My thoughts after reading "Laozi" "Misfortune lies where blessings depend, and blessings lie where misfortune lies." This means that misfortunes are the prerequisite for blessings, and blessings contain the elements of disaster. In other words, good things and bad things can be transformed into each other. Under certain conditions, blessings can turn into disasters, and misfortunes can also turn into blessings. This famous saying by Lao Tzu is very reasonable. Laozi is one of the earliest philosophers with dialectical thinking in China and the world. There have always been debates about Lao Tzu, his books and his "Taoism". According to a simple biography written by Sima Qian in his book "Historical Records", he was a famous thinker in the Spring and Autumn Period and the founder of the Taoist school. Laozi, whose surname was Li Ming'er and whose courtesy name was Dan, was from Qurenli, Li Township, Ku County, Chu State (now Luyi County, Henan Province). "Laozi" is what people call him, "Lao" means old and virtuous, and "Zi" is a good name for men in ancient times. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. Laozi served as the "History Keeper" of the Zhou Dynasty (equivalent to the current director of the National Library or the Director of the History Museum), so he was familiar with anecdotes and etiquette. He not only had rich historical knowledge, but also had a wide range of knowledge of natural sciences. In 520 BC, a civil war broke out in the Zhou royal family for the throne. In April of that year, King Zhou Jing died, and the doctor Liu Geng made Prince Meng the mourning king. The prince dynasty killed the mourning king and established himself. The Jin people attacked the prince's dynasty and made the prince Jingwang. This civil war lasted for five years. In 516 BC, the Prince Dynasty failed, swept away the Zhou Dynasty's classics, and fled to Chu; the books in Laozi's possession were also taken away. So, Lao Tzu was dismissed and returned home. The changes in the situation changed Lao Tzu's status and caused a big change in his thinking, from observing etiquette to turning against etiquette. Because Lao Tzu was persecuted by the slave-owning aristocrats in power, in order to avoid harm, he had to "hide himself into obscurity" and lived in various places. Later, he traveled west to the Qin State. When passing Hangu Pass (southwest of today's Lingbao County, Henan Province), Yin Xi, the commander of the pass, knew that I was about to go away and disappear, so he asked me to leave a message. So I wrote the 5,000-word "Laozi". It is said that when I came out of seclusion, I floated away on a green bull. Most of Laozi's thoughts and ideas are preserved in the book "Laozi". "Laozi" has 81 chapters, divided into two parts, with more than 5,000 words. Because it talks about the issues of Tao and morality, people later called it "Laozi's Tao Te Ching". The book "Laozi" we see now is not Laozi's original work, because there are words added by people during the Warring States Period, but the main ideas in it belong to Laozi. The book "Laozi" is short and difficult to understand, so later generations made many annotations. The most popular ones include the annotations by Taoist Heshang Gong (name unknown) in the Western Han Dynasty, the annotations by Wang Bi, a Wei philosopher during the Three Kingdoms period, and the "Original Meaning of Laozi" written by Wei Yuan in the Qing Dynasty, etc. Next, we will learn about Laozi's philosophy and political thoughts through the book "Laozi". "Tao" is the origin of all things in the world. Laozi was the first philosopher in our country who tried to explain the world from nature itself, without resorting to the will of the supernatural master-the Emperor of Heaven. Before Laozi, people believed that everything in the universe was ruled by gods, and the highest god was Heaven, also known as the Emperor of Heaven. This concept only began to change in the Spring and Autumn Period, which was a period of great social change. Lao Tzu was an earlier thinker who consciously and explicitly denied the Emperor of Heaven from a philosophical perspective. On the basis of "Book of Changes", he further clarified that "Tao" is the origin of all things in the world. The central idea of ??Laozi's "Tao Theory" is: "Tao is nature, and nature is Tao." He said that "Tao" is the mother of all things: "Tao can be Tao, but it is not Tao. It can be named, but it is not named. Nothing is named the beginning of heaven and earth. Being is named the mother of all things." ("Chapter 1") This is Laozi believes that Tao produced heaven and earth, and virtue is the performance of Tao. Heaven and earth give birth to all things, and all things have their own shapes and uses. Therefore, there is nothing in all things that does not respect Tao but values ??virtue. The respect for Tao and the nobility of virtue do not come from someone giving it a title, but rather naturally. Therefore, Tao produces heaven and earth, virtue nourishes all things, grows all things, matures all things, and covers all things. He said: "Tao is born, virtue is derived from animals, objects are shaped, and utensils are formed." Therefore, all things respect Tao and value virtue. The respect of Tao, the nobility of virtue, and the nobility of Fu Mo are always natural. Therefore, it is born from Tao, it is cultivated by virtue, it is nurtured by virtue, it is nurtured by growth, it is poisoned by pavilion, it is covered by cover. "("Chapter 51") In this way, Laozi attributed the source of natural creation to nature itself, thus destroying all supernatural masters and the foundation of all religions and idealism. Therefore, Laozi's view of nature and the way of heaven had some meaning at that time. It has great progressive significance. It overthrows the religious Emperor of Heaven and denies the power of ghosts and gods.

Of course, Laozi's "Taoism" has just been liberated from traditional religion and has not yet completely gotten rid of the influence of religion; his natural determinism makes people completely obey the orders of nature and underestimates the reaction of people on nature. Later, some philosophers developed it into determinism, which was very harmful.