How to Understand Lao Tzu's "Tao"
Text / Fanga
What is Lao Tzu's "Tao"? This has long been a headache. The Tao Te Ching begins with a blockage of the road—no language names are allowed to interpret the Tao: "The Tao is the Tao, the Extraordinary Tao." The name can be named, very famous. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1) If the "Tao" can be expressed directly, it is not a true "Tao", and if the "Tao" can be given a definite name directly, this name must not really reflect the name of the "Tao". Once defined, it destroys the original meaning of "Tao." The "constant" is true, and the defined "Tao" must not be true.
The Ming Dynasty thinker Wang Yangming also saw the Tao in this way. A student, Liu Guanshi, asked Wang Yangming for advice on the "Tao" :(Liu Guanshi) and asked Yu Yangmingzi, "Is the Tao visible?" (Wang Yangming) said: "Yes, there is, but there is not yet." "But it's invisible?" "None, none, no "But why do you think so?" "See but not taste." Guan Shi said, "The confusion of the disciples is very troublesome. The Master explicitly said to teach me? Yang Mingzi said: "The Tao is unspeakable, and it is better to be obscure than to say it; the Tao is invisible, and it is far to see it in vain." If the husband has not tasted it, it is true that there is also; if there is nothing but has not tasted nothing, it is true and nothing; it is true that there is nothing to see and not taste. (The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, vol. 4, "Seeing the Sayings of Zhai", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, December 1992) Wang Yangming's meaning is very clear, "Tao" cannot be spoken, and a single word destroys the "Tao", and the more words are spoken, the farther away the true meaning of "Dao" is from us. The French intuitiveist philosopher Bergson said of the characteristics of philosophical truth: "Metaphysics (i.e., philosophy) is a science without symbols (i.e., concepts). (Introduction to Metaphysics, translated by Liu Fangtong, The Commercial Press, 1963, p. 4) This is to say that truth at the philosophical level cannot be expressed in words." Although the Tao is unspeakable, the Tao must exist, and Lao Tzu can never fabricate something that does not exist to deceive the world. But the "Tao" cannot be expressed, what to do? In order to let the world understand the "Tao", Lao Tzu still wrote the "Tao Te Ching", which contained five thousand words and tried his best to let the world understand what he called the "Tao". How to understand Lao Tzu's "Tao"? I would like to make three points:
<h1>A way to interpret the Tao </h1>
What is the "Tao", Lao Tzu emphasizes that it is undoable and unnamable, that is, it cannot be defined, but the "Tao" can be described as depicting what it looks like. The chapters of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching depict what the Tao looks like from various angles.
Lao Tzu clearly said that the "Tao" could not be said, but he still gave the Tao. How to say it? It does not say what the "Tao" is, but only describes what the "Tao" is. There are such precedents in history, some cognitive objects can not be defined for a while, people can describe what it is like to study and develop it. For example, "force", some people think that there is no proper definition so far. But Archimedes in ancient Greece, Mo jia in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, Newton in modern Britain, and Einstein, the contemporary Jewish scientist, their great achievements in the research and development of forces have made mankind enter the era of aerospace today. The branches of disciplines related to forces are divided into fine and fine layers, and there are many research institutions. But what exactly is force? There is still no definition that everyone agrees on. How to study without a definition? One can describe it, describe it, describe what it looks like. Today's middle school textbooks say, "Force is the interaction between objects." I think that this still does not say what the force is, but can only say what the force looks like from the perspective of macroscopic low speed. What is the "Tao", Lao Tzu emphasizes that it is undoable and unnamable, that is, it cannot be defined, but the "Tao" can be described as depicting what it looks like. The chapters of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching depict what the Tao looks like from various angles. How to depict it? Use figurative expressions.
The so-called metaphorical is to inspire people to understand the "Tao" through the depiction of specific things. In this way, it is realized that Lao Tzu's "Tao" is the "Tao" of life, and it is impossible to understand the "Tao" without life. Dong Guozi asked Yu Zhuangzi, "The so-called Tao, where is the evil?" Zhuang Zi said, "Everywhere." Dong Guo Zi said: "Period and then can." Zhuang Zi said, "In the ants." "How evil?" "In barnyard." "How evil is it?" "In Wa'a. "How evil is it?" Drowning in. Don't look at Zhuangzi's description of the "Tao" as mysterious, but he also realized that the "Tao" should be understood by touching the humble and trivial things in front of him.
Wang Yangming, who was deeply influenced by Taoism, called "tao" "conscience", and he asked students to experience "conscience" in specific things. Wang Yangming's students asked the teacher to use language to analyze the concept of "conscience", and Wang Yangming believed that if it was analyzed separately from specific things, it would become more and more confusing, and it could only be understood by entering into things. He said: "Although political affairs are dramatic, they are also a place of learning. (The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, vol. 4, "Wenlu Yi Answer Xu Chengzhi") "Although the county affairs are complicated, the people's society cannot be practical. (The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, vol. 5, "Erdao Lu Binyang") Even "hunger to eat and tired to sleep" is also an activity to seek "conscience".
