Laozi's Philosophy and Life Wisdom

Author: Meng Xin, Tian Hou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: [Original]
All under heaven know beauty as beauty, and thus there is ugliness. All know good as good, and thus there is bad. Therefore, existence gives birth to non-existence, difficulty gives birth to ease, long gives birth to short, high gives birth to low, sound gives birth to harmony, and front gives birth to rear—this is the eternal way. Thus, the sage engages in the affairs of non-action, practices the teaching of non-verbal words, and yet gives birth to ten thousand things without claiming them as his own; he nourishes them without possessing them; he acts without relying on them; and when his work is accomplished, he does not take credit for it. Only by not taking credit does he not fade away. [Interpretation]
This chapter can be divided into three sections for interpretation.
(1) "All under heaven know beauty as beauty, and thus there is ugliness. All know good as good, and thus there is bad."
The character "" serves as a verbal auxiliary, indicating the object it accompanies, and can be translated as "because." "" is the same as "." "" here means ugly, and "" refers to bad. This passage uses familiar life experiences as an entry point, and its paraphrase is: All under heaven know that beauty is beautiful because there is ugliness. All know that goodness is good because there is badness. This reveals that beauty is relative to ugliness, and goodness is relative to badness.
(2) "Therefore, existence gives birth to non-existence, difficulty gives birth to ease, long gives birth to short, high gives birth to low, sound gives birth to harmony, and front gives birth to rear—this is the eternal way."
"" means to surpass. "" specifically refers to musical sounds. This passage is an extension of the previous section. Its meaning is that: From this, it can be inferred that existence gives birth to non-existence, and non-existence gives birth to existence; difficulty gives birth to ease, and ease gives birth to difficulty; long gives birth to short, and short gives birth to long; high gives birth to low, and low can surpass high, making high a new low; human voice gives birth to harmony with musical sounds; front gives birth to rear, and rear follows front, with front also becoming rear. All of these are eternal laws. This reveals that many things are in opposition yet unified, interdependent, and interconnected.
(3) "Therefore, the sage engages in the affairs of non-action, practices the teaching of non-verbal words, and yet gives birth to ten thousand things without claiming them as his own; he nourishes them without possessing them; he acts without relying on them; and when his work is accomplished, he does not take credit for it. Only by not taking credit does he not fade away."
"Non-action" is a key concept frequently used by Laozi, not meaning inaction, but rather "not forcing action"—acting according to the degree of contradiction and change; "not acting arbitrarily"—acting according to the nature of the contradiction. Simply put, it means to act in accordance with the natural way.
"Non-verbal words" is also a concept frequently mentioned by Laozi, not meaning not speaking, but rather "not speaking arbitrarily"—speaking according to the nature and degree of the contradiction; "not speaking falsely"—speaking with genuine actions, creating an environment that aligns with the Dao. Simply put, it means to speak in accordance with the Dao.
"" here means blame, dismissal, and can be extended to interference or domination. "" refers to possession. "" refers to self-reliance. "" refers to taking credit. "" means to fade away. This passage extends from the theory of opposition and unity in the second section to a theory or methodology of handling affairs in accordance with the natural development of contradictions. Its paraphrase is: Therefore, the sage always acts in accordance with the natural way and speaks in accordance with the Dao, allowing ten thousand things to grow and change naturally without interference, nurturing them without possessing them, doing good deeds without relying on them, and achieving success without taking credit. Only by not taking credit does his achievements not fade away.
[Reflection]
The contradictory nature of the Dao is revealed in the first two sections of this passage, from the individual to the general, showing the contradictory nature of many things in the universe, such as beauty and ugliness, goodness and badness, existence and non-existence, difficulty and ease, length and shortness, height and lowness, and front and rear. All of these are mutually opposed yet mutually unified, constituting the development and diversity of things. What cosmic view one has determines what methodology one has. After explaining the contradictory nature of the Dao, Laozi further clarifies the sage's approach to handling affairs in six sentences: "Engaging in the affairs of non-action," "Practicing the teaching of non-verbal words," "Giving birth to ten thousand things without claiming them as his own," "Nourishing them without possessing them," "Acting without relying on them," and "Achieving success without taking credit." In essence, these are based on common flaws, urging people to restrain desires and respect nature.