58 Tao Te Ching General Explanation Chapter 58

58 Tao Te Ching General Explanation Chapter 58

The original text is mainly based on the book "Lao Tzu" excavated from Mawangdui. The blue font is the original text of the first and second books of the Book of Lao Tzu. The red font is the original mutilated and replaced by posterity.

original:

Its zheng min, its people tun tun. It is inspecting, its state is going to be. Woe, the place of blessing; Blessings, woes; Who knows what it is? Its non-positive is also, the positive is strange, and the good is a demon. The mystery of man is also fixed for a long time. It is square without cutting, concurrent without piercing, straight but not silky, light without overlooking.

exegesis:

Its positive min: ◇ positive, through "government"; policy, strategies and methods of governing the country. ◇ 闗, the traditional character for "guan"; guan, the original meaning is to block the passage with obstacles, close the door; extended to the pass, the checkpoint. "Passing" means setting up cards layer by layer and obstructing step by step. ☆ The rulers impose restrictions on the people.

Its min tun tun: ◇ tun, the glyph of the oracle bone "like a young shoot is struggling to break through the obstruction of the soil to grow out of the ground", the original meaning is difficult; "tun" is the original word for "spring". Since the seeds will sprout together in the spring, it is extended to "gathering"; it is also extended to "garrison". ☆ His people are in poverty.

Its positive inspection: ◇ inspection, careful look; clear observation. "Inspection" means that the policies and regulations are very meticulous and the management is extremely strict. ☆ The Ruler exercised extremely strict control over his people.

Its state 夬夬:◇夬 (guài), divided. At the end of the day, the embankment was washed away by the water, and the embankment was broken to let the water flow away. "夬夬" means that there are broken mouths everywhere, fragmented and falling apart. ☆ His country is torn apart.

Fang without cutting: ◇ Fang, the original meaning is to shave hair and wear shackles, exile frontier; by extension, frontier, border. The ancients believed that "the heavens are round places", so "square" also refers to the quadrilateral; by extension, it is regular, square, and upright. ◇ Cut, cut with a knife, cut off, cut off. ☆ Square things do not cut off its edges and corners. Do not cut off the edges and corners of the square.

without stinging: ◇, put the two parts together; merge. ◇Thorns, pierced with something with a point. ☆ Merge things together don't go to pierce it. Don't puncture the whole thing.

Straight but not straight: ◇ Straight. ◇ Xiè (绁), rope, tie, tie, tie. ☆ Straight things do not go to knots. Don't tie a knot to something straight.

Light without looking: ◇ Light, light, bright things. ◇Overlook, unsightly, not facing, squinting. ☆ Bright things do not go to squint at it. Don't squint at the bright stuff.

General:

Its zheng min, its people tun tun. It is inspecting, its state is going to be. Woe, the place of blessing; Blessings, woes; Who knows what it is?

If the ruler implements a policy of fortification of his people, the people will inevitably suffer and suffer; if the ruler implements an extremely strict policy of control over his people, his country will inevitably be torn apart. Woe is what the blessing depends on, and there is a curse hidden in the blessing; who can understand the conditions for the transformation of the blessing?

★ If the rulers of a country regard the people as "thieves" and control the people layer by layer and control them everywhere; then they are not far from extinction. For it forgets that the people are the foundation of the nation.

All things are the unity of the opposites of the two sides of the "contradiction"; all things are "the same life of interest", and all things are "good and bad". All things have the same stake in people, and the key is to grasp the "degree" of use. Moderate use is a blessing, and overuse is a curse. (For a detailed explanation, see Reason and Wisdom). The "amount" used is no more and no less, so that the interests of things on people are in a state of "dynamic balance", and it is beneficial to life without harming life; this is "positive". The same is true of governing society, and it is not okay to manage too loosely or too strictly.

The essence of "government" is to make the people's behavior "correct"; what is the "correct standard"? That is, "Who knows the extremes?" "That's what the ruler should understand. The ruler must understand what the fundamental purpose of ruling society is, and understand what the foundation of the state is; otherwise, he will inevitably be "unjust" and will do things that are contrary to the opposite or put the cart before the horse.

How to understand the standard of "positive" and grasp the degree of use of things? By respecting the nature of things without artificially changing them, we can grasp the degree of use.

Its non-positive is also, the positive is strange, and the good is a demon. The mystery of man is also fixed for a long time. It is square without cutting, concurrent without piercing, straight but not silky, light without overlooking.

If the ruler does not know the standard of "righteousness", then "righteousness" will become "strange", and "good" will become "demon". People are confused and confused, and the days of confusion have been a long time. Therefore, (as long as) we do not cut off the square edges and corners, do not pierce the complete things, do not tie the knots of the straight things, and do not squint at the bright things; (that is, respect the nature of things, we will understand the standard of "right").

★ Respect the nature of things, do not deliberately change it; it is to understand the standard of "positive".

Unfortunately, people generally do not respect the nature of things (or do not know the nature of things), and only use "their own opinions" or "their own desires" as the standard to transform things; thus becoming more and more confused and confused. For example, humanity still does not understand what the root causes of the "crisis of unsustainable development" are. For another example, the confused human beings have actually created "nuclear weapons" and "biological and chemical weapons" that can quickly destroy human beings.

When can human beings respect nature and respect themselves? Those who follow the "law of the jungle" and equate themselves with beasts of prey are clearly not respectful of themselves.

Translation:

If the ruler implements a policy of fortification of his people, the people will inevitably suffer and suffer; if the ruler implements an extremely strict policy of control over his people, his country will inevitably be torn apart. Woe is what the blessing depends on, and there is a curse hidden in the blessing; who can understand the conditions for the transformation of the blessing? If the ruler does not know the standard of "righteousness", then "righteousness" will become "strange", and "good" will become "demon". People are confused and confused, and the days of confusion have been a long time. Therefore, (as long as) we do not cut off the square edges and corners, do not pierce the complete things, do not tie the knots of the straight things, and do not squint at the bright things; (that is, respect the nature of things, we will understand the standard of "right").

keynote:

Only by understanding that misfortune and happiness depend on each other and understanding that the criterion of "righteousness" is "respecting the nature of things"; only then can we be correct.