What exactly does it mean to treat everything like a dog?

For a long time, the fifth chapter of "Lao Zi" "Heaven and earth are heartless, and everything is a grass dog; The phrase "sage is heartless and people are grass dogs" is influenced by the meaning of "grass dogs", and there are different opinions. Based on the analysis of "straw dogs", this paper insists on the position of understanding the old with the old, and puts forward the viewpoint of interpreting "straw dogs" as "straw"; Returning to the meaning of the text itself, this paper makes a confirmatory discussion on some categories in the system of Laozi.

Laozi, also known as Tao Te Ching, consists of 81 chapters, and its position in the history of China's philosophy and literature is beyond doubt. But its meaning is abstruse and abstract. The fifth chapter "Heaven and earth are heartless, and everything is a grass dog; It is even more difficult to understand the sentence "saints are ruthless and people are grass dogs" According to the title of the paper, a reasonable analysis of the meaning of "pig and dog" in the sentence is the main problem that this paper tries to solve. Therefore, this paper is divided into two parts: The first part (1, 2, 3, 4) focuses on the analysis and explanation of the meaning of "pig and dog". The second section (the fifth, sixth and seventh sections) makes a preliminary discussion on the meaning and some categories of the "Zhuzuo" sentences involved in the system of Laozi on the basis of the interpretation in the first section.

one

Copy the fifth chapter of the popular book "Lao Zi" first (the problem of non-popular books will be discussed later), as follows:

Heaven and earth are heartless, taking everything as grass dogs, saints are heartless, and taking people as grass dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it still ambiguous? Empty and unyielding, move out. It is better to stay in the middle than to talk too much and calculate too little.

Due to the special relationship of the text of Laozi, the upper sentence and the lower sentence in a chapter are not necessarily related (the silk version of Laozi proves that the early chapter of Laozi is different from the handed down version, and it is very likely that Laozi has no chapter); So let's focus on the first sentence. Obviously, "straw dogs" is one of the keys to understanding the meaning of a sentence. Traditionally, the interpretation of "straw dogs" can be roughly divided into two types. One tendency is to separate "straw" and "dog" and interpret them separately. This statement was first seen in He Gong's notes in the Han Dynasty: "Everything is born in heaven and earth, and people are the most expensive. Heaven and earth regard it as dirt, dogs and animals, and don't think it is reported. " "Sages treat people like dirt, dogs like animals, and don't care about their gifts." Later, in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Wang Bi adopted this statement, "Heaven and earth are natural, doing nothing, and everything is autonomous, so it is ruthless." Benevolent people do nothing, and benevolent people do something. If it is made, it will lose its truth; If there is goodness, there is nothing. Things don't exist, not enough preparation! Heaven and earth do not make straw for animals, and animals eat straw; Not for living, dog. Nothing is everything, everything is suitable for its use. "For the convenience of discussion, this explanation is hereinafter referred to as the river note.

Fan Wenlan continued to elaborate the notes on the Yangtze River in A Brief History of China. "... grass, dogs (animals) and people are all things that naturally grow between heaven and earth. Animals eat grass and people eat dogs, which is in line with the laws of nature. Heaven and earth do not interfere with animals eating grass and people eating dogs, so saints do not interfere with people's lives. "

Obviously, the basis for advocating word splitting mainly comes from philology. The ancient word for "Chu" is "Chu", and the shape of Oracle Bone Inscriptions follows the grass from the hand, so Shuowen explains that Chu mows the grass. In addition, Li Wenzhong wrote: "Grass" and said: "Cutting grass is like wrapping sokcho." From the second place, that is, the word' grass'. The word "straw" was widely used to refer to grass as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as Zhou Li? Taizai: "straw seven-day style." Zuozhuan? Thirteen years in Zhao Gong: A Prostitute. "Zuo zhuan"? Six years in Zhao Gong: "Prohibition of grazing and firewood". This was the big context at that time, and it was natural to regard "grass" as "grass". It is worth noting that the definition of Notes on the River vaguely enlarges the word "grass", which is equivalent to the extension of the word "plant" today. In the same way, "dog" is expanded to "beast", which refers to all animals, so there is a saying that "animals eat grass and people eat dogs"