From Zhuangzi to Zen Buddhism to Wang Yangming, although they all use the metaphorical way, it was Lao Tzu who first used the metaphorical way to express the "Tao". Lao Tzu said, "The sergeant hears the Tao and acts diligently; the Sergeant hears the Tao, if he survives; the Corporal hears the Tao, laughs." Not smiling is not enough. The soldiers living in the upper levels have been pampered all day long, do not understand the situation at the grass-roots level, have heard of the "Tao", only do written understanding, think it is simple, and quickly implement it, so as to achieve immediate success; the soldiers living in the middle level have heard of the "Tao", because they only have a half-understanding of the upper and lower levels, and their understanding of the "Tao" is vague and confused; the soldiers living in the lower class can't help but laugh when they hear the "Tao", because the lower-level soldiers live in the grass-roots level, into the trivial things of the people, and find that the "Tao" is contained in the daily life they frequently contact. There's nothing magical about laughing. Not laughing means that you don't understand daily life, and if you don't understand daily life, you can't figure out the "Tao" and you can't walk the "Tao." The absolute "Tao" is embedded in relative concrete things.
Lao Tzu said, "The heavens are long. The heavens and the earth can therefore be long and long, and because they do not give birth to themselves, they can live forever. (Chapter 7) Lao Tzu also quoted the ancients' most reasonable sayings ("Suggestions") to play this truth: "If the Ming Dao is ignorant, if the path is retreated, if the Yi Dao is classeous, if the Upper Virtue is like a valley, if the Great White is humiliated, if the Guangde is insufficient, if the Jiande is stolen, if the quality is true, if the generous is boundless, the great instrument is late, the big sound is loud, and the elephant is invisible." The Road is nameless. (Chapter 41) The shining "Tao" is embodied in the interlaced light of light and darkness; the "Tao" that advances straight forward is embodied in the tortuous movement of reincarnation; the flat "Tao" is embodied in the rough road; the highest level of "virtue" is embodied in the jagged "virtue"; the "virtue" with the widest applicability is embodied in every limited "virtue"; the strongest "virtue" is embodied in every soothing "virtue"; and the quality of innocence is embodied in the material of texture The color of pure white is embodied in the cloudy color; the sharp angle is embodied in the bald corner; the best artifact is formed step by step by the step of countless defective artifacts; the great sound is set off by silence; the greatest object is the invisibility beyond all tangible things; the "Tao" is hidden in all things, because the name of the thing it hides is the name, and its own name is nameless.
Lao Tzu said that the "Tao" cannot be Tao, but the description of the "Tao" in the five thousand words of the Tao Te Ching still reveals to the world the connotation of the "Tao".
Many people interpret the "Tao" as a law, a law, which is a big mistake. From the description of the "Tao", we realize that "the Tao" is the vitality.
<h1>How to understand this vitality? </h1>
First, the "Tao" cannot be divided, but can only be grasped as a whole. When Lao Tzu depicted the Tao, he tried his best to emphasize the chaotic nature of the Tao: "Seeing nothing, the name is Yi; hearing it is not heard, the name is Xi; the fight is not good, the name is small." These three cannot be cross-examined, so they are mixed into one. (Chapter 14) "No questioning" means not to get to the bottom of the matter, not to say exactly what the "Tao" is, and to avoid one-sidedness of the "Tao." "Mixed things" (chapter 25) describes the "Tao" as indissoluble. "The Word is a thing, but a trance." Trance, there are elephants in it, trance, there is something in it. (Chapter 21) "To frustrate its sharpness, to resolve its discord, and to be with its light, with its dust, is called 'Xuan Tong'." (Chapter 56) Trance and chaos are therefore inseparable, and only when they remain intact can they have vitality. Lao Tzu described the "Tao" with the word "chong": "All things bear yin and embrace yang, and the breath thinks peace." (Chapter 42) "Great profits are like rushes, and their use is inexhaustible." (Chapter 45) "The way rushes, and the use of it or not profits." Scholars have interpreted "chong" as "emptiness", but I think that this "emptiness" is not the emptiness of everyday life, but the "emptiness" that implies the emergence of machinery, so "chong" may express the characteristics of the vitality of "Tao" in a certain sense.
