Chapter 21 Section 2 Lao Tzu and Metaphysics

In the Confucianism of the Han Dynasty, the important content was to talk about the interaction between heaven and man.Confucians believe that if people, especially emperors, do good deeds, God will praise them, such as colorful clouds appearing in the sky, or two ears of wheat growing on one stalk.This is called Xiangrui.If you do bad things, God will criticize you: hailstorms, strong winds, hens crowing, and worms in the crops.Wang Chong (A.D. 27-about 100), a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, carefully investigated the above-mentioned phenomena and found that these phenomena occurred naturally, and were not praise or criticism from God at all.So he wrote a big book called "Lunheng".The conclusions in the book are inconsistent with the Confucian theory of the interaction between heaven and man, but they are consistent with the Taoist thought of heaven and nature.

After "Lunheng" was written, it fell into obscurity for a long time.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong (yong Yong), a famous scholar, escaped from political persecution and went to Wang Chong's hometown (now Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province) to obtain this book.Later, when he returned to the capital, his conversation was extraordinary.Some people speculated that he either met an expert, or got a strange book.So I rummaged around on his bed and found "Lunheng".Cai Yong instructed: "It's enough for the two of us to read this book, don't let others know about it."Because Wang Chong's thoughts were not in tune with the ruling thoughts at that time.

Soon after, the Han Dynasty perished, and the idea of ​​the relationship between heaven and man went bankrupt, and Wang Chong's thought became popular.Wang Chong said that the occurrence of natural phenomena is natural, not divine, and has nothing to do with human behavior.The popularity of the natural concept of heaven and nature has promoted the revival of Taoism. Therefore, the three books "Laozi", "Book of Changes" and "Book of Changes" have received special attention. People often talk about them and call them "three mysteries". "Xuan" means deep and dark, far away, not very clear. "Book of Changes" advocates vigor and self-improvement, which are fundamentally different from "Laozi" and "Laozi", but they all advocate that behind the obvious things or phenomena, there is a "Tao" dominating them.This way is also the code of conduct for people.Dao cannot be seen or touched, and can only be experienced with the heart, so it is dark, far away, and not very clear. Scholars who talk about it seldom touch on specific practical issues, so people call this kind of knowledge "metaphysics." .

The founder of metaphysics was Wang Bi (226-249 AD), who was only 24 years old when he died.When he was a teenager, he had a very deep understanding of Laozi.At that time, He Yan (AD 190-249), the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was annotating "Laozi". Later, when he saw Wang Bi's "Laozi", he felt that he was not as good as Wang Bi, so he quit.Wang Bi said that Tao has no form or image, invisible and intangible, so it is a "nothing".Although it is nothing, it is the basis of everything.Therefore, everything that is clearly visible is the tip of a twig, and the invisible Tao (that is, "nothing") is the root.By extension, all things and phenomena are produced by "nothing".Therefore, the most important thing is not to pursue the obvious "being", but to pursue this "nothing".

But don't think that Wang Bi is talking nonsense, it's great to spread this principle.For example, the systems and rules formulated according to the spirit of Confucianism are all "existent" according to Wang Bi's meaning.Wang Bi does not deny these systems and rules, but thinks that they are not important, what is important is the "nothing" behind them.In this way, it doesn't matter if people obey these rules or not! Confucianism has a rule that three years of mourning should be observed after the death of parents.During these three years, he was not allowed to be an official, he was not allowed to live with his wife, and he was not allowed to drink or eat meat to express his condolences to his parents.In order to show respect to his parents, no matter how much he abused his parents, he had to hold a big funeral when his parents died, and wept every day, and even couldn’t eat and drink until he was so haggard that he couldn’t stand up, and some even died because of it. of.Many people used this to cheat and gain a good reputation and became officials.They deal with people, follow the rules, and are wretched.At that time, there was a famous scholar named Ruan Ji (210-263 AD), who did not abide by these rules.After his mother died, he still drank wine and ate meat. Some people attacked him for being unfilial and wanted to kill him.But Ruan Ji didn't cry, he vomited blood when he cried loudly.To paraphrase in Wang Bi's words, this is out of nature.Natural filial piety is informal, but this is true filial piety.Therefore, the faction of Wang Bi and Ruan Ji looked down on those guys who followed the rules, and even called them lice in the crotch.

In addition to annotating Laozi, Wang Bi also annotated Zhouyi.Wang Bi's method of annotating "Book of Changes" is completely different from that of most scholars in the Han Dynasty.Scholars in the Han Dynasty annotated the "Book of Changes", mostly devoted to the study of hexagram images and the meaning of the hexagrams and words, and explained the "Book of Changes" according to the hexagram images and the meanings of the hexagrams and words.Wang Bi believes that the hexagram and line words are used to explain the hexagram image, and the hexagram image is used to express a certain meaning.That being the case, then, once you get the hexagram image, you can forget the language that explains the hexagram image; if you get the meaning expressed by the hexagram image, you can forget the hexagram image.Such a method, Wang Bi called it "get the image and forget the words", "be proud and forget the image" (Wang Bi's "Zhou Yi Lue Li Ming Xiang").Obtaining the image forgets the words, and obtaining the idea forgets the image, which is also the pursuit of the meaning behind the phenomenon.This meaning is both Dao and Wu, so it is interlinked with Lao Tzu's philosophy.So some people think that Wang Bi brought the spirit of Lao Tzu into his commentary on the Confucian classics.

