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In this chapter, Lao Tzu is still discussing the connotation of "Tao". He believes that the Tao is imaginary, formless and formless, and people cannot see or touch it, and can only rely on consciousness to perceive it. Although the Tao is imaginary, it is not nothing, but contains the creative elements of the material world. This kind of factor is extremely abundant and extremely ancient, and existed before the birth of the Heavenly Emperor. Therefore, it was the Tao that created the universe, the heavens, and the earth, and the natural world, not the Emperor of Heaven. In this way, Lao Tzu once again explained the properties of "Tao" from the material aspect.

Continuing the content of the first chapter "formless", Lao Tzu praised the "Tao" although it is invisible, but it is not empty, from the perspective of "horizontal", "Tao" is infinitely broad and inexhaustible, and then from the perspective of "vertical", "Tao" is infinitely far-reaching, it cannot be traced back to its origin, it seems to be the ancestor of all things in nature, and it seems to be the ancestor of the Emperor of Heaven (God). From then on, it is not God (the Emperor of Heaven) who created things, but the "Tao" who gave birth to God (the Emperor of Heaven) and succeeded all things. The role of the Tao is the supreme lord of the universe.

In this chapter, Lao Tzu uses descriptions and metaphors to describe the Tao in detail. Originally, Lao Tzu thought that "Dao" could not be named, but in fact, "Dao Ke Dao, Extraordinary Dao" is a kind of writing of "Dao", and here he goes on to describe the image of "Dao".

Lao Tzu said that the Tao is empty and formless, but the role it can play is limitless, endless and never exhausted. It is the suzerain of all things, ruling over all things, and is the force on which the existence, development, and change of the universe and heaven and earth must depend. Here, Lao Tzu asks himself, "Where did the Tao come from?" He did not give a positive answer, but said that it existed before the appearance of the Emperor of Heaven. Since before the birth of the Heavenly Emperor, the Heavenly Emperor was undoubtedly produced by the "Dao". From this, researchers have concluded that Lao Tzu did indeed put forward the idea of atheism.

Some scholars have compared Lao Tzu's "Tao" with the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus's "Logos", believing that the connotations of these two categories are very close. Heraclitus's "Logos" is an eternal being, and everything comes into being from "Logos". But it is not created by any god or anyone, but the seed that created the world, an "ether" object. "Logos" exists in nature and human society all the time and everywhere, but people cannot feel its existence, but its existence is real. Lao Tzu's "Tao" also has these attributes and functions of "Rhogos", and the image of the two is very similar.

In the first four chapters, Lao Tzu focused on the idea that "Tao" is the origin of the universe and existed before the Emperor of Heaven, and that all things exist in contradiction and are in the process of changing and developing. In addition, Lao Tzu also put forward some basic views of his own society, politics and life life. These doctrines are full of wisdom.

[Interpretation] of the debauchery of the mind

The metaphor of "Tao" as a vessel of emptiness in the belly is the most intuitive and vivid metaphor for its mysteriousness, untouchability and infinite effect. The revelation of philosophy, only rooted in the image, will make the richness, generalization, abstraction and extension of the contained can be dynamic and imaginative, Lao Tzu's unconventional way of describing the Tao gave the later Taoist figures a precursor and enlightening meaning to the free and debauched thoughts and behaviors.

The most thought-provoking example is the profound philosophical play and the extremely exaggerated influence of the artistic imagination in Zhuangzi's works. "Zhuangzi De Chong Fu" writes about several extremely ugly people who have attained enlightenment, such as Shushan who has no toes with broken feet, Urn Da Gall with tumors, and Fragmented crotch who is hunched over and has no lips, and so on. But such a person is pleasing to the king, the men are happy to get along, and the women even compete to marry each other. The reason for this is because these people are naturally enlightened, and their appearance is virtuous, and their inner moral beauty is better than their external ugliness. In the Zhuangzi, there are many passages like this that use debauchery and strange examples to illustrate the truth. He said that the ghost and Xi Shi "are one", and that the emperor of the central government was artificially carved out of the "seven orifices" and lost his life, and so on, all of which reflect this characteristic.