Lao Tzu envisioned "small countries and widows": "Small countries and widows." Let there be a tool of Shrew and not use it; let the people die and not migrate away. Although there are boats and public opinions, there is nothing to take advantage of, although there are armored soldiers, there is nothing to be done. Let the people tie the rope and use it. Eat willingly, serve beautifully, live in peace, and enjoy its customs. Neighboring countries look at each other, the sounds of chickens and dogs hear each other, and the people do not interact with each other until they are old and dead. (Chapter 80) Many people criticize Lao Tzu for reversing the development of social civilization. This criticism is too hasty. Not to mention that the proposal of "small country widows" was due to his special background at that time, what should be paid more attention to is that Lao Tzu was cursing the excessive two-level differentiation of society with "small country widows": "Chao Shi Zhi, Tian Shi Wu, Cang Shi Huan; Serving Wen Cai, Carrying Sharp Swords, Eating and Drinking, And Having More Than enough Goods; It is for thieves." Non-Taoist also ya! (Chapter 53) The imperial court has no office, the fields are uncultivated, the treasury is empty, and the people are in distress. However, a very small number of people live a luxurious and corrupt life of "golden jade full of halls". Such a society has lost its vitality and cannot continue to move forward. Therefore, Lao Tzu's "small country and widows" actually expresses the desire for the vitality of social development.
Second, the Tao activates all things. Lao Tzu said, "The Tao gives birth to one, one to two, two to three, and three to all things." (Chapter 42) "Born" – Activation also. The Tao activates the whole ("one"), the whole activates the part ("two"), the part activates the unity of the parts ("three"), and the unity of the parts activates the "all things". "All things under the heavens are born of being, and existence is born of nothing." (Chapter 40) Here "nothingness" is the life force, "being" is the whole, and "birth" is activation. "The heavens will be clear, the earth will be peaceful, the gods will be one with the spirit, the valley will be profitable, all things will be born, and the prince will think that the world is righteous." (Chapter 39) "One" is the whole. Various celestial phenomena - sun, moon and stars, wind and rain and thunder, spring, summer, autumn and winter, form a sequenced whole. Recognizing this whole, human beings' understanding and mastery of heaven will be clear and clear; the earth will be vientiane - mountains and wilderness, grass, trees, flowers and fruits, lakes and ponds, animals, poultry, insects, lice, Duyi road, exotic groups formed into a sequence of wholes, everyone will live a quiet life; a wide variety of divination activities do not contradict each other, can jointly inspire people to cope with the current predicament, will make people feel wonderful; the earth, stones, water currents, grasses, trees, insects, animals in the deep valley into an interdependent, virtuous circle of the whole, It will be full of prosperity; all things will have their place, each will have its own nourishment, promote each other, coexist and prosper, and it will be full of vitality. In short, once constituted as a whole, each part is activated. The whole can stimulate the vitality of the local area and provide the running track for the local area. No matter how capable a person is, no matter how good a thing is, it cannot function alone, it must be incorporated into a holistic system. Even parts that have some kind of defect in themselves can play a good role once they enter a good whole.
"Too high, do not know what is; second, praise and praise; second, fear; second, insult." There is not enough faith, there is unbelief. Leisurely and expensive words. When the work is accomplished, the people say: 'I am natural'. (Chapter 17) The supreme ruler is to make the people unaware of his existence and to do things invisibly; secondly, to work day and night, to be benevolent and love things, to give favors, and to be praised by the people; secondly, to be harsh and selfless, and to be fearsome; and secondly to be faint, incompetent, lacking in virtue and lack of merit, and despised by the people. The ruler's credit is insufficient, and the people do not trust him. Among the above types of leaders, Lao Tzu paid the most attention to "Taishang". The "Taishang" style of leaders govern the country leisurely and do not bother to speak much, and the completion of their deeds is done by the people. The people are not specifically instructed and led by the ruler, but an invisible life force activates their self-consciousness and makes them feel that they should do it.
"Good deeds have no traces, and good words are flawless; good numbers do not need to be planned; good deeds are irrelevant and cannot be opened, and good knots are unsolvable without rope." It is that the saints are always good at saving people, so they do not abandon people; and often good at saving things, so there is no abandonment. It is a predicate. Therefore, the good man is the teacher of the bad man; the bad man, the good man's asset. Not expensive to his teacher, not to love his resources, although the wisdom is great, it is said to be wonderful. (Chapter 27) Here again the life force is depicted. Those who are good at driving a car have no wheels, those who are good at talking do not leak, those who are good at calculating do not use calculation tools, those who are good at locking the door do not use latches and others cannot open them, and those who are good at binding do not use ropes and do not buckle others cannot be untied. In fact, the saints still want tangible things such as door locks and ropes. It only emphasizes the use of invisible life force to activate these tangible things. How do I activate it? "Save people", "save things". Save them, so that they may use them and make the most of their talents, so that there will be no discarded people in the world, no discarded things. This is called long-term wisdom. For example, when dealing with the two kinds of people mentioned by Lao Tzu, those who are good with people are the guides of those who are not good to people; those who are not good with people are the means of realizing their own value with those who are good. The transformation of those who are not good with others into good people by transforming them into good people; the transformation of those who are not good with people into good people embodies the goodness of those who are good with others. Mutual achievement between the good and the bad is indispensable. The Tao is hidden in their respective roles. If you ignore any of them, even the most intelligent person is confused. This is the secret of the Tao.
