Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 478
The clouds in the sky thickened and the sun dimmed.I don't know when there was a breeze, and it wasn't as hot as before.

Wang Xiaolie looked up at the sky, and then at the people below.He said: "What I'm going to say next may be a bit boring. After thinking about it for a long time, I think it's better to say it. You'd better write it down and think about it later. I may be right or wrong, and I need your participation."

"The "Tao Te Ching" says at the beginning, Dao can be Tao, very Tao; name can be named, very famous. There are many interpretations of this sentence, and I don't know which one is correct. I don't know the reason why Lao Tzu said this sentence What do you think at the time, what does it mean. I only talk about my own understanding, and you can refer to it. Dao encompasses everything, and we are born in the world, so naturally we are also within the scope of Dao. There is a question, can we know."

"I think it should be said that we can know the Tao, but we cannot fully understand the Tao. Our understanding of the Tao is always a part. This seems unimportant, but it is actually very important. From this we know our understanding of the world, the universe The understanding is incorrect, or at least incomplete. We speculate on the whole based on what we have already known, including those that have not been recognized, which will never be consistent with the facts. What we think is right, from the perspective of Tao, They are all wrong. When we do things, we must be very clear about this. Don’t think that there is nothing in this world that you don’t know because you know a little knowledge, and you feel that you are omniscient.”

"In the process of understanding the world, we have given many names to the world we know. For example, the sky is above, the earth is below, there are mountains, rivers, plains, and so on. It must be very clear that these names are It was born by man, not inherent in heaven and earth. It must also be very clear that the knowledge and laws summed up by these names come from man, not from heaven and earth.”

The distinction between name and reality is a well-known problem in Chinese thought.For example, a white horse is not a horse, which is a famous example of the famous Gongsun Long.Li Jianbai, which Wang Xiaolie likes to talk about most, is another example.

This question is one of the cores of human understanding of the world. After 2000, there is actually no solution.Famous scholars are by no means sophistry as understood by some people. In the words of later generations, this is the fundamental problem of philosophy.Therefore, the annotations of these people's works by people of later generations will give people a strange feeling.Some people are okay, and there are some philosophers who like to add simple qualifiers to them.In the eyes of those who add qualifiers, saying this means that ancient China also had such thoughts, and it is a compliment.In fact, in the eyes of readers, the person who added the qualifier feels that he is superior to these people, which makes people feel ridiculous.

Chinese thought has rarely made great progress since the Yuan Dynasty.Wang Yangming of the Ming Dynasty proposed the study of mind, but it also lacked the pioneering nature of previous life knowledge, and it was not widely spread.However, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi and others have a smaller scope for the spread of ideas.By the time of the Qing Dynasty, all horses were silent.

In such a situation, when facing Western invasion in the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese culture learned from Western culture in a very bad state.The result is that Western culture is not fully mastered, and China's own culture is abandoned.

In the natural sciences, this kind of thing is so obvious that everyone is familiar with it.For example, Newton's law of gravitation, and later there was a more precise theory of relativity.What about relativity?People haven't figured it out yet.But in the social sciences, many people can't get out.When it comes to humanities, I like to talk about Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, and Kant the most, and some people like to talk about lesser philosophers, thinking that it is particularly stylish.To be honest, this is mostly just pretending to understand.

It is normal for different civilizations to have different views on the world and human beings.It is not correct to think that all people in the world are the same and should have a common past, common present and common future.

Wang Xiaolie thought about this question for a long time, and now that he is speaking out, he feels that there is a lot to say.But when I opened my mouth, I felt that I had nothing to say.Looking at the crowd, he was silent for a while.

"We have given many names to the affairs of this world, and these names need to be defined. If the affairs referred to by these names exist in the world, then the definitions should be precise. But in fact, where is the precise definition? The name was originally meant to indicate that this world is different from that place, this thing is different from that thing, and this thing is different from that thing. Of course there should be a definition, and the reference should be clear. For example, Mount Tai is different from Mount Hua. It is not the same as Mount Song. There is no doubt about it. But where is the boundary of a mountain is a big problem. From a distance, we know that it is Mount Tai, but we cannot accurately draw the boundary of Mount Tai. I know, we are called human beings like this. But what kind of people is it? I can’t say clearly.”

"I call this problem limited but unbounded. Only when we have a certain degree can we separate this matter from other matters and give it a name. But this name has no clear boundaries. All boundaries are drawn artificially. Moreover, It is to draw a clear boundary artificially, but this boundary is not clear, and it will always be broken by new discoveries. If you understand this, you will avoid making mistakes in many things.”

The boundary is not clear, and it is easy to be broken through. Later generations have a very vivid name, cutting sausages.If you draw a boundary line for one thing, the enemy will always harass near the boundary line. After a long time, the boundary line will not exist.

This is the essential characteristic of the world, not who is cunning, nor who is honest.Clear boundaries should not have been drawn.

"In order to know the world, in order to be able to describe the world we know, people have to give many names. Connecting the names one by one, adding causes, processes and results, and some other content, it becomes knowledge. It must be remembered that these Knowledge is man-made by human beings based on their own understanding. No matter the name or knowledge, they are not generated by heaven and earth, and they are not the content of Tao. We are under the Tao of Heaven. These names and knowledge are just a way for us to understand the world. Rather than the way of heaven itself. How can we know the way of heaven with these names and knowledge? According to the teaching of Buddhism, we must realize it. According to the teaching of our Han people, it is called experience. Although what I hear is one, I get two in my heart.”

"Under the way of heaven, what we want to obtain is the way. Names and knowledge are just means. Don't get stuck in the means and forget the fundamentals. An official governs the people. Don't get stuck in laws and regulations, but always remember the people."

One of the characteristics of Western civilization is that there is no Tao, and they do not pay attention to Tao.For them, instead of Tao is God, their omnipotent Lord.Before the Lord, they believed that there was a rational world made of knowledge of names.

Some people have learned a little philosophical knowledge and like to talk about the rational world. Some even say that this is the reason why Western civilization is stronger than Chinese civilization.This is not correct.It's just that the two civilizations have different understandings and understandings of the world.

Whether it is natural science or humanities, Western civilization pays special attention to concepts and their definitions.

For example, in the natural sciences, living things and non-living things must be defined, and in living things, animals and plants must be defined.It was later discovered that there were neither animals nor plants, but also a microorganism.If you find more later, continue to add and continue to define.

For example, in social sciences, we must first define people.No matter how clear the definition is, how scientific the definition is, in fact, either there are creatures that do not belong to humans according to the definition, or there are creatures that are clearly human but are not human according to the definition.

In Western civilization, this cannot be solved, and it is the essential attribute of civilization.

(End of this chapter)