This unconventional way of thinking also has a direct inheritance relationship with the free play of metaphysics in the later Wei and Jin dynasties. Under the brutal political pressure, metaphysics takes the shackles of secular etiquette and religion as its purpose, advocating the emancipation of human nature and subordination to nature. Liu Ling, known as the Seven Sages of Fu Lin, pretended to be drunk and debauched. Once, he was drunk and stripped naked in the house. Some people laughed at him for this, but Liu Ling replied: "I regard heaven and earth as houses, and houses as clothes, why did you come into my pants?" Lao Tzu said: "Man is the law of heaven, heaven is the way, and the Tao is natural." "Taoism advocates the harmony of the relationship between man and nature, and pursues the highest state of personal lifestyle, thought, morality and code of conduct in harmony with Tao, nature, heaven and earth. Liu Ling's shocking words and deeds are precisely the rejection of the secular and the religion, and it is a practice of integrating his spirit and body into the vast and profound embrace of nature.

"The more famous teach and let nature be", this is the famous saying of Wei and Jin celebrities. The disdain for realistic etiquette and the pursuit of natural nature make them so dissolute in their minds and uninhibited in character that they always seem so bizarre and grotesque and out of place in the eyes of the world. Ji Kang, who had to play a song "Guangling San" before his execution, was a dissolute thinker who dared to doubt and criticize. He even gave a new evaluation to Uncle Guan and Uncle Cai, who had always been regarded as "rebellious", thinking that they were "not unvirtuous" and just "did not reach the holy power"; not only that, but he was also lawless. In all these ways, he has shown an independent and uninhibited personality spirit, which is still admired after thousands of years.

The content of this chapter mainly includes two meanings: first, Lao Tzu once again expressed his atheistic ideological tendency, rejecting the view of personifying heaven and earth that existed in the ideological circles at that time. He believes that heaven and earth are natural beings, without reason and emotion, and their existence will not have any effect on everything in nature, because all things change and develop according to their own natural laws between heaven and earth, and are not affected by heaven, gods, and man. Second, Lao Tzu talked about the social and political thought of "non-action", which is a further development of the content of the first four chapters. He believed that as a saint, the ideal ruler should follow the laws of nature, adopt the rule of inaction, and leave the common people to their own self-reliance and multiply, without intervening in the attitude and measures.

This chapter is also a continuation of the previous chapter's further discussion of "Dao Chong". Here, "humanity" is deduced from "heaven", and "society" is deduced from "nature", and the core idea is to explain the benefits of quiet and inaction.

This chapter uses specific metaphors to illustrate how to understand nature and treat nature correctly, and argues that heaven and earth belong to nature, and society should conform to nature and remain quiet.

This chapter starts from the perspective of opposing "doing", and Lao Tzu is still talking about the principle of "doing nothing". The unkindness of heaven and earth shows that heaven and earth are a physical and natural existence, and do not have the same rationality and feelings as human beings; all things operate according to the laws of nature between heaven and earth, and it is not as theists imagine that the natural laws of heaven and earth favor or dislike something, but in fact this is only a projection of human feelings. This view shows Lao Tzu's atheistic thought against ghosts and gods, and it is a progressive thought worthy of attention. Extrapolating from "non-action", atheism is a logical and inevitable consequence. He believes that heaven and earth are inactive, and that everything in nature only needs to grow and change according to the laws of development in nature, and does not need any ruler to come to nature to order and arrange.

Lao Tzu explained this problem through two things in life. One is a dog made of grass that people use in rituals, and they use it when they pray, and when they are finished, they throw it away. In the same way, the saint has no preference and takes the law from the pure nature of heaven and earth. That is, the ruler of the Holy Wisdom should not be kind to the common people, but should treat each other equally, and let them arrange their work and rest according to their own needs. The second is the use of the bellows, as long as you pull the air can be blown out, and it will not be exhausted. Between heaven and earth is like a bellows, empty and not exhausted, and the more the wind is stirred, the more the wind is stirred.