What is the "Tao", many people interpret the "Tao" as a law, a law, which is a big mistake. From the description of the "Tao", we realize that "the Tao" is the vitality.
<h1>The Tao is the most powerful life force. </h1>
The Tao has the ability to self-renew, is the most primitive driving force within, does not solidify and rigid, borrows infinite power, and is the greatest tolerance.
The Tao is the life force, and it is the most powerful life force. Why?
First, the Tao has the ability to renew itself.
The salient point of this ability lies in the ego, that is, I myself deny myself and renew myself.
The "Tao" is first of all "mother", "yes, the mother of all things" (Chapter 1). Everything between heaven and earth is born out of the mother body of the Tao. "Ceres does not die, it is called Xuanmu." The Gate of Xuanmu is the root of heaven and earth. (Chapter 6) The god of submissiveness does not die, she is a wonderful mother. The wonderful motherhood is the doorway that gives life to all things, so it is called the "root of heaven and earth". "I am different from others, and your mother." (Chapter 20) The solipsistic being different is that I focus on the "mother" of all things, and this "mother" is the "Tao." "There is a mixture of things, born of heaven and earth. Lonely, independent and unchanging, circumnavigating without dying, can be the mother of heaven and earth. I don't know its name, but the word strong is known as the Tao, and the name of the strong word is great. (Chapter 25) There is a mixture of all things, born before the heavens and the earth. It is silent and silhouetted, independent and unchanging, and the cycle is endless, and it can become the "mother" of heaven and earth. I don't know how to call it, barely calling it "Tao" and "great" to describe it. "The world has a beginning, thinking that the world is the mother." He who has his mother, in order to know his son, and to keep his mother, is not dead. (Chapter 52) Everything under heaven has a beginning, and this beginning is the root of everything under the heavens," the "mother." By attaining the root of everything, one can know everything well; by keeping the root of every thing, every thing will be free of danger for life. The "mother" at this level of "Tao" is never dead, so it is called "Ceres does not die".
The Tao is not only "mother", but also "baby": "chaotic, like a baby's unborn" (Chapter 20) I am in a state of ignorance, such as a baby at birth can not be amused. "Know its males, guard its females, and be the stream of the world." For the world's creek, Changde is inseparable, returned to the baby. (Chapter 28) In the face of the mighty I shall hold on to the small, like a small stream. The turbulent rivers originate from small streams, and with an endless stream, the vitality of the rivers - "virtue" will not be lost. Guarding the stream is equivalent to guarding the source of human life - infants, and the foundation of life force in infancy is well laid, and the body is strong in the adult stage. "The thickness of virtue is greater than that of a naked child." (Chapter 55) People who have deep "virtue" (full of vitality) are like newborn babies. "Can you be as soft as a baby?" (Chapter 10) Can pinching and rolling its own form make it flexible and vibrant like a newborn baby? On the surface, babies look empty and have nothing. In fact, small babies are like flowers with buds, rich in connotation and unlimited potential. The world that is hidden and not released is the beginning. Not a twilight whose potential has been unleashed. "The Word... Therefore there is always nothing, and I want to see its wonders; and I always have it, and I want to see it. The two are the same name and the same name, the same name is xuan. Mysterious and mysterious, the door of all wonders. (Chapter 1) "Nothing" is not nothing, but that the vitality is not manifested, so it is called "wonderful"; "have" means that there are clues and signs, so it is called "徼". The little baby is in such a contradictory state of both existence and non-existence. "Blind to sight, the name is yi; the hearing is not heard, the name is known as Xi; the fight cannot be fought, and the name is known as micro." These three cannot be cross-examined, so they are mixed into one. There is no dawn on it, and there is no ambiguity below it. The rope is indescribable and returned
thing. It is the formlessness, the image of nothingness, the trance. (Chapter 14) The future of the little baby is the "trance" of "seeing nothing", "hearing nothing", "beating", and "formless, nothing", and nothing can be asked without asking the future of the little baby to the root.