Another explanation holds that "grass dog" should be understood as a formal compound word, that is, "grass dog" was first seen in Zhuangzi? "On the Fate of Heaven", which says: "Husband and dog are not in Chenye, they are filled with bamboo slips and embroidered with silk scarves, and the corpse is willing to fast. Besides, there is Chen Yu, and Monkey will practice his ridge first, and Su Zhe will seize it. " Because of the special relationship between Zhuangzi School and Laozi's academic system, many people later believed this theory. In Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi pointed out: "Heaven and earth are to all things, and saints are to the people. Some of them love and some don't. Love, benevolence; People who don't love are also kind. Only love does not stay in love, just like a straw dogs, who was used as a sacrifice, put on a letter, embroidered a towel, fasted with a corpse, and then used. After the sacrifice, Monkey practiced the first trace and burned his limbs with firewood. Heaven and earth are to all things, when spring grows and summer grows, if the benevolent loves others; Everything falls in autumn and winter, not the love of heaven and earth. "

Wang Kan (son of Wang Anshi) wrote: "Grass dogs are used for sacrifice. It is also useful, a tribute to the ceremony; If you have already done it, abandoning it and donating it is equal to dirt. When paying homage to the dragon ceremony, you must be sincere. However, what is a ceremony that respects the dog's ears enough? Not those who are impolite but polite enough. Everything has its place, life and death get worse, reason has its place, and heaven and earth are parents alone, so there is no love. And the original heart of heaven and earth, why tired! So when it comes to love, although it is sincere, everything is self-sufficient and there is no lover. If you want to end it, feces and soil will return to the same place. Is it compassionate? " Another example is Wu Cheng's note in Yuan Dynasty: "A grass dog, tied in the shape of a dog with grass, is also used to pray for rain. After praying, I abandoned it, with no intention of cherishing it. Heaven and earth have nothing to love, let it live; Sages have no intention of loving the people, but let them die, so they use grass dogs as a metaphor. "

The above two theories are the mainstream, which almost influenced the whole thinking of interpreting "straw dogs" from ancient times to the present. Interestingly, Huang Ming's Notes on Moral Truth of Emperor Taizong can't be exclusive, so it has to be eclectic. When explaining that "heaven and earth are heartless, everything is a grass dog", it is a public note on the river: "Heaven and earth give birth to everything, and people are the most expensive. Heaven and earth regard it as dirt, dogs and livestock, and don't blame it. " While explaining that "saints are heartless and regard everything as grass dogs", they also assisted Zhuangzi? There is a proverb in Tian Yun: "People who are not kind are not kind. If you are a dog, you will be a dog. If a dog protects itself, it will have both advantages and disadvantages. Nowadays, dogs have the shape of dogs, but they are not used for warning and barking, so they are merciless to love. It is said that heaven and earth look at people, just like people look at pigs, and they have no responsibility to look at you! "

The two ways of interpretation lead to different understanding of sentence meaning, which is more varied and mainstream. Most people who advocate word-splitting think that "grass dog" is abandoned and need not be cherished, and that "abandoning wisdom and wisdom will benefit the people a hundred times; Desperate, the people are filial; Never give up profits, thieves have nothing, etc., thinking that "let it die" and everything should return to nature; When Zhuangzi said helping others, he advocated "heartlessness" or "heartlessness and no relatives". For example, Tang Mingdi's moral truth notes: ... all say that heaven and earth look at people, just like people look at pigs and dogs, they have no responsibility to look at them. Try to say: a benevolent man has no relatives and is universal love? Love is not enough, but it is selfish. If you don't kiss your loved ones alone, then the whole world will kiss you. If you don't have an only child, then the world is full of children. If so, then there are no close relatives, or even close relatives. Do you like all this?

