8, Zhuangzi Outer Chapter

If the toe is deformed, the two toes of the big toe merge into one toe, which is called the parallel toe.

If the finger is deformed, the upper end of the big finger splits into two fingers, which is called a disfigured finger. Compared with normal people, the former gets one toe less, and the latter gets one finger more, both of which are wrong. Syndactyly, due to the deformity caused by the mistake, is of course not good, but it is caused by congenital inheritance, innate.

Paradoxism refers to the fact that people do not make any mistakes themselves, but that they are genetic.

There is a pathological abdominal cavity with a tumor hanging inside. The skin is sick, and the upper part is covered with warts. It is also wrong to get more tumors and warts than normal people. Tumors and warts are as bad as deformities because they are so sick that they are wrong, but they are caused by acquired lesions, not by birth. Tumor patients, wart patients, they have made mistakes themselves, and they cannot be blamed on genetics.

It can be seen that pathology is different from deformity.

At present, some people are doing everything possible to promote benevolence and righteousness, saying that the five constants of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith in society are like the five organs of the human body, namely the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, which correspond to the five elements of fire, wood, earth, gold, and water in nature. It seems that the heart is benevolent, the liver is righteous, the spleen is long, the lungs are wise, and the kidneys are all innate. Born? Is morality co-existing with internal organs, or is it the internal organs that give birth to morality?

Righteousness is like a finger that has become a deformity because it is wrong. No, benevolence is like a tumor and a wart, because it is wrong, it becomes a pathology, and benevolence is wrong. To be wrong is to be wrong. Righteousness is not righteousness. Benevolence and righteousness are not merged, but are burdened, and benevolence and righteousness are pimples in the heart and cancer in the liver. The toes are on the feet, and between the toes there is useless flesh. Fingers are in the hand, and useless fingers are born on the fingers. Deformity, stop at uselessness. Benevolence and righteousness are pathological, the heart is attached to benevolence, the liver is burdened with righteousness, it violates human nature, deviates from the righteousness of the world, and pretends to play the role of benevolence and righteousness.

Selling benevolence, playing benevolence, those who abuse their natural deafness and discernment for this. Cong is the auditory spirit, and Ming is the visual spirit. Those people are overly clever, and they are distracted, they are burdensome, and their ears and eyes are deformed and sick. The vision is sick to the point of disgust, and the plain robe is not seen.

Therefore, he designed hierarchical dresses, with colorful flowers and embroidered patterns, to dress up the nobles of the imperial court, which is said to be conducive to the rehearsal of benevolence and righteousness. I think that Mr. Zhu in the past has extraordinary vision, observing five colors in the dark room, and observing the eye of a needle in a hundred steps. Since then, there has been a problem with color in the world.

The auditory sense is sick to the point that solo singing is not enjoyable. Therefore, a symphony orchestra was established, composing the six rhythms of the trouble, playing the noisy and noisy sounds, and entertaining the kings and ministers of the party, which is said to contribute to the atmosphere of benevolence and righteousness. I think that Mr. Shi Kuang in the past has a superhuman sense of hearing, blindly dances the conductor stick, and moves the ghosts and gods with a song, and since then, there has been a disturbance of sound in the world.

Those who are sick with benevolence and righteousness violate their nature, advocate wrong virtues, and gain reputation, causing the world to be in an uproar, and shouting that they want to pursue a model of benevolence that does not work. I think that Mr. Zeng Shen in the past played benevolence, and Mr. Shi Yu acted in righteousness, which really led to a bad head. The complication of righteousness is sophistry.

Those sophists came up with the problem like acrobatics, piling up jars and jars, which surprised the audience; The initiating words are like a long rope full of dead knots, which makes it difficult for the audience to understand; The beginning of the text is like playing a game of hidden hooks, allowing the reader to guess. They are extremely interested in entangled in arguments and arguments with each other, talking empty words, and seeking false fame, but they are not afraid of getting tired. I think that the two gentlemen of Yang, Zhu, Mo and Zhai in the past loved this kind of play, which is really bad.