The problem that Lao Tzu wants to illustrate through these two metaphors is: "It is better to keep the middle than to talk too much." Burdensome government decrees will only hasten its demise, so it is better to remain in a state of silence. What we are talking about here is not the way of righteousness, but the quietness. Confucianism talks about neutrality, moderation, and impartiality, and the "middle" that Lao Tzu talked about also contains the meaning of "innumerable". That is, to use a lot of coercive rhetoric and decrees to force the people, it will soon be defeated, it is better to act according to the laws of nature, be silent and inactive, and all things can be biologically inexhaustible. There will never be good results, this is the warning given by Lao Tzu at the end of this chapter.

In short, the main purpose of this chapter is still to promote "virtual use", which is connected with the previous two chapters, and is still promoting "non-action", and the method used is still from heaven to humanity, from nature to society.

[Interpretation] a new discovery of "heaven".

He does not speak of kindness, does not make trouble, and allows things to fend for themselves. This is the general principle of "rule by non-action" put forward by Lao Tzu on the basis of his understanding of the objective materialism of the natural world.

"Heaven" is one of the earliest categories in the history of Chinese philosophy.

The ancients were accustomed to regard heaven as the master of the world, and often gave heaven personality and religious connotations, and most of the pre-Qin princes inherited this traditional view of the mandate of heaven. The establishment of the Xia Dynasty, due to the existence of a unified absolute monarchy, was reflected in religion, and the chief of the gods appeared above the many gods, that is, God, also known as "heaven". From then on, "Heaven" was endowed with supreme divinity and became a god. This personified concept of the gods of heaven was further strengthened and enriched in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn period, the traditional theology of the Mandate of Heaven was not completely dismantled, and it was still the dominant ideology at that time. Confucius's understanding of "heaven" is contradictory, as far as the dominant aspect of his thought is concerned, he still adheres to the concept of heaven since the Yin and Zhou dynasties, affirms that heaven has a will, affirms the destiny of heaven, and advocates that "there is a life and death, and wealth is in heaven"; while Mozi put forward "heavenly will" and "heavenly will", preaching that heaven has a will, believing that heaven can reward good and punish evil, and has the spirit of "love"; Mencius even extended the way of heaven with the righteousness of human nature, saying that "the sincere are the way of heaven, and the sincere are the way of man." To this day, people often say that "the principles of heaven are intolerable", which shows how the traditional view of the destiny of heaven has a wide and far-reaching influence on our thinking methods.

Lao Tzu was a courageous critic with a sagacity and courage that many philosophers and scholars of his time and later did not possess. It was he who was the first to speak of the truth that heaven does not speak of mercy, and used philosophical reasoning to turn the principles of nature to the human world. In Lao Tzu's eyes, heaven does not carry any human moral and moral feelings, it has its own objective way of operation. Although Heaven does not speak of mercy, it is also unbiased and does not deliberately inflict violence on all things. And it breeds all things, gives the world vigorous vitality, human beings can multiply, and social civilization can prosper. Therefore, the "saint" should not be merciful to the people, but should govern society in the same way as nature works. If there are too many arguments and artificial intervention by the governors, all kinds of contradictions will intensify, not to mention that personal opinions are often one-sided or fallacious.

On the issue of "Heaven", Lao Tzu is different from Confucius's "Mandate of Heaven" and Mozi's "Celestial Will", believing that "Tao" is the foundation of all things in the universe. "Heaven" is generated by "Tao", it has no will, no likes and dislikes, and it is not a supernatural spiritual force. This is undoubtedly a kind of natural day. Lao Tzu's merit lies in the fact that he denied the heavenly gods with personality and restored and proposed the natural heavens. (To be continued.) )