Read the first chapter of the Ten Thousand Sutras, the Tao Te Ching, the Way of Enlightenment

Original text: Not to be virtuous, so that the people do not quarrel, not expensive and rare goods, so that the people are not thieves, do not see what is desired, so that the heart is not chaotic. It is the rule of the saints, the heart of the humble, the belly of the truth, the weak of the will, the strength of the bones. It always makes the people ignorant and desireless, and makes the wise dare not do anything. If there is no action, there is no cure.

Translation: Do not respect the meritocracy, so that the people do not compete for fame and fortune. Do not value the rare, so that the people do not want to be thieves. Do not reveal the objects that give rise to greed, so that the people's hearts will not be disturbed. Therefore, a virtuous monarch ruling the world will make people quiet in their hearts, satisfy the people's food and clothing, weaken their will, and enhance their physique. Leave the people in a state of ignorance and desirelessness, without prejudice and greed. In this way, the so-called wise men who are clever do not dare to cause trouble. If a righteous monarch handles the affairs of the state in a state of "inaction", then the world can be governed.

Learning experience: There are two points that are easy to cause misunderstanding in this chapter, one is the understanding of "sage"; the other is the sentence "often makes the people ignorant and desireless", which will make people think that Lao Tzu has the intention of fooling the people.

First, let's start with Lao Tzu's understanding of the so-called "sages." Sage, here to be a virtuous person, refers to a person who is famous and talented, who is highly valued by the monarch and admired by the people. In the Spring and Autumn Period in which Lao Tzu lived, the Ida system gradually disintegrated, society began to be turbulent, and all princely states vigorously recruited talents in order to claim hegemony, and the "sages of scholars" at that time, that is, people with talents and abilities, were generally valued. And these so-called "magis" brought greater turmoil to society, aggravated social contradictions, and at the same time, because these "magis" brought themselves status and goods by participating in the disputes of the princely states, which triggered the envy of ordinary people, in order to meet the "standards" of the so-called "sages", various dog blood dramas appeared.

Therefore, Lao Tzu pointed out that "not being virtuous" is the basis for restoring society to normalcy. Lao Tzu believed that the use of meritocracy was a good thing, but it would cause the people to pursue fame and fortune, and then disturb the natural nature of man, so he advocated that he was not virtuous and did not specifically give the virtuous person a special position of power, so that people could weaken their desire to compete for fame and fortune.

It is also of great significance in today's society. For example, the university evaluates professors, which is the selection of "sages". If you want to be rated as a professor, you must meet what kind of standards. Because being rated as a professor will increase salary, improve social status, and have more opportunities to pursue fame and fortune, in order to meet the evaluation standards, some people will make fake papers, will go to gangs, and all kinds of opportunistic things will emerge endlessly. Those who do learning honestly lose the opportunity to improve through the proper means. Honest people lose opportunities, and maybe we lose a good scholar.

Looking at the second point, the phrase "always makes the people ignorant and desireless" that makes people more misunderstood about Lao Tzu is considered by many to be Lao Tzu's foolish thinking. In fact, it is not, and it is necessary to read it in conjunction with the full text of the Tao Te Ching in order to better understand this sentence. Lao Tzu advocated quiet inaction and conformed to the way of nature, "ignorance" of "knowing" refers to knowledge that violates heavenly reason, and "desire" of "desirelessness" refers to desire that violates heavenly reason. The people do not know that there are still things that violate heavenly reason, and there is no desire to go beyond heavenly reason, so as to conform to the nature of nature, and everything develops in accordance with the laws of nature and social law, and the rule of "great shun" will be achieved.

This also has positive implications in real society. If a person does not have "evil" thoughts in his mind, he will not do "evil", then social order will be clear, a person does not have "desires" beyond the needs of nature, then the mind will be quiet and peaceful, and perhaps depression will be less.

Postscript: I am also a backward, improper, please correct.

(The picture is quoted from the Internet, and the infringement must be deleted)