Does the above statement really understand the true meaning of the sentence "pig and dog"? I dare not jump to conclusions. I'm afraid I have to go back to the original starting point "pig dog" and explore it in detail.

two

As a matter of fact, there has always been opposition to the simple division of "grass dogs" into grass and dogs in Gong Zhu on the River. For example, Ma Xulun pointed out in Laozi's School Records, "If you sacrifice for a dog, you will also; Wang Bi River is full of straw, dogs and livestock, which is not true. " I won't say the rest one by one.

The author also believes that "straw dogs" should not be simply dismantled. There are two reasons:

First of all, syntactically, this sentence contains several other key words: heaven and earth, everything, saints and people. These four words all appear in the form of compound words, "heaven and earth" is to "saints" and "everything" is to "people", so "pig and dog" should appear in the sentence pattern in the form of compound words.

Secondly, logically speaking, if "straw" is "grass" and "dog" is "beast", then, as Wang Bi pointed out, "heaven and earth are not made of straw for animals, but animals eat straw; Not being a dog for life is suspected of stealing the concept. Why not say "dogs eat straw and people eat dogs"? The key is that dogs don't eat grass. Therefore, when we are associated with grass, we have to say that "dog" stands for "beast", and then it is recognized that "dog" is "dog" by just saying one sentence. But the word "dog" has a clear meaning. Shuowen pointed out that the big one is a dog and the small one is a dog. Book of rites? Qu Lishan said: Dogs are reserved for leaders. It is also clearly pointed out in Erya that (dogs) are not prosperous, but dogs. Hao Yixing: "Dogs have the same name. If you are right, the big dog is a famous dog, and the puppy is a famous dog ... Today, a famous dog is also a dog. "The author has not seen the precedent that dogs are extended to refer to all animals and not to animals. Well, the only explanation left is that if the dogs here are separate, they can't be simply explained as animals.

Moreover, it is unreasonable to say that "straw dogs" is out of phonological needs. As Zhu said after sorting out 24 cases of rhyme reading of Laozi: "Some examples of rhyme cited by predecessors are blank, but they are all natural rhymes." If you use overlapping words as rhyme, there are many examples of Laozi ... It can be seen that 5,000 words are rhymed with Tao, Tao, name, benevolence, benevolence and dog. What is the difference? It can be seen that the rhyme of this sentence "dog" and "dog", no matter which word is changed in the position of "grass dog", can always constitute rhyme reading, and there will be no other influence. At the same time, the ending word of the second sentence in Chapter 5 is "charming" and the ending word of the third sentence is "zhong". According to Thirty Ancient Rhymes compiled by Wang Li, the word "dog" is far from "Qu", "Chu" rhyme (fat word) and "Zhong" (Chinese character). Therefore, the author does not think that the use of "pig and dog" to flaunt its meaning is due to phonological considerations.

Further observation, why did the public note on the river take "straw dogs" apart to explain it like this? The author thinks that this is inseparable from Laozi's value judgment of the official seal sentence of the river itself. In the development system of Taoism and Taoist classics, Laozi's official seal sentence on the river is in a connecting link. Wang Mingzai

The doctor breathes the essence, but does not smell its sound; The ruler gives alms and benefits, but he knows there is no order.

Governing the country by Tao, prospering the country and the people, and prolonging the life.

