中國傳統故事：老子的故事

Hