“Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs” comes from Chapter 5 of the current version of the Tao Te Ching. It means: Heaven and earth are not benevolent. They have no benevolence and treat all things as if they were mutt dogs, allowing all things to fester and perish on their own. Since ancient times, many people have criticized Lao Tzu's words as insidious, mean, and seeing things too clearly. Because they interpreted this sentence to mean that heaven and earth do not matter whether they are benevolent or not. They gave birth to all things and then played with them like cud dogs. This is a misunderstanding and distortion of Laozi's thoughts. The word "chu dog" here originally means a dog made of grass. In ancient times, dogs were sacrificed by ordinary people for sacrifices (because they could not afford large sacrifices such as pigs, cows, and sheep). With the evolution of social customs, people gradually no longer used real dogs, but instead used straw to tie a dog shape (just like later, when worshiping, a pig's head made of flour was used instead of a real pig's head) . After the cud dog is ready and before it is used for sacrifice, everyone attaches great importance to it and dare not touch it casually; after the sacrifice is held, it is abandoned. The saints are also without kindness and treat the people like rotten dogs, allowing people to fend for themselves. Isn't it like a bellows between heaven and earth? It is empty and inexhaustible. The more the wind blows, the more it grows. Numerous government orders will only make people more confused and unworkable, so it is better to remain quiet. Heaven and earth gave birth to all things, but it did not take credit; heaven and earth gave life to all things, but it did not take credit for itself. Heaven and earth did good deeds, making all things live forever. Whatever they could do, they did it without conditions. Heaven and earth see all things as being like that lost piece of grass. They are not particularly good to people, nor particularly bad to other things, nor do they want to get any reward from all things. The reason why people treat all things badly, and even when people help others, they often attach conditions and hope for something in return, is because of people's selfish concept. Therefore, Lao Tzu recommends that people should imitate the spirit of heaven and earth, "There is no such thing as benevolence, and there is no such thing as unkindness" and develop such a mind. This is the true meaning of Lao Tzu's "Heaven and Earth are unkind and regard all things as rotten dogs". From Chapter 5 of Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching: The heaven and the earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs; the saints are unkind and regard the common people as stupid dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it still like a quarrel? If it is empty but not yielding, it will get better when it moves. It is better to keep the center than to talk too much. The heaven and the earth are unkind, and treat all living things like stupid dogs. After the Wenchuan Earthquake, which shattered mountains and cracked rocks and caused people to cry blood, a sentence from Laozi spread like wildfire. This sentence is, "The heaven and earth are unkind, and treat all living things like stupid dogs." People's understanding is probably: "God, you are so unkind, you have abused the people like this!" Is this understanding consistent with the original meaning of "Laozi"? "Heaven and earth are unkind, and regard all things as rotten dogs; saints are unkind, and regard the common people as rotten dogs." This is from Chapter 5 of the current version of "Laozi". The legendary Lord Heshang (some think he was from the time of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty) has a note: "Heaven governs the earth, not with kindness, but with nature." "Heaven and earth produce all things, and human beings are the most precious. Heaven and earth regard them as grass, dogs, and livestock." , Don't expect retribution." The sentence "Sage" is similar to this. It means that heaven and earth do not talk about benevolence and kindness, but just let nature happen and regard all things as grass and dogs. Wang Bi's note: "Heaven and earth are left to their own devices, without action or creation, and all things govern themselves, so they are not benevolent. A benevolent person must create and transform, and if there is kindness and action, things will lose their true nature. If there is kindness and action, then things will not have their true nature. If things do not exist, they will not be enough to carry. If the heaven and the earth do not produce food for animals, but animals eat food for food; if there is no life for animals, but for people to eat dogs, then everything is suitable for its own use. Wisdom (tonghui) is cultivated by oneself, and it is not sufficient." (According to Lou Yulie's "Wang Bi Collection", Zhonghua Book Company, 1999) Wang Bi's meaning is that the way of heaven is just left to nature and does not benefit things. And all things have their own uses, such as animals eating grass and people eating dogs. Mr. Hu Shi, who is famous all over the world, has an explanation of the sentence "Laozi" in his "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy (Volume 1)" (first edition of the Commercial Press in 1919). He puts forward two versions: the first is, Wang Bi said that that is to interpret benevolence as loving-kindness; the second one is a philosophical explanation, saying: benevolence means "people". "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "Those who are benevolent are human beings." "Mencius" says: "Those who are benevolent are human beings." Liu Xi's "Explanation of Names" says: "People are benevolent; benevolence is living things." Not benevolent means not being human. , not the same as humans. The ancients regarded heaven as a master with will, knowledge, joy and anger, and regarded heaven as the same kind as human beings. This is called the theory that heaven and humans are the same kind. Lao Tzu's theory that "heaven and earth are not benevolent" seems to also mean that heaven and earth are not of the same nature as human beings. Then, Hu Shi said: "Among human nature, love is the most common, so to say that heaven and earth are not the same as humans means that heaven and earth have no kindness." This unified the two different views. Finally, Hu Shisheng promoted his understanding of Laozi's concept, saying: "Laozi's concept broke the ancient myth that heaven and man are of the same kind, and laid the foundation for later natural science." In 1922, Liang Qichao published "History of Political Thought in Pre-Qin" In Chapter 2 "The Thought of Heaven" and Appendix 2 "Historical Changes in the Concept of Heaven", it is also believed that Laozi's words showed the wavering of faith in Heaven and opened up Xunzi's later thoughts on Heaven. Chapter 3 of the first volume of Mr. Zhong Tai's "History of Chinese Philosophy" contains the appendix ""Laozi" explains the inhumane nature of heaven and earth and treats all things as a cud dog" (first edition of The Commercial Press in 1929), which refutes this. It says: "I have reviewed the whole book of Laozi and know that what he said is grounded in speculation and does not have enough evidence to make a final conclusion." The following will be elaborated from three aspects: First, from a linguistic point of view, the so-called "benevolent person is a human being" The statement is based on its etymology, not equivalent meaning. "The word '人' is an abstract noun, not a concrete noun.