In addition, Laozi's official seals on the river also put forward a variety of ways to nourish qi, from which we can see that people's self-awareness has risen to the main body of value judgment. Therefore, "straw dogs" has also evolved into a biological chain: animals eat straw and people eat dogs. "Man" is at the top of the biological chain, and its position and value have been fully publicized. The so-called "everything in the world is born, and people are the most expensive." This is consistent with Laozi's thinking mode of advocating health preservation and self-cultivation in the official seal sentence on the river. In fact, the five thousand words in Laozi do not directly talk about health and self-cultivation; Laozi only advocates "Tao", such as Chapter 15 "The ancient goodness is Tao, subtle and mysterious ……" and Chapter 48 "Learning is increasing, Tao is losing". This idea was intentionally inherited by later generations, and various health preservation methods gradually appeared, including exhaling fetal interest and qigong pills; It was not until Ge Hong's "The Inner Chapter of Bao Puzi" that it became a grand view and a master of "the Great Immortal Pill" immortal Taoism. In this way, Mr. He Shanggong (the author of Laozi's official sentence on the river has not yet reached a conclusion, so let's just call it) just uses Laozi's words to illustrate his argument. Then, it is reasonable to interpret "straw dogs" as a biological chain of "animals eat straw and people eat dogs"; Otherwise, we will lose an opportunity to explain.

three

So, since "straw dogs" can't follow the publicity on the river, can it follow Zhuangzi? How about "Tian Yun" being interpreted as "a dog tied with grass"? I beg to differ.

First, it may not be smooth to interpret "straw dogs" as "a dog with grass".

Zhuangzi? "Tian Yun Pian" quoted an example of "straw dogs" to describe Confucius' insistence on observing the Rites of Zhou. After explaining "straw dogs", Shi Jin, the character in the article, said the following more important sentence:

Take it back and it will flourish, Mao Jinxiu word. If you swim under it, you won't dream, but you will be embarrassed. Today, Master took my late king's old dog and called his disciples to sleep under it. Therefore, it is a dream evil to cut down trees in the Song Dynasty, cut traces in the Wei Dynasty and be poor in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Surrounded by Cai Chen, I didn't eat fire for seven days and lived and died with my neighbors. Is it evil? ..... Therefore, people who keep the ceremony and keep the righteousness should change from time to time. Today, when you took Zhou Gong's clothes, you tore them.

As you can see, Zhuangzi borrowed this passage from history to comment on Confucius' unchangeable etiquette. These include:

(1) "pig" here vaguely contains the meaning of Machamp. The so-called "I will take it back to fill Yan Yan, embroider the towel and swim under it, so I won't dream, but I can count." In other words, if after the sacrifice, some people carefully cherish the grass and tie the dog with them, then even if they don't cause nightmares, they will be scared by ghosts and gods. This kind of unconstrained style and slightly strange writing color is consistent with the style of Zhuangzi's whole book.

(2) Shi Jin pointed out that the general attitude towards "draft dogs" is to trample and discard them after use, but some people don't like this and value it very much. Focus on the second half of the sentence. In other words, Confucius attached great importance to the Rites of Zhou, and he was equivalent to the person who was satirized by history and carefully treasured the "pig and dog" after the sacrifice. So, in the final analysis, can the one-off attitude be called "take … as straw dogs" or the attitude of collecting after use be called "take … as straw dogs"? Zhuangzi didn't say. The former thinks that Confucius does not regard Li Zhou as a "grass dog", while the latter thinks that Confucius regards Li Zhou as a "grass dog".

With the above two points, we go back to that sentence of Laozi, and we can find that they are quite different. First of all, Laozi expounds his views on heaven and earth and saints, and there is no need to be contaminated with strong divine power. There is a view that Laozi is a historian, the so-called "history of Zhou Shoucang (equivalent to today's librarian)"; In the Zhou Dynasty or even earlier, history, divination, divination and wishes were often linked. Then, Lao Tzu, as a speaker under the cultural background of witchcraft and wish, will inevitably carry corresponding traces in his words and sentences; As a sacrifice, "straw dogs" is an excellent metaphor that I picked up casually.

