Chapter 16 Chapter Fourteen

Seeing but not seeing is called Yi, hearing what is not known is called Xi, and fighting what is not known is called Wei. These three cannot be questioned, so they are mixed into one.The top is not paid, the bottom is not ignorant, the rope cannot be named, and it returns to nothing.It means the shape without shape, the image of nothing, that is.Ashamed.If you meet him, you don't see the head, and then you don't see the back.Adhere to the ancient way, to control the present.Being able to know the beginning of ancient times is called Dao Ji. Space-Time Mind-Material and Dao's Body-Use

According to the order of the eighty-one chapters of "Laozi" arranged by Wang Bi, which has been used for a long time, starting from this chapter, we start anew and enter the realm of debate physics, which seems to be inconsistent.In fact, as mentioned in chapter thirteen, you should not be burdened by material feelings, but obsessed with the favor and disgrace of the world, so you will have a heart of gain and loss.And further understand that the occurrence of favor and disgrace is all because of my own body, "If I have no body, what trouble do I have."Then we know that in the real world, the so-called key between self and non-self is only infinitely affected by the existence of this body.But I am a body of flesh and blood, and the physiological state of flesh and blood is derived from physical creation.Therefore, it is further explained that the metaphysical and metaphysical principles of the unity of mind and matter are vaguely still logical and have a lot to follow.This is also the Taoist theory, which always starts from the physiology and physics to reach the special point of the metaphysics, which is very different from the later generations of Confucianism and Buddhism.

This chapter first proposes that there is a thing that cannot be seen, heard but not heard, and cannot be touched.If it is a thing, it is different from objects in the material world, it can be seen, heard, and touched.If it is not a thing, all existence in the universe is created by it.Therefore, it is called "Tao" in concept.In practical terms, it is called Hun Yuan Unity.But in terms of this nameless appearance, what is it?Laozi named it in three parts. What is invisible, there is also the existence that cannot be seen, and it is specially named "Yi".Yi is flat and unimpeded.

Those who don't hear it, also have the effect of being unheard, and it is specially named "Xi".Hey, it's not silent, it's just a loud sound beyond the reach of human ears and eyes. There are things that cannot be touched by the senses, and things that are not known by the senses, which are specially named "micro".Micro, of course, not absolutely nothing.Later, when Buddhism was introduced from India, when it came to the profound aspects of physics, it also borrowed Lao Gan's concept and translated it as "very small", which has the same connotation.

In short, the three basic functions of sight, hearing and touch are originally a unified triangle, and they are closely related to the sound, light and touch in the physical world. It can also be said that they are the three functions of one body. Seeking its individual limits, it is thus "mixed into one" in general.After Laozi, Taoism and Taoism followed his name and called it "Hunyuan Yiyi", or "Hunyuan Yiqi".This is Laozi's classification of physics at that time, and it can also be said to be one of the superficial explanations of theoretical physics in ancient China.

To further explain, he said that this sound, light, and touch "mixed into one" thing itself has no orientation differences such as up, down, left, and right, and there is no distinction between light and dark.It can also be said that the upper and lower light and shade are "mixed into one" and cannot be separated, so it has the property of transcending time and space. "It's not above (white 敫)", even though it is above the nine heavens, it is not polluted by the characteristics of the exciting light. "Under it is not ambiguous", even though it is under the nine grounds, it is not polluted by obscurity.It says that seemingly irrelevant but related things are connected together forever, "the rope cannot be named".You want to say that it is a concrete material thing, but it is not material, so it "returns to nothing".In short, there is no fixed shape, and "shape without shape" cannot use anything to compare its phenomenon, "image without matter".I had no choice but to give him a mixed number, called "Di Huan".Regarding trance, Lao Tzu has his own explanation later on, so there is no need to explain it first here.It has no coming, no going, no going, no coming, beyond the time and space of ancient and modern metabolism.There is no way to come, and there is no way to meet it.You can't follow even if you go, if you want to follow it, it has already disappeared without a trace, quietly as if gone. "You don't see the head when you meet it, and you don't see the back after it."

