Chapter 4 Section 4 Nature and the Way of Inaction

Like other countries in the world in ancient times, before the Spring and Autumn Period in our country, people generally believed in ghosts and gods.In the Spring and Autumn Period, in the competition of the weak and the strong, the advanced people saw that believing in ghosts and gods could only lead to extinction; to win the competition, they had to rely on their own efforts.A large number of thinkers such as Confucius, Laozi, Mozi, etc., searched for answers to social problems from the world and society itself.They all put forward their own strategies for governing the country, and each has a set of principles for how to behave in the world.However, most thinkers did not make a clear explanation of the way of heaven, because they did not pay much attention to the study of natural phenomena.However, Laozi paid attention to natural phenomena and conducted special research on the way of heaven.

The way of heaven is a natural phenomenon, and the study of the way of heaven must rely on natural science.During the Spring and Autumn Period, natural science had made great progress.People were able to observe and record the positions of the sun, the moon and the stars more accurately, and further discovered the laws of the movement of many celestial bodies. For example, Saturn orbits the sky for one week every 12 years.It can also determine that a year is 365.25 days, and formulate a more advanced calendar.Since the movement of celestial bodies follows its own laws, it has nothing to do with human affairs.Other natural phenomena, such as wind and rain, earthquakes and landslides, vegetation growth, and animal sightings, do not exist for humans.So Laozi came to the general conclusion: the way of heaven is natural.Nature is natural, not for anything, and not dominated by anyone.

For example, when the nectar falls from the sky, it will be uniform without anyone's order; the growth and changes of all things will happen naturally without anyone's order.Heaven and earth have no kindness and no preference for all things.Human behavior should imitate the heaven and the earth, and the heaven and the earth should imitate the Tao. The principle of Tao is natural: "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, the sky follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." (Chapter 25 of Laozi) Tao makes all things grow, Makes all things develop and mature, but does not take all things as its own, and does not think that it has done its best for all things.This actually means that the growth and development of all things are natural.

Everything in the world is like this, and so should human behavior.Saints governing the country should follow this principle.The best monarch, people only know that he exists, and he does everything very well, but the common people feel that it is natural, as if it should be like this.In other words, the sages should only help it develop according to its natural nature when dealing with things, without interfering. Lao Tzu said, those who are good at binding can't be untied without a rope; those who are good at closing can't be opened without a lock.When a sage governs a country, he should only grasp some major principles and not interfere in everything, so that the people will naturally be convinced.

To treat things with the principles of nature is to do nothing.Inaction is to let things go their way. Lao Tzu said, those who govern the world and want to make a difference, I conclude that they will not achieve their goals.The world is a very miraculous thing, which cannot be interfered with randomly.Those who interfere indiscriminately are doomed to fail; those who want to hold the world in their hands are doomed to lose it.Those who want to make a difference and try their best to express themselves are all "lower moral" people with poor cultivation, and "higher moral" people don't do this. People with "superior virtue" will succeed if they don't interfere in anything; if they don't teach the people, the people will naturally be very obedient.He seems to be doing nothing, but doing everything well, this is "doing nothing without doing nothing" (Chapter 48 of Laozi).

"Do nothing without doing nothing" is an important proposition in "Laozi", and it is also a very profound philosophical thought.Generally speaking, in reality, in order to achieve a certain purpose, people always have to achieve it in a certain way. lose one.And the so-called doing is to transform things according to one's own will. Even if the goal is achieved, it will often bring unexpected consequences and abuses.Lao Tzu just saw the disadvantages of doing something, so he advocated doing nothing.Because only by doing nothing, can we do everything and avoid the shortcomings of taking care of one thing and losing another.Do everything, not do everything by yourself, but let things develop normally according to their own nature.Just like Tao or heaven and earth let all things develop normally according to their own nature, without interfering with them.The normal development of all things according to their own nature, no matter what the future is, is a natural result, which also avoids the negative effects of human interference.

In Lao Tzu's view, only by doing so can the world be governed well.Just as the Tao is naturally inactive, and all things will grow and develop automatically, if the rulers of the country can be inactive, the people will naturally have high morals and a prosperous life. , I have nothing to do and the people are rich, I have no desires and the people are simple” (Chapter 57 of Laozi), so doing nothing is very beneficial.Now, the reason why the world is confused and the people are difficult to govern is because the ruler wants to make a difference. The reason why inaction has such a great effect is because Tao is inaction.Tao is always doing nothing, but there is nothing that is not what Tao does: "Tao is always doing nothing and doing everything." (Chapter 37 of "Laozi") If the princes can adhere to this principle, it will be like everything automatically returns to itself. Just like being transformed into Tao, the common people will automatically become naturalized to him.At this time, he used the principle of inaction to make the people simple and without desires, so that they calmed down, and the world was stable.

In the Han Dynasty, the famous historian Sima Qian and his father Sima Tan highly respected Lao Tzu's thought.They attribute Lao Tzu's thoughts to the eight words of "clean and self-righteous, inaction and self-transformation".That is to say, in their view, the idea of ​​doing nothing and doing nothing is the core essence of Lao Tzu's thought.And Lao Tzu's thought of tranquility and inaction did indeed play a huge role in the politics of the early Han Dynasty.It is the ideological basis of the famous Wenjingzhizhi in Chinese history. It enabled the people at that time to recuperate after long-term wars, and it enabled the social economy at that time to recover and develop.

Although nature and inaction are so good, few people can practice them.They always want to make a difference, but they can't succeed.They wanted to fix the country, but it led to destruction; they tried their best to accumulate wealth, but they attracted thieves; they tried their best to fight for longevity, but they led to premature death;What a paradox!Lao Tzu deeply appreciates the contradictions that exist everywhere, and makes a philosophical generalization and conclusion.