The way of a saint is to work without fighting - the legendary future of Hong Kong
How can Hong Kong deal with its current problems? Which words in the Tao Te Ching can bring enlightenment?
Author: GUDORDI | 2022-12-12
Urban development is never a zero-sum game, and rankings should only be viewed as one of the indicators. (Asian News Agency)
Continuing from the previous article: “How can I be afraid that one day it will be just you and me?” ──The future of Hong Kong legend〉
“The Tao can be explained, but it is not Tao. The name can be named, but it is not named. There is no name for the beginning of heaven and earth; there is a name for the mother of all things. Therefore, there is always no desire to observe its wonderfulness; there is always desire to observe its beauty. These two come from the same place. Different names, but the same name is Xuan.
“The Tao always does nothing but does nothing…”
──Chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching (the last chapter of the Tao Jing)
“If you are virtuous, you are virtuous; if you are virtuous, you are virtuous; if you are virtuous, you are not virtuous…”
──Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 1 of the Dao Jing)
“The way of heaven is to benefit without harm; the way of the sage is to act without fighting.”
──Chapter 81 of “Tao Te Ching” (the last chapter of “Tao Jing”)
In the above article, the author mentioned that Wong Ka Kui can be regarded as one of the icons of Hong Kong, and can also be regarded as the mark of one of Hong Kong’s eras. It is worth noting that although it has been nearly 30 years since Wong Ka Kui’s death, his level of attention and respect seems to have not only not diminished, but may even be higher than before. In the pop music industry, this should be unusual. number. Is it possible that the mystery in the story lies in Wong Ka Kui’s sincerity and dedication, which touched the deepest collective unconsciousness in the human mind, thus stimulating the power of the so-called “invisible hand”?
Four paragraphs and the last four sentences of the Tao Te Ching
Our sage Lao Tzu pointed out about 2,500 years ago that there is an unknowable and unnameable force in the vault of the universe, which he called “Tao”. This concept seems to be the same as what Smith pointed out. “The Invisible Hand” is vaguely similar, and can even be understood as a work about how to obtain related powers.
Laozi’s “Tao Te Ching” has 81 chapters in total, the superior classic “Tao Jing” has 37 chapters, and the inferior classic “De Jing” has 44 chapters. If the upper sutra is mainly about explaining what Tao is, then the lower sutra is mainly about how people can live in the universe and the world. The outline of the entire “Tao Te Ching” may be outlined by the four paragraphs mentioned at the beginning of this article. Underlined, they come from the opening and closing chapters of the “Tao Jing” and the “De Jing” respectively; and the conclusion may be the last four sentences of the last chapter of the “De Jing” – “The way of heaven is beneficial but not beneficial.” Harm, the way of a sage is to do things without fighting.”
What is “fighting for nothing”? This is not a simple concept. The Tao Te Ching may have inherited the tradition of the Book of Changes, viewing all things in the universe as the result of the cyclical interaction of two forces. Although the nature of these two forces is opposite, they are not completely incompatible. Instead, they may be more like the Bagua drawn by Fu Xi, where there is yang within yin and yin within yang. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the “Tao Te Ching” has pointed out in the first chapter that the two forces of “nameless” and “named” are “the same origin but different names, the same name is the mystery”, and the interaction between them It is quite subtle and mysterious, as the saying goes, “mysterious and mysterious, the door to all mysteries.”
Tao always does nothing but does everything
Many people think that Laozi’s thought emphasizes inaction. There is nothing wrong with this, but “inaction” is not a simple concept. In the first chapter of the “Tao Te Ching”, it is mentioned that “there are always desires in order to observe their pleasure”, and in the last chapter of the Sutra, it is even more straightforward to say that “the Tao is always inactive and does nothing…” which shows that Wuwei is not a simple and straightforward concept. The author’s understanding is that Lao Tzu does not advocate doing nothing, but in order to do something, one must understand the complexity of the situation and understand that what truly dominates the world and the universe is a force far beyond our understanding. We can only Cooperate with it and take advantage of the situation.
Therefore, what seems to be inaction can actually be a kind of “doing”, which is even more effective and inspires greater power than the ordinary “doing”. This may also be what “the Tao is always doing nothing but doing nothing” refers to. In other words, what Lao Tzu really means is, as the author mentioned before, it can be done, but it must be done; it must be done, but it must be done. However, what counts as “extraordinary doing” and “extraordinary doing” is not a simple concept.
As the author pointed out earlier, the “Tao Te Ching” can be understood as a work that uses words to express something that should be beyond words. Therefore, we can only rely on our own cultivation and experience to gain varying degrees of understanding. The author’s conjecture is that the trick to understanding may lie in the last four sentences of the last chapter of the Tao Te Ching – “The way of heaven is to benefit without harm; the way of the sage is to do things without fighting.” It is worth noting that the last hexagram of the 64 hexagrams in the “Book of Changes” is “Wei Ji”, and the last four characters in the “Tao Te Ching” are “doing without fighting”. Perhaps these words are worthy of our careful consideration. According to the author’s understanding of the Tao Te Ching, when it comes to how to deal with Hong Kong’s current problems, the four-character mantra of “doing without fighting” can guide us in the following three aspects:
First of all, we must emphasize “truth” – Hong Kong must be determined to become a truly international financial center and cosmopolitan city. As long as Hong Kong really works hard in this direction and will continue to improve and improve, no matter whether others agree or not, or how they evaluate it, You don’t necessarily need to pay too much attention and care. The second is to cope with all changes with a humble attitude. Urban development has never been a zero-sum game in nature, and temporary rankings should only be regarded as one of the indicators. If someone does well, it can actually be regarded as having a place for reference and learning, and there is no need to pay too much attention or care. The last third point, as mentioned above, is that we need to believe in the market. We can plan things, but we must also understand that the development of worldly affairs has its own logic. We can try our best to cooperate with it, but we cannot force it, let alone try to take credit. In the next chapter, I will discuss the above three points in detail.
“Hong Kong’s Legendary Future” Series 13
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