Although the "mother" has a strong vitality, if we only understand the "Tao" as "mother", we still do not really understand the strength of its vitality. "Baby" is the rising sun of the east, full of vitality. But if we only understand the "Tao" as "baby," we still don't really appreciate the strength of its vitality. The reason why the Tao is the most powerful life force is that it is both a "mother" and a "baby." That is to say, the Tao is both the producer and the generated. The Tao produces itself, develops itself, and has the ability to renew itself. The first chapter of the Tao Te Ching: "Nothing, the beginning of the heavens and the earth; there is, the mother of all things." "Beginning" refers to the beginning, which is the infant stage; "mother" is the foundation, the source of life. Therefore, the Tao Te Ching shows at the beginning that the originator and the produced are originally one. Self-renewal focuses on the self, Lao Tzu said: "Those who know others are wise, and those who know themselves are clear." The winner is strong, and the self-victor is strong. (Chapter 33) "Self-knowledge" and "self-victory" means treating oneself as an opponent, and the strength of the life force of the "Tao" lies first and foremost in this.
Second, the Tao is the most primal driving force within.
Some believe that the life force of "God", "Allah", "Buddha", and other supreme gods is the most powerful, because they are the most primitive driving force of the universe, and there is no need to ask what more primitive and deeper dynamics are there before or behind them. The same is true of the Tao. "The thickness of virtue is greater than that of a naked child." Poisonous insects do not sting, beasts of prey do not base, and birds do not fight. Weak bones and tendons are soft and firm. The combination of unknown mu and oysters is made, and the essence is also refined. The day-to-day number is not snorted, and the peace is also. (Chapter 55) "Virtue" is the life force. People with "morality" thickness are like newborn babies, with soft bones and muscles but not stiffness; their calves are kicked and their fists are clenched and beaten. Why? It is not due to poisonous insect stings, beast bites, and raptor fighting, its original disposition is so; the small genitalia are protruding and erect, not because of the influence of the opposite sex, and their nature is so; these are the outstanding manifestations of their own vitality and vigorous spurt stimulation, so it is called "fine to the end". We adults cry for a reason, because of wealth, because of honor, because of emotion, and everyone who cries for something will cry dumb. The little baby cries all day long but the voice is not hoarse, "harmony to the end", that is, the vitality is soft, which is also a manifestation of strong vitality. Lao Tzu said that the vitality of the little baby is strong because the baby's actions are derived from the original driving force of why.
The ancient Greek sage Zeno said that everything is static (he proposed propositions such as "flying arrows do not move"), which was aimed at the philosophical level. Zeno found a friend who opposed his views as a defense friend, and went out of his way to argue that the world was immovable, and his mouth was dry, but the defense friend did not squeak, but just paced back and forth. Zeno asked the defense partner strangely why he didn't refute it? The defense friend replied that he had been refuting it, and the fact that he paced back and forth was itself a rebuttal. This rebuttal of the apologists is shallow. Is Zeno so low that he can't see everything in motion? Zeno is talking about philosophy here, and he is arguing for the stillness of the world from a philosophical level. His apologists should also rise to the philosophical level to argue that the world is moving, and should not be content with merely perceptual facts. In the same way, the vitality of a small baby is also from a philosophical level, and cannot be understood from the physical, chemical, and biological points of view.
"I am good to the good, and I am good to the unkind, and I am good to be good." I believe what I believe, and I believe in those who do not believe. "(Chapter Forty-Nine) I treat those who are good to others, and I treat those who are not good to others, because it is my virtue to be kind to others; I speak of credit to those who speak of credit, and I speak of credit to those who do not speak of credit, because it is my virtue to speak of credit. I do good deeds and talk about credit for nothing, it is my life force, and this moral force is extremely powerful as an internal driving force.
In the universe, the greatest driving force for the development of things is the internal driving force that comes from things themselves. Oxford University has a saying: "The tutor sprays smoke on the student until the flame in the student's heart is lit." (This "tinder" and "flame" are the internal driving force of students) In the past, there was a student in the Physics Department of Fudan University who read sloppily, but the glass was polished very well, and the teacher gave full play to his strengths and encouraged him, and did not restrict him. After graduating, this student participated in the grinding of the most advanced astronomical telescope in our country, and the fire in his head was ignited. No one is all-rounder, but everyone has talent, and "the task of the school is to give full play to the genius of students" ("On the Difference between Chinese and Foreign Higher Education", "Teaching Bulletin", No. 22 [Total No. 332] August 1, 2003, edited by the Academic Affairs Office of the University of Science and Technology of China). In addition, some of the partial talents admitted to Peking University that year, such as Luo Jialun, president of National Tsinghua University, and Zhang Yunhe, a talented woman in Hefei, scored zero in mathematics in the college entrance examination; one of the masters of traditional Chinese studies who in the world rarely integrated Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism culture, Ye Man, who wrote essays while crying with true feelings in the college entrance examination, failed to pass the test scores of other subjects; Academician Fu Xianzhi, a well-known expert in the field of international photocatalysis, did not reach the standards of Peking University in the college entrance examination. The greatest motivation for their success comes from their own internal drive. The "Tao" that Lao Tzu called is precisely the life force of the internal driving force of a thing, so it is the most powerful life force.