Therefore, it is okay to teach people benevolence, but it is not possible to change people to be benevolent. "And according to what Hu Shi said, we can only say "not benevolent", not "unbenevolent". What's more, under this sentence there is also the saying "the saint is not benevolent and treats the common people as stupid dogs", which cannot be understood as "the saint is not a human being" "Right? Secondly, judging from the entire book of "Laozi", "The sky's network is vast, sparse but not missing", "The way of heaven has no relatives, and always associates with good people" are all words of "Laozi". Therefore, we must confirm that Laozi breaks the fallacy that heaven and man are the same. , the evidence is insufficient. Again, Hu Shi's mistake was to believe Wang Bi's misconception about "cud dogs", which said that cud and dogs are two different things, saying that the sky does not make grass for animals, but animals eat grass. Heaven does not give birth to dogs, but humans eat dogs. This implies that Heaven considers all things to be grass and mustard. In fact, "Zhuangzi Tianyun Chapter" states: "The husband eats dogs." , put it in a basket, use a scarf with embroidery, and pray for the corpse to fast. It's already old, the traveler tramples on its head and spine, and the Soviet Union just picks it up. "(Meaning: When the mutt dog is tied up but not sacrificed, it is contained in a box and covered with a fine embroidered scarf. After the corpse is fasted, it is sent to the altar. After the sacrifice, it is discarded and walked People trampling on its head and back, and people gathering firewood picked it up and burned it.) "Treating all things as a rut dog" means treating all things as a rut dog, honoring them when they are used, discarding them like a harem after use, and being obedient. The development process from prosperity to decline. This is of course not about kindness. It should be said that Mr. Zhong’s statement is relatively correct. But what is the rudimentary dog? It is not clearly stated. For example, it is said that a cud dog is a cud spirit. In his book "Zhuangzi Fawei", it is further elaborated: "If you use thatch to make a human figure and bury it as a sacrifice, it is called a cud spirit; if it is used as a sacrifice, it is called a cud spirit." The cud dog. Later generations painted statues of gods on paper, using bamboo as bones and stretching them out. They called them paper horses, which is a variation of the cud dog. A paper horse is not a horse, and a cud dog is not a dog. Li Yiyun said: "It becomes a dog by weaving cud." 'No. ... Since the Qin Dynasty, the system of the rut dog has ceased to exist. Therefore, people in the Wei and Jin Dynasties no longer knew what a cud dog was, and they all described it according to their own meanings. I don’t know that the dog is called a dog, and it is used for temporary control. Therefore, it is called a dog. Doesn’t it look like a dog? " (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1988 edition, page 324) In fact, "Cudi Dog" is a dog-shaped dog made of grass. It is used to pray for blessings and ward off disasters during epidemics. At this time, it needs to be decorated. After praying, the worshipper You can enjoy the sacrifices, but even if the mutton dog is abandoned, it will be used as firewood and burned. We can understand it by looking at the records in the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties. Chapter "It is said that when the cud dogs and earth dragons are just made, they are decorated with green and yellow, covered with embroidery, and wrapped with red thread. The corpse wears pure black sacrificial clothes, and the doctor wears a hat to greet them. After they are used up, The earth dragon is just a pile of soil, and the cud dog is nothing more than a pile of grass and mustard. Who values ??them? Earth dragon, to invite rain. "Obviously, the Chu dog is made of grass into the shape of a dog, and the earth dragon is made of clay into the shape of a dragon. The Chu dog is used to express gratitude and pray for blessings, while the earth dragon is used to pray for rain. "Shuo Shan Pian" It is also said that "a rotten dog treats it to seek blessings." "Shuo Lin Pian" also says: "For example, it is like an earth dragon in a drought year, suffering from diseases and diseases. Is it okay to return the package? Is it okay? br /> Before the sacrifice of the cud dog, it was placed in a respectful position and full of splendor. After the sacrifice, it was immediately abandoned and burned, as mentioned above. The "Three Kingdoms·Wei Zhi·Zhou Propaganda" mentions three