Dao Chong (1), and use it to have Fu Ying also (2). Like the Sect of All Things (4). File its exchange (5), solve its conflict (6), and its light (7), and its dust (8). Zhan (9)!Seems or exists (10). I don't know whose son he was, the first of the elephant emperors (11).

[Translation]

The great "Dao" is empty and open, but its role is endless. It is like the ancestor of all things. Wear away its sharpness, dispel its distractions, reconcile its brilliance, and mix it with dirt. It's hidden, but it seems to actually exist. I don't know whose descendant it is, it seems to be the ancestor of the Emperor of Heaven.

[Notes]

(1) Chong: Tong Cup (chong), the void of utensils, a metaphor for emptiness.

(2) There is Fuying: Yes, through again. Ying: full, by extension, is the end.

(3) Abyss: far-reaching. Oh (a): a verbal particle, indicating a pause.

(4) Zong: ancestor, ancestor.

(5) File its exchange: file (cuo): wear, fold. 漢 (rui): sharp, sharp, sharp. File its sharpness: Wear away its sharpness.

(6) Resolve its disputes: dissolve its disputes.

(7) And its light: Reconcile and conceal its light.

(8) Confusing oneself with the world. The above four "the" characters are all attributes of the Tao itself.

(9) Zhan (zhan): sinking, by extension, vague meaning. Duan Yuci said in the "Annotations on the Interpretation of Words" that the "Shen" of "floating and sinking" in ancient books is mostly written as "Zhan". "Zhan" and "Shen" have the same pronunciation in ancient times. It is used here to describe the "Tao" hidden in the darkness and invisible to the traces.

(10) Plausibility or existence: It seems to exist. Together with the above "Zhan Ha", it describes the "Tao" as if it were nothing. See Chapter 14 "The form of nothingness, the image of nothingness, is a trance" and other sentences to understand the meaning.

(11) Elephant: Like.

[Quote]

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.

[Commentary]

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 666666666.

(To be continued.) )