This opinion is reasonable, and the book Laozi does reflect many ways of thinking under the cultural atmosphere of historical witches. But is it possible to make a final decision? The author thinks it is inappropriate: first, according to the chapter-by-chapter model of the current version, the second sentence of chapter 5 says that "there is still ambiguity between heaven and earth." As we all know, "charm" is "bellows", which is not only vivid, but also easy to understand and has no difficulty. There is no fixed connection between "bellows" and Shiwu culture. In addition, chapter 11 of Laozi said that "30 spokes * * * a hub", "thinking as a device" and "chiseling a house as a room" are everyday things and are well known to the public. Chapter sixty-four says, "Hemu is born in a hair's breadth; Nine-story platform, starting with tired soil; A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, which is also a daily principle and accepted by the public. Are all these exquisite examples related to witch culture? It can be seen that it is normal to see Wu Shi's cultural atmosphere from the words, but we can't interpret the meaning of Laozi in a corresponding way just by relying on Wushi culture. Second, Lao Tzu has no supreme God. When it comes to God in 5,000 words (there are only eight places where the word "God" appears, in chapters 6, 29, 39 and 60 respectively), it is mostly a general reference. For example, chapter 39 says: "... the sky is clear; Land is better than land; God got a soul; This valley is alive ... "Heaven, earth, god and valley are all a category, not a reference. The sixth chapter of "The Valley of the Gods" says: "The immortal god of the Valley of the Gods is named Xuanzang". Valley God is not a specific god (the specific definition is controversial, but it is recognized that it embodies primitive genital worship). Furthermore, under the system constructed by Laozi, the rules of conduct are "people everywhere, the ground follows the sky, the sky follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature". Naturally, they are Tao, Heaven, Earth and Man. Ghosts and gods have no corresponding position in this system. Therefore, it seems unnecessary for Laozi to go further and further, adding a magical color.

Secondly, let's look at (2). Huainanzi? Qi vulgar training mentioned "grass dog", and "Zhuangzi? "Tian Yun" is interlinked: for example, when pigs and earth dragons were born for the first time, the text was written in cyan, silks were embroidered in exotic colors, silks were wrapped in bamboo, the corpse wished them luck, and the doctor greeted them with a crown. After use, it's just loam grass mowing. What is more expensive?

That is to say, according to the above logic, "pig dog" can contain three meanings:

First, use it with respect. The so-called "feast, towel embroidered with text, corpse willing to quit together", "Huang Wen, silk embroidered with qi, wrapped in Zhu Si, corpse willing to face, the doctor crowned it to welcome it". In other words, "grass dog and earth dragon" was highly valued before it was used; It is equivalent to a valuable item, which contains the corresponding value function.

B, abandon it. The so-called "walkers practice their first ridges, and the Soviets take their rigidity" and "loam grass is just mowed". At this point, "straw dogs" is equivalent to a completely useless thing.

C, respect first and then give up. In other words, it includes two stages, A and B, and becomes a whole observation. At this time, "straw dogs" is equivalent to a concept of going first and then returning.

Zhuangzi? The "straw dogs" mentioned in Tian Yun Chapter, clearly described, should refer to the meaning of item C.

However, it is worth noting that Zhuangzi? There is no indication that the meaning of "straw dogs" here is quoted from Laozi; More importantly, it was Shi Jin who discussed the issue of "grass dog" with Yan Yuan. Then, it is not satisfactory to apply the meaning of C directly to the "grass dog" in Laozi, even if it can be explained. How to prove that "straw dogs" in Laozi is not a kind of meaning, a kind of meaning, a kind of meaning, still less a kind of meaning?

In fact, to say the least, the meaning of C cannot be convincingly explained. The analysis is as follows: "Zhuangzi? There are two specific meanings in the text of Tian Yun: 1) Shi Jin thinks that Zhou Li, like a grass dog, is the first thing to keep pace with the times; It's out of date now, don't forget. 2) Shi Jin thinks that Confucius is obsessed with Rites of Rites, just as he is obsessed with dogs.

However, which of the above two behaviors can be equated with the sentence "take ... as a straw dogs"? Zhuangzi? This problem is not explained in Tian Yun.

