Wang Bi Quotes
Wang Bi was a Chinese philosopher of the Three Kingdoms period and the most important early commentator on the Daode jing and the Yijing. Although he died at twenty-three, his short life produced commentaries that decisively shaped the reading of the foundational Daoist texts for the next eighteen centuries. The quotes below are attributed to Wang Bi, organized by topic.
Browse Wang Bi by topic
Wang Bi on Death
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“Tonight a pair of cooing doves under red bridal curtains, Tomorrow a heap of bleached bones like those of yesteryear. [...] One moment we grieve over a short-lived friend, The next we are ourselves overtaken by death.”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 14
Wang Bi on God
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“"What follows the way of Heaven prospers and what goes against it perishes."”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 290
Wang Bi on Justice
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“Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree , you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking.”
Speech at Goldman Awards, San Francisco (24 April 2006) -
“[Pao-yu] could not see why beautiful maidens should marry and become slaves of men who would take them for granted, when they could just as well remain carefree and do nothing but play games and write verses.”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 272 -
“Just at the point when we were at a loss as to what to use for the further development of our story, there came to the Yungkuofu a visitor from a poor family only remotely related to the Chias. This family, then, will serve our purpose.”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 48
Wang Bi on Knowledge
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“We must resist the notion that there is only one way to be a woman, one way to be African, and one way to be human.”
Wikiquote -
“Nobel lecture (10 December 2004)”
As I conclude I reflect on my childhood experience when I would visit a stream next to our home to fetch water for my mother. I would drink water straight from the stream. Playing among the arrowroot leaves I tried in vain to pick up the strands of frogs’ eggs, believing they were beads. But every time I put my little fingers under them they would break. Later, I saw thousands of tadpoles: black, -
“Speech at Goldman Awards, San Francisco (24 April 2006)”
Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree , you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking. -
“Pages full of unlikely words, Handfuls of hot, bitter tears. They call the author a silly fool, For they know not what he means.”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 4
Wang Bi on Love
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“Enduring as heaven and earth—no love however ancient can ever die; Timeless as light and shadow—no debt of breeze and moonlight can ever be repaid.”
Dream of the Red Chamber(1958) | p. 42
Wang Bi on Mind
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“(WHAT'S THE PLANET'S BIGGEST CHALLENGE?) The environment. We are sharing our resources in a very inequitable way. We have parts of the world that are very deprived and parts of the world that are very rich. And that is partly the reason why we have conflict.”
Wikiquote
Wang Bi on Nature
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Attributed to Wang Bi:
“Original non-being is the foundation of all being.”
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“We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own—indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder.”
Her memoir, Unbowed: A Memoir (2006).
Wang Bi on Politics
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Attributed to Wang Bi:
“The sage rules without acting; the people are content without compulsion.”
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“I think what the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war . Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace .”
Interview in TIME (10 October 2004)
Wang Bi on Time
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“Interview in TIME (10 October 2004)”
I think what the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war . Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace . -
“In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground- a time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now.”
Quoted in Woman power to the fore , by R.S. Binuraj, The Hindu (1 July 2017)
Wang Bi on Truth
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Attributed to Wang Bi:
“The Dao that can be named is not the eternal Dao.”
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Attributed to Wang Bi:
“Names cannot reach what is most fundamental; only the wordless can name it.”
Wang Bi on Virtue
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Attributed to Wang Bi:
“Returning to the root is the way of the wise.”