Third, the Tao does not solidify and rigidize.
"The heavens and the earth are not kind, and all things are dogs; the saints are not kind, and the people are dogs." Between heaven and earth, what is its defiance? Void and unyielding, moving and healing. It is better to be poor than to keep the middle. (Chapter 5) The "sword dog" is the sacrifice of horses, cattle and sheep made of grass. The sacrificial deities must constantly update the horses, cattle and sheep sacrifices made of grass to ensure that the offerings are fresh and the gods are happy. Throwing away the sacrifice when it is used up is like crossing a river and demolishing a bridge, which is not in line with the world's "benevolence", so it is called "unkind". The operation of heaven and earth also needs to be realized with the help of concrete things, and all things play the role of "sword dog". The Tao is like this, and every concrete thing it relies on has a short period of time and is replaced by a new wave at any time. The Tao is the realization of one's own existence in the constant abandonment of concrete things. The same is true of the saints who govern the people. Some of the governance measures were reasonable at the time and brought benefits to the people, but then the situation changed and new measures needed to be replaced. But some short-sighted people can't think straight and don't want to change. In order to achieve greater and more fundamental love for the people, the saints must sacrifice the immediate interests of some people, which is an unkindness to some people. Between heaven and earth is like a large bellows, the gas is constantly renewed, nothing remains, but it has the ability to contain countless gases.
The first chapter of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching says that the Tao is both "nothing" and "being." "Nothing, the beginning of the famous heaven and earth" means that the past is over and a new process has begun. "Therefore, there is always nothing, and I want to see the magic of it", "nothing" has "wonderful", "wonderful" person, there is a promising but uncertain meaning, so "nothing" means that things will not solidify. "There is always, and I want to see it." "徼", signs also, signs also. "Being" is not a fixed thing, but the beginning of the process of things, which contains the future of development. I don't know what the future will look like, but it will certainly be colorful. In short, whether it is "have" or "none", it contains the meaning of change and non-residence. "Depression is profitable", constantly sinking down will continue to have new things to enrich; "we are new" (chapter 22), breaking off the old can grow new; "Great Surplus" (Chapter 45), a vessel that can leak out can contain infinite things. "The movement of the opposite way; the use of the weak way." All things under the heavens are born of being, and some are born of nothing. (Chapter 40) The movement of the Tao is to constantly negate the old; the function of the Tao is realized in flexibility; the tangible is always activated by the invisible. In short, these depictions and descriptions of the "Tao" are meant to show that the "Tao" is alive and never solidified, so the "Tao" is the most powerful vitality.
Fourth, the Tao borrows infinite power.
"For the sake of learning day by day, for the sake of the Tao day by day." Loss and loss, so that nothing can be done. Do nothing and do nothing. (Chapter Forty-Eight) "To learn" is to learn the knowledge to conquer and transform the world, gain ability, and use your own ability to conquer and transform the world. "For the Tao" is to borrow the elements of the world and reduce the use of the main body's power until one does not use one's own power ("doing nothing"). To govern the world, we must borrow the elements of the world and forcibly promote our will to the world, and we will not govern well. Lao Tzu went on to say, "It is often not enough to take the world by taking over the world with nothing, and because of its things." (Chapter 48) Lao Tzu also said, "He who is good at being a soldier is not a warrior; he who is good at fighting is not angry; he who is good at defeating the enemy is not with him; he who is good at using people is inferior." It is said to be an indisputable virtue, it is to use human strength, and it is to match the heavens and the ancients. (Chapter Sixty-Eight) A good samurai does not need to dance swords and guns; those who are good at fighting do not need to show off their might; those who can win do not engage the enemy directly; those who are good at using people are humble. All of the above is a truth - to adhere to the indisputable character. Not arguing is not really not arguing, but borrowing the strength and struggle of the other party, and not using their own strength to fight with the other party. The "use of human power" mentioned here is to use force to fight. Mr. Cheng Jincai, a Chinese-American, wrote an article on the principle of self-denial in Taijiquan's "four or two strokes of a thousand pounds": "The song recipe of tai chi chuan says, 'Squeezing and squeezing must be serious, it is difficult to go up and down with others, let huge forces come to beat me, lead four or two strokes of a thousand pounds, introduce the empty and squeeze out, stick and stick without losing the top, 'When fighting with each other, according to the requirements of the taijiquan song recipe, do not top and do not lose, the introduction of failure, this is the principle of using self-denial. Fighting with people is not to use clumsy force to confront each other, I guard my territory, do not lose the center of gravity, first of all, do not lean forward and backward, stabilize their own center, completely control the direction of the other party's coming, listen to the size of the other party's strength, and accurately pick up the focus of the other party's strength. Not humble, calm, bending and stretching, not losing, going along with the trend, turning its strength, introducing the void, giving up their own resistance, obeying the other party's strength direction route, so that the other party's strength is exhausted, and we will then take advantage of the trend to knock the other party down. For example: the other party hits me with a strong force, I sacrifice myself and obey others, not only do not fight back with force, but do not fight with the other party, I do not suffer from the force, but go with the momentum of the other party, to the direction of the other party's strong forward direction, increase the forward momentum of the direction, there is no reason not to fall. Just like Chen Zhaopi (a master of the Chen Taijiquan generation) said, 'Gain the opportunity to gain momentum, when you don't give in, raise your hand without mercy', although the other party weighs a thousand pounds, as long as you sacrifice yourself from others, the strength of four or two will be pulled, and the allocation will fall, which is also reflected from the self-denial from others, with small victory over the big, with the weak victory over the strong, with slow victory over the fast 'four or two thousand pounds' of the wonderful use. ("On the "Four Two Strokes and Thousand Pounds" of Taijiquan", Journal of Handan University, No. 3, 2009, p. 24) The saying of "four or two strokes of a thousand pounds" in Taijiquan is an excellent metaphor for Lao Tzu's philosophy of "using human power".