If 1) can be called "taking ... as a straw dogs", to be "unforgettable", we must first destroy its value and become a useless thing. So did heaven and earth "respect" everything, and did saints "respect" the people? In other words, has heaven and earth ever "used" everything, and have saints ever "used" others? Obviously inexplicable. Some people advocate that it should be extended to "let it die" on this basis. For example, Su Zhe thinks: "If you make a dog out of straw, you should stand it up as a sacrifice, do all the decorations and serve it. Do you like it? Just in time. Abandon it, and the traveler will go to Xi Zhi. Is it evil for the husband? It is also appropriate. " However, the subjects of these two behaviors are obviously different. The subject of "use and abandon" is the event participant who acts on the object, and the subject of "self-destruction" is the bystander. Being a dog is not spontaneous, but artificial. It's not self-destruction, it's donated by others. There is still a long way to go between "abandoning it once" and "letting it die". Moreover, whether it is used or not, the latter can be summarized as "letting it die." It is also difficult to persuade people to push from "using and abandoning" to "letting it die".

If it is 2), it can be called "about …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In a word, the above analysis shows that the explanation of "grass dog" as "grass pricks dog" can be used in the text of Zhuangzi, but not in Laozi. The Zhuangzi School also used Laozi's words to explain the suspicion that "benevolence is heartless" or "benevolence has no relatives". This "straw dogs" is not another "straw dogs".

four

So, how to explain "pig dog"? The author thinks that it is more appropriate to interpret "pig" as "pig".

Of cattle, sheep and dogs. Shuowen pointed out: "Tapirs are kept in the valley." "Mencius? Gao Zishang: "Therefore, reason and righteousness please my heart and kindness please my mouth. Zhu pointed out: "grass is grass, cattle and sheep are also;" "Gu said that dog licking is also true." Another example is Historical Records? There is a saying in Biography of Huo Zhi: Eyes and ears want to be extremely sensual, and mouth wants to be poor.

The close relationship between "dog" and "dog" has always been said. Moon order: it is an order to kill and make a wish, and it is an order to follow the sacrifice. According to the whole toolkit, the situation is sketchy. Zheng Xuan Note: Raising cattle and sheep is not as good as raising a dog. Kong Shu: Eating grass is humble, and eating grains is humble. Zhou Li again? Sheriff? Man: a dog that catches sacrifices. Zheng Xuan Note: It's a good idea to have a dog. Mr. Shang Chengzuo said in the Collection of Characters in Yin Ruins that there are characters in Oracle Bone Inscriptions nowadays (with "gold" on the top and "ge" on the bottom), just like giving a gift by hand, doubt is the beginning. Seal script was collected and almost increased in later generations. Cattle and sheep say "grass" and dogs say "grass". Therefore, its words come from either tapirs or dogs.

It can be seen that if "pig dog" is used to interpret "pig dog", it is semantically feasible. At the same time, straw also refers to sacrificial offerings (in fact, it is another use of cattle, sheep and dogs), but it does not have the magical color of "tying dogs with straw". Let "a dog with grass" mean A and "grass" mean B. Comparing the two, we can see that there are at least the following differences:

1 and a are man-made things, born of people. B is a natural creature with agility.

2. The relationship between A and heaven and earth is one-way: A is a prop to worship heaven and earth, but heaven and earth have no established obligation to A. The relationship between B and heaven and earth is two-way, and B is born according to heaven and earth, and heaven and earth have the right to interfere with B, but B does not.

3.a has only one mission, which is to please the established object. B is a natural thing and has no mission at all; If we don't want to talk about its function, then its function is divergent and uncertain. It can be enslaved by people, used as labor, cooked as food, sacrificed, or left to its own devices.

4.a is singular and B is plural.

According to this analysis:

According to 1, "a dog tied with grass" can't live by itself. If there is, it will exist. If not, it doesn't exist. And b can be self-generated and has nothing to do with human existence.

