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What does it mean to "know it from top to bottom and praise it secondly, fear it the third time, and insult it the third time"?

Meaning: The best ruler is one where people don’t know his existence; the second best ruler is one who makes people get close to him and praise him; the next best ruler is one who makes people fear him; The worst ruler is to make people despise him.

1. Source:

This sentence comes from Chapter 17 of Laozi's "Tao Te Ching", "Tao Te Ching", also known as "Tao Te Ching", "Lao Tzu", "Five Thousand Words" and "Laozi's Five Thousand Essays" are a work written by the ancient Chinese pre-Qin scholars before they split up. They were admired by all the scholars at that time. They are the philosophy written by Laozi (also known as Li Er) during the Spring and Autumn Period. The work is one of the greatest masterpieces in Chinese history.

2. Introduction to the author:

Laozi, whose surname is Li and whose name is Er, whose given name is Dan, may also be called Boyang. The Huaxia ethnic group was from Qurenli, Li Township, Ku County, Chu State. They lived between 571 and 471 BC. He is a great philosopher and thinker in ancient my country and the founder of the Taoist school. He is a world cultural celebrity and one of the world's 100 historical celebrities. The Tao Te Ching (also known as "Laozi") exists in the world. The essence of his works is simple dialectics. , advocated rule by inaction, and his theory had a profound influence on the development of Chinese philosophy.

3. Introduction to "Tao Te Ching":

The language in "Tao Te Ching" is extremely incisive and contains wise sayings, which are still idioms, maxims and mottos today. "Tao Te Ching" has had a profound impact on Chinese philosophy, science, politics, religion, etc. According to statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Tao Te Ching is the cultural masterpiece that has been translated into foreign languages ??the most and published besides the Bible.