Scholars in the Han Dynasty paid attention to phenomena and were accustomed to explaining the meaning expressed by phenomena from the phenomenon itself.The theory of interaction between heaven and man, which has been widely popular for hundreds of years, is a concentrated expression of the thinking style of scholars in the Han Dynasty.In order to detect God's will, they carefully observed and collected anomalies in nature one by one, and explained their significance one by one.However, their explanations are often not consistent, or even quite different.Therefore, this way of discussing the matter as it stands has long caused people's dissatisfaction.The birth of metaphysics not only abandoned the ideological content of the theory of interaction between heaven and man, but also abandoned the thinking method of the theory of interaction between heaven and man.The reason why Wang Bi was able to do this is that he has indeed absorbed nutrients from Lao Tzu's philosophy.

The way of thinking of scholars in the Han Dynasty is manifested in practice, which is to pay too much attention to the external performance of people.For example, people in the Han Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety, and with the reputation of filial piety, they could become officials.Therefore, being a filial son was the goal that many people in the Han Dynasty deliberately pursued.But to judge whether a person is filial piety?It is often based on his external performance, that is, whether he cried and mourned when his parents died?Is mourning for parents a long time?Emphasis on the external results, is to lead to hypocrisy.Some people claimed that he lived in his parents' tomb to mourn for his parents, and not only for three years, but for several three years, so everyone thought he was a filial son.However, after investigation, during the mourning period he claimed, he and his wife had several children.According to regulations, it is not allowed to live with his wife during the mourning period.If the metaphysics founded by Wang Bi is a theoretical rebellion against the thought of the Han Dynasty, then the behavior of Ruan Ji and others is a rebellion against the hypocrisy of the Han Dynasty people in practice.

However, when it comes to ideological attribution, metaphysics is still Confucianism.Its representative figures not only note "Lao Zi", but also note "Book of Changes".Wang Bi's "Zhou Yi Zhu" and He Yan's "Analects of Confucius" have long been the standard texts of Confucian scholars.In the eyes of Wang Bi and others, the sage is still Confucius, not Lao Tzu.So metaphysics only absorbs Lao Tzu's thoughts to supplement Confucianism, but it does not intend to replace Confucianism with Lao Tzu's thoughts.When the Tang Dynasty formulated the Confucian temple sacrifice system, Wang Bi worshiped at the Confucian temple as the "first teacher" of Confucianism, and he was listed alongside many famous Confucians after Confucius.

Metaphysics talks about Lao Tzu, so it can no longer be called Huang Lao.At that time, God had been renamed Emperor Huangdi or Haotian God according to the Confucian scriptures, and Lao Tzu was no longer the spokesperson of God.In metaphysics, it is Zhuangzi who is associated with Laozi.At that time, there were many annotations by scholars, among which Guo Xiang's Zhuangzi Zhuangzi has been handed down to this day. Guo Xiang (approximately 252-312 AD) believed that the core of the essence of Buddhism is to "let nature take its course".Human "nature" is human nature.Only when people act according to their own nature, is it the most reasonable and therefore the most noble.

