There are many famous sayings in "Laozi", among which is "the more you learn, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the more you lose." Many people today understand this sentence as "the more you study, the further you stray from the Tao", that is, they treat it as a cause-and-effect relationship. A few years ago, there was an article titled these eight words in the academic criticism page of a newspaper, saying, "Looking at the current development trend of the literary and artistic circles, we can see what Lao Tzu said more than two thousand years ago: 'To learn more and more, to learn more and more. "Tao Sun Loss" may still become the danger that our literary and art scientists are currently facing: reading more and more, attending more and more meetings, publishing more and more articles, publishing more and more monographs, and spending more and more scientific research funds. The more people there are, the farther away they will be from literature and art. "I have no way of commenting on the situation in the literary and art world. But judging from the industry I am engaged in, there are indeed some similar situations, but the sentence "reading more and more" has to be excluded, because the danger is reading less but writing more, so the "more" is mostly just the number of words. The increase in academic performance is disproportionate. What is striking about this article is that the words of "Laozi" are understood as: the more knowledge is done, the more damage will be done to Taoism. This is really unlike anything I have ever heard.

These eight words appear in Chapter 48 of the current version of "Laozi". The text goes: For learning, you are getting better and better, and for Taoism, you are getting worse. Loss and damage, to the point of doing nothing, doing nothing and doing nothing. Judging from the context, Lao Tzu does not regard "doing the Tao and losing money" as a bad thing, but believes that this is the way to move toward the Tao. It is quite different from the above understanding. What Laozi means is that the way to be a Tao is different from that of learning. To learn is to make gains every day, but to be a Tao is to lose every day, until you are inactive, then you are doing everything. Sun damage for the Tao is a philosophical proposition, and it does not mean that the Tao is damaged at all. The explanation of "increasingly for learning" in the volume "Laozi Notes" written by Heshang Gong in the old version is: "Xueyue refers to the study of politics, religion, etiquette and music. Increasingly, the more and more sexual and literary ornaments are getting more and more." The explanation for "increasingly for the sake of Tao" is The explanation is: "Tao is the way of nature. What is lost day by day is consumed by lust." According to his explanation, what is benefited and lost is not "learning" and "Tao" itself, but "emotional writing". thing. The contemporary Zhu Qianzhi's "Laozi Xiaoshi" limits the study here to the study of rituals, and the scope is even narrower. Zhu also quoted from "Zhuangzi? Zhibei?" "Rituals are the splendor of Tao and the leader of chaos. Therefore, it is said "Those who follow the Tao will suffer daily losses" as evidence (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980 edition, page 124). Chen Guying's "Commentary and Commentary on Laozi" said: "Weixue refers to the knowledge activity of exploring external things. The scope of 'Weixue' here is narrow, and it only refers to the pursuit of benevolence, righteousness, sage, wisdom, etiquette and law. These knowledge can increase people's Knowledge and wisdom. ""Weidao" is the "Tao" that understands the undifferentiated state of things through deep thinking or experience. The "Tao" here refers to the "Tao" of nature, the "Tao" of Wuwei. "(Zhonghua Book Company, 1984 edition, page 250) is the closest interpretation to He Shang Gong. Zhang Rusong's "Laozi's Explanation" said: "(He Shang Gong) This comment is quite essential and indeed reveals the essence of 'learning' and 'Tao'". The following explains the gradual departure of etiquette and Tao in the process of historical development ( Qilu Publishing House, 1989 edition, pages 311-313). Gao Ming's "Commentary Commentary on the Silk Book of Laozi" was very impressed by He Shanggong's explanation, and said: "It is true. 'Weixue' refers to studying knowledge, and over time, the knowledge becomes more and more profound." Wen Dao (the second version of the silk book is Tao) Zuo Wen Dao, but Guodian Chu Bamboo Slips "Laozi" Chapter B is still the Dao, and seems to still regard it as the Dao - Yin Zhe) 'Rely on self-cultivation, require quiet observation and understanding, emptiness and inaction, ignorance and no desire, so it is Lust destroys itself and returns to simplicity." (Zhonghua Book Company, 1996 edition, page 54) Although the understanding of "increasingly for learning" is broader than that of Heshang Gong, the theme is the same. Xu Kangsheng's "Annotations and Research on Silk Books of Laozi" understands "learning" as "specific knowledge (mainly referring to learning benevolence, learning righteousness, learning etiquette, learning culture, etc.)" (Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 1985 edition, page 20), which is equally broad. [Wei Dynasty] Wang Bi wrote the second chapter of "Notes on Laozi", which explains "In order to learn more and more" as "I want to improve what I can do, and benefit from what I have learned." and "In order to learn, I will lose every day" as "I want to fight against nothingness." "Obviously, the understanding of learning is broader, including all knowledge and skills. But it is also more clear that learning and Tao are two categories. The way to be a scholar is to make daily progress, while the way to be a Taoist is to make daily losses. That is what Ren Jiyu said: "(Laozi) pointed out that the methods of understanding general laws and understanding individual things should be different" (see "Laozi Philosophy Discussion Collection", quoted from Chen Guying's "Laozi Commentary and Commentary"). It’s not that if you read too much, your Taoist skills will be diminished. Therefore, Zhang Erqi of the Qing Dynasty wrote in the second volume of "Laozi Shuo Luo": "As a scholar, you seek knowledge, so you want to get better and better; as a Taoist, you want to return to your roots, so you want to lose it. Those who have suffered losses have no desire not to leave, and there is no reason to do so. Forget. It is damaged again and again, so that nothing can be done, and then it is combined with Tao. If you do nothing for Tao, you can apply things to things, and you can do everything. "[Qing Dynasty] Xu Dachun wrote "Tao". The second volume of "Sutra Commentary" also says: "Being knowledgeable and knowledgeable is called learning, and learning lies outside, so learning will be beneficial day by day. Empty and mysterious is called the Tao, and the Tao lies within, so the Tao will be judged day by day. "Loss." The second edition of "Laozi" on Guodian Chu bamboo slips and the second edition of "Laozi" in Mawangdui silk script have the word "zhe" in both places of the word "日". Fu Yi's version and Fan Yingyuan's version also have the word "zhe". . The meaning of "zhe" becomes obvious. This will not lead to misunderstandings like the above.