Embodied in the governance of the country and the security of the state, Lao Tzu said: "Look at the body with the body, look at the family with the family, look at the hometown with the hometown, look at the country with the country, and look at the world with the world." "(Chapter Fifty-Four) That is, to use the power of the individual to manage the individual, to borrow the power of the family to manage the family, to borrow the power of the one township to manage the one township, to borrow the power of the princely states to manage the princely states, and to use the power of the world to manage the world." Therefore, those who are engaged in the Tao are the same as the Tao; those who are virtuous are the same as those who are virtuous; those who lose are the same as those who lose. He who is the same as the Tao is also happy to gain; he who is the same as the virtuous is also happy to gain; the same with the losers, the lost are also happy to gain. (Chapter 23) The "Tao" here refers to the macroscopic level, and "the same as the Tao" means that when engaging in macroscopic work, it borrows macroscopic elements; "virtue" refers to micro-elements; "de" refers to borrowing microscopic elements when engaging in microscopic work; "loss" refers to elimination; "same as loss" means that the elements of things that are eliminated are borrowed from the work of elimination. Some versions of the Tao Te Ching read: "To assist the nature of all things, but not to dare to do so." "That is, to borrow the elements of all things themselves, and not to do what they can (chapter 64)." The saint has no heart, but the heart of the people. (Chapter 49) The saints governed the people without their own ability, but only borrowed the elements of the people themselves, so Lao Tzu said, "I do nothing, but the people are self-sufficient; I am quiet, and the people are self-righteous; I have nothing to do, and the people are rich; I have no desire, and the people are simple." (Chapter 57)
Treating insects with insects in agricultural production is also a kind of borrowing power. Shen Kuo's Mengxi Pen Talk, volume 24, says: "In Yuanfengzhong, Gyeongju gave birth to a child, Fang Worm, and Fang was the victim of Akita. Suddenly, a worm is born, such as a dog scorpion in the soil, and its beak has pincers and is thousands of hidden. In the case of the child square worm, it is beaten with pincers, which are divided into two sections. On the tenth day, the children are exhausted. Years to the big. It is the old one, and the natives say that it is unwilling. During the reign of Emperor Yuanfeng of the Song Dynasty (1078-1085), the Gyeongju region (present-day chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, south of Lindong Town, BalinZuoqi), gave birth to "sub-square worms" (armyworms that harm grain and pasture, also known as shaving insects and marching insects), which were about to endanger the crops in the autumn fields. Suddenly, an insect appeared, looking like a "dog scorpion" (a salamander, commonly known as a splint, splint worm, scissor worm) in the dirt, with pincers on its mouth, thousands of them, everywhere; when they encountered sub-square insects, they fought with the sub-square insects with the pincers on their mouths, and the sub-square insects were all bitten into two pieces. Ten days later, all the sub-fang insects were killed, and Nian Cheng received a great harvest because of this. This insect has existed in the past, and the locals call it "Unwilling" (Four Series • Continuation • Sub-Section, Book-to-Text Digital Technology Co., Ltd., CD-ROM Edition, February 1998). Biological control of insects is now common. Spiders are important natural enemies of pests. There are many kinds of agricultural and forestry spiders, there are about 280 species of rice field spiders in China, more than 150 species of cotton field and orange garden spiders, 190 species of tea garden spiders, more than 140 species of forest spiders, more than 120 species of grassland spiders, and more than 70 species of vegetable field spiders. The species of spiders and the number of predatory pests are among the natural enemies of pests. If pesticides are used less, the spiders in each mu of rice field can reach 80,000 to 100,000, and they can prey on 60% to 92% of the pests. In 1984, Hunan Province promoted rice protection and spider control of more than 17 million mu, which not only saved pesticides and control labor, but also greatly reduced the loss of insect pests, with a total economic benefit of about 700 million yuan. At the same time, the rice produced has no pesticide residues and has become a "green food". This corresponds to Lao Tzu's words: "He who is good as a soldier is not a warrior; he who is good at fighting is not angry; he who is good at defeating the enemy is not with him." (Chapter 68)
Fifth, the greatest tolerance.
