Footnotes on the English Translation of “A Narrative on Calligraphy” Part X
(272). Extracted from the Book of Changes-Bi (《易經•賁》). English translation presented here is made by James Legge.
(273). 近取諸身 – This phrase is from the Book of Changes-The Great Treatise II (《易經•繫辭下》) and should be interpreted as “drawing from or looking upon one’s inner self/sensory faculties” as suggested by the original text and James Legge’s interpretation:
近取諸身，遠取諸物Near at hand, in his own person, he found things for consideration, and the same at a distance, in things in general. (translated by James Legge)疏曰: 正義曰, 近取諸身者, 若耳目鼻口之屬是也。Explanatory note by Kong Yingda (孔頴達) : "近取諸身" refers to one's ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and the likes (ones's sensory faculties).Source: 王弼注、 孔頴達疏《周易注疏》,卷八「繫辭下」, p.3a. 上海: 中華書局據阮刻本校刊, 1936.
“况書之為妙, 近取諸身” is certainly not “All the more, the making of the prodigy of calligraphy closely derives from one’s person” as suggested by De Laurentis (De Laurentis, The Manual of Calligraphy by Sun Guoting of the Tang, Napoli: Universita degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale", 2011:59).
(274). 假令運用未周, 尚虧工於祕奧 – This phrase is incorrectly translated by Chang and Frankel as “If your method is not perfect, you will miss its ultimate secret” (Chang and Frankel, Two Chinese Treatises on Calligraphy, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1995 :14).