"The Tao Te Ching, the first generation of Taoist saints, once said: There are things that are mixed, and they are born from nature. Lonely, independent and unchanging. Walking around without dying, you can be the mother of heaven and earth. I don't know its name, the strong word is called the way, and the strong name is big. The big is said to be flowing, passing is far away, and far is said to be returning. Therefore, the road is big, the sky is big, the earth is big, and the people are big. There are four major domains, and people live in one of them. Man is the law of the earth, the earth is the law of the sky, the heaven is the law, and the Tao is the law of nature......"

"There is a mixture of things, and they are born from nature. This thing is the 'Tao', which existed before the creation of heaven and earth. And it is independent and does not change, it does not perish, it should not change anything, and it runs endlessly. The first generation of saints did not know its name, and forcibly named it 'Dao' and 'Great' Therefore, heaven, earth, man, and Tao are all a kind of Tao, and people follow the way of the earth, and the earth follows the way of heaven, and the heavens follow the way of the 'Tao', and the Tao follows nature. And you seem to have forgotten the comprehension of the Tao by the first generation of sages, leading our Taoist Academy astray and violating the purpose of the Dao. ”

Sima Tan said.

The sage's argument is a big theory. If you don't understand, you think it's nonsense. But those who understand will know that what he said is justified.

Sima Tan's theory inherited Lao Tzu's theory, which simply means that the Tao came into being, and it existed before the emergence of heaven and earth. It is a kind of rule that exists independently and runs forever. Heaven and earth and man must follow this rule, man follows the rules of the earth, the earth follows the rules of heaven, and the heaven follows the rules of the Tao.

However, Liu An's understanding of the Tao is different from that of the first generation of saints. His theories are recorded in detail in his "Huainanzi".

So when he heard Sima Tan explain in this passage, he had to refute it.

The survival of the Husband's Dao, what is the knowledge, the operation of the Husband's Dao, and the practice of the Enlightenment, covering the heavens and the earth, outline the four directions, the eight poles, the height is unboundary, the depth is unfathomable, enveloping the heaven and the earth, and the endowment is invisible...... The mountains are high, the abyss is deep, the beasts are walking, the birds are flying, the sun and the moon are bright, the ephemeris is traveling, the lin is swimming, and the phoenix is flying. ”

Liu An said.

His meaning is very simple, since the Tao existed before the heavens and the earth, how can people know it? The Tao goes on and on, running tirelessly, what is his motivation? Therefore, his understanding of the Tao is: The Tao covers the heavens and the earth, expands in all directions, is so high that it cannot be touched to the top, and is so deep that it is impossible to fathom the bottom, enveloping the heavens and the earth, and invisibly sprouting all things...... It is the bird that flies, the sun and the moon that shine, the stars that move, the unicorn that travels, and the phoenix that soars.

His understanding of the Tao is that the Tao is a powerful, supreme force. This kind of power can carry heaven and earth, it is unattainable, and it is deep enough to measure his depth. And this power also gives birth to all things, birds can fly because of this power, and the sun and moon can shine because of this power.

One thinks that the Tao is a rule, and the other thinks that the Tao is a force. The differences between the understanding of the Tao between the fourth-generation sage Liu An and the first-generation sage Lao Tzu are clear at a glance.

Liu An not only wrote this passage of his own words into "Huainanzi", but also wrote it in the "Original Dao Xun" of "Huainanzi", which means that his understanding is the root of the Tao.

"Since the Taoist covers the heavens and the earth, outlines all directions, and has eight poles, it is unfathomable, unfathomable, and envelops heaven and earth. So what is in control, and what is the Venerable?"

Sima Tan asked rhetorically. The meaning of his question was, since the Dao was so powerful, what was it that controlled it so that he could not run it indiscriminately? Once this supreme power was unleashed indiscriminately, wouldn't it be that even the heavens, the earth, and the people were all destroyed?

"The thief star is not good, and it is also caused by virtue. The way of the husband is to give birth to all things without being, and to become an image and be slaughtered. Line * beak breath, fly - ** move, wait and then live, Mo Zhide. Liu An said.

What he means is that what does not let the Tao run indiscriminately is a kind of 'virtue'. The Tao has the supreme virtue, giving birth to all things but not taking them for himself, and creating things but not dominating them.

"To be virtuous or not to be virtuous is to be virtuous. Virtue is not lost, but there is no virtue. Shangde does nothing and does nothing. Virtue is for it, and there is no way to do it. Those who know before are the flowers of the Tao, and the beginning of foolishness ......," Sima Tan said.

In fact, there is also an understanding of virtue in the Tao Te Ching, but the Tao and virtue are separated. But Liu An's understanding is to combine Tao and virtue together.

"Why is the Tao virtuous?" asked Sima Tan.

"Heaven and earth are born of inherent virtue. Liu An replied without changing his face.

In fact, Liu An's "Huainanzi" does not completely deny the morality of the first generation of saints, but inherits it critically. Rejected a small part and inherited a lot of the essence.

......

The two had been debating their arguments for a whole day. Each has its own reasons, each has its own understanding, and no one can convince anyone. Once someone raises doubts, the other party can explain them with profound moral meaning. After a whole day of talking, there was no sign of rest for the two of them, as if they were still talking about the Tao at night.

Seeing that it was already dark, countless disciples of the Taoist Academy began to light oil lamps on the ground. Tens of thousands of lights illuminate the entire square. The sparkling lights are like stars in the night. But tens of thousands of people still listened to it with relish, as if through their arguments, their understanding of the Tao became more profound.

Instead of Le Gongzi, Changping Hou and others listened to it like chewing wax, so tasteless. They are not from the Taoist Academy, and they do not go to the Taoist idea at all.

By noon the next day, they were still talking tirelessly. In Liu An's "Huainanzi", there are original Taoist training, astronomical training, Taoist training, and main art training...... There are a total of 20 articles, and their content is more than that in the Tao Te Ching. And Sima Tan used to debate the classics, there is only one "Tao Te Ching".

However, the "Tao Te Ching" is broad and profound, and the twenty articles in "Huainanzi" cannot be fully explained.

The next night, it was another night of candlesticks.

In fact, they all have their own understandings of the Tao, and they can't clearly distinguish whose Tao is right and whose Tao is wrong. Lao Tzu, the first generation of the sage of the Taoist Academy, could not have seen what the Tao was himself, let alone Liu An. They originally defined the Tao as an ethereal thing, unable to convince each other.

It is not like the law of the Legalists. The School of Legalism pays attention to ironclad evidence, and once the evidence is presented, the other party is irrefutable. And the Tao is illusory, and there is no way to produce evidence.

"It seems that none of us can convince each other on the road. At noon on the third day, Sima Tan finally said: "The Tao can't be solved, only to look at their own supernatural powers." Whoever has stronger supernatural powers is orthodox. ”

Whoever is closer to the Heavenly Dao in understanding will have the strongest supernatural powers. If reasoning does not work, speak with strength.

"That's it. Liu An nodded indifferently.

(To be continued.) )