Qiuyan Wang (Hot_learner) Offline

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How to Understand Laotze's Dao De Jing

Page 7 and Page 8 From Zhu Zi Bai Jia’s (《诸子百家》) description about Chinese remote antiquity, we can search for the existent grounds of “the way of ancient times” from Laotze’s explanation about his own the source of philosophy. Qiji, Liyun is a great harmony world “the world is owned by all the people in the world, people choose those who are the best at moral and ability as leaders, people believe in each other, clear up branching and smoke the calumet together......the old bring into play their ability sufficiently just like the young, and children can grow healthy.” He Guan Zi, Bei Zi’s proverb “wise people do not use their wisdom to cheat and drive others; between a person in power and people who are ruled are equality relation, but not is the inequality of relation masters and servants. Hanfeizi’s (韩非子) words in Wu Du Pian (《五蠹篇》) “ Yao (尧) as the king of Huxia,eats herbs as food, wears hides as clothing, and gatekeepers’ treatment, the job is not worse at today. Yu (禹) as a king of Huaxia furrows and ploughs field in body as the lead of the people, and leg’s hair does not grow, even the toilsome slaves and prisoners of war are just so. Laotze’s “they did all kinds of things and didn’t feel painstaking; create but did not occupy, and do but did not rely on; have merits but didn’t ascribe merits to themselves.43” “They are modest and cautious, and a great deal masses come over and pledge allegiance just like that thousands rivers come over and pledge allegiance sea”, “to swashbucklers, frustrate their peps, to warriors, reconcile their dissension. The people are happy, they are happy too; the people are hard, they are hard too.” Zhu Zi Bai Jia’s (《诸子百家》) description about remote antiquity completely consists with Laotze’s statement, reason and description about remote antiquity. In Chinese archaeological studies, almost does not discover tombs before Xia (夏) Dynasty with a slight scale. Even the Zhan Guo (战国) period that Confucianism advocated luxurious burials, those alleged that luxurious burials, compared Egypt pyramids before 2000 years with Chin Shihuang”s (秦始皇) mausoleum, almost is not luxurious at all. The essential reason to come into being this phenomenon is absolutely not that the ability of production is too low at that time. The ability of production and peoples’ wisdom level at that time of China is absolutely not lower than the wisdom of people who built pyramid 4500 ago in Egypt. Whether archaeological discoveries of the both countries or the level ancient culture reaches can prove the point. “Recently primitive tribes’ sites in Ling Jia Tan (placename), discovered that a prosperous city before 5500 years, its breeding, livestock, handcraft have initiatorily a scale, even have the primary level of city planning,44” The both obviously does not have very big differences. Thus, to the answer of the question only search grounds from Laotze’s philosophy idea, but can not be ascribed to the limitation of the ability of production. Simple burial obviously is in favour of the interest of the whole nation. What it expresses is the political equality relationship of people. The kind of custom, in the period of lengthy history, their terrain is very extensive, is kept very well in some countries. About 4000 BC, formed “a each other action circle,” make sure that the distribution of the earliest geographic stage of Chinese history culture.45” Its reason must have a mature philosophical idea to support. Motze (墨子) after Laotze opposes the luxurious burial with strong attitude, and obviously gets strong advocacy of social opinion. In spite of that age, compared luxurious burial Confucianism advocates with the former’s, it is nothing. But Motze calls to account: “expend a great deal money to build tombs, take long time to transact funeral arrangements, can not this make the poor rich, make orphans and widows get support, make dangers clear up, make ferments be controlled?46” From Motze’s the kind of ardour, being fulled of philosophy that was formed in clan society. The philosophy influences the mainstream idea of social at all times. If there were not a profound philosophy thought---Laotze’s “the way of ancient times”, it almost could not be imaged to realize unification and to accomplish well Chinese nation’s splendent history mission, in endlsess history period and an extensive field. It could be impossible to the appearance of Laotze and Motze who comes down from Laotze, as a genre of greatness influence. 43.Laotze Chapter 2 44.Chinese Culture Report 07/23/2002 Writer: Zhou Jianhone 45.Celebrating Su Bingqi’s Archeaologic 55 years Thesis Corpus Writer: Zhang Guangzhi Cultural Relic Press, 1989 46.Motze Wen Gu Chapter Sixth, Jie Zhanxia Page 161 The core of the idea is peoples’ equality in politics. The idea is strong and powerful. If effectively assures that Chinese nation gets development in clan society, and defers the time that power seriously harms the society. The idea makes Chinese ancient culture get the chance of peace development in the endless history period, makes Huang Di (黄帝) win Yan Di (炎帝) and makes two countries merge with nation. Later Shun (舜) spread central plain culture to the south, and Yu (禹) continued his father to administrate Yellow River. If there is not these successes, Chinese development could meet very big difficulty after the history period. To open the Chinese history, we easily read these with Qin Dynasy’s (秦朝) establishment, the concept is destroyed; Chinese tends towards decline. Each time it obtains vitality again with that Laotze’s philosophy revives slightly. Each time fells down with that the idea is abandoned. The problem is valued to ponder over. From that, democracy idea is very important to a nation’s survival. Sartori said: “No any exploration of human history can so frightfully depend on the idea of power, thus, also depends on the ability that we use the idea, the ability masters the world.47” Therefore, from here, we can see that not only a nation, but also human fate itself is “frightfully depend on the idea of power”. Laotze said: “the soft overcome the hard.48” Laotze’s the soft, the hard and go natural obviously are the idea of power modern people talk. (the soft is people, the hard is some who master right.) Spanning time and space, thinkers use different words to express the same thought and idea. Whether correct philosophical idea is destroyed, which is related to the fate of human society and each nation, and is related to survival and extinction. Before eighty years, Hu Shi (胡适) evaluated Laotze’s political attitude in this way: “Laotze of revolutionist”, “the reaction of that age”, “completely is a newborn baby of that age49”, Completely is a newborn baby of that age”, “extreme destructionist50”. Those evaluations include a very correct idea: Laotze is his thought and philosophy with strong democracy. He opposes strongly the extreme political inequality and the extreme absolute power. Laotze indignantly said: “the people do not fear death, why does use death to frighten people?51” The people are hunger, because the rulers collect taxes very heavily,” “The people make light of death, because the ruler are excessively luxurious and wasteful52”, under the history conditions at that time, increasingly serious and extreme inequality phenomenon of polity makes the strong utmostly plunder from the weak. Under successive many years’ wars and heavy tax pressure, the people reach the difficult status to live. What reason makes that? As a philosopher, Laotze finds the key of the problem. “When the way is discarded, the people will have the idea of principle and moral; when political wisdom born, along with the phenomenon will have the phenomenon to deceive society; when harmonious relationship discords, respect and kindness arise; when a nation falls to chaos, loyalty and fidelity are born.53” “This thing of ritual makes loyalty and faith declining.54” Laotze reveals that “principle and moral”, “respect and kindness”, “ritual” are some most deceptive ideas that are made by some guileful and deceitful people to deceive the whole society. Regards them as ultimate true idea, which destroys the way, the ancient and simple democracy idea we mentioned above, and makes serious consequences. 47.Democracy New Theory (in Chinese) Sartori. G. Translater: Feng Keli, Yan Kewen, Page 563 48.Laotze Chapter 43 49.Chinese Philosophy History a General Outline Page 41 1996 first press, writer Hu Shi 50.Chinese Philosophy History a General Outline Page 43 1996 first press, writer Hu Shi 51.Laotze Chapter 74 52.Laotze Chapter 75 53.Laotze Chapter 18 54.Laotze Chapter 38