无为有处有还无

無為有處有還無

wúwéiyǒuchùyǒuháiwú

phrase

Meanings

1 where absence becomes presence, presence in turn becomes absence
2 (fig.) reality and illusion endlessly swap places; truth in the Dream of the Red Chamber is slippery
3 (lit.) (what is) nothing, when (taken as) something, the something then becomes nothing

Characters

also / then turns back

无

wú

nothing

Examples

人生如戏，假作真时真亦假，无为有处有还无。

Rénshēng rú xì, jiǎ zuò zhēn shí zhēn yì jiǎ, wú wéi yǒu chù yǒu hái wú.

Life is like a play: 'when false is taken as true, true becomes false; where nothing is taken as something, something turns back into nothing.'

这幅水墨画虚实相生，正合无为有处有还无的意境。

Zhè fú shuǐmò huà xūshí xiāngshēng, zhèng hé wú wéi yǒu chù yǒu hái wú de yìjìng.

The ink painting's interplay of empty and solid perfectly matches the idea of 'where nothing is taken as something, something turns back to nothing.'

Tips

history

From 曹雪芹《红楼梦》(Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, Qing dynasty, c. 1760), the couplet inscribed above the Illusory Realm (太虚幻境): 假作真时真亦假，无为有处有还无 (When the false is taken as true, the true becomes false; where nothing is taken as something, something turns back into nothing). The couplet frames the whole novel's Buddhist-Daoist philosophy of illusion and vanity.

usage

Always paired with 假作真时真亦假. Reading: 为 = wéi ('to be / to take as'), not wèi. 还 = hái ('also / then'), not huán. The couplet is quoted in essays on art, fiction, Buddhism, and modern propaganda-vs-reality commentary.

Stroke Order

无 wú

为 wèi

有 yǒu

处 chù

还 hái