dreams to show the three processes after the sacrifice of the rut dog, which is also very interesting. It is said that Zhou Xuan is good at divination, and someone deliberately came to test him. He said that he dreamed of a cud dog, and Zhou Xuan said that he would get delicious food. I traveled soon and found a great meal. Later, he said that he dreamed of a cud dog again. Zhou Xuan said, "Be careful, you may fall off the car and break your leg." Soon, it was true as he said. The third time he dreamed of a cud dog, Zhou Xuan said, "Be especially careful, your house will catch fire." The house was indeed quickly hit by a fire. The person who asked later said, "Actually, I haven't dreamed about a cud dog three times. Why is it so effective?" Zhou Xuan said, "This is what the gods asked you to say. It is no different from a real dream." The person who asked said, "I They all said they dreamed of cud dogs. Why are the results so different? "Zhou Xuan said: "Cut dogs are sacrifices to gods. At the end of the sacrifice, the sacrifices can be divided among people, so when the sacrifice is over, the cud dogs are used as chariots. If it is crushed, it will fall off the car and break its legs. After that, the broken pieces of the dog will be burned, so it will catch fire. After the sacrifice is over, the dog will be trampled by a cart, so in the dream he will fall into a cart and break his leg. After the dog is trampled by a cart, he will be a woodcutter, so he will be worried about fire in the future. ") , it clearly explains the shape of the cud dog, the materials used, its purpose, and the process of birth, existence, change and death (borrowing Buddhist language). This process is a natural process. It is valuable when it is used, but it is discarded after use. Is this the case for everything in the world? "Heaven and earth are not benevolent and treat all things like cod dogs." This means that heaven and earth are not benevolent and just let all things go through their own process from prosperity to obsolescence like cod dogs. The following sentence "The saint is unkind and treats the common people as stupid dogs" has the same meaning. Here, there is no meaning of ruining the people. Mr. Li Weiguo, in his article "The Evolution of the Semantics of "Man Can Defeat Heaven"" (published in Wenhui Po on July 20, 2008), also described the "Way of Heaven" in Laozi: "Be good at winning without fighting, be good at responding without saying anything, and be good at responding without calling". But Zi Lai is good at planning.

The heavenly net is magnificent, sparse but not lost" (Chapter 73 of the Modern Chronicles) and "Heaven and earth are unkind, and treat all things as dumb dogs; sages are unkind, and regard the common people as dumb dogs." We regard the two sides as dealing with each other, explaining: "Heaven and earth are unkind. , it is also like "seeing the sky and dreaming" in "The Book of Songs". 'The way of heaven is good at winning' is like the saying in The Book of Songs that 'it is impossible for others to win'. ...These words of Lao Tzu should be well known to Shen Baoxu, and they can also be regarded as a source of "Man conquers Heaven, and Heaven determines to conquer man". "Heaven and earth are not benevolent" is understood to mean that the way of heaven and earth is blocked and the right principles are lost. Although there are words from Volume 12 of Lin Li's "Collected Commentary of the Book of Changes" of the Song Dynasty: "Fang Qi has not recovered, the heaven and the earth are blocked, all things are destroyed, the wise and the foolish change their places. Good and evil should follow their own course. If there is no heavenly principle, it is only human beings who have their own ears. Therefore, Lao Dan said that "heaven and earth are not benevolent", while Shen Baoxu said that "people conquer heaven". "At this time, the heart of heaven and earth, how can it be seen?" is the basis, but Lin Li's understanding is to explain his own point of view, and is not in line with the original intention of "Laozi". Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and treat all things as stupid dogs! Xiao Ding's famous The central idea in the novel "Zhu Xian" is the "Heaven and Earth are unkind and treat all things as stupid dogs" in the Tao Te Ching. The explanation in this novel is that heaven and earth have no emotions and will not pay attention to the grudges and hatreds of the world. , treating everything in the world as nothing more than a dog made of grass! This sentence is one of the reasons why "Zhu Xian" became one of the most famous online novels in 2006.