Chapter 342: Sexy

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The five colors1 make people blind2, the five tones3 make people deaf,4 the five flavors are refreshing,6 the galloping 7 hunting8 makes the heart mad,9 the rare goods make people do the trouble10, and the saint is the belly and not the eye11, so go to the other and take this12.

[Translation]

Colourful colours dazzle people, noisy tones make people lose their sense of hearing, sumptuous food makes their tongues tasteless, indulgent hunting makes people feel debauched and crazy, and rare objects make people behave badly. Therefore, the saint sought to have a full stomach and not to chase pleasures, so he abandoned the temptation of materialism and maintained a stable and contented lifestyle.

[Notes]

1. Five colors: refers to blue, yellow, red, white, and black. This refers to a variety of colors.

2. Blindness: The metaphor is dazzling.

3 five tones: refers to the palace, Shang, horn, sign, feather. This refers to a wide variety of musical sounds.

4. Deafness: The metaphor is not sensitive to hearing and cannot distinguish the five tones.

5 Five flavors: refers to sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty, here refers to a variety of deliciousness.

6. Mouth refreshment: It means that the sense of taste is out of order, and there is a mouth disease. In ancient times, "cool" was used as a special noun for oral diseases.

7 galloping: running vertically and horizontally, a metaphor for indulging in debauchery.

8 Hunting: Hunting to obtain animals. 畋, pronounced tian, means hunting.

9 The heart is mad: the heart is debauched and cannot be stopped.

10 Lines: Harm conduct. nuisance, nuisance, harm.

11 For the belly not for the goal: only for food, clothing and tranquility, not for the pleasure of indulging in sensuality. "Belly" here represents a simple and tranquil way of life, and "eye" represents a way of life that is ingenious and desired.

12 Take the other: Abandon the temptation of materialism and maintain a life of stability and contentment. "He" refers to a life "for the purpose";

[Quote]

For this chapter, it is generally believed that Lao Tzu was written against the greed and extravagance of slave owners and aristocrats, and it is also a serious warning. However, there are two very different opinions on the specific interpretation of this chapter. According to one opinion, Lao Tzu proceeded from his opposition to the decadent life of the ruling class and came to the general conclusion that he opposed all voices and sensuality and denied the development of culture. Those who hold this view believe that Lao Tzu's so-called "for the sake of the belly but not for the goal" is to oppose material life and spiritual civilization, and is a manifestation of his foolish thinking, that is, as long as people are given food and clothing, it is enough, which is a complete cultural negation. Another opinion is that the "five colors", "five sounds", "five flavors", the joy of hunting, and the rare goods mentioned by Lao Tzu are not all spiritual civilizations, so there is no problem of opposing material life and spiritual civilization, and these reflect the blinding, deafening, and maddening decadent culture of the corrupt life of slave owners and aristocrats, and the value of this culture is only equivalent to the pleasure of hunting and rare goods. Both of these opinions have their own truths, differences in understanding, and differences in scholars' values. However, the controversy here reminds us that while developing material civilization today, we should attach importance to the development of spiritual civilization and oppose spiritual corrosion caused by rampant materialism.

[Commentary]

Lao Tzu lived in an era when the old and new systems were alternating and the society was in turmoil, and the lives of slave owners and aristocrats were becoming more and more rotten and erosive. He witnessed the living conditions of the upper class, so he believed that the normal life of society should be for the "belly" and not for the "eyes", to do things inside and not to chase out the outside, but to seek comfort and content, not to indulge in sensual entertainment. Here, the decadent lifestyle of the slave owners and aristocrats that Lao Tzu opposes is not for ordinary working people, because the "five colors", "five flavors", "five sounds", hunting games, and precious items are not something that ordinary laborers can have, but are part of aristocratic life. Therefore, we believe that Lao Tzu's viewpoint is not to oppose spiritual civilization and material civilization, nor to deny the development of culture, unlike some scholars who believe that these views of Lao Tzu are his narrow and vulgar anti-historical views on the reality of human society and historical development. He hoped that people would have enough food and clothing, and establish an inner peaceful and tranquil lifestyle, rather than an outward and vulgar life. The more a person plunges into the vortex of externalization, the more he will linger, the more he will feel self-alienated, and the more empty his mind will become. Therefore, Lao Tzu reminds people to abandon the temptation of external material desires, keep their inner peace and tranquility, and ensure their inherent nature. Nowadays, modern civilization is highly developed, many people only seek the satisfaction of lust and material desires, and their values and moral values are seriously distorted. Reading this chapter, it is very emotional. The spiritual civilization of human society should develop in tandem with the material civilization, rather than the level of the material civilization being raised, and the spiritual civilization will naturally follow. This view is wrong.