Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Artifacts of the World

Wanting to take the world into one's own hands and build the world according to one's own intentions, I think this is really absurd, and I'm afraid it will be impossible. The world is created by divine will, and it belongs to a superhuman power, which cannot be taken as one's own, and cannot be changed or made by any one person.If you do it with your intention, you will definitely not achieve your goal (or you are inevitable, involuntary, not out of your original intention).If you want to grasp (catch) it into your own hands, you will lose the world sooner or later.Therefore, if the sage does not build it, he will not fail if he does not take it into account; if he does not grasp it, he will not lose it.

How different things are from others!Some go ahead and some follow behind.Some lightly turn on the heating, and some blow the cold wind fiercely.Some are powerful and some are weak and useless.Some are safe and stable, while others are in jeopardy. (No matter how different you are) A sage is always careful not to be too hasty, too extreme, too exaggerated, too over the top. This chapter has two meanings about the view that the world cannot be acted upon.One is that at least at that time, there were too many people (kings, ministers and advisers) who wanted to control and build the world, but too few succeeded.Prosperity is sudden, death is too much, and iron-clad country is too little.Laozi wants to restrain this kind of vertical and horizontal struggle and desire for hegemony.If you can't restrain it, at least I advise the princes and ministers not to be too impatient, too exaggerated, too extreme, or too excessive.Such a good wish has at least a reference value in terms of speech for calming ambitions.But at most, it is just philosophical concepts and ideological cultivation, which are good for talking, masturbation, and adjusting psychological balance, but it is not good for taking the world and ruling the world.

The assertion about the "artifact of the world" is a bit interesting.Who is the artifact?can not say it clearly.But at least don't overestimate the role of personal will in the world.It does not belong to individuals, and cannot be created by personal will.From today's point of view, the god of artifacts can be the law of history, the requirements of the development of productive forces, the support of the people, the combination of various forces, or the sum of various factors.But in Lao Tzu's time, people believed in fortune, timing and fate even more.In short, artifacts are everything that people at that time couldn't tell whether they could use or not, and they couldn't make them listen to people's words. They were greater and more wonderful than people, and at least part of them were created by the dominant power of superhuman things in the non-human world.

For example, a sage—not an ordinary person—believes that only those who are virtuous win the world, but not necessarily.Few people think that Qin Shihuang is virtuous, or that Liu Bang is more virtuous than Xiang Yu, but they won the struggle to conquer the world and control the world.Or think that forces that conform to the trend and requirements of historical development, especially the development of productive forces, will win the world, which is not necessarily the case.Sometimes it is precisely the forces that are driving backwards and hindering the development and progress of productive forces that win.Sometimes a big country invades a small country and subdue a small country without effort, sometimes a small country defeats a big country, a weak country defeats a strong country, and backward weapons defeat advanced armed forces...

That's how people are, they do things when they are not sure, take risks, and take a gamble.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the world was undecided, From Qin Shihuang to Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Ling of Jin? From Lord Mengchang to Lord Xinling and Lord Pingyuan? From Guan Zhong to Shang Yang to Han Fei, Sun Wu, and Bai Qi? From generals to advisers, from assassins to lobbyists, from Confucius, From Mencius and Mozi to Qu Yuan and Feng Chen, who would not be devoted to conquering the world? But Lao Tzu told them that it is a divine tool, and it cannot be done by human beings. I see it as a last resort, you can't do it!Although this is a slap in the face, few people are deterred by it.

what else can we do?To this day, there are still too many ambitions and recklessness for the world.How many stories of the rise and fall of great powers make us ponder, and how many strong men make us sigh: Qin Shihuang, Chu Overlord, Tang Taizong, Napoleon, Stalin... At the same time, how many heroic stories make our blood boil and our hearts tremble...Historical heroes Doctrine and historical nihilism have always been together, and the enthusiasm for participation and the sense of vicissitudes of the sidelines have always been together.Who can do nothing?Who can avoid disaster?It is impossible to have a heart like an ancient well without waves. People in the world always want to intervene in the affairs of the world, and even hope to make a difference and make contributions.

Well, since you can’t get rid of the urge to participate in history, at least, go to extremes, extravagance, and Thailand, keep your sense of proportion, oppose extremism, adventurism, hegemonism, and terrorism, and stop the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period in China and the world. , The war continues, as Lu Xun ridiculed, it is impossible for the small people to be slaves!It is the inspiration we should get when we read Lao Tzu. In the advice of Quji, Qushe, and Qutai, we also saw Lao Tzu’s compromise.Lao Tzu's original proposition is to do nothing and not to speak, and to do nothing and not to speak, what else is extravagant and luxurious?However, Lao Tzu knows that few people accept his idea of ​​doing nothing without speaking. He also knows that there are many kinds of things. (cold wind), strong (big) or weak (weak), or Zai (steady as Mount Tai) or 隳 (shaky), I can't unify them; he can only settle for the next best thing, please take it easy Jin, don't be too extreme and too much.