It has no beginning and no end, but in the observation of humanities, it can barely be distinguished that it has a beginning and an end, it has gone and it has come, and it has the boundaries of the past and the present.Therefore, with the beginning of no beginning, let's name it "ancient".There is no beginning, nothing can be obtained, and the past cannot be preserved. As long as we grasp the present, we can realize the true meaning of "there is no such thing as the past and the present, and the feelings are shallow and deep". "Practice the way of the past, and control the existence of the present." But don't forget that it has no past and present, and no beginning and end. In this way, you can grasp the outline of the Tao. discipline".

Although this chapter focuses on the relationship between time and space and mind and matter to explain the body and function of Dao, from the perspective of generally emphasizing the use of the world, it has a close philosophical relationship with the so-called imperial art and leadership in later generations. .Because from the perspective of traditional political philosophy, there should be two definitions of the so-called "officials" that the king sets up officials to rule the world. 1. In terms of the political system, officials are in charge.Guan means management. 2. From the perspective of the political philosophy of human leadership, officials are like the faculties of the human body. The so-called five sense organs and bones each have their own special duties and separate affairs, which must be reported to the head of the central leadership for wisdom.

The most powerful faculties that assist the mind are the sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, and the touch and feel of the whole body.From ancient times to the present, whether it is an autocratic imperial system or a free democratic system, it has always been this principle.However, what the eyes can see, what the ears can hear, what the touch can reach, and what the heart can think, are all limited after all.That is to say, it was a little later than Lao Tzu, but the Confucian disciples, such as Zeng Zi and Zi Si, who were in the period when Confucianism and Taoism were not separated, had already given in-depth warnings about this.

Zeng Zi said: "One mind can serve a hundred kings, but a hundred minds cannot serve one king." Zisi said: "Hundred hearts cannot win one person, but one mind can win hundreds of people." "A gentleman guides his eyes and ears with his heart, and a villain uses his ears and eyes to guide his heart." They all strongly advocated that leaders should first focus on sincerity and self-support, and be wary of partial trust and inappropriateness.Therefore, from the standpoint of orthodox Confucianism and Taoism, most of them are opposed to "observation and investigation for clarity", and they are too partial to the checks and balances of legalism or power tactics.This is what is meant by the so-called "it is ominous to observe Yuanyu".

Speaking of this, let us go out of the scope of Lao Tzu's Taoism and insert a Zen story in the late Tang Dynasty, maybe we can get the wonderful enlightenment of "a stone from another mountain can attack the wrong one". Gu Lingchan praised Zen Master that after enlightenment, one day, he saw his master who was trained to read scriptures under the window, and a bee just flew through the paper window and couldn't get out.Gu Ling took the opportunity to say: "The world is so (so) vast, and I don't want to go out. Let him go to the year of the donkey (the year of the donkey means that there will never be such a year. Because there is no donkey in the twelve zodiac signs of the earthly branch)." Said the verse: "The Buddhist door refuses to come out, and it is a fool to cast a window. After a hundred years of drilling old papers, when will it come out." He was inspired by his master and finally became enlightened.Later generations wrote another poem about this learning case, saying: "Flies love to drill on light-seeking paper, but they can't pass through many difficulties. When they suddenly bumped into the way they came from, Shixin was deceived all his life." When people are old, they will know that there are many things in the world, which are deceived by their own eyes and ears, and blinded by their own emotional subjectiveness.Since it is difficult for one's own eyes and ears to fully believe that it is true, it is more practical to understand the laws of history, "holding the ancient way and using it to resist the present. Knowing the beginning of the past is the discipline of the Tao".The same principle, opposite expression, is what Zisi called in "The Doctrine of the Mean", "living in the present world, anti-ancient way. If this is the case, the disaster will affect the body." In fact, Zisi, like Laozi, is extremely It is inappropriate to attach importance to the law of causality in historical philosophy and historical experience, despise "give wisdom to be great" and "teach the heart to use for oneself", but emphasize "observation and observation".Reflecting from this, in today's world, data is generally collected by eyes and ears as a political policy for statistics.Even with the help of computer statistical data to determine the management of personnel.Sometimes when encountering the error of the computer itself, or the wrong operation of the computer intentionally by humans, I think of Lao Tzu's witty saying "these three cannot be questioned, so they are mixed into one", and I have no choice but to smile knowingly up!