All of the above-mentioned benevolent tumors and righteous warts are either deformed, or pathological, crooked, and heretical, and they are by no means virtuous.

There is such righteousness in the world. Virtue is virtue. To get right is to get what you deserve. Such righteousness is in no way contrary to biological nature, human nature. Therefore, if it is not contrary to nature, the merger of two into one is not considered a deformity, and should not be regarded as a parallel toe. In the same way, if it is not contrary to nature, it is not a deformity and should not be regarded as a mischaracter.

By extension, as long as it does not violate nature, too long is not considered excessive, and too short is not insufficient. If you think the duck's legs are too short and want to give them long, the duck will scream. If you think the crane's legs are too long and want to cut them short, the crane will scream. Ducks have short legs, cranes have long legs, all of which are positive and in line with nature. The so-called nature is the result of natural selection, the result of evolutionary elimination, nature should be long, why do you bother sawing short? If you are short by nature, why should you take it long? Who asked you to that heart? For ducks, for cranes? Please respect the righteousness of the world. Belch! I remember, didn't you say that benevolence and righteousness are nature, and it is the normal nature of human beings? Since it is human nature and human nature, why bother you good ancestors to worry, sell, and play? Since benevolence and righteousness are righteous virtues, are you still worried about righteousness? What worries do you have to worry about?

There is righteousness in the world, and if you are not righteous and self-righteous, who told you to be right. Even if it is a deformity, it may not be corrected. If you don't believe it, try it, tear the flesh between the toes, and the toes will not cry; Bite off the fingers that are forked in the fingers, and the person with the wrong finger will not cry out in pain.

The two of them, compared with normal people, the former get one toe less, and the latter get one more finger, both are wrong, they are all deformed, you tear and bite, you have to correct, in addition to adding tears and scars to the world, what else can you get? What's more, who can trust you to tear the wrong bite and hurt the good person? Not only deformed people, but even normal people will be terrified when they see you coming. When there is a great chaos today, you good gentlemen, benevolent and righteous propagandists, full of sorrow, eyelashes lock the curtain of sorrow, look at the world with dim eyes, afraid of great calamity in the coming days, and claim to turn the tide. However, those unkind and unrighteous people do not care at all, and the vicious ones are even more vicious, and the greedy ones are even more greedy, and they snatch yarn hats and make money, and the benevolence and common righteousness of nature are all torn and bitten off. Belch! Don't forget, you said that righteousness is a manifestation of nature. Since it is a manifestation of natural instinct, why do those unkind and unrighteous people not turn their hearts and minds?

Three generations so far, nearly 2,000 years, it is said that the Xia Dynasty advocated benevolence, the Shang Dynasty promoted the broad sense, the Zhou Dynasty benevolence and righteousness parallel, and the rites and music took the lead. For 2,000 years, benevolence and righteousness have been noisy, and the world has become more and more corrupt! Whether benevolence and righteousness are the right virtues in the world or not, you can judge for yourselves.

There is normalcy in the world. The norm is that everything is not in order. No matter what era, no matter what society, curved, straight, round, square, crooked, right, you don't expect, there are everything, there are all kinds of wonders, you have four kinds of measuring tools, one is the curve plate, the second is the ruler, the third is the compass, the fourth is the rectangular ruler, into the normal social environment, here to measure, there to compare.

So I was annoyed, and everything was not pleasing to the eye. You think that the curvature of the song is unreasonable, so that it is right; The straight is not exactly straight, so that it is upright; The circumference of the circle has an ellipse to make it perfectly round; The square one is slightly rhombic again, making it square. Everything is based on your measuring tools, and you are all in one place. It's all together, and the normalcy has become perverted. You declare: "I am back to normal. ”

There are things in society that are inherently wrong, and if you use curves, rulers, compasses, and rulers to correct them, you will break their nature. There are things in society that don't match each other, and if you tie them together with a rope, and you glue them together, you violate their integrity. You're a pervert, and you don't know it.

