Laozi lived in an era when the world was in chaos, the princes were in melee, and the rulers were arrogant and extravagant, which violated the laws of nature and society, that is, "promising." The harm of "promising" seen by Laozi is very serious. He said: "People's hunger, with more taxes on it, is hunger: people are difficult to treat and it is difficult to treat with it." In the seventy-fifth chapter of Lao Zi Zhu Shu, the following original quotations are all from this book, so only the chapters are indicated. The people are hungry and cold because the rulers levy too many miscellaneous taxes, and the disaster of the old name is constantly because the rulers are arbitrary and violate the law and discipline. Laozi criticized the rulers at that time for living an increasingly luxurious life regardless of the people's lives. He said: "This is called stealing boasting. The dynasties are luxurious, the fields are rough, the warehouses are empty, the talents are presented, the swords are worn, the food is disgusting, and the goods are surplus." These words (Chapter 53) exhausted the human injustice of "the wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and the bones on the road freeze to death". Rulers enrich themselves by invading the public and live in luxury. They are fed up with expensive clothes, expensive swords, delicious food, and mountains of money and goods, while farmers are barren in the countryside, with empty warehouses and no food for the night at home. This kind of situation, Lao tze see in the eye, how can you not sigh? No wonder he said angrily, "this is simply a bandit leader."
Lao Tzu saw that the rulers at that time were incompetent, but he was overjoyed and arrogant. As a result, the people were in trouble, wasting people's money, and it never rains but pours. In this case, Lao Tzu strongly appealed to the rulers to "govern by doing nothing" to politicians and to implement "govern by doing nothing" and not to interfere too much in people's lives. "Governing by doing nothing" originally came from Confucius's "Who governs by doing nothing?" "The Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong XV") But in Laozi's philosophy, the thought of "governing by doing nothing" became a system. Laozi said: "I am doing nothing and the people are self-motivated." I am quiet and the people are self-righteous. I have nothing and the people are rich. I want nothing, and the people are simple. " Chapter 57 of "Good Quiet" puts forward against the harassment of rulers. "Nothing" is put forward against the tyranny of rulers; "No desire" is put forward against the greed of rulers. Laozi believes that politicians should be able to "govern by doing nothing", manage without interference, and have a monarch without oppression: a monarch should learn the true nature of water, make meritorious deeds without claiming to be self-sufficient, be diligent and not greedy for pleasure, manage every day well, and govern the country according to social laws and the trend of the times. Once enacted, it will not be easily changed, and the people will be allowed to transform themselves under the promulgated constitutional government.
Laozi's "inaction" does not mean doing nothing, but doing nothing, conforming to the objective situation and respecting the laws of nature. Some people think that "inaction" means doing nothing, waiting passively, and just obeying fate, which is really a misunderstanding of Lao Tzu's original intention. Laozi once said, "Doing nothing without doing anything" (Chapter 48) means, "Doing nothing without doing anything." Here, "inaction" is an attitude and method of dealing with the world, and "inaction" refers to the effect of doing nothing. This is similar to the meaning of "death by doing nothing" in Chapter 3. "Governing by doing nothing" means treating social life with an attitude of "doing nothing", and everything is on the wrong track. Everything has its own laws, and we can only follow the laws and the trend of the times to promote it. You can't violate the law, otherwise you will be "promising" and do things indiscriminately. Doing nothing means doing nothing from the attitude of doing nothing. It can be seen that Lao Tzu is not opposed to human efforts. Laozi said: "Everything is created, born, held for it, and lived for it." (Chapter II) "Life", "Behavior" and "Success" are exactly what people need to work, create, exert their subjective initiative, contribute their own strength and achieve public undertakings. "Fu You", "Fu Zhi" and "Fu Zhi" are all aimed at eliminating their own possessive impulse. The root of human social disputes is that everyone is expanding their own selfish desires. So Lao Tzu also told people not to act rashly, not to be greedy, not to fight, not to possess, not to break the law.
For thousands of years, Laozi's "inaction" thought has had a great influence on the character, behavior and outlook on life of the Chinese nation. In modern society, is this idea still valuable? Do we still need to do nothing? There is no doubt about the answer. I think that Laozi's "inaction" thought contains a profound understanding of the relationship between man and nature, and contains beneficial enlightenment to society. It requires people to establish a transcendental ideological realm of selflessness, selflessness and benefiting others. Therefore, Laozi's "inaction" thought not only has the value of existence, but also needs to be carried forward.
The central concept of Laozi's philosophy is "Tao", and his whole philosophical system is developed by his preset "Tao". The metaphysical "Tao" is beyond our direct reach. If this metaphysical Tao has nothing to do with life, then it is just an empty concept. However, Laozi's philosophy has a strong metaphysical color, but he is most concerned about life and politics. Therefore, "Tao" must be realized in the empirical world. Laozi believes that all concepts such as nature, inaction and powerlessness are the basic characteristics and spirit of Tao. Among them, the concept of "inaction" has become the central idea of Laozi, and other important concepts are all around this concept.
Laozi lived in an era when the world was in chaos, the princes were in melee, and the rulers were arrogant and extravagant, which violated the laws of nature and society, that is, "promising." The harm of "promising" seen by Laozi is very serious. He said: "People's hunger, with more taxes on it, is hunger: people are difficult to treat and it is difficult to treat with it." In the seventy-fifth chapter of Lao Zi Zhu Shu, the following original quotations are all from this book, so only the chapters are indicated. The people are hungry and cold because the rulers levy too many miscellaneous taxes, and the disaster of the old name is constantly because the rulers are arbitrary and violate the law and discipline. Laozi criticized the rulers at that time for living an increasingly luxurious life regardless of the people's lives. He said: "This is called stealing boasting. The dynasties are luxurious, the fields are rough, the warehouses are empty, the talents are presented, the swords are worn, the food is disgusting, and the goods are surplus." These words (Chapter 53) exhausted the human injustice of "the wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and the bones on the road freeze to death". Rulers enrich themselves by invading the public and live in luxury. They are fed up with expensive clothes, expensive swords, delicious food, and mountains of money and goods, while farmers are barren in the countryside, with empty warehouses and no food for the night at home. This kind of situation, Lao tze see in the eye, how can you not sigh? No wonder he said angrily, "This is simply a bandit leader."
Laozi's "inaction" does not mean doing nothing, but doing nothing, conforming to the objective situation and respecting the laws of nature. Some people think that "inaction" means doing nothing, waiting passively, and just obeying fate, which is really a misunderstanding of Lao Tzu's original intention. Laozi once said, "Doing nothing without doing anything" (Chapter 48) means, "Doing nothing without doing anything." Here, "inaction" is an attitude and method of dealing with the world, and "inaction" refers to the effect of doing nothing. This is similar to the meaning of "death by doing nothing" in Chapter 3. "Governing by doing nothing" means treating social life with an attitude of "doing nothing", and everything is on the wrong track. Everything has its own laws, and we can only follow the laws and the trend of the times to promote it. You can't violate the law, otherwise you will be "promising" and do things indiscriminately. Doing nothing means doing nothing from the attitude of doing nothing. It can be seen that Lao Tzu is not opposed to human efforts. Laozi said: "Everything is created, born, held for it, and lived for it." (Chapter II) "Life", "Behavior" and "Success" are exactly what people need to work, create, exert their subjective initiative, contribute their own strength and achieve public undertakings. "Fu You", "Fu Zhi" and "Fu Zhi" are all aimed at eliminating their own possessive impulse. The root of human social disputes is that everyone is expanding their own selfish desires. So Lao Tzu also told people not to act rashly, not to be greedy, not to fight, not to possess, not to break the law.