If there is beauty there must be ugliness. If I do not boast of my beauty, how can anyone call me ugly?
The counterpart of cleanliness is filthiness. If I do not boast of my cleanliness, how can anyone call me dirty?
有妍必有丑为之对，我不夸妍，谁能丑我？有洁必有污为之仇，我不好洁，谁能污我？
Notes
Beauty manifests only through contrast with ugliness;
Purity gains meaning solely against filth.
Thus, cease boasting of your ‘beauty,’ and none will attack you as ‘ugly’;
Abandon claims to ‘purity,’ and none will brand you ‘defiled.’
This passage from Cai Gen Tan (Tending the roots of wisdom) unveils a dialectical truth: External judgments reflect inner fixations. Beauty/ugliness and purity/filth exist relationally — obsession with flaunting superiority invites opposition.
Its profundity lies in transcending duality: Conflict between “beauty/ugliness” and “purity/filth” originates from attachment to self-superiority. Only by releasing discriminatory mindsets can one break free from external shackles.
The world mirrors your attachments: Fixate on a label, and its antithesis becomes your wound.
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