From Chapter 12 of the Tao Te Ching: Five colors lead to blindness; Five tones are not deaf; Five flavors are refreshing; Galloping and hunting is maddening; Rare goods are an obstacle. It's the saint's stomach, not his eyes. Go and get this somewhere else.
Laozi used these to represent beautiful, pleasant to hear and delicious things, giving people sensory stimulation and enjoyment. He warns you that greed for these things will make you blind, deaf and refreshed. The word "refreshing" here does not mean that your mouth is comfortable, but it is a derogatory term, just like the semantic meaning of "breaking an appointment", which means that your mouth is ruined.
Galloping and hunting is maddening; Rare goods are an obstacle. Crowds of galloping horses, screaming and rounding up prey, thinking about this scene will make people's adrenal hormones soar; Rare things often induce people's bad behavior.
It's the saint's stomach, not his eyes. Go and get this somewhere else. As the second chapter said, "it is the rule of saints, hollowing out their hearts, strengthening their bellies, weakening their aspirations and strengthening their bones." It often makes people ignorant and have no desire. "
In order to make people ignorant and have no desire, saints should set an example, for the sake of their stomachs, not for the sake of their eyes, and just eat enough, not for the sake of delicious food. So you have to go to another place to get this, just for the purpose, this is the superficial thing, this is the abdomen, this is the essence, or "Tao", and eating is the essence of eating.
This chapter is to teach us to pursue the most essential and simplest "Tao" of things, and not to be confused by the dazzling and bizarre appearance of things. Just like the "five elements" theory, this kind of thing may not even be an appearance, but an illusion. It is a "talkable way", not a real way.
Extended data:
Tao Te Ching is a philosophical work of Lao Zi (Li Er) in the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as Tao Te Ching, Lao Zi's Five Thousand Words and Lao Zi's Five Thousand Articles. It is a work before the separation of pre-Qin philosophers in ancient China and an important source of Taoist philosophical thoughts.
Tao Te Ching is divided into two parts. The first part of the original text is the Tao Te Ching, and the second part is the Tao Te Ching, without chapters. Later, it was changed to the Tao Te Ching in the first 37 chapters, and the Tao Te Ching in the last 38 chapters, divided into 8 1 chapters.
The text of Tao Te Ching takes "morality" in the philosophical sense as the main line, and discusses the ways of self-cultivation, governing the country, using troops and keeping in good health, but most of them aim at politics. It is the so-called "inner sage and outer king" theory, which has profound meaning and wide tolerance and is known as the king of all classics. ?
Tao Te Ching is one of the greatest works in the history of China, which has had a profound influence on traditional philosophy, science, politics and religion? . According to the statistics of UNESCO, the Tao Te Ching is the most widely translated and published cultural masterpiece except the Bible.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Tao Te Ching