原文:
夫礼者,忠信之薄,而乱之首也.前识者,道之华,而愚之始也.
译文:
礼这个东西,是忠信之未落后的产物,失去礼让,则容易发生祸乱。能认识到礼前面的这些规律,即取道之精华。而礼这个东西却是愚笨的人认识大道的起始。
我的翻译:
Etiquette is a product of faithfulness, and it
is easy to cause disorder when losing it.
When we can recognize these laws in front
of etiquette, we get the essence of Dao.
Etiquette is the beginning of a fool's under-
standing of Dao.