According to 2, for "dogs with grass", the identity of heaven and earth as bystanders is taken out of context, because heaven and earth have no obligation to "dogs with grass". It is a rare thing to say that "dog with grass" has a role and influence on heaven and earth. Heaven and earth are one of the conditions for the success of cattle, sheep and dogs, but heaven and earth are "insensitive" to what they do. Similarly, saints should be the same to the people. This is in line with Laozi's advocacy of "sage doing nothing, teaching without words" ... born without anything, walking without relying on, living with success "and" Heaven is beneficial but harmless; Man's way lies in struggle, even "Tao lives and exists ... to rely on it and kill it is called Xuande".

According to 3, the "dog with grass" has only one purpose, which is to please the gods and hope to be protected. Can be used for heaven and earth, not for saints. Do thousands of people and sentient beings in Qian Qian need to please saints and get their protection? Unfortunately, Lao Tzu never mentioned it. Lao Tzu only advocated that "neighbors look at each other, chickens and dogs hear each other, and people don't talk to each other until they die." On the contrary, saints can help those who can, just as heaven and earth are to all things. Is Qian Zhongshu in the cone? Laozi said: Everything in the world is "irrelevant" and "forgetful" because of the carelessness of heaven and earth, not because heaven and earth are "unfaithful" and have no mercy. Qian Zhongshu doesn't just talk about pigs and dogs. He talks about everything. It is wise to juxtapose pigs and dogs.

According to 4, because all things and people are plural, the word "straw dogs" should be interpreted as plural. Otherwise, will heaven and earth regard everything as a "dog with grass" or a bunch of "dogs with grass"?

It can be seen that "straw" is more in line with the sentence than "dog tied with grass", so why not use the word "humble" directly? A "straw dogs" is not as simple and easy to understand as "straw dogs", just for popularity. Why not use "straw dogs" instead of "straw dogs"? Second, the word "money" has developed an extended meaning, that is, adoption, or "buying for profit." Like Zuo Zhuan? Eleven years of mourning: is it Wu? Du pre-note: money, Yang also. Another example is Xunzi? Shame: people who praise it but don't have children will make friends. At the same time, Lao Tzu likes to talk about popular things and use ordinary things as metaphors. For example, "30 spokes * * * a hub, there is a car when you are away; Think of it as a device, which is useful when there is nothing; Chisel the door and treat it as a room. When it has nothing, it has the purpose of a room. " Similarly, "straw dogs" is easy to popularize but difficult to popularize, while "cattle, sheep and dogs" are.

Besides, "Huh?" "Guazhuan" said: Gen is a dog (later, people in the Han Dynasty used horses as a metaphor for divination, and cows as a metaphor for divination). Therefore, this chapter contains some important hexagrams, such as "heaven" (dry), "earth" (Kun), "wind" (smoked) and "dog" (root), and it is not clear whether Laozi has another meaning. But there is no doubt that dogs have always been particularly valued. As one of the six animals, dogs not only have the symbolic function of omen, auspiciousness and disaster, but also have the function of disaster elimination. According to the Book of Rites, dogs belong to "animals with the highest yang". Cooking dog meat in the east can make the yang strong, so that everything can survive. In Customs and Righteousness, Ying Shao in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: The city where the son of heaven lives has twelve gates, and the east three gates are Numen. In order not to let the dead appear at the gate of life, he killed dogs at the other nine gates to get rid of the disaster. In the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, dogs cooperate with the gold in the five elements, which corresponds to the west in orientation, and cooperate with the wood in the east. Killing dogs can prevent the damp from prevailing in spring and revive everything. It is not a strange theory that dogs can ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters. Even Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist in Ming Dynasty, realized this special function of dogs. He recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica that surgeons believe that dogs can eliminate all evil spirits and witchcraft. According to historical records, Qin dismembered dogs in front of the east, south, west and north gates to resist disasters. At the same time, the door has been painted with the blood of white dogs since ancient times to drive away ominous customs. Obviously, according to the status and influence of dogs, it is very possible to replace "dogs" with "dogs".

