Heaven and earth are ruthless, and everything is a grass dog; Saints are ruthless and treat people like pigs. Between heaven and earth, it is still charming.

Huh? Empty and unyielding, move out. It is better to stay in the middle than to listen more and count less.

The vernacular means:

There is no goodness in heaven and earth. It has no kindness. It treats everything like a dog and lets everything go. Sages have no compassion, but also treat people like pigs, leaving them to fend for themselves. Isn't it like a bellows between heaven and earth? Empty and inexhaustible, the more encouragement, the greater the wind, endless. Many laws and regulations are even more confusing and unworkable, so it is better to be quiet.

There is a saying in Laozi's Tao Te Ching: "Heaven and earth are heartless, and everything is a grass dog"-most people criticize Laozi for being insidious and despicable and seeing things too thoroughly. Because they explained that this sentence means that there is no distinction between heaven and earth, everything is born, and everything is played as straw dogs. This is a misunderstanding of Laozi's thought, or a deliberate misinterpretation for humor. Lao Tzu's "grass dog" originally meant a dog made of grass. Dogs were originally used as sacrifices in ancient times, such as cold pig heads, cows and sheep. Later, due to the evolution of social atmosphere, real dogs were no longer used, but a dog shape was tied with grass instead. It is equivalent to replacing a real pig's head with a pig's head made of noodles during worship. After straw dogs made it, before it was used for sacrifice, everyone attached great importance to it and dared not touch it casually; After the sacrifice, I threw it into the garbage.

Confucianism often says that there is benevolence in heaven and earth, which breeds everything; When I am old, I say that heaven and earth are cold and heartless. Everything in the world is born, and I don't want to get anything in return. People help others, usually with conditions, hoping to get something in return. Therefore, Lao Tzu said that man should imitate heaven and earth. Everything is born in heaven and earth, and he does not take credit; He is not proud that heaven and earth give life to all things; Heaven and earth have done good things, making everything endless. Whatever you can do, just do it. There are no conditions. Therefore, to truly become a saint, we must follow the spirit of heaven and earth and cultivate such a mind. Therefore, the real meaning of Laozi's "Heaven and Earth are heartless, and all things are grass dogs" is that everything in heaven and earth, like a lost grass dog, is not particularly good for people, but especially bad for other things. People are poor in everything because of their subjectivity and selfish ideas.