Chapter 23 Chapter 23

Less talk, less tossing, less blunt interference is in line with the law of the natural operation of the avenue, and it also leaves the best space for the avenue to move by itself. The wind blows so hard that it often dies down in less than a morning.It was raining so hard that it was difficult to even have a day.Who stopped them?heaven and earth.Neither the sky nor the earth can exert force for too long, let alone us human beings? Therefore, if you strive to act in accordance with the Dao, you must or will definitely be in line with the Dao.If you strive to act in accordance with great virtues, you must or must be consistent with great virtues.If you lose Tao and virtue in your actions, then the mistakes are consistent with you.You are in tune with the Dao, and the Dao is happy to be where it is—running at its best.You are aligned with the great virtue, and the great virtue is happy to be where it is -- at its best.You are in tune with the miss, and the miss is happy to get what it deserves—punishing you for what you deserve.

They (those, especially the rulers, who deviate from the great virtues in line with the mistakes) lack credibility, and the common people cannot trust them. From this chapter, we can see the content of the Chinese style of not doing too much for oneself, stopping when enough is enough, leaving room for the golden mean.Don't use too much force, don't use up all your strength, don't make a fuss artificially, don't be tempestuous and violent, take your time and have long-term vigor, this is Lao Tzu's advice. In ancient China, there were few traditions and concepts of power checks and balances and social checks and balances, but the Chinese people have a special understanding of the balance on the vertical axis of time: it is called the east of the river in thirty years, and the west of the river in thirty years; It is called whether the extremes come and go, and the times come and go; it is called the coordination of yin and yang, and one yin and one yang are called the way;Therefore, we developed the idea of ​​the mean earlier, and did not go to extremes, lest we go to the other side after a few years.At the same time, the Chinese also advocated harmony and balance earlier, and the coordination of yin and yang, each in its own place.Lao Tzu used the violent storm as an example to illustrate that the world does not go to extremes and go in a single direction. Human beings must consider many aspects in their actions. They cannot be forced, they must not act arbitrarily, they must not go against the sky and the people, they must not kill everything, and they must not do everything.

In ancient China, Confucianism advocated the use of morality and etiquette to check and balance power and status. If morality and etiquette are lost, the legitimacy of power will be lost, and if things are not done according to principles and laws, the legitimacy and effectiveness of management will be lost. Lao Tzu tried to overcome the tyranny and stupidity of harsh and cumbersome subjective loss through philosophy, through the declaration and understanding of the Dao.It is a pity that what Lao Tzu said is still idealized. Those who are the same as the Tao, the Tao is also happy to obtain it; those who are the same as the virtues are also happy to have the virtue.This is also an example of the Chinese way of thinking.If you agree with A, A will like you; if you like B, B will agree with you and move closer to you.Since A→A", then A" must →A.In fact, such a converse theorem may not hold true.You think you are close to Tao and virtue, but the facts prove that Tao and virtue are not close to you. You pursue Tao and virtue, but someone thinks you have no morals and no morals. Such things may happen.

There are too few examples of Lao Tzu's morality governing the world.Be it the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period, or the subsequent Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and the Republic of China, no regime or individual has achieved success simply by relying on vainness, inaction, weakness and concession.The effectiveness of intellectuals' pursuit of Taoism is even less obvious.You think you love the Tao and seek the Tao, but the Tao does not necessarily show you a smile, but ridicules and punishes your bookishness. There are more examples of this than the examples of being the same as the Tao and being happy with the Tao, such as the tragedies of the famous scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties Fate, such as the fate of many intellectuals in modern China.

Of course, there is also no regime or individual who can achieve success in the cause of Guotai Minan by simply relying on force, forced orders, and violent storms.During the period when the revolution seized power at the climax, it spoke out against the mean, against fair play, advocated the complete and thorough elimination of the enemy, and called for "let the storm come more violently" (Gorky), which has its historical characteristics and era The background has its regularity.When the revolution has won the revolution and the people have taken power, they will inevitably have new considerations.

Here is another help and inspiration.From the example of the wind and rain, we can discuss the proposition of the climax and normalization of a social life or our career.The revolution to seize power has a climax and is won in the climax.The proud memory of this climax, this climactic historical inertia, will encourage us to always want to take a step forward in the ever-emerging climax.But in building a new society, especially in economic construction, it is impossible to always artificially set off a climax and continue the climax.Before the reform and opening up, we called the wind and rain several times in economic, social and political life, setting off a climax and paying too much price.For example, the famous book "The Climax of Socialism in Rural China", for example, after the anti-rightist movement, it sang "the upsurge of socialist construction", such as "Great Leap Forward", such as "Cultural Revolution".And now we seldom talk about setting off a climax, but about sustainable development.

But now some people who are obsessed with old experience think that they have entered the "low ebb of revolution".If they can listen to Lao Tzu's opinion to some extent, it will not be unhelpful. The more correct choice is to achieve mutual assistance and interaction between action and inaction, morality and strength, eloquence and prudence, quietness and strength, compromise and persistence, compromise and integrity, straightforwardness and fearlessness, enough and perseverance.Laozi's one-sided profundity is still one of the most meaningful spiritual resources. Relatively speaking, Lao Tzu's repeated emphasis on the whole body, no one, the first, and no death (see below), gives people an overemphasis on self-protection and lack of the spirit of dedication.It depends on how you understand and absorb it.Don't forget that Lao Tzu also has another saying-the people are not afraid of death, but why are they afraid of death? These are all later.