises the world's benefits, with utmost uprightness he sets right the world's wrongs, with utmost impartiality he levels the world's private interests. So the schemes that run counter to settled principle yet accord with the Way have five names; the sage practices them in secret, and so they are called "thieving" — yet the world relies on them, and so they are called virtue. So he thieves Heaven's mandate: people know it as Heaven's doing and do not know it as thieving — this is how the Yellow Emperor replaced the Fiery Emperor. He thieves Heaven's substance: people know it as Heaven's doing and do not know it as thieving — this is how Yao replaced Zhi. He thieves Heaven's season: people know it as Heaven's doing and do not know it as thieving — this is how Shun replaced Yao. He thieves Heaven's achievement: people know it as Heaven's doing and do not know it as thieving — this is how great Yu replaced Shun. He thieves Heaven's spirit: people know it as Heaven's doing and do not know it as thieving — this is how Tang of Yin overturned the mandate of Xia. So "whoever perceives them flourishes" — he flourishes of himself, naturally. Lord Tai took "thieving fate" to refer to its function, savoring the text to draw out its analogy. Li Quan, failing to grasp this, took it to mean the Yellow Emperor stealing a young woman's life-span in order to ascend to Heaven in broad daylight — this is wrong.

The five thieves are in the mind; their working extends to Heaven. The universe is in the hand; the ten thousand transformations are born from the body.

The Chuan says: he establishes virtue and makes clear the pivot's working, releasing it from within and showing it without — how could this refer to raising troops and stirring up banditry and disorder? Seeing the pivot and holding to it — though the universe is vast, it does not leave the palm of his hand, how much less what is smaller than it. Knowing the spirit and embodying it — though the ten thousand things are many, they cannot escape his breast, how much less what is fewer than they. The power of nature's own creation and transformation, and I possess it — is this not abundant? Is this not great? Li Quan and others take the five thieves to be the five flavors, saying that following them one may become an immortal and never die — this slanders the Way to an extreme degree.

Heaven's nature is in humankind; the human mind is the pivot. Establishing the way of Heaven is how one settles humankind.

The Chuan says: this means that what Heaven's nature makes the pivot, the human mind receives; human nature is of itself darkly united with it — so the sage alone can embody the five thieves.

When Heaven releases its killing pivot, dragons and serpents rise from their burrows. When man releases his killing pivot, Heaven and Earth turn upside down.

The Chuan says: when Heaven's pivot is drawn taut, nothing is born; when Heaven's pivot is slackened, nothing dies. Heaven has its slackening and its drawing taut; its working has its withholding and its bestowing. When drawn taut, the killing power moves; when slackened, the killing power fades — this is the resting of Heaven's killing pivot. Yet Heaven takes vital breath (炁) as its authority, and man takes virtue as his pivot. In autumn and winter the yin breath grows stern and hard — this is Heaven drawing taut its killing pivot, and so dragons and serpents, in fear, lie hidden and still; when winter departs and spring comes, yin withdraws and yang grows — this is Heaven slackening its killing pivot, and so dragons and serpents rejoice and stir into motion. Heaven too has its cold and its warmth; virtue too has its cold and its warmth; man too has his cold and his warmth. When virtue and punishment are together strict, this is the ruler drawing taut his killing pivot, and so his subjects, in fear, submit; when virtue is lost and punishment grows lopsided, this is the ruler slackening his killing pivot, and so cunning and heroic men rejoice and run free. Rank has its high and its low, as man has his Heaven and his Earth. So it is said: when Heaven releases its killing pivot, dragons and serpents rise from their burrows — this is how banditry and disorder arise; when man releases his killing pivot, Heaven and Earth turn upside down — this is how high and low likewise are overturned. Lord Tai and Zhuge Liang and others took this to mean that when killing exceeds ten thousand men, a great wind rises violently and day turns dark as night, and called this "Heaven and Earth turning upside down" — their error runs deep.

When Heaven and man release their pivots together, the ten thousand transformations find their settled foundation.

The Chuan says: Heaven moves the pivot of fortune and calamity above; the ruler moves the pivot of benefit and harm below. So one who has virtue, changing ten thousand times, only grows more abundant, until he becomes king; one without virtue, transforming ten thousand times, only grows more diminished, until he is destroyed. "The ten thousand transformations find their settled foundation" — this settling happens of itself, naturally.

Nature has its skill and its clumsiness; these can be hidden away.

The Chuan says: the sage's nature is skilled in its use — dwelling in poverty or moving through danger, he schemes with the Way to bring relief; facing strength or confronting brilliance, he practices righteousness in order to withdraw. In governing a state one must act this way; in leading an army, likewise.

The evil of the nine openings lies in the three essentials; through them one can move or be still.

The Chuan says: the function of the nine openings has the three essentials as its pivot. The three essentials are the pivot itself, the passions, and the nature. Governed by the pivot, nothing is unsettled; governed by the passions, nothing is not askew; governed by the nature, nothing is not upright. So the sage moves in order to subdue his passions, stills himself in order to keep constant his nature, and takes joy in order to settle his pivot; the small-minded man does the opposite. Hence the text below says: Lord Tai took the three essentials to be ear, eye, and mouth; Li Quan took them to be mind, spirit, and breath — both have forgotten the pivot, and both have lost the true meaning of the Hidden Accordance.

Fire is born from wood; once calamity breaks out it must consume its source. Treachery is born within the state; once its season arrives it must bring collapse. To know this and to cultivate accordingly — that is called being a sage.

The Chuan says: wood's nature is still; once stirred it gives birth to fire, and unknowingly the fire grows fierce and burns up its own substance. Likewise, human nature is still; once stirred it gives birth to treachery, and unknowingly the treachery is completed and throws the state into disorder. The clear-sighted see another's opening and set their pivot by it; the wise know another's weakness and plan their advantage by it — and so, to the eyes of the world, others are foolish and I alone am sage. This is what is meant by: the living, thinking they have grasped their own life; the dying, thinking they have grasped their own death — neither has grasped the pattern of attaining the Way.

Heaven gives life, Heaven brings death — this is the pattern of the Way. Heaven and Earth are the thieves of the ten thousand things; the ten thousand things are the thieves of man; man is the thief of the ten thousand things. When the three thieves are each in their proper place, the three powers are each at peace.

The Chuan says: Heaven and Earth transform the ten thousand things by means of the breath of yin and yang, and the ten thousand things do not know they are being thieved from; the ten thousand things nourish man with flavors fair and foul, and man does not know he is being thieved from; man governs the ten thousand things by schemes of benefit and harm, and the ten thousand things do not know they are being thieved from. The three thefts are darkly united within the human mind; the three powers move in accord with the pattern of Heaven. If there is a proper season, then one may eat all one's life through; if none of this is neglected in season, then action succeeds in its many labors and eating is never troubled; but if the season is not obtained, action does not find its pivot, and one comes near to ruin.

So it is said: eat according to the season, and the hundred bones are governed; move according to the pivot, and the ten thousand transformations are at peace. People know it as spirit-working and call it spirit, but do not know that it is precisely its not being spirit that makes it spirit.

The Chuan says: people of the age do not know that thieving is thieving; they say only that it is spirit working as spirit. Guiguzi said: when neither side is aware of the other, that is called spirit-working — for the achievement of the subtle lies precisely in this. Li Quan, not understanding that this passage's meaning runs through all three numinous realms, instead uses the sage and the fool as his illustration — how great his error.

Sun and moon have their fixed numbers; the great and the small have their settled measure. From these the sagely achievement is born, and spirit-brightness comes forth.

The Chuan says: sun and moon have their standard — this is their calculated motion. The great and the small have their settled measure — this is lord and minister. Observe Heaven's seasons, examine human affairs, hold to the pivot of man — done this way, the sage attains achievement thereby, and the spirit attains brightness thereby; the mind rightly matches with principle, and settling comes as its own good. Li Quan takes the calculated degrees to be sun and moon, and the remaining fractions to be the great and the small, and says that vital breath and spirit are able to give birth to sagely achievement and spirit-brightness — his error runs very deep.

Its thieving pivot — under Heaven none can see it, none can know it. The noble man who attains it makes firm his own person; the small man who attains it makes light of his own life.

The Chuan says: its thieving is subtle in its working, yet what it accomplishes is entirely manifest, and what it does is utterly mysterious. The noble man uses it: when he succeeds he brings the whole world along with him — Lord Tai was such a man; when he is thwarted he keeps himself alone in goodness — the Master was such a man. Is this not the ability to weigh gain with discernment? The small man uses it, and so loses his own person — is this not what is meant by the Grand Vizier Zhong? Gaining profit and losing righteousness — is this not what is meant by Li Si? Is this not, in each case, a failure of sincere devotion to the Way?

The blind hear well; the deaf see well. Cut off the one source of benefit, and one's skill increases tenfold; turn it over three times by day and by night, and one's skill increases ten-thousandfold.

The Chuan says: the blind are skilled at hearing because they forget color and attend closely to sound, and so achieve their hearing; the deaf are skilled at seeing because they set aside the ear and give themselves wholly to the eye, and so achieve their clarity. So one can accomplish the work of ten men's worth: within a single day, doing it three times over, is how the work is brought to completion; within a single night, resting three times, is how it is made refined. In this way one can employ the strength of ten thousand people. Li Quan, not knowing that "the multitude" is meant here, mistook it for a body of troops — his error.

The mind is born from things, and dies by things; the pivot lies in the eye.

The Chuan says: the mind holds the sentiment of love and hate; things hold the working of good and ill. The eye looks and examines what is outside; the mind responds and weighs what is within. If it is good, one follows it and acts; if not, one reaches understanding and stops — this is how one observes the good and checks the ill. Li Quan took Xiang Yu's eye as the pivot and said "the mind is born from things," and took Fu Jian's seeing the pivot and said "the mind dies by things" — he entirely fails to grasp the working of good and ill here.

Heaven is without kindness, yet the greatest kindness is born from it. Sudden thunder and violent wind — nothing does not stir before them.

The Chuan says: Heaven manifests its ill omens through inauspicious signs, so that people may take warning and cultivate their virtue by them. It uses sudden thunder and violent wind to move people's fear, so that governance without apparent kindness gives rise to the greatest kindness — this is what is meant. Li Quan takes Heaven and Earth's not being benevolent as the greatest kindness, and takes the ten thousand things' returning to Heaven as "stirring" — this runs entirely counter to the true intent of the Hidden Accordance.

The utmost joy leaves nature with surplus; the utmost stillness leaves nature incorrupt.

The Chuan says: what has not yet stirred is called the mean; holding to the mean is called the constant. Distinguish joy and attain its true intent, and one's nature will have surplus. Rest in the constant is called self-sufficiency; then one stills one's intent, and incorruptness is forever sufficient. Li Quan takes extravagance as the nature of joy and incorruptness as stillness — this diverges entirely from the meaning of the utmost Way.

Heaven's utmost privacy is put to utterly public use.

The Chuan says: the pattern of the natural is subtle and cannot be known — this is the utmost of privacy; the working of the natural is manifest and cannot be defied — this is the utmost of public use. The sage's body embodies this, and it is the same for him. Li Quan quotes Sunzi, saying: "regard the soldiers as one's beloved sons, and one may die together with them" — what has this to do with it?

To seize hold of it, the mastery lies in the vital breath.

The Chuan says: to seize a thing, one uses vital breath; to master it, one uses the pivot — how could this be a matter of great or small talent? Lord Tai said: how could greatness or smallness govern mutual mastery? Li Quan, not understanding the meaning of "seize," mistakes it for catching wild beasts, and in his commentary quotes such things as the black tortoise devouring the python and the yellow-waisted creature swallowing the tiger — how sad, to be so mistaken.

The living is the root of the dying; the dying is the root of the living. Kindness is born of harm; harm is born of kindness.

What one lives by, man loves and cherishes deeply; when it exceeds what the body can bear, the Way is lost and death arrives of itself. What one dies by, man despises; when its workings become utterly clear, the Way remains and life is thereby secured for oneself. What good fortune and order reach is called kindness; what calamity and disorder reach is called harm. To diminish oneself becomes a benefit to other things — this is how harm gives birth to kindness. Li Quan cites Sunzi's use of troops as an illustration of life and death, and Ding Gong and Guan Zhong as illustrations of kindness and harm — how strange a reading.

The foolish man takes Heaven and Earth's patterned principle as sagely wisdom; I take the patterned principle of the season and of things as understanding. Others take ignorance as the mark of a fool; I take not being foolish as the mark of sagehood. Others expect sagehood of one who meets their expectation; I do not expect sagehood at all.

The Chuan says: observing Heaven's motion through the four seasons, examining Earth's transformation of the ten thousand things — knowing everything and yet veiling it with an appearance of not-knowing — this speaks of nourishing a small kindness toward others as a way of nourishing oneself in obscurity. To know the working of the four seasons and to know how the ten thousand things are born — these are simply natural. So the sage, in regard to himself, dwells in the mean — this is what is meant by "life and death lie with me alone." When men perish, it is as though they drown themselves by wading into water or burn themselves by throwing themselves into fire — they bring their own ruin upon themselves. To govern a state by the Way lies simply in reducing its affairs; to govern an army by expedient means lies simply in reducing its soldiers. Where there is no killing pivot, there is no death — what can the ghosts and spirits do to me then? Where Heaven gives no pivot for life, there is no life — what can Heaven and Earth do to me then? The sage cultivates his person in order to bring peace to his household, and governs the state in order to bring level peace to the world; and this lies in establishing the pivot of life so as to remove from oneself the nature that leads to death — this is the pivot of life; and in removing the pivot of death so as to draw out for oneself the sentiment that leads to life — this is the pivot of death. Li Quan does not understand the way of Heaven, and takes the foolish man's case to test the way of Heaven by a benighted man's experience — his error runs very deep indeed.

So it is said: sinking into water and throwing oneself into fire — one brings ruin upon oneself.

The commentary on this is found above.

The Way of what is natural is still; and so Heaven and Earth and the ten thousand things are born.

The Chuan says: the Way of what is natural acts without acting, and yet nothing is left undone; in motion and in stillness alike it attains its own nature — this is stillness at its utmost. Being still, it can establish Heaven and Earth and give birth to the ten thousand things, of itself, naturally. Yi Yin said: at the utmost of stillness, one does not know by what means things are born.

The way of Heaven and Earth steeps things gradually, and so yin and yang prevail in turn.

The Chuan says: "steeps" means "subtle." The way of Heaven and Earth has substance that is manifest but function that is subtle; its changes and transformations never fail to return to what is upright, through this subtle steeping — and so it is able to divide yin from yang and complete the utmost accord of the four seasons.

Yin and yang press against each other in turn, and change and transformation follow in due order.

The Chuan says: the sage's changes and transformations follow the pivot of yin and yang; Heaven and Earth's positions are what they naturally are — so he follows the natural and grows dark with it, benefits from the natural and puts it to use, and in every case attains the way of the natural.

For this reason the sage knows that the Way of what is natural cannot be defied, and so, following it, governs by it.

The commentary on this is found above.

The Way of utmost stillness — the pitch-pipes and the calendar cannot capture it.

The Chuan says: the Way at its utmost stillness — the pitch-pipes and the calendar, following it, order themselves by it, yet cannot fully match its center; this is what is meant by "where birds and beasts dwell."

And so there is a wondrous instrument, from which the ten thousand images are born. The eight trigrams and the sexagenary cycle: the pivot of spirit lies hidden within.

The Chuan says: the transformations and distinctions of the eight trigrams arise from this. Above, they become the ten thousand images; below, they become the ten thousand pivots. Using the eight trigrams, one embodies Heaven; using the nine categories, one takes Earth as one's model; drawing on the workings of vital breath, threading it through with the sexagenary cycle, reaching it through the spirit's pivot, sealing it with mysterious concealment — the wondrous strangeness surges forth of itself, naturally.

The art of yin and yang's mutual overcoming — brilliant indeed, it advances into image.

The Chuan says: the art of yin and yang's mutual overcoming is level and subtle, and does not depart from its root; its brightness can be made bright, and so it can advance into the shining image of its essence.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Daoist shelf of the Good Works Library and was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The source alternates between short unbracketed lines of the base scripture and bracketed 〔 〕 interlinear commentary; the translation keeps that alternation visible by setting the scripture lines as plain paragraphs and the commentary as indented block quotations, matching the structure of the source rather than imposing headings the text does not have. The preface (序) and the opening framing sentence ("正文" / "The Text Proper") are kept as the source presents them.

Before the claim above was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. The two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western translation (Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud update) were grepped for the Chinese title, its pinyin, and the commentator's name; two web searches were then run on the Chinese title and on "Zhang Guo commentary Yinfu jing English translation." The base scripture, Huangdi Yinfu Jing 黃帝陰符經 (DZ 31 in its independent form), has several named prior English translations — M. P. Philastre (1880), Frederick Balfour (1881), James Legge (1891), Franz Huebotter (1936), and Christopher Rand (1979) — none of which were consulted in preparing this translation. Other commentaries on the same scripture have also been translated, most notably Liu Yiming's eighteenth-century commentary by Thomas Cleary (1991); that is a different, later commentary attributed to a different author and was likewise not consulted. To our knowledge, no published English translation exists of this specific commentary — attributed to Zhang Guo, incorporating a quoted "Chuan" tradition and a running polemic against Li Quan — as a complete text; the searches available to us found the base scripture translated repeatedly but did not surface an existing translation of this commentary layer. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty, and record it here as a partial case: the underlying scripture is not new to English readers, but the commentary text presented complete here, to our knowledge, is.

A note on terms. 賊 (zéi), "thief" or "to thieve," is kept as "thief"/"thieving" throughout rather than softened to "borrow" or "draw upon," since the text's own argument turns on the paradox of theft that is also virtue. 機 (jī), rendered "pivot" following the house glossary's treatment of related terms such as 殺機 ("killing pivot"), covers a cluster of senses — trigger, mechanism, opportune moment, the hinge on which change turns — and no single English word carries all of them; "pivot" was chosen for consistency across the file. 傳 (chuán), the quoted source the commentator draws on, is left untranslated as "the Chuan" ("the Tradition" or "the Transmission") on first mention and thereafter, since its precise identity and title are unknown to the commentator himself. Two names appear that could not be confirmed against a standard reference within the scope of this translation — "the Grand Vizier Zhong" (大夫種, likely Wen Zhong of Yue) and "Ding Gong" (丁公, a minor Han-era figure) — and are rendered as literally as the text allows.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

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Source Text: 黃帝陰符經註(張果)

Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. 〔 〕 marks small-type interlinear notes as formatted in the transcription.

黃帝陰符經註並序

《陰符》自黃帝有之，蓋聖人體天用道之機也。經曰：得機者萬變而愈盛，以至於王；失機者萬變而愈衰，以至於亡。厥後伊呂得其末分，猶足以拯生靈，况聖人乎？其文簡，其義玄。凡有先聖數家註解，互相隱顯，後學難精，雖有所主者，若登天无階耳。近代李筌假託妖巫，妄為註述，徒叅人事，殊紊至源，不慚窺管之微，輒呈酌海之見。使小人竊窺，自謂得天機也。悲哉。臣固愚昧，嘗謂不然，朝願聞道，夕死無悔。偶於道經藏中得《陰符傳》，不知何代人製，詞理玄邈，如契自然，臣遂編之附而入註，冀將來之君子不失道旨矣。

正文

黃帝陰符經註

張果先生註

觀天之道，執天之行，盡矣。

〔觀自然之道，无所觀也。不觀之以目而觀之以心，心深微而无所見，故能照自然之性，唯深微而能照，其斯之謂陰。執自然之行，無所執也，不執之以手而執之以機，機變通而无所繫，故能契自然之理，其斯之謂符。照之以心，契之以機，而陰符之義盡矣。李筌以陰為暗，以符為合，以此文為序首，何昧之至也？〕

故天有五賊，見之者昌。

〔五賊者，命、物、時、功、神也。《傳》曰：聖人之理，圖大而不顧其細，體瑜而不掩其瑕。故居夷則導道，布德以化之；履險則用權，發機以拯之。務在匡天地，謀在濟人倫。於是用大義除天下之害，用大仁興天下之利，用至正措天下之枉，用至公平天下之私。故反經合道之謀，其名有五，聖人禪之，乃謂之賊；天下賴之，則謂之德。故賊天之命，人知其天而不知其賊，黃帝所以代炎帝也；賊天之物，人知其天而不知其賊，帝堯所以代帝摯也；賊天之時，人知其天而不知其賊，帝舜所以代帝堯也；賊天之功，人知其天而不知其賊，大禹所峽代帝舜也；賊天之神，人知其天而不知其賊，殷湯所以革夏命也。故見之者昌，自然而昌也。太公以賊命為用，味以取其喻也。李筌不悟，以黃帝賊少女之命，白日上騰為非也。〕

五賊在乎心，施行乎天。宇宙在乎手，萬化生乎身。

〔《傳》曰：其立德明機用妙，發之於內，見之於外而已，豈稱兵革以作寇亂哉？見其機而執之，雖宇宙之大不離乎掌領，況其小者乎？知其神而體之，雖萬物之眾不能出其胸臆，況其寡者乎？自然造化之力，而我有之，不亦盛乎？不亦大乎？李筌等以五賊為五味，順之則可以神仙不死，誣道之甚也。〕

天性，人也。人心，機也。立天之道，以定人也。

〔《傳》曰：人謂天性機為人心，人性本自玄合，故聖人能體五賊也。〕

天發殺機，龍蛇起陸。人發殺機，天地反覆。

〔《傳》曰：天機張而不生，天機弛而不死。天有弛張，用有否臧，張則殺威行，弛則殺威亡，天殺之機息。然天以炁為威，人以德為機。秋冬陰炁嚴凝，天之張殺機也，故龍蛇畏而墊伏；冬謝春來，陰退陽長，天之弛殺也，故龍蛇悅而振起。天亦有寒暄。德亦有寒暄，人亦有寒暄。德刑總肅，君之張殺機也，故臣下畏而服從；德失刑偏，君之弛殺機也，故姦雄悅而馳騁。位有尊卑，如人有天地。故曰；天發殺機，龍蛇起陸，寇亂所由作；人發殺機，天地反覆，尊卑猶是革。太公、諸葛亮等以殺人過萬，大風暴起，晝若暝，以為天地反覆，其失甚矣。〕

天人合發，萬變定基。

〔《傳》曰：天以禍福之機運於上，君以利害之機動於下，故有德者萬變而愈盛，以至於王；无德者萬化而愈衰，以至於亡。萬變定基，自然而定。〕

性有巧拙，可以伏藏。

〔《傳》曰：聖人之性巧於用，居窮行險則謀道以濟之，對強與明則行義以退避之。理國必以是，行師亦以是。〕

九竅之邪，在乎三要，可以動靜。

〔《傳》曰：九竅之用，三要為機。三要者，機、情、性也。機之則无不安，情之則无不邪，性之則无不正。故聖人動以伏其情，靜以常其性，樂以定其機；小人則反此。故下文云：太公以三要為耳、目、口；李筌為心、神、息，皆忘機也，俱失《陰符》之正意。〕

火生於木，禍發必尅。姦生於國，時動必潰。知之修鍊，謂之聖人。

〔《傳》曰：夫木情靜，動而生火，不覺火盛而焚其質。由人之性靜，動而生姦，不覺姦成而亂其國。夫明者見彼之隙以設其機，智者知彼之病以圖其利，則天下之人彼愚而我聖。是謂生者自謂得其生，死者自謂得其死，无不謂得道之理也。〕

天生天殺，道之理也。天地，萬物之盜；萬物，人之盜；人，萬物之盜。三盜既宜，三才既安。

〔《傳》曰：天地以陰陽之炁化萬物，萬物不知其盜；萬物以美惡之味饗人，人不知其盜；人以利害之謀制萬物，萬物不知其盜。三盜玄合於人心，三才順動於天理。有若時，然後食終身；无不愈時，然後動庶績，无不安食；不得其時，動不得其機，殆至滅亡。〕

故曰：食其時，百骸治。動其機，萬化安。人知其神而神，不知其不神所以神也。

〔《傳》曰：時人不知盜之為盜，只謂神之能神。鬼谷子曰：彼此不覺之謂神，蓋用微之功著矣。李筌不知此文意通三靈，別以聖人愚人為喻，何甚失也？〕

日月有數，大小有定。聖功生焉，神明出焉。

〔《傳》曰：日月有准，運數也。大小有定，君臣也。觀天之時，察人之事，執人之。機，如是則聖得以功，神得以明，心宜理合，安之善也。筌以度數為日月，以餘分為大小，以神炁能生聖功神明，錯謬之甚也。〕

其盜機也，天下莫能見，莫能知也。君子得之固躬，小人得之輕命。

〔《傳》曰：其盜微而動，所施甚明愽，所行極玄妙。君子用之，達則兼濟天下，太公其人也；窮則獨善其一身，夫子其人也，豈非擇利之能審？小人用之，則失其身，大夫種之謂歟？得利而亡義，李斯之謂歟？豈非信道之不篤焉？〕

瞽者善聽，聾者善視，絕利一源，用師十倍；三返晝夜，用師萬倍。

〔《傳》曰：瞽者善於聽，忘色審聲，所以致其聽；聾者善於視，遺耳專目，所以致其明。故能十眾之功，一晝之中三而行之，所以至也；一夜之中三而息之，所以精也。故能用萬眾之人。荃不知師是眾，以為兵師，誤也。〕

心生於物，死於物，機在於目。

〔《傳》曰：夫心有愛惡之情，物有否臧之用。目視而察之於外，心應而度之於內。善則從而行之，否則達而止之，所以觀善而懲惡也。筌以項羽其目機，心生於物，以符堅見機，心死於物，殊不知有否臧之用。〕

天之无恩而大恩生。迅雷烈風，莫不蠢然。

〔《傳》曰：天以凶象咎徵見，人能儆戒以修德。以迅雷烈風動人之恐懼，以政福无恩而生大恩之謂也。李筌以天地不仁為大恩，以萬物歸於天為蠢然，與《陰符》本意殊背。〕

至樂性餘，至靜性廉。

〔《傳》曰：未發謂之中，守中謂之常，別樂得其志，而性有餘矣。安常謂之自足，則靜其志而廉常足矣。筌以奢為樂性，以廉為靜，殊乖至道之意。〕

天之至私，用之至公。

〔《傳》曰：自然之理微而不可知，私之至也；自然之效明而不可違，公之至也。體聖體之亦然。筌引《孫子》云：視卒如愛子，可以之俱死。何也？〕

擒之制在炁。

〔《傳》曰：擒物之以炁，制之以機，豈大小之才乎？太公曰；豈以小大而相制哉？筌不知擒義，誤以禽獸，註解引云：玄龜食蟒，黃腰啖虎之類，為是悲哉。〕

生者，死之根；死者，生之根。恩生於害，害生於恩。

〔生者，人之所愛厚，於身大過，則道喪而死自來矣。死者，人之所惡，於事至明，則道在而生自圖矣。福理所及謂之恩，禍亂所及謂之害，損己則為物之所益，害之生恩也。筌引孫子用兵為生死，丁公、管仲為恩害，異哉？〕

愚人以天地文理聖，我以時物文理哲。人以虞愚，我以不愚聖，人以其期聖，我以不期其聖。

〔《傳》曰：觀天之運四時，察地之化萬物，无所不知而蔽之以无知，小恩於人以蒙自養之謂也。知四時之行，知萬物之生，皆自然也。故聖人於我以中自居之謂也，故曰死生在我而已矣。人之死亡，譬如沉水自溺，投火自焚，自取滅亡。理國以道，在於損其事而已；理軍以權，在於亡其兵而已。无死機則不死，鬼神其如我何？天生機則不生，天地其如我何？聖人修身以安其家，理國以平天下，在乎立生機以自去其死性者，生之機也；除死機以自取其生情者，死之機也。筌不瞭天道，以愚人。聖人體道，愚昧之人而驗天道，失之甚也。〕

故曰：沉水入火，自取滅亡

〔註在上文。〕

自然之道靜，故天地萬物生。

〔《傳》曰：自然之道，无為而无不為，動靜皆得其性，靖之至也。靖，故能立天地，生萬物，自然而然也。伊尹曰：靖之至，不知所以生也。〕

天地之道浸，故陰陽勝。

〔《傳》曰：浸、微也。天地之道，體著而用微，變通莫不歸於正，微之漸，故能分陰陽，成四時之至順也。〕

陰陽相推而變化順矣。

〔《傳》曰：聖人變化順陰陽之機，天地之位自然，故因自然而冥之，利自然而用之，莫不得自然之道也。〕

是故聖人知自然之道不可違，因而制之。

〔註在上文。〕

至靜之道，律曆所不能契。

〔《傳》曰：道之至靜也，律曆因而制之，不能叶其中，鳥獸居之謂也。〕

爰有奇器，是生萬象。八卦甲子，神機鬼藏。

〔《傳》曰：八卦變異之俠，從是而生。上則萬象，下則萬機。用八卦而體天，用九疇而法地，叅之以炁候，貫之以甲子，達之以神機，閉之以詭藏，奇譎之蕩自然也。〕

陰陽相勝之術，昭昭乎進乎象矣。

〔《傳》曰：陰陽相勝之術，坦微而不違乎本，明之信可明，故能進乎精曜象矣。〕

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 黃帝陰符經註(張果), revision of 10 October 2017), inspected from a witness copy captured on 8 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

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