Zhuangzi said in "On Governing the Country": "Swim in the light, be in harmony with the desert, conform to the things without allowing private considerations, and govern the world." He believes that if people follow the nature of nature without any private interests, the world can be governed. Therefore, Zhuangzi's ideal saint is indifferent and selfless, while Laozi's saint not only has no intention of staying away from the secular world, but also uses the laws of nature to weigh the gains and losses when dealing with things.
fable
Lu Wang keeps birds.
One day, a seabird flew to the outskirts of Shandong. King Lu had never seen this bird before and thought it was sacred, so he sent someone to catch it, greeted it in person and offered it in the temple.
In order to show his love and respect for seabirds, the king of Lu immediately ordered the birds to listen to the most beautiful music in the court and receive the most splendid banquet. But the bird didn't realize the king's hospitality. It was so frightened that it behaved badly that it dared not even taste a piece of meat or touch a drop of water. In this way, it only took three days to starve to death.
This fable tells us that when dealing with considerable affairs, we must adhere to the concrete analysis of specific problems. Different objects should be treated in different ways. Otherwise, just like King Lu, feeding seabirds by himself, despite the good wishes of the supervisor, will inevitably fail.
A clever plan to kill the dragon
Zhu Pingman is a person who likes learning very much. In order to learn a stunt, he sold his property, took money and food to a distant place to be a teacher, and learned from him the skill of killing dragons.
After three years, he came back from school. When people asked him what he had learned, he replied excitedly, and at the same time showed everyone the skills of killing dragons: how to hold down the dragon's head, step on the dragon's tail, and how to operate from the dragon's spine ... Everyone laughed and asked, "Where can I kill dragons?" Zhu Pingman suddenly realized that there was no such thing as a dragon in the world, and his skills were also learned in vain.
Dragons are imaginary things and don't exist in reality. Therefore, although they have superb salon skills, they can only end up in a "place where heroes are useless."
This fable tells us that learning must have a clear purpose and can solve practical problems. If you study for the sake of learning, then no matter how good your skills are, they are worthless.
Mourn your own smallness in front of the vast sea-bemoan your own smallness in front of great things
In recent decades, due to environmental deterioration, the northern part of China is seriously short of water. The Yellow River, the mother river of the Chinese nation, is cut off every year. The river bed cracked and everyone who saw it was heartbroken. The ancient Yellow River gushed out, irrigated the fertile soil on both sides of the strait and nurtured Chinese civilization, which was called Shenhe in history. Zhuangzi * colchicine told a story:
The autumn rain made the river all rise, and the water from many rivers and streams flowed into the Yellow River. The current is so fast and wide that even cattle and horses can't tell the sandbars on both sides of the river from the river. So the river god was complacent and thought he was the best in the world. He followed the current eastward until he came to the North Sea. Looking east, you can't see the edge of the water. So he changed his triumphant face, looked at the Wang Yang sea and sighed to the North Sea God: "I used to be arrogant and thought that no one was worse than myself. Today, I see you are so vast. If I hadn't come to the door in person, I would never have understood my ignorance. "
Beihai God said modestly, "In fact, I exist between heaven and earth, just like a small stone on the mountain. And heaven and earth can't be said to be the biggest field, and the end of a hair can't be judged to be the smallest limit. The transformation between time and space is endless. What can you and I boast about? "
This view of Zhuangzi has been confirmed by modern physics. Science has developed to the microscopic level, and quantum physics has emerged. To develop at a high speed, there is relativity. And their application scope is limited. From Zhuangzi's theory, the seeds of modern science have been exposed.
Desperate situation
Zhuangzi's family was poor, so he borrowed food from the supervisor. Hou Jianhe said: "Good. When I collect the rent, I'll lend you three hundred gold, ok? " Zhuangzi was a little angry when he saw that Houhe, the supervisor, was unwilling to borrow grain at once. His face changed and he said, "When I came yesterday, I heard a voice calling me from the road. I looked back and saw a fish in the rut where the wheel ran over. " I asked, "Fish, what are you doing here?" The fish said,' I'm from the East China Sea and I'm stuck here. Do you have a bucket or a liter of water to save me? I said,' Okay. Do you want me to lobby King Wu Yue to dig a canal to bring the water from the Yangtze River to save you? The fish said angrily,' Now I'm trapped here. I just need a bucket or a liter of water to survive. If you say so, why don't you come to me at the dried fish shop earlier!' "
Fish can survive in estrus by borrowing water from buckets, but if we had lobbied King Wu Yue to dig a canal and bring water from the Yangtze River, the fish would have died of thirst. There is a simple reason. But in our daily life, exaggeration and formalism are everywhere! The harm of formalism really kills people!
In the biography of Yingying written by Yuan Zhen in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Sheng said to the matchmaker, "Since I met your young lady, I have missed you day and night, and my tea and rice are tasteless. I hope you can match it. " The matchmaker asked, "Why don't you propose through the matchmaker and formally marry the young lady?" Zhang Sheng said: "I am in a very urgent mood now. If I go through a complicated wedding ceremony such as asking names, it will take at least half a year. At that time, I had already entered the dead fish. " Seeing that Zhang was in a hurry, the matchmaker promised to match the bridge and promote Zhang He's marriage. Later, according to this story, Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty adapted the immortal masterpiece The West Chamber, which has been handed down to this day.
