来书云：「质美者明得尽，渣滓便浑化。如何谓[1]明得尽？如何而能便浑化？」
良知本来自明。气质不美者，渣滓多，障蔽厚，不易开明。质美者，渣滓原少，无多障蔽，略加致知之功，此良知便自莹彻，些少渣滓，如汤中浮雪，如何能作障蔽？此本不甚难晓，原静所以致疑于此，想是因一「明」字不[2]明白，亦是稍有欲速之心。向曾面论明善之义，明则诚矣，非若后儒所谓明善之浅也。
来信说：「『质美者明得尽，渣滓便浑化』。怎样叫明得尽？怎样便能浑化？」
良知本来自然明。气质不美的人，渣滓多、障蔽厚，不容易开明。质美的人，渣滓原本少，没有多少障蔽，略加致知的功夫，这良知便自晶莹透彻；些少渣滓，如同汤中的浮雪，怎么能构成障蔽？这本不难懂，原静之所以在此致疑，想是因为一个「明」字不明白，也稍有欲速之心。从前曾当面论过「明善」之义：明则诚矣，不是后世儒者所说的那种浅薄的明善。
Your letter says: 'Of fine endowment, when illumination is complete the dross melts wholly away. What is illumination complete? How does the dross wholly melt?'
Innate knowledge is bright of itself. The ill-endowed, dross-heavy and thickly veiled, are not easily opened. The finely endowed have little dross, thin veiling: touch them with the work of extension and innate knowledge flashes crystal-clear; the little dross is snow afloat on boiling soup — what screen can it make? This is not hard to see; your doubt here, I think, hangs on the single word bright, with a touch of the hunger for haste. We once discussed face to face the sense of understanding goodness: bright, then sincere — not the shallow understanding-goodness of later scholars.
- 「谓」字下，施本、俞本并有「之」字。
- 「不」字，施本、俞本并作「欠」。