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△ Yi Zhongtian talks about being a late bloomer
Recently, I watched a video about Yi Zhongtian explaining Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching", and some of his views once again subverted everyone's perception of traditional cultural classics, and his interpretation was one-sided and misunderstood. In the Tao Te Ching, there are a few famous sentences of Lao Tzu, which later evolved into familiar idioms, that is, "the great instrument is a late bloomer", "the sound of the great sound" and "the elephant is invisible".
In Yi Zhongtian's view, "late bloomer" is not "late bloomer", but "free success". His reason was that the book "Lao Tzu" was found in the cultural relics unearthed in Mawangdui, Changsha. In the silk book, that is, Yi Zhongtian thinks that the B book is "the big instrument is exempt from completion", and it is not seen in the A book, Yi Zhongtian thinks that the A book is actually the widely circulated version of the "Tao Te Ching" annotated by the metaphysician Wang Bi in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the forty-one chapters in this book are the records of "the late (micro) completion of the big instrument", and the unearthed cultural relics in the silk book do have the saying of "the big instrument is free (Ming) to become", that is not Yi Zhongtian thinks that there is no "late blooming" of the "big instrument", is it an either/or relationship?
△ Yi Zhongtian talks about Lao Tzu's philosophical thoughts
I think that if "大器 late blooming" and "大器免成" are actually the same meaning from the phonetic consideration, some experts believe that because the m consonant and the w consonant were interchangeable at that time, "wai" was read as "late", and "late" was interpreted as "exempt". And this phenomenon of consonant intercommunication is not uncommon in ancient Chinese, after the ancient Qin unified China, although the book is the same, but the language is not necessarily the same. Yi Zhongtian believes that Lao Tzu's doctrine and philosophical thought are "wu wei", which is to go with the flow and respond to all changes with no change, so he thinks that "the big instrument is not successful" is more in line with Lao Tzu's view.
In fact, we see that the language of the ancients almost did not see the saying "big utensils are exempt", if it is not unearthed in the cultural relics silk book, everyone will think that it is a typo, the Han Dynasty Wang Chong "On Heng and Shape Liu" has it: "The big vessel is late, and the treasure is difficult to sell." Da Chong once became a Jia, and the things of vegetables and fruits are also. The expression of the Western Jin Dynasty Chen Shou "Three Kingdoms, Wei Zhi, Cui Yan's Biography" also has:
Yan Congdi Lin, few and no reputation, although the marriage family is still light, and Yan often said: "This so-called late bloomer will eventually come far away."
Later people all used "big instrument late bloomer" and did not see the classics that used "big instrument free of success", from the perspective of pronunciation communication, "big instrument free of completion" is "big instrument late bloomer".
Of course, without the expression "the big thing is exempted", it cannot be said that there is no reason for this, and it also has a basis for existence. If we look at it from the literal sense, "big tools are exempt" is not a copy of "big tools are late bloomers", and it is not like Yi Zhongtian said that "there are no big tools and late bloomers" only "big tools are exempt from completion", this view is inevitably too arbitrary and subjective, in fact, they have different meanings.
△ Lao Tzu rode a green ox to Hangu Pass
"Late bloomer" emphasizes the importance of time and experience for achievement. It takes a long time to grind and accumulate before it finally reveals its value, which is an affirmation of patience and perseverance.
For example, some figures in ancient and modern China and abroad: Jiang Ziya, Huang Zhong, Qi Baishi, and Edison are outstanding examples of late bloomers.
The "big thing is free" is emphasizing a state that is natural and does not need to be deliberately pursued. It means that some people or things have extraordinary potential and value in their own right, and they can naturally show their unique charm and value without too much carving and embellishment.
This philosophy embodies more respect for nature and authenticity, and encourages people not to pursue the outer form and appearance too much, but to discover and cherish the inner essence and value.
Like Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is a kind of "big instrument free from success", and Zhuge Liang's magic calculation seems to be innate, not to mention the masterpieces of nature, which can be carved by non-artificial, like big rivers, famous mountains and rivers.
The reason why Yi Zhongtian views Lao Tzu's doctrine from an either/or point of view is that he confuses their connotations and essential meanings, and they are juxtaposed rather than substituted.
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Yi Zhongtian also has a ridiculous point of view, that Confucius asked Lao Tzu for advice is unreliable history, which means that it was fabricated and fictionalized by later generations. In fact, Lao Tzu and Confucius are more than ten years old, and there is historical evidence:
Confucius asked Lao Dan (Lao Tzu) when he was seventeen years old.
At the age of twenty-six, Confucius visited the Zhou Dynasty and visited Lao Tzu, who was then the head of the library and the current director of the library.
When he was fifty-one years old, Confucius went to Lao Tzu's hometown to ask Lao Tzu for advice.
Why would Yi Zhongtian ignore these histories and say that they are unreliable? Apparently because of his ignorance or his intention to belittle Lao Tzu.
In addition, Yi Zhongtian thought that since Lao Tzu criticized Confucianism, why did Confucius visit him and ask him for advice? This precisely shows Confucius's humility and self-examination. In Yi Zhongtian's view, it is impossible for Lao Tzu to criticize Confucianism, and it was later people who tampered with his remarks.
Although Confucius was more than 10 years younger than Lao Tzu, Confucius only lived more than 70 years, and Lao Tzu was said to have lived longer than Confucius.
As thinkers of the same era, Lao Tzu and Confucius will also influence and collide with each other, and the exchange of ideas and differences between Lao Tzu and Confucius are also objective facts. Therefore, Yi Zhongtian's presumption is absurd and does not conform to historical logic at all.
△ Confucius humbly greeted Lao Tzu
I also said before that Yi Zhongtian studied Chinese and studied ancient literature, but he actually did not make any achievements in ancient literature, he concentrated on his wild history of the Three Kingdoms, and closed his mouth to talk about the characters in the Three Kingdoms in order to seek fame and fortune, in fact, Yi Zhongtian is not a genius who "avoids success".
His experience at Wuhan University was a history of frustration and depression, and then he came to Xiamen University, and then "Three Kingdoms" made him a late bloomer and became famous. Originally, he should have a deep understanding of Lao Tzu's words, but he wanted to change his course and overthrow Lao Tzu's doctrine, showing his consistent anti-tradition.
I think he only knows the philosophy of Lao Tzu and Confucius's Confucianism, but he is very bold and dares to sit on the podium and talk eloquently, and I really admire his courage in false Taoism, which can be described as fearless for the ignorant. From his talk about "avoiding success" and denying the history of Confucius who consulted Lao Tzu, it shows that he does not know much about Lao Tzu and Confucius, let alone expound their philosophical thoughts.