The two sentences "In order to learn more and more, and in order to do the Tao, we will lose each day" are not the relationship between cause and effect. It is not that "I am learning more and more" leading to "the Tao, I will lose every day", but a relationship that goes hand in hand and in opposition. It means that being a scholar and being a scholar The Taoist approach is the opposite. If "learning" is interpreted in the broadest sense, Wu Linbo's "New Interpretation of Laozi" says quite clearly: "'Learning' is the opposite of 'Tao'. 'Learning' is for the purpose of seeking wisdom and increasing the 'day', If it is too much but not refined, it will be false; if it is "for the Tao" to seek true knowledge, if it is reduced to "loss", it will be less but refined." (Jinghua Publishing House, 1997 edition, page 113) "New Translation of Laozi" by Ren Jiyu. The vernacular translation of these two sentences is very straightforward: "Engaged in learning, [knowledge] increases day by day; engaged in 'Tao', [knowledge] decreases day by day." (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985 edition, page 163 ). Although Ren's evaluation of Laozi's philosophical thoughts is not necessarily generally accepted by academic circles, his translation is generally correct. The "New Translation of Laozi" was an extremely popular popular version at that time. Everyone who came into contact with "Laozi" knew it, but the author above did not seem to take it to heart. It seems that you still have to read the book carefully, not too much. The ancients also understood these two sentences together. For example, Volume 4 of "Archaeological Questioning" written by Ye Daqing [Song Dynasty] understood Laozi's meaning of "learning more and more, and doing Taoism every day" from the incident of "Zhuangzi, the great master" Yan Hui sat and forgot. "Zhuangzi, the Great Master" said that Yan Hui advanced in learning, advanced to the point of forgetting benevolence and righteousness, then advanced to the point of forgetting rituals and music, and continued to advance to the point of sitting and forgetting. Sitting and forgetting means "dropping the branch body, dethroning the intelligence, leaving the form to know, the same as Datong ", the origin of the shortcut. Even Confucius wanted to learn from him. Ye Daqing said: "Looking at this chapter, I have thought about half of Lao's words. The two sentences of Lao's words should be regarded as the same meaning. And where can we see the increasing learning? It is the way to learn. For example, if Yan Zi forgets benevolence and righteousness, forgets rituals and music, and even forgets to sit down, it can be said that it is getting worse. Yangzi said: "Yan Zi uses retreat to advance." Does he know this? The gain of learning is the loss of Tao. Every gain in learning is a loss of Tao, and every loss is a step closer to the origin of Tao. The recent scholar Zhong Tai's "Zhuangzi Fawei" also stated the meaning of these two sentences in "Laozi" after Yan Hui's story: "If you talk about it through learning, you will call it benefit; if you talk about it through Taoism, it will be called loss. Loss and benefit It's not two things. Guo Zixuan's note says, "taking loss as a benefit" can be said to be a wise statement. "(Shanghai Ancient Books, 2002 edition, page 164) As for why the order is "forgetting benevolence and righteousness, forgetting rituals and music, and forgetting for sitting", it is said in the book. Very understandable. Li Gang in the Song Dynasty wrote "Xue Zhen" in Volume 142 of "Liangxi Collection": "Learning leads to the Tao, and accumulation is accumulated in the bow. If a person does not learn, his wisdom will be blind and deaf. All gentlemen will learn and then realize that they are deficient. What can you do if you don't polish it into a tool? It is more valuable than jade. If you learn more and gain more, you will lose money. Learning is the foundation of the Tao. If you don’t know how to do it, how can you learn it? It is emphasized that only after benefiting from learning can there be a basis for harming and becoming the Tao. I can only regard these as philosophical interpretations rather than linguistic exegesis. This philosophical understanding is also quite different from the above understanding. To this day, due to lack of preliminary preparation knowledge by some scholars, or because they are trying to be their teachers, this sentence has some very strange explanations. For example, Yin Zhenhuan's "Analysis of Laozi on Chu Bamboo Bamboo Slips" must say that "scholars are losing money every day" in Chapter B of Guodian Chu Bamboo Slips does not contain the word "we", and translates this paragraph as: "The number of scholars is increasing day by day, [the desire for fame and the Hypocrisy will also increase and spread], so the number of people who follow the Dao will decrease day by day, and they will decrease again and again, and they will always return to selfless behavior. If you act selflessly, you can do everything." (Zhonghua Book Company, 2001 edition, Pages 277-278) What is said is outrageous, as you can see from the above, there is no need to elaborate. Zhang Jiliang's "Lao Dan (Lao Zi), Tai Shi Dan (Tao Te Ching)" says: "'scholar' refers to a person who studies 'be the Tao'". The sentence "be the Tao" is interpreted as "seek to analyze things every day", and this paragraph is translated into "Those who are engaged in learning gain knowledge every day, and those who seek truth analyze materials every day. Analyze and re-analyze, so that there is no subjective element at all. Without any subjective element, nothing can be done." (Qilu Publishing House, 2001 edition, 78 , page 212) What is the analytical meaning of "loss"? Does "inaction" mean "without any subjective elements"? This understanding is completely divorced from language. Nowadays, many of the original explanations that overthrow the classics are similar to this, but they are not legal.

Are you satisfied with my answer? Hope to adopt it, thank you!