There are those people in society who are naturally free and easy, and you toss them with etiquette and music, and you annoy them with benevolence and righteousness, so as to win the hearts of the people. You don't know that you've broken the normalcy of the social environment.

There is normalcy in the world. The norm is to take shape naturally without measuring tools: the natural curve of the curve is not the curve plate to draw the curve; The straight is born straight, not the straight one; The circle is inherently round, not the compass draws the circle; The square is inherently square, not a square ruler.

The norm is natural intimacy without external forces. Born together, no glue; Those who are naturally entangled together do not need to be tied with ropes. The norm is not to be self-satisfied according to the plan. When the time comes, the oil and oil have grown; When the time comes, all the deserved ones will be obtained. The normalcy seems inexplicable, why it should be born, how it grows, why it deserves it, and how it is obtained, it is not clear. Of course, the state of the past and the state of the present are changing rapidly, but the conventional aspect is the same. The social environment is very different, and the basic laws have not increased or decreased.

You good gentlemen, who are benevolent by nature and righteous and righteous, have stuffed benevolence and righteousness into moral dogma, imposed them on others, and tirelessly lobbied in all directions to ask everyone in the world to take your psychedelic drugs! You're creating a perverted society!

Small doses of psychedelics can disorient people and temporarily unable to return to their hometowns; Large doses of psychedelics make people lose their nature, and they cannot find the ideal of the avenue for life. Why do I say that? The good emperor of ancient times, that Grandpa Shun, ruled the world well, but it is a pity that he was benevolent by nature, righteous and righteous, and when he saw that the people had nothing to do, he held high the banner of benevolence and righteousness, and called on everyone to learn benevolence and practice righteousness, so as not to be idle and panic. Everyone respects his old man, and of course he is obedient, he does what he says, he tries his best to show his benevolence, and he is busy with his righteous deeds. Activists of benevolence and righteousness, including those who are hypothetical and righteous, have emerged in large numbers. The unjust elements were dejected and disgraced. As for the anti-benevolent and righteous elements, of course, they cannot escape the condemnation of heaven and earth. Isn't this the psychedelic of righteousness that makes people lose their way and even lose their nature?

In the three generations of Xia, Shang and Zhou, nearly 2,000 years ago, the greatest change in the orientation of social values was to disdain inaction and advocate promising. The official talks about struggle, and the people talk about hard work, and the idea is the same, that is, there is a promise, and everyone has the courage to sacrifice their nature and accompany foreign objects to the funeral.

People die for money, birds die for food, and it is the common people who are talking about it. Not only do they sacrifice their nature, but they also want money and their lives, which is the most pitiful. On the higher level were the scholars, scribes and samurai, who had a bowl of rice to eat, so they were only martyred for their honorary status. Not only sacrificed his nature, but also had to lose his face, and some of the funeral scenes were very touching. At a higher level is the doctor, a nobleman who is an official, and his face is glorious enough, so he must defend the family's hairpin for generations and do not hesitate to die for the funeral. On a higher level are the saints, including emperors, great politicians, and great thinkers, whose material and spiritual desires have long been satisfied, so they are willing to die for the country. Of course, they all said, "The widow worries day and night, but only for the people of the world." The first four types of people are different from each other in their own careers and in their own signboards. But they're all struggling, and that's exactly the same. Struggle leads to sacrifice, and struggle leads to perishing. With the same sacrifice of nature and the same burial of foreign objects, these four kinds of people are simply all the way, and it is difficult to say who is expensive and who is low.

