Lotus Note

八章 上善若水，水善利萬物而不爭，處眾人之所惡，故幾於道。

居善地，心善淵，與善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，動善時。

夫唯不爭，故無尤。

Perhaps it is one of my favorite quotations from Laozi. People who acts like water is perfect. Water benefits everything yet not contends against them. He stays at the place where everyone detest, and so he is near to Dao. He chooses the lowest place to live, and he remains a calm and profound mind. He treats others benevolently and keeps his word. He is skilled at governing and using his talent and seizing the opportunity.

Because he doesn't contend against others, he doesn't arouse resentment.

I fully appreciate the works of Master Han Fei, not only because his penetrating political perspective, but also his remarkable literary talent. therefore, I nearly spent the two whole days on reading his writings. I believe that it would be of great help to my future career. Han's idea can make an excellent complement to Confucianism.

Considering myself a Confucian, I am convinced that Confucianism is a great humanism philosophy. But in most cases, you have to achieve you target by the means of Legalism, which Han Fei advocates. Or else you will be regarded to naïve and is destined to lose.

Han Fei was an exponent of the political theory of legalism. As Confucianism had long been the official ideology of China, the ancient intellectuals seldom talked about his theory because those Confucians believed that the country should be ruled by benevolence, not by punishment that the legalist philosophers advocated. However, if you agree that end justifies means, you would identify yourself with Han Fei. As a matter of fact, the purpose of Master Han Fei is that follows:

而聖人者，審於是非之實，察於治亂之情也。故其治國也，正明法，陳嚴刑，將以救羣生之亂，去天下之禍，使強不凌弱，眾不暴寡，耆老得遂，幼孤得長，邊境不侵，君臣相親，父子相保，此亦功之至厚也。韓非子·姦劫弒臣第十四

And the sages are able to distinguish between right and wrong and view the rise and fall in perspective. Therefore, they will rule the state by adopting proper laws and using severe punishment, to save the masses from disorder and ward off the disasters. Then in such a society, the strong could not bully the weak, the populous state could not fight the less one. The old and young can get taken care of well; there are no invasion on the border and people love each other within the country. These will be call significant achievements!

I can say that it has much in common with the Confucian's ideal society, and the difference lies in their means.

七章 聖人後其身而身先，外其身而身存。非以其無私邪？故能成其私。

The sage put himself behind others yet he will win the support from others, and he withdraws himself from contention yet preserves his own life. Isn't it because he is not selfish that he can success? We have long been taught that "survival the fittest" and been used to compete with others, or else we would live the life as a loser. However, Laozi told us that we should not be so competitive. What we need to do is to humble ourselves and to try to be modest.

I start using a new account book to improve the management of personal finance. I am not satisfied with the current management system, because it makes me so lazy that I always forget to input my financial data into my computer. Therefore, a paper account would be much better, I guess. I will also try my best to reduce the expenditure and spend money more wisely in the next half year.

I read the journey to the west 西遊記again today. It is indeed a great book. I would compare any career to going on pilgrimage for Buddhist scripture, which needs a strong determination, profound wisdom, great diligence, and also a sense of humor. Then you will fulfill your dream.

Pope Benedict XVI urged young people to reject the 'spiritual desert' spreading throughout the world, and to embrace Christianity to build a new age free from greed and materialism in Sydney on Sunday. I totally agree with the pontiff's view on the human world and I also believe that in this new age, in which we sometimes suffer from an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear and a quiet sense of despair, belief is dispensable for most of us, including Chinese people.

In the past, Chinese people, who were influenced by the Confucianism, wouldn't have so many psychological problems. According to the Confucianism, morality outweighs benefits. This became the dominant values of our country. However, things had changed since the China start being integrated into the world, which brought modern civilization to the ancient country, also ruined its tradition with a long history, no matter good or bad. Today many people are driven by personal greed. They have no time to care about their souls, so people have to face shallowness, apathy and self-absorption.

Therefore, belief should play a more important role nowadays. The Confucian value needs a renewal to suit the needs of the new era. Reading the classics should be encouraged. And religions such Buddhism, Christianity can do what they can do to save us from the spiritual crisis.

六章 谷神不死，是謂玄牝。玄牝之門，是謂天地根。緜緜若存，用之不勤。

Some western scholars translate 谷神 as "life-force of the valley". That's improper and inaccurate. This sentence means that the changes never cease, just like a broad and deep valley, which is called maternity, the gate of the subtle maternity is the root of the world. Laozi means that dao道 is the root of the world, like the maternity.

五章 天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗；聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗。

天地之間，其猶橐蘥乎！虛而不屈，動而愈出。多言數窮，不如守中。

Laozi implies that everything in the world take their own courses, and are not manipulated by gods and ghosts. The Heaven doesn't have will, determination or feeling. And the sage in the human world should let their subjects develop in their own way. I have to stress that ren 仁 here doesn't not mean benevolent, but preference or deliberate intention, as some sinologists understands it in a wrong way.

I learn in this chapter that I should not be so talkative, but always keep silent and calm as a meditation.