Chapter 1033: Misunderstanding of the Third Part of the Tao Te Ching

The third chapter of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching has been misunderstood by the world again. In fact! The misunderstanding of the Tao Te Ching is not the people of the world, but those who help to interpret it. It is these interpreters who have deliberately or unintentionally misunderstood and thus misled the world.

More often than not, it comes from the struggle between schools, and it is someone who deliberately misinterprets the Taoist doctrine in order to inflate the weight of his own doctrine.

The third chapter of Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching", the original text is as follows:

If you are not virtuous, you will not fight for the people, you will not be able to buy rare goods, and you will not be thieves; If you don't see what you want, the people's hearts will not be disturbed.

It is the rule of a saint, who is humble in his heart, solid in his belly, weak in his will, and strong in his bones. He often makes the people ignorant and desireless. The wise man does not dare to do it. If you do nothing, you will not be cured.

In this article, there are many misunderstandings.

For example: "not virtuous", "not expensive and rare goods", "not seeing desire", "often making the people ignorant and desireless", "making the wise man dare not do anything", "doing nothing", literally, are all negative and passive thoughts.

The whole article seems to be like that, out of touch with real life, and it is the opposite of real life everywhere.

Thereby! Let people of other schools of thought take advantage of the loopholes, make a big publicity, make a big fuss, say that Lao Tzu's thinking is inactive and negative, and let mankind return to the point of ignorance and desirelessness.

Let's talk about "not shangxian" first!

Human society is constantly developing, and the human brain is constantly maturing. The society is very chaotic, and talented and virtuous people need to come out to govern, and talented people need to come out to do things. Lao Tzu proposes not to be virtuous, which is obviously preventing the human exhibition? Isn't this an obvious way to make "talent" unreusable?

So! With this sentence alone, "not virtuous", Lao Tzu can be sentenced. If there had been a literary prison at that time, the death penalty would have been imposed.

Is this still worth it? You advocate that if you are not virtuous, you let this vassal state or the Great Zhou State have no talents, it is not only a matter of retreating, it is to destroy the vassal state and our Great Zhou State! It's not just as simple as destroying the country, but! Let human beings retreat to the age of animals and plants.

If you make a big fuss about this, wouldn't it be strange if you didn't sentence Lao Tzu to death?

As a person of the world, as an ordinary person, it is beyond reproach to take it literally. Because! As ordinary people, their knowledge is limited, and it is understandable to take it literally.

But! As a scholar, to understand it this way would be wrong. Or! They are a pseudo-scholar. Not again! They are academic spies, and they are deliberately misinterpreting the meaning of this sentence.

In fact! Whether they are ordinary people in the world, scholars, or academic spies, they have all made a fundamental mistake that caused misunderstanding.

Where is this fundamental mistake?

Herein lies the root of this fundamental error: because they stand in the perspective of real life and see only real problems. Instead of looking at the problem from the perspective of human nature, from the perspective of solving the problem from the root cause.

From a realistic point of view, society needs talents, and it is obviously wrong to "not be virtuous."

But! From the perspective of human nature, from the perspective of solving problems from the root and roots, we can be "not virtuous".

Because! Lao Tzu said in the second article of the Tao Te Scripture: All things are made and the Buddha begins, and the Buddha is born, and the Buddha is relied upon, and the success is not lived.

What Lao Tzu means when he says this sentence is: We human beings should imitate all things, like all things, grow naturally, as if we are not ourselves, and live in such a daze that we have no ambition to complete the process of this life. Outcome! Finally ripened. Maturity is maturity, it is just the end of a life, and I don't think I have any credit, this is the life process of all things and the meaning of life.

So! We human beings should also imitate all things and live like that. If human beings were like that, would there still be strife in the world and between people?

Interpreting this, someone must ask: we are human! Why should we imitate all things? If that's the case? Lao Tzu's thought is not just passive and inactive, but! We want human beings to go backwards and return to the age of animals and plants.

What if we understood it this way? So? Lao Tzu is about to ask us? How do we need to live?

Do we still need to solve the problems we are facing and solve the problems in reality? Solving life's problems?

What do we live for?

What do we live for?

If we want to solve the problems we face at hand, we must first solve the question of why we live and what we live for.

Ordinary people and vulgar scholars and philosophers throughout the ages have not solved this problem well. So! It is impossible to interpret Lao Tzu's philosophy correctly.

Lao Tzu does not ask us to return to the point of ignorance and desirelessness, to the age of animals and plants. But! Tell us to imitate all things and the Tao in our lives.

Both Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi agreed that all things in heaven and earth, including the universe and the starry sky, have evolved and changed, and they all come from the Tao. Man, like all things, is just a species in heaven and earth, a species born at the right time. Born at the right time, died at the wrong time.