The above analysis of the definition of "grass dog" from the vocabulary itself, combined with the system of "Laozi", expounds that "heaven and earth are ruthless, and everything is grass dog; The meaning of the sentence "saints are ruthless and people are grass dogs" proves the feasibility of the above explanation.

five

Because the sentence "Chu Gou" involves an important concept "benevolence" in the Confucian theoretical system, it is even more blunt that "saints are ruthless", so it is full of gunpowder and even evolves into one of the disputes between Confucianism and Taoism.

First of all, the author has no objection to the traditional interpretation of "benevolence". Shuowen pointed out that benevolence is also relative. Confucianism sublimated it into mutual love between people; And regard it as the highest moral standard, which is equivalent to benevolence in English. However, "benevolence" is an abstract concept after all, and its specific meaning will change flexibly in the specific context. So, what does the sentence "saints are heartless" mean? Let me quote some classic ideas first:

Wu Cheng believes: "The sage is not interested in loving the people, but let him take care of himself."

Fan Yingyuan believes: "The way of a saint is love, and its benevolence is also extreme, so it is impossible to say benevolence." It is to the people what heaven and earth are to all things, helping them to be natural without harming others, and making them die for health without regret. I want to know what Dili is to me! "

Shi Tian Jr. thinks: "The sage and heaven and earth are in harmony with their virtues, so those who regard the people as grass dogs are themselves grass dogs. Life and death are lost. If so, it would be better. Life is life, and killing is killing; When the line is finished, it stops; When you use it, you should give it up; If it is reached, it will be destroyed, and if it is destroyed, it will be destroyed; Of course, it is natural, and it is purely popular together. The heart of the sage shines on the sky, and it is also because of it. "

From the above, we can see that the above explanation of "the saint is heartless" is ultimately guided by the meaning of "tying the dog". * * is the same:

1, "pig dog" is a despicable thing.

2. Emphasize that "heaven and earth" and "saints" are not close to anything (without any feelings).

3. "Heaven and earth" and "saints" do nothing at all and let them die (without any responsibility).

However, if we put these three items back in the text of Laozi, we find that there are many contradictions that cannot be justified:

For 1, Ci Hai listed the words on the river and Zhuangzi? Tian Yun explained two kinds of statements, and then pointed out that these two kinds of statements are different, both of which are used to describe cheap and useless things. In other words, "pig and dog" are despicable, and "heaven and earth" and "sage" completely put on a cold face and don't care about anything. However, the forty-ninth chapter of Laozi points out: "saints often have no intention, but take the hearts of the people as their hearts." If saints don't care about people, why should they care about people's hearts? Isn't it smart? Quite the opposite. When a dog is understood as a dog, there is no meanness. Everything has its interest, and all the people have their interest, that's all.

As for 2, the second chapter of Laozi pointed out: "Whether there is mutual strength, difficulty and complementarity, length and length complementarity, high and low competition, sound and sound complementarity. Hengye. " In addition, in Chapter 45 of Laozi, there are words such as "lack of great achievements", "great achievements", "great straightforwardness and unyielding", "great cleverness and clumsiness" and "great argument and clumsiness". Chapter 58 of Laozi says: "Misfortune is the basis of happiness, and happiness is the place of misfortune." . Who knows its extremes? This is not true at all ... "It can be seen that Laozi's system emphasizes eliminating opposition and does not appreciate extreme behavior. In this sense, "ruthlessness" does not deliberately emphasize "no love", but emphasizes that the way saints treat people and everything in heaven and earth is equal and fair, and some of them are not "particularly close"; In other words, there is no "favoritism". This is even more obvious when the word "pig" is interpreted as "pig", which is very appropriate in the text of Laozi.

For 3, chapter 27 of Laozi points out: "Because saints are always good at saving people, they don't abandon people;" Always good at keeping things, so I didn't abandon them. "If' saints' let' people' die, they deserve it. Why should they save people and save people and abandon things?