There is honor among thieves.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the most famous thief was called stealing feet. The man who stole his foot asked him, "Is there a law to be a big thief?" The thief replied, "No matter what you do, there are rules. How can thieves have no rules? You can guess how much property is stored in the house out of thin air, which is sacred; It is brave to enter the house first; The last exit of the house is righteousness; It is wisdom to judge whether you can act as appropriate; Even distributing stolen goods is kind. Without these five qualities, it is impossible to be a thief. "
The preaching of stealing feet is exactly the same as the "sage way" advocated by Confucianism, which satirizes the hypocrisy of Confucianism. It seems that if we use "the way of saints" to educate gentlemen, we can cultivate gentlemen into saints; If used by bad guys, bad guys can become thieves. However, there are fewer saints and more thieves in the world, which shows that the "sage way" has brought less benefits to the world and more disasters. So: saints never die, thieves never stop. Only by cracking down on the hypocritical "sage way" and letting the people let nature take its course can the world be peaceful.
It is worth pointing out that Zhi was the leader of the slave uprising. Because he represented the interests of the oppressed, he was slandered as "stealing wisdom" by the rulers of past dynasties. Zhuangzi sympathizes with stealing people's feet. He has repeatedly pointed out that this society is "thieves are punished and thieves are princes", and said that "the way of saints" teaches everyone to pursue fame and fortune, and the harm of saints actually exceeds that of thieves. Confucius (Kong Qiu) is not so much a thief as a thief. It is believed that the hypocritical "sage's way" is the reason for the chaos in the world.
In traditional culture, Grand Theft Auto has always been respected. There are many stories about chivalrous men in Historical Records * Biography of Rangers. Most of these chivalrous men are thieves, but because they are thieves, they are very moral, so Sima Qian biographies them and makes their names spread through the ages.
The Biography of Campus written by Du Guangting in the Tang Dynasty tells the story of a thief robbing the rich and helping the poor. The story tells that at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang Di only cared about traveling eastward and enjoying himself, and state affairs were in the charge of Minister Su Yang. One day, Li Jing, a Buyi, asked for an audience. One of Su Yang's concubines adored Excavate's talent and went to Excavate overnight. This concubine named Zhang is called Hong Fu because she holds the world of mortals. On the way out of Beijing, they met a guest with a beard. He never said his name, only said his surname was Zhang, ranking third. Zhang is the first surname in China. I don't know how many people are called Zhang San. But this Zhang San is unusual. When he drinks, he treats the human heart as a snack, and says it is the heart of the ungrateful people in the world. I chased him for ten years, and today I finally cut off his head, took off his heart and eliminated my regret. At that time, the world was in chaos and heroes came forth in large numbers. Zhang San has the ambition to win the Central Plains. Later, when he saw that Li Shimin, the king of Qin, was better than himself and was the only thrill, he gave all the gold, silver and jewels he had accumulated to Excavate and asked him to help Li Shimin make contributions. Judging from Zhang San's behavior and wealth, he should be a thief in Jiang Yang, otherwise it is impossible to accumulate so much wealth. Later, relying on this wealth, Li Jing really helped Li Shimin overthrow the Sui Dynasty and establish the Tang Dynasty. After the world was at peace, Zhang San was determined to establish a world of his own overseas, so he led thousands of seagoing ships and hundreds of armored soldiers into Fuyu country, killed their master and started his own business. It seems that this tramp Zhang San is really a typical hooligan. The stories of campus guests, Li Jing and Hongfu were later compiled. Zhuangzi is not sad about his wife's departure. His good friend Hui Shi was very angry about it. Zhuangzi, on the other hand, thinks that life and death are natural principles, and we should feel at ease and adapt to change. Zhuangzi is very romantic about his own death. When several of his students were discussing how to properly bury Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi said: I regard heaven and earth as coffins, the sun and the moon as wall lamps, the stars in the sky as jewels, and everything in the world is my funeral, so I don't have to worry about it any more. The student said: Without a coffin, we are afraid that crows and eagles will eat you. Zhuangzi said with a smile: Abandoning it in the open air is for crows and eagles to eat; Similarly, buried underground, it is for ants to eat. Isn't it the same? Why do you want to bring food from here to there? It can be seen that "Zhuangzi" has naturally become a traditional opera, known as "three outstanding figures in the dust".
Zhuangzi is not sad about his wife's departure. His good friend Hui Shi was very angry about it. Zhuangzi, on the other hand, thinks that life and death are natural principles, and we should feel at ease and adapt to change. Zhuangzi is very romantic about his own death. When several of his students were discussing how to properly bury Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi said: I regard heaven and earth as coffins, the sun and the moon as wall lamps, the stars in the sky as jewels, and everything in the world is my funeral, so I don't have to worry about it any more. The student said: Without a coffin, we are afraid that crows and eagles will eat you. Zhuangzi said with a smile: Abandoning it in the open air is for crows and eagles to eat; Similarly, buried underground, it is for ants to eat. Isn't it the same? Why do you want to bring food from here to there? Visible Zhuangzi's nature.