Life! It's just a life-long process!

So! Why should we fight? Isn't it all about survival?

"Shangxian" and "not Shangxian" are just to survive better, so! There is no need to argue between "virtuous" and "unvirtuous". If you think "Shangxian" is good, you insist on "Shangxian", and I think "not Shangxian" is good, I have my reasons.

Since it is for survival, how is it conducive to survival, then how to survive!

Lao Tzu's proposition of "not being virtuous" was also aimed at the social status quo at that time, and not only based on Taoist theories.

According to the Taoist theory, human beings, like all things, are just a species in heaven and earth, a species that is born at the right time and dies at the wrong time. So! Life is just a life process.

Since life is just a process, we don't need to toss, live well, and live as much as it is beneficial for us to live.

If you are not virtuous, you will not fight the people.

It means that don't recommend or promote meritocracy, this trick doesn't work. There are many people who are impostors, who have no real talent and real learning, and more people are hyped up for fame and profit for their own survival. Instead of recommending and recommending others, it is better to find a way to keep yourself alive and find a way to survive that suits you.

Inexpensive and rare goods, so that the people will not be robbed.

It means that if you don't have valuable things and strange things, no one else will steal from you. It's not that we have nothing, but that we don't have too much to spare, and we don't accumulate too much money or food. Enough is enough, not excessive.

If you don't see what you want, the people's hearts will not be disturbed.

If there weren't too many desires in this world, the human heart wouldn't be confused. It's not that we want to put an end to all desires, to make people completely ignorant and desireless. As a human being, it is impossible to be without desires. Especially for people who have been brain-matured at this stage, it is impossible not to have desires. Rather, it is for us not to be deceived by desires, let alone indulge in desires.

It is the rule of a saint, who is humble in his heart, solid in his belly, weak in his will, and strong in his bones. He often makes the people ignorant and desireless. The wise man does not dare to do it. If you do nothing, you will not be cured.

It means that the saint governs the society, so that the world is humble and does not compete with the strong; Solid belly, so that the world can have enough to eat; Weak ambitions, let the world not have too many ambitions, ideals, dreams, and live a down-to-earth life. Strengthen its bones, so that the world is healthy and less sick.

The phrase "always make the people ignorant and have no desires" is a continuation of what was said above, and it is to make the world feel that they do not need too much knowledge to live, and they do not have too many desires to be troubled.

It's not that there are no desires, and it's not that all desires are eliminated.

The world, academic spies, as well as vulgar scholars and so-called philosophers, have taken things out of context, grasping Lao Tzu's "often making the people ignorant and desireless", saying that Lao Tzu's thoughts are negative and go back to ancient times. In fact! Lao Tzu's meaning is to make the world feel that they don't need too much knowledge to live, and they don't have too many desires to be troubled.

The wise man does not dare to do it.

Meaning: Let those who think they are wise and wise not dare to act, and do nothing. Because! The saints adopted the above methods, and there was no need for these wise and wise people to come out and manage society. These so-called wise and intelligent people, they lost the market.

If you do nothing, you will not be cured.

Meaning: Actually! The saint has acted, but the world feels that the saint has not acted. So! Only by "doing" or "doing nothing" like a saint can the world be governed.

The last two places in this article are also misleading. One is: "The people are always ignorant and desireless." The other is "for inaction, there is no cure".

As mentioned earlier, to understand these two places, we must combine the previous and context, and cannot take them out of context. If it's taken out of context, you can interpret it however you want. Or! Deliberately misinterpreted, not to make the words clear, and directly translated according to the literal meaning. Such! It is also a misinterpretation, and it is also deliberate.

Repeat! The phrase "always make the people ignorant and have no desires" is a continuation of what was said above, and it is to make the world feel that they do not need too much knowledge to live, and they do not have too many desires to be troubled.

It's not that there are no desires, and it's not that all desires are eliminated.

Lao Tzu's meaning is: to make the world feel that they don't need too much knowledge to live, and they don't have too many desires to be troubled.

Again: for inaction, there is no cure.

Meaning: Actually! The saint has acted, but the world feels that the saint has not acted. So! Only by "doing" or "doing nothing" like a saint can the world be governed.

If you have to take things out of context and deliberately misinterpret them, you are intentional, you are an academic spy, and you are a "cultural gunman". Deliberately speaking ill of other theories in order to elevate one's own academic weight. Or! in exchange for the capital to survive. Getting the manuscript fee and getting the benefits given by others is the capital of survival.

In fact! It's an irresponsible way of survival. It is also a way of survival that affects the survival of others and human beings, and this kind of "cultural gunman" should be punished.

(End of chapter)

Let's read the URL: m.