The "Tao" has the largest and all-encompassing mind. "The whole world calls me a great Way, and it seems that I am not good." The husband is only big, so it seems to be not shawl. Ruo Xiao, Jiu Yi Qi Xiao Ye Fu! (Chapter Sixty-Seven) The whole world says that the "Tao" I walk is huge, and it doesn't seem like anything. It is because it is too big that everything in the world is smaller than the Tao, so it does not seem like anything. If we have to make the Tao like something, such as like a mountain, like the sea, like the sun, like the sky, whatever it is like, is always limited. It is the same for people chasing fame and fortune, no matter how high their status is, no matter how much wealth and income, they will still be dissatisfied after a long time. If we have to say that the "Tao" is like something, no matter how big the thing it is like, it will eventually reduce the "Tao" to smallness. The "greatness" of the "Tao" is not the simplistic size of space, but the greatness of philosophy. The great connotations of its philosophy include: a, vague and not calculated, small when calculated, and those who become big things are often confused when they encounter small things. "The Word is a thing, but a trance." (Chapter 21) "There is a mixture of things, born of heaven and earth." (Chapter 25) The nature of the "Tao" is to mix all things, trance without distinction between others and others. b, the benefit of all things without dispute. Mothers do not compete with their daughters for beauty, fathers do not compete with sons for high power, and God does not compete with all things. The beauty of the daughter is given by the mother, the skill of the son is given by the father, and the strength of all things is given by God. "Good is like water. Water is good for all things without dispute. "(Chapter VIII) The high level of goodness is only good for all things, not for all things." The Tao gives birth to one, one to two, two to three, and three to all things. (Chapter 42) The "Tao" benefits all things by injecting vitality into and activating them, opposing unipolarization and pursuing coexistence and common prosperity. "The whole world knows that beauty is beautiful, and evil is already evil." Everyone knows that what is good is good, and what is not good is good. (Chapter 2) The whole world thinks that something is beautiful, and as a result, it is forgotten that this beautiful thing cannot be separated from the ugly thing. Without foil, beauty will not become beautiful. The same is true of goodness, without the support of the unwholesome, the good cannot become the good. Therefore, "there is no phase, difficult and easy to form, long and short, high and low, sound and sound, back and forth." The world cannot focus only on one side of the contradiction and ignore the other. To accommodate all aspects of the contradiction, it cannot be unipolarized. "The saints are always good at saving people, so they do not abandon people; and they are always good at saving things, so they have no discarded things." It is a predicate. Therefore, the good man is the teacher of the bad man; the bad man, the good man's asset. Not expensive to his teachers, not to love his resources, although the wisdom of the great fans.... (Chapter 27) The saints save all men and do not let a single person be abandoned; save all things, and do not let a single thing be abandoned. Both "good" and "bad" should be accommodated by the Tao.
In short, Lao Tzu's pursuit is to embrace all things, not to fight each other. Lao Tzu's idea later evolved into the Confucian "moderation"—win-win. The Zhongyong says: "All things breed together without harming each other, the Tao parallels without contradicting each other, the little Tokugawa flows, the great Detunhua, the reason why this heaven and earth are great." (Chapter 30) All things grow together, and they do not harm each other, each goes its own way, and does not collide with each other. The complex and concrete microscopic things are like countless small rivers flowing, and the macroscopic laws merge with the great rivers and rivers, and the waves are turbulent. The great prosperity of heaven and earth lies in the fact that all things survive, develop, coexist and prosper with each other.
The above understanding of Lao Tzu's "Tao" no longer understands Lao Tzu's thought as negative, concessionary, and retrogressive. Lao Tzu used his wisdom to see that there is a "Tao" everywhere in the universe, that is, there is life force everywhere, and this life force is the most powerful. What our descendants should seek by studying the Tao Te Ching is how to stimulate the vitality of things. Human beings and the natural world stimulate each other's vitality, groups stimulate each other's vitality, up and down each other's vitality, and different nationalities, cultures, and religions can also stimulate each other's vitality.
Originally published in Guangming Daily