Chapter 26 The seventh section regards "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi" as scourges

Criticism of the Laozi has long existed.The alchemist Ge Hong criticized Laozi because it said too little about alchemy and longevity.But other people's criticism of "Lao Tzu" is mainly that it harms politics. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the political situation was chaotic, and the literati and bureaucrats liked to gossip and chat, which was called "clear talk" by later generations.The content of the clear talk is mainly "Lao Tzu" and "Lao Tzu".After many people become officials, they don't do business seriously, but indulge in chatting.Later generations criticized them for being irresponsible to the country, causing political corruption and social turmoil. In the words of the ancients, it was because they liked to talk freely and missed important national affairs, which is called "talking wrongly harming the country".Since the content of the talk is "Lao Tzu", people often attribute the responsibility for wronging the country to "Lao Tzu".Tang Taizong's criticism of Liang Yuandi mentioned in the previous section is an example of criticizing "Lao Tzu" for harming the country.

However, after Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the country in the Tang Dynasty respected Laozi even more than in the Qingtan era, but there was still a period of good politics during the "Kaiyuan Reign" (713-741 AD).The responsibility for harming the country does not necessarily have to be borne by Laozi. In the late Tang Dynasty, it was the famous writer Han Yu who firmly criticized Laozi.Han Yu said that "Laozi" opposes benevolence and righteousness and corrupts national politics.Its believers (Taoist priests) do not pay taxes or serve in military service, which increases the burden on producers.If things go on like this, the country must be poor and weak.So he suggested that the country should demolish the temples of the Taoists and order them to return to the vulgar and become citizens who serve the country.

Song dynasty scholars also criticized Laozi.They believe that they are consistent with the propositions of Laozi in terms of cultivating the mind and controlling desires.However, after self-cultivation, their destination is reason, but "Laozi" returns to nothingness.Li means loyalty and filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, propriety and wisdom, the Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constant Principles; nothingness means that one does not know what to follow and how to do it.Therefore, they believe that the proposition of "Laozi" is unacceptable.However, in the eyes of later generations, many of their propositions are exactly the same as "Laozi".

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and then the Qing soldiers entered the pass, and the Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed.Some intellectuals in the Ming Dynasty attributed the reason to the proliferation of theories of Wang Shouren (AD 1472-1528).They believe that Wang Shouren's theory, called Confucianism, is actually Zen.It teaches people not to care about practical affairs, but to explore and practice spiritual cultivation all day long, just like a monk.How can the country be governed well if everyone does not handle affairs well? Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692 AD) in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty was a patriot and nationalist, as well as a great philosopher.He believes that the root of Wang Shouren's theory lies in Zen Buddhism, and the root of Zen Buddhism lies in Lao Zhuang.Because when Buddhism was first introduced to China, people couldn't understand it, so they had to use Lao Zhuang's meaning to understand it.Therefore, it is the ideas of Lao and Zhuang that helped the spread of Buddhism, and Buddhism has been contaminated with the spirit of Lao and Zhuang.Therefore, to criticize Wang Shouren's theory, one must criticize Zen Buddhism; to criticize Zen Buddhism, one must criticize Lao Zhuang.

Wang Fuzhi believes that Lao-Zhuang thought teaches people to be irresponsible to society.The harm of this kind of thinking to society exceeds that of scourges.Wang Fuzhi said that it is not just those cruel and tyrannical guys who endanger society.Some people don't work hard when they do bad things, and they don't work hard when they do good things. They just ignore everything, like a dead person without emotion, who just takes care of himself leisurely every day.He doesn't feel pain when cut by a knife, and he doesn't feel hot when burned by fire, and he feels numb.If there are too many people like this, the world will fall apart, no one will care about the sufferings of the common people, no one will care about the future of the country, even if the emperor is killed, they will be indifferent.They don't distinguish between good and evil, and they don't talk about loyalty and filial piety. They think that everything is the same, that's what it is, and it has nothing to do with me.Isn't this kind of harm more powerful than a scourge!

Wang Fuzhi said that Lao Dan and Zhuang Zhou advocated such an idea first, but people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties advocated it later, so that it corrupted the atmosphere of the world.Wang Fuzhi believed that Zhuang Zhou's remarks, thousands of words, were just opportunistic tricks, and he dodged when he saw difficulties.He asked that the journey of life must be cloudless and clear.He felt dull at the slightest cloud.So he regards life as a dangerous path, regards the world as a big shooting range, feels that there are traps everywhere, and wants to make himself a useless piece of rotten wood to escape society and life.Wang Fuzhi said that this is the state of mind of a villain, and a person who has achieved something should not think so.

Wang Fuzhi accused Zhuangzi of creating a series of hermit images, and also said that Yao and Shun also regarded being a monarch as a burden, looking left and right, looking for someone to replace them.These images are enough to confuse the world.Zhuangzi also said through the mouth of the hermit: I don't want to be the emperor!Wang Fuzhi severely reprimanded: If it is true that one sentence can lead to the country's subjugation, then it is this sentence. Wang Fuzhi's accusation is not entirely unreasonable.Laozi and Zhuangzi did say a lot of negative things.However, there are many ideological materials left by the predecessors. What people believe and what they don't believe depends not only on the reality at that time, but also on their own attitude towards reality.

Promising young people in the new era can understand the situation of Laozi and Zhuangzi, recognize the depth of their thinking, and use their philosophical theories to improve our theoretical thinking level, instead of learning their attitude of escaping from reality.To strive for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the spiritual outlook that Chinese people in the new era should have.