《道德經》

無常心

Impermanence

無常心

黑白無常，源於中國道教神話所言的無常鬼，負責接引人死後之鬼魂入於陰曹，為死神之一，一黑一白象徵一日一夜，也象徵一陽一陰。

「無常」原是佛教用語，為變化之意，因此表示非永恆存在的，所謂「諸行無常」，在《地藏經》將其具象化云「無常大鬼，不期而至」，告誡人們生命隨時都在變化，無法永恆不變。民間信仰將轉化「無常大鬼」四字認為是勾魂使者，負責接引人死後進入地府。

黑白無常， "Black and White Impermanence", are two Deities — in Chinese folk religion — in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld, dressed in black and white, respectively. They are subordinates of 閻羅王Yánluó Wáng (shortened Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit term यम राज, Yama Rājā, Yamarāja, 閻魔羅社), the Supreme Judge of 地獄 "earth prison", the Underworld in Chinese mythology, alongside 牛頭 Niútóu, the Ox-Headed and 馬面 Mǎmiàn, the Horse-Faced Hell Guards.

The White Guard's name is 謝必安， Xiè Bì'ān, which can be interpreted as "Those who make amends (謝 Xiè) will always be at peace (必安, Bì'ān)". The Black Guard's name is 范無救, Fàn Wújiù, which conversely means that "Those who commit crimes (范) will have no salvation (無救, Wújiù)". They are sometimes referred to as 范謝將軍, Fàn Xiè Jiāngjūn, "Generals Fan and Xie".

道德經第四十九章

聖人無常心，以百姓心為心。

善者，吾善之；不善者，吾亦善之；德善。

信者，吾信之；不信者，吾亦信之；德信。

聖人在天下，歙歙為天下渾其心，百姓皆注其耳目，聖人皆孩之。

Dao De Jing Chapter Forty-nine — C. Ganson

49

The truly wise are selfless.

People's needs are their needs.

The good are treated with goodness;

the bad are also treated with goodness;

this is the goodness of 德.

The faithful are treated with faith;

the faithless are treated with faith;

this is the faith of 德.

The truly wise live peacefully and impartially.

In their eyes, people share a common heritage.

The truly wise accept all people as their own family.

Dao De Jing Chapter Forty-nine — James Legge

49 (The quality of indulgence)

The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind.

To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not good (to me), I am also good; — and thus (all) get to be good. To those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are not sincere (with me), I am also sincere; — and thus (all) get to be sincere.

The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision and keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children.

Dao De Jing Chapter Forty-nine — Arthur Waley

49

The Sage has no heart of his own;

He uses the heart of the people as his heart.

Of the good man I approve,

But of the bad, I also approve,

And thus he gets goodness.

The truthful man I believe, but the liar I also believe,

And thus he gets truthfulness.

The Sage, in the dealings with the world, seems like one dazed with fright;

For the world's sake, he dulls his wits.

The Hundred Families all the time strain their eyes and ears,

The Sage all the time sees and hears no more than an infant sees and hears.