But what is human nature?Everyone's understanding is inconsistent.Some people say that it is human nature to be fond of learning (studying Confucian books);This time it will be lively, because it has only one result: teaching people not to obey the rules.There was a man named Wang Cheng, and his friends Ruan Zhan, Xie Kun, etc., when they were drinking together, they often disheveled their hair, took off their clothes, and even got naked.There was a man named Liu Ling who took off all his clothes after drinking.When others criticized him, he said: "The world is my house, and the house is my pants. Why did you get into my crotch?"He drank too much, and his wife cried and persuaded him.He said, I will worship God with wine and meat, and swore to abstain from alcohol.The wife brought the wine, and Liu Ling wished: "Liu Ling was born, and he is addicted to alcohol; a big bowl, five buckets of misfortunes and diseases; my wife's words, you must not listen." He probably thinks that drinking is his nature.Some people don't do things well when they become officials;The famous Zu Ti was very worn when he first arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, but one day he suddenly looked brand new, and there were many jewels. Everyone asked questions in amazement, and Zu Ti said: "It was stolen." Everyone didn't care.The actions of these people cannot but be said to be related to Taoism. However, although Zhuangzi believes that all things have their own nature, or called natural nature, and believes that this natural nature should develop normally and should not be interfered or damaged.But Chuang Tzu does not think that he, and those like him, are satisfied with the normal development of their natural nature.Otherwise, he wouldn't have ridiculed those who boasted because of their wealth, because it can also be said that the pursuit of wealth is the natural nature of people, why do you have to ridicule others?Zhuangzi believes that oneself, as well as one's own kind, should have higher pursuits.This higher pursuit is "Xiaoyao".The connotation of Xiaoyao should be "taking advantage of the righteousness of the heaven and the earth", "controlling the debate of the six qi", and "traveling endlessly" in "Zhuangzi·Xiaoyaoyou". The so-called "righteousness of heaven and earth" actually recognizes that there is an eternal and correct law between heaven and earth, which is also the Tao mentioned by Laozi and Zhuangzi. "Multiplication" means following and mastering these laws.Some people interpret this state as "things and not things in things" (Guo Qingfan's "Zhuangzi Jishi" Volume 1 Citation). "Things and things" means to let things become things, that is, to allow all things to develop normally according to their own nature;This understanding is correct.This is a state of beings who transcend all things and attain the Tao.Those who have reached this kind of realm do not do anything themselves, but make all things develop normally according to their own nature, and they themselves are in heaven and earth, accessible everywhere, as if they are flying freely in the boundless and unobstructed space.What Guo Xiang said about "letting it be" is nothing more than "things with things", that is, to equate oneself with things, to pursue the free development of one's own nature, so as to be free and unscrupulous. Guo Xiang's understanding of spirit is not only the guidance of some people's behavior, but also the theoretical summary of people's laissez-faire behavior at that time.People at that time asked to let themselves go, and they understood it in this way.It is not their popularity that caused their laissez-faire, but their laissez-faire demands that caused their popularity. However, people in this era also live free and easy, without restraint, and with true feelings.Zhang Zhan, who annotated "Liezi", planted pines and cypresses in front of the house, and Yuan Shansong often taught his followers to sing dirges when he was playing.People say that Zhang Zhan regards his house as a grave, and Yuan Shansong regards his outing as a funeral.Wang Huizhi, Wang Xizhi's son, suddenly missed his friend Dai Kui on a snowy night, so he got on a boat and set off immediately.After walking for a day and a night, he arrived at the gate of Dai Kui, but was abducted back.Others ask what's going on?He said: "I don't think about it anymore." This is Wang Huizhi, and his younger brother Xianzhi was very ill, and he hadn't heard from Xian for a long time. He said, "I'm probably dead." Take a car to mourn.Xianzhi liked the qin, and Huizhi was at the coffin, took Xianzhi's qin, and wanted to play a piece for his dead brother, but he couldn't play the tune, so he threw the qin to the ground with a snap, and sighed to the sky: "Present it, present it, it's really a death for everyone!" Before he finished speaking, he burst into tears and passed away not long after arriving home.Before Wang Huizhi was alive, he met a man on the road and was told that it was Huan Yi.Huizhi sent people to say to Huan Yi, "I heard that you play the flute well. How about playing a piece?" Huan Yi was already General Zuo at that time, but he didn't refuse. Say nothing.At that time, there were many men who were good at singing, dancing, and musical instruments, and the scholars who were sour and fake were the products of Song and Ming Dynasties.Prime Minister Wang Dao asked Wang Meng and Xie Shang to be his assistants.Wang Meng said: "Xie Shang can dance new dances." Xie Shang danced lightly, with a calm expression.Wang Dao's younger brother, General Wang Dun, launched a rebellion. Wang Dao was afraid of being involved, so he asked Zhou (left Qi right page) [yi Yi], an important minister at the time, to rescue him, saying: "My family of hundreds of people depends on you for a word. "Zhou pretended not to hear and ignored him.But the emperor didn't kill Wang Dao either.When the rebels arrived in the capital and captured Zhou, Wang Dun asked Dao Wang, "Will this man be killed?" Dao Wang hated Zhou for ignoring him, and said nothing.So Zhou (left Qi right page) was killed.Later, Director Wang found out that it was Zhou (right page) who saved him, and he regretted it.When Zhou (right page on the left) was young, he also acted recklessly. He once molested his concubine with unspeakable means at banquets.From the point of view of Zhou (left and right), he saved Wang Dao because of his nature, so he didn't show his merits until he died.These stories, so far read, make people angry, make people sad, and make people get rid of some meanness and hypocrisy. We know that any human group cannot be without rules.What's more, how can a country go its own way?How could the people of that era be so ignorant?It turns out that during this period, the political situation was chaotic and changed frequently. Scholars were easily blamed, and they would be killed if they were not careful.The reason is not that you have committed a crime, but that you belong to a certain political group or do not belong to a certain political group.In normal years, if a person follows the rules, even if he does not become an official and is not rewarded, at least he will not be convicted.But in turbulent years, these rules are useless at all, and can't protect you at all.It is even more dangerous if the conversation involves practical issues, so we have to make far-fetched and far-reaching talks.His actions are also wild and uninhibited, and he doesn't take those rules to heart.Some people think that this is a great discovery of human nature and the discovery of personal value.In my opinion, I feel that life is boring, so I have no scruples and act willfully.And the philosophy of "Laozi" and "Laozi" became their guiding ideology. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the names of Laozi and Huangdi were linked together, and his theory contributed to the recuperation of the people and the prosperity and abundance of the society.In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the name of Lao Tzu was associated with Zhuang Zi, which provided an ideological basis for people's laissez-faire.As far as the ideology of the whole society is concerned, Laozi's theory no longer occupies a dominant position. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Laozi's theory was further combined with alchemy and became the theoretical weapon of alchemists.