Lecture on Tao Te Ching Chapter 49

In this chapter, the official seal of Laozi's Tao Te Ching is called Benevolence, and Xiong Chunjin's Laozi's Tao Te Ching named this chapter "Virtue and Kindness". In this chapter, Lao Tzu expresses his thoughts of governing Tao by treating cultivated people as saints of Tao.

Saints are fickle and take the people's heart as their heart. Ok, I am good; Those bad ones, I am also good, and my virtue is also good. Believers, I believe; If you don't believe, I will believe, and I will believe. Sages wander around the world and confuse the world. People pay attention to the eyes and ears, and saints are also children.

Sages are fickle and take the people's heart as their heart: fickle heart, in many versions, is "often unintentional" and selfless for a long time. Saints are often selfless and take the people's hearts as their responsibility.

Ok, I am good; Bad people, I am also good, good virtue: virtue is borrowed. "Many versions think that" virtue "and" virtue "are all" virtues ". For a kind person, I am kind to him; For those who are not kind, I also treat him kindly, so that I can get kindness and make everyone kind.

Believers, I believe; I believe in people who don't believe in it, Dexin: I believe in people who keep promises, and I believe in people who don't keep promises, so that we can get integrity and make everyone keep promises.

Sages wander all over the world, confusing the world: wandering, convergence and closure refer to the desire to converge subjectively. Mr. Xu said: "When you are ruling the world, you are trying your best to destroy your will and not let your will stretch out as a master, just like sucking air in." A wise saint can restrain his subjective prejudice and desire in his position and turn people's mind to simplicity.

(People pay attention to their eyes and ears), saints are children's: people pay attention to their eyes and ears. Many versions have this sentence, but it is not in the books now. According to the context, this sentence has a more complete meaning, so it is added. The people are concentrating on their eyes, ears and cleverness, which means that the people are vying to use their wisdom, that is, Wang Bi's note: "Each uses his own cleverness." In the case of "using each wisdom", all kinds of disputes will naturally arise.

Shi Deqing's note: "People pay attention to their own eyes and ears, that is, pay attention to it, listen to it and tell the truth." Saints are all children, and saints treat children with childlike mentality and vision. Xu said: "The way of a saint is that the saint himself holds a simple attitude and does not disturb the people. In other words, do nothing. "

Ordinary people focus on their eyes and ears, while wise saints treat them like children. Saints care for the people and don't let them get confused. People compete to exert their wisdom and pursue their desires, which will inevitably lead to various disputes. Therefore, the saint asked them to return to the state of innocence like babies, that is, to abandon wisdom and return to nature. The heart of a saint takes heaven and earth as the heart, that is, the heart of parents, treating all people equally and educating them.

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"Sages are fickle and take people's hearts as the heart", Lao Tzu is talking about saints here. In fact, some honest officials in history can "take people's hearts as their heart". In the Ming Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Yan Ne, who was now from Changshu, Jiangsu. He entered the officialdom through the imperial examination because he read a lot of poems and books to keep officials clean. Emperor Jiajing appreciated him very much and promoted him constantly, which made him a high official position. He appointed people on their merits and promoted talents by breaking the rules, such as Hai Rui and Lu Guangzu, and the officialdom took on a new look. Later, I became a college student in Wuyingdian and joined the maintenance team. Later, he resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown to filial piety his adoptive parents.

After returning home, he decided to build a school in his hometown at his own expense. After the school address is determined, the next step is demolition. After the funds are in place, the demolition personnel will work on the spot, and many residents will move to new places after taking the money. Only the last private house is still caught in the middle as a nail house, and that one is in the business of drunken fermented bean curd. Yan Ne thought about it and told the staff that since he didn't want to move away, we didn't force him to start repairing other houses first. Yan Ne called the staff at the scene and said, "Go to the shopkeeper and tell him that a large number of workers will come in soon, so that he can make preparations in advance and buy more fruits, vegetables and food." . The staff will tell the layman the harsh words.

The householder doesn't want to do this business, but his room is too small to provide food for the workers. He must find another spacious place. The family got together and finally decided to move out. Yan Ne immediately found them a nearby house, which was much more spacious and bright than before. The family was very satisfied and quickly moved to a new house, and the demolition went smoothly. Yan Ne did not take the means of "forced demolition", which is commendable in feudal society. He understands the difficulties of the people, gives them tangible benefits, and moves them.

He changed the other party's intention intentionally or unintentionally and achieved his goal. Yan Ne can be said to be a "people-oriented", considerate and generous good official.

Summary: In the last chapter, I talked about two ways of understanding, namely "for learning" and "for Tao". I hope people will take the road of "being the Tao" and reach the realm of "doing nothing". This chapter makes an in-depth analysis and demonstration of the problems immediately following the previous chapter from the text and content. Sages who have attained the Tao have no selfishness, but take the people's heart as their own, so that everyone can be faithful and kind, and by restraining their subjective prejudices and desires, people's hearts become simple. Although the people value their own eyes and ears, wise men and saints treat them like children in order to make the people abandon their wisdom and return to nature.