Chapter 264: Landing

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There is a way in the world, but (1) the horse is dung (2), there is no way in the world, and the horse (3) was born in the suburbs (4). There is no greater misfortune than discontentment, and there is no greater blame than desire. Therefore contentment is always sufficient (5).

[Translation]

If it is in accordance with the "Tao" to govern the world, you can be at peace and return the horses to the fields for the farmers to cultivate. Governing the world is not in line with the "Tao", and even the pregnant mare must be sent to the battlefield to give birth to foals on the outskirts of the battlefield. The greatest evil is discontentment, and the greatest sin is the desire to gain. Those who know how far they should be satisfied will always be satisfied.

[Notes]

1. But: screen go, return.

2. Walk horses with dung: dung, plow, sow seeds. This sentence means to plough the fields with war horses.

3. Rong Horse: War Horse.

4. Born in effect: refers to the birth of a horse in the suburbs of the battlefield.

5. Therefore, the contentment is always sufficient: the satisfaction of knowing satisfaction is always satisfied.

[Quote]

This chapter mainly reflects Lao Tzu's anti-war thoughts. In the Spring and Autumn Period, wars of hegemony and annexation and plunder continued year after year, causing heavy disasters to social production and the lives of the people. In this regard, Lao Tzu made his position clear, he analyzed the causes of the war, and believed that the ruler was too greedy. The understandable solution to the problem was to demand contentment from the rulers, but he did not make a clear distinction between the nature of the wars, which included the annexation of power by slave owners and aristocrats, the overthrow of slave owners after the rise of the landlord class, and the resistance of the working people. Therefore, in this chapter, Lao Tzu expresses two problems, one is the root cause of war, and the other is that there is no distinction between wars.

[Commentary]

Mr. Zhang Songru wrote in the book "Lao Tzu School Reading": "The first four sentences of this chapter express anti-war thoughts. Lao Tzu's objection was, of course, the frequent wars of annexation and plunder between the various noble lords of the Spring and Autumn Period. Although it has been pointed out that, in terms of their mainstream, these wars also have a certain progressive tendency, they will inevitably bring about all kinds of misery, atrocities, and disasters for the people, especially for the broad masses of the working people engaged in agricultural production. This is conceivable. Isn't it natural for Lao Tzu to oppose these wars? By the way, someone once said that Lao Tzu was a soldier. Here, Lao Tzu believed that war was caused by the lack of contentment and greed of the feudal rulers, and that as long as they were content, satisfied with the status quo, and did not covet anything, there would be no war. 'Contentment is sufficient'. This is an idealistic view of history, and as for the proposal of 'few desires' and 'contentment', the insatiable desire of the feudal aristocratic lord group at that time is tantamount to a strong protest. (Lao Tzu School Reading, pp. 270~271)

Mr. Hu Jizhuang said: "The specific manifestation of low desire is 'contentment'. The Laozi school regards contentment as very important, believing that contentment can determine people's honor and disgrace, survival, and blessing and misfortune. …… Not only that, but they also regard contentment as a subjective criterion for distinguishing between rich and poor. If you are content, you can think of yourself as rich subjectively, even though you don't have much objective wealth, and 'those who are content are rich' and 'there is nothing more rich than contentment'. Therefore, the reason why 'contentment' is sufficient is that it is always sufficient, and constant contentment can certainly be regarded as wealth. On the other hand, although there is a lot of objective wealth, due to subjective discontentment and insatiable greed, it can cause great harm. From here, it can be seen that Lao Tzu's wealth is determined by subjective contentment and discontentment, that is, by 'desire or non-desire', so it has an idealistic color. But they attach great importance to the role of objective stimuli in generating desire. As they say, 'Pleasure and bait, passer-by'. Vulgarity and contentment are inseparable. There is no one who is not satisfied with few desires, nor is he who is content without few desires. Lao Tzu's proposal of lack of desire and contentment was a strong protest against the insatiable desires of the nobles in power at that time, but for ordinary people, holding this view will lead people to the path of passive retreat, and the development of the economic base will be hindered from ******** aspects. History of Chinese Economic Thought, p. 290)

The above arguments of Mr. Zhang Songru and Mr. Hu Jizhuang are pertinent. Because wars are often caused by the ambition of the aggressor, capturing cities, annexing neighboring countries, and harassing the people. This chapter warns those in power not to be insatiable and greedy, and to remember the precept of quiet inaction. This is indeed a matter of exhaustive consideration for the development of society and the stability of the people, and it is still worthy of recognition. There is a way in the world, but (1) the horse is dung (2), there is no way in the world, and the horse (3) was born in the suburbs (4). There is no greater misfortune than discontentment, and there is no greater blame than desire. Therefore contentment is always sufficient (5).