There were two shepherds on the ranch, one adult married and one teenager unmarried, who accidentally lost their flock. The master was angry and asked the married man, "What were you doing at that time?" Answer: "Read the books of the sages." He asked the unmarried, "And what are you doing?" Answer: "Go backgammon." "The two of them, one studious and the other playful, obviously have different careers and interests, but they have exactly the same two things, and they have lost their sheep. Can you say which of the two loses better and who loses badly? Bo Yi was the prince of the Guzhu Kingdom, a relict of the Shang Dynasty, who refused to eat the corn of the Zhou Dynasty, and for the sake of fame, he ended up starving to death in Shouyang Mountain.

The thief was the younger brother of Yanagi Hui, a rogue from Shandong, who plundered the wealth of Qi State, and was killed in Tanglin Mountain for profit. The two of them, one sage and the other thief, have different personalities and different realms. But one thing is exactly the same, they all lost their lives and sacrificed their nature to accompany foreign objects to be buried. You say that if Bo Yi dies a glorious death, he will be able to live again? You say that if the thief dies in disgrace, he will be stabbed again?

Everyone in the world is being martyred. Everyone!

Mr. so-and-so whined. After checking that this person was martyred for benevolence and righteousness, everyone praised it: "Gentleman! Gentleman!"

Mr. So-and-so is finished. When it was found that this person was buried for money, everyone denounced: "Villain! Villain!"

The same burial, all of them are dead, and you can't see it. Psychedelic drugs make it impossible for you to return to your hometown, you cannot find the ideal of the Great Dao, you only care about who is a gentleman and a villain, and you do not care about life or death.

The same loss of life, the same sacrifice of nature to accompany foreign objects to the funeral, isn't Bo Yi a thief who was killed in Tanglin Mountain? Isn't the thief just the Boyi who starved to death in Shouyang Mountain? The two ghosts and Huangquan meet, nature is equal, who needs you to praise the gentleman and reprimand the villain.

I also pursue moral perfection, but I do not want to sacrifice my natural freedom, and let the rules of benevolence and righteousness govern me, and train me to be a model of morality like Zeng Shen and Shi Yu.

I also prayed for a rich meal, but I didn't want to sacrifice my natural indifference, and let the taste pleasure guide me and train me to be a culinary expert like Yu'er.

I also need to be deaf, but I don't want to sacrifice my natural tranquility, and let my auditory pleasures dominate me and cultivate me into a musical authority like Shi Kuang.

I also want to be discerning, but I don't want to sacrifice the simplicity of my nature, and let the visual pleasure control me and shape me into a master of color like Lizhu.

The moral perfection I pursue does not refer to the rules of benevolence and righteousness, but to the perfection of righteousness and virtue in accordance with one's own nature.

The abundance of food I beg for is not the pleasure of taste, but the abundance necessary to sustain my own life.

What I need to be deaf does not mean auditory enjoyment, nor does it mean listening to the noise of external objects, but to hearing the silence of my own heart.

What I ask for is not visual enjoyment, nor does it mean a closer look at social disputes, but the tranquility of seeing one's own soul.

If a person only cares about the social situation in his eyes, listens only to the sounds of foreign things in his ears, tastes only the tastes of other houses in his mouth, and follows only the virtues of others in his heart, and completely loses his own temperament, will he not be in vain and spend his life in vain? In this life, what he has received is not his own but the eyes, ears, and mouths of others, and it is not his own that conforms to his own but the nature of others. Moving to himself, to others, he lived a life of great hardship and fatigue, which is sympathetic. If a person conforms to the nature of others all his life and affirms the affirmation of others, even if he is a great sage, he is the same as a thief, behaving incorrectly and thinking absurdly!

It is very unseemly in Xia Zhuang Zhou, and it is really ashamed to talk about morality here, and I would like to ask the reader for forgiveness.

I am of inferior character, and I am afraid that I will be governed by righteousness, so I will have to degenerate in this life. Of course; I don't dare to be too depraved, so degenerate that I lead the great sages and thieves as comrades, and do those absurd and unjust things. If I can attain my own righteousness, I will be satisfied.