"Tao Te Ching" is divided into the first part of the "Tao Jing" and the next part of the "Book of Virtues", the full text of more than 5,000 words, a total of 81 chapters, a total of 99 into one. In this true scripture, one sentence can be used to explain Zhao Ran's perception of reading the book -- the so-called subtle words and great righteousness are by no means false.

Each sentence can express many layers of meaning, and it can express many meanings before and after, and then connect with the context, and lead to different understandings. Zhao Ran saw the excitement before he crossed, and after he crossed over, he came to this world and wanted to see a doorway, but where was it so simple.

To give the simplest example, Zhao Ran looked at a more familiar sentence - heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs, and saints are unkind, and people are used as dogs. According to the literal understanding, it means that heaven and earth do not have a heart of benevolence and regard all things as dogs, and the saints should not have a heart of benevolence and treat the people as dogs.

In connection with the following, between heaven and earth, it is still unyielding, and it is moving and coming out. It is better to keep the middle than to talk too much. If you want to touch its laws, you must also uphold the heart of nothingness - heaven and earth are like a big bag, empty but will not collapse, but in operation it is endless, the more you speak, the less you can express, therefore, "it is better to keep the center" - it is better to hold on to the emptiness to cope with all changes.

Just a few short sentences, the more I think about it, the more I feel that there seems to be an aftertaste behind it, and the more I think about it, the more profound and unspeakable I feel. Zhao Ran had read a lot of novels describing monasticism before he crossed over, and often quoted this sentence, and then angrily let the protagonist show a hot hand, or thought that the protagonist was a declaration of Tiandou. In fact, it is a fallacy, whether it is to retaliate angrily or choose to fight against the heavens, it is contrary to the original meaning of this sentence -- the best way to seek the Tao is to hold on to the void and not mind, and the so-called "do not take pleasure in things, do not feel sorry for yourself".

Zhao Ran was not sure, he suddenly remembered Buddhism's thoughts, isn't this the source of "emptiness"? No wonder Taoist priests have always accused Buddhism of being rebellious to Taoism......

Zhao Ran's head was so big that he felt dizzy and swollen, and his eyes were dark. He didn't dare to think about it any longer, and let out a long breath of turbidity, forcing himself to look at the Tao Te Ching with a simple heart—well, just think of it as memorizing famous sentences, or the syllabus for the exams of later generations, which would be easier.

After reciting the first ten chapters, Zhao Ran encountered difficulties. Each chapter is so simple and a few sentences, and it is not a problem to memorize it, but it is not easy to smooth down the whole chapter, because these verses seem to be more of an old man's casual epigrams, which seem to be said wherever they want to go, and what they say when they think of it, and each chapter is separated from each other, and there is no clue in the mess.

But if you really want to think like this, it's not like that, because every sentence that follows, if there is no foreshadowing in the previous words, the more difficult it will be to understand.

Well, Zhao Ran admitted that the first time he seriously studied the "Tao Te Ching", he suffered a setback and was completely defeated, and there was nothing left in his mind except a pile of paste.

In the next few days, Zhao Ran went to the library every night to read, and the result was sad. I obviously thought I understood a lot of the content, and I memorized it, but I didn't dare to ponder the deep meaning, after thinking about one layer, the next layer would definitely lead to a deeper layer, and then continue to think about it, every time I thought about it to the point of vomiting blood.

After many days, Zhao Ran couldn't stand it anymore and went to seek advice from Zhiyuan. When he was very distressed and confided his experience, and after citing a few problems he encountered, Yu Zhiyuan looked at him for a long time with a strange face, and asked, "These are all you thinking about yourself?"

Zhao Ran smiled bitterly: "What if I didn't figure it out myself? No one pointed me out......"

Yu Zhiyuan was silent for a long time, and arched his hand: "Brother is talented, I am not as good as it!"

Zhao Ran didn't know that because of his vision from another world, his understanding of the scriptures was already very deep and broad in this world, and the issues he considered were never thought about even by a talented Taoist priest like Yu Zhiyuan. For example, where did the origin of the universe come from? What is the relationship between time and space? How many people in this world have read similar popular science articles?

But Yu Zhiyuan also has his own strengths, and his advantage compared to Zhao Ranyan is that he is single-minded in his beliefs. He quickly put aside the "messy" ideas that Zhao Ran poured into his ears, and pointed out to Zhao Ran: "Watching the "Tao Te Ching" without reading "Xiang'er Note" is not the right way. "-- What is the truth of your boy who reads the scriptures and doesn't read the notes?

Well, Zhao Ran patted his head, this is really negligent. The simplest common sense of people in this world, Yu Zhao Ranyan, is not so taken for granted, and it is not surprising that he is negligent.

"Lao Tzu Xiang'er Note" is written by Zhang Tianshi, the patriarch of Taoism, and it is inconceivable to enter the Taoist gate without reading "Xiang'er Note". But Zhao Ran is a traveler, to put it bluntly, he lacks awe of Zhang Tianshi in his heart, and he can't blame him if he can't think of it.

So, Zhao Ran began to read "Lao Tzu's Notes" again.

"Lao Tzu Xiang'er Note" is Zhang Tianshi's explanation of the old man's "quotations", and every sentence is annotated to let people understand what the old man wants to say. Zhao Ran roughly flipped through it, and soon he had what he had gained.

As for the Tao Te Ching, 10,000 people have 10,000 understandings, so which understanding is correct? Obviously, Zhang Tianshi believes that his understanding is the closest to the old man's original intention.

To put it simply, Zhang Tianshi proposed that guarding the Tao should not only keep the heart of the Dao, but also keep the Dao precepts, that is, conform to the Dao from the code of conduct, Zhao Ran believes that this is the basis for Zhang Tianshi to establish the Daomen. Without the precepts of the Tao to maintain the upper and lower levels, there would be no existence of the Daomen - the Daomen is an organization, and the Dao is only a means, and the Dao may be traced back to the infinite yuan, but the birth of the Daomen began with Zhang Tianshi.

With the Daomen, let people join this organization, then you have to come up with some sweetness, right? Zhang Tianshi borrowed the words of the old man in "Xiang'er Note" to expound the method of immortality, that is, the method of cultivating the Dao, which is the most important way for the Daomen to inherit the mantle. But Zhao Ran felt that the "Tao Te Ching" was about tracing the origin of the Tao, and it would seem very awkward to forcibly link it to the law of immortality.

For example, the old man has already said that the Tao is nothing, there is no good or bad, there is no good or evil thoughts. However, Zhang Tianshi commented, "The Tao is set to reward the good when it is born, and it is set up to die to deter the evil", and it is also said that "the immortals are afraid of death, and they believe in the Tao and keep the truth, so they are in harmony with the living", then Zhao Ran can't help but ask, since there are rewards and punishments, there must be likes and dislikes, doesn't this mean that the way of heaven is thoughtful? Isn't it contradictory to the old man's cloud? Therefore, Zhao Ran's understanding is that the "Tao Te Ching" is a work to understand the way of heaven, and perhaps the practice has reached the depths, and the method of ascension can be realized from it, but it belongs to the category of the highest level, and it is by no means something that ordinary cultivators can participate in.

In addition to the method of immortality, Zhang Tianshi also talked about what ordinary people should do. After all, there are only a small number of people who have the qualifications and natural talents to participate in the cultivation of the Tao, and what should happen to the majority of the remaining people? Zhang Tianshi continued to explain the rules of secular control through the explanation of the old man's words, what the king should do, what the ministers should do, and what the people should do. That is, "the monarch of the country cultivates virtue, loyal ministers assist in the way, Daopu Deyi, peace to the end, the people admire, it is easy to govern!"

As a result, the Daomen established the rules of operation of the secular royal court, and supervised it with the jungle of the ten directions, and used the four directions of heaven and earth as tribute to help those who have the Tao soar.

Zhao Ran speculated with the greatest malice, perhaps as far as the Daomen of the present world is concerned, the "Tao Te Ching" is not the most important classic, and the real core classic should be "Xiang'er Note". From his point of view, Zhang Tianshi's commentary on the old man is purely religious, and it is precisely because he unifies the understanding of the world from the perspective of religion that there is the existence of Taoism.

Okay, cranky thoughts are cranky thoughts, Zhao Ran has gone deep into the Daomen, and he must be integrated into this ideological system, even if he doesn't think so, the surface article has to be done well, just as he is reading the exam questions and standard answers in this life.

From the beginning of reading "Xiang'er Note", Zhao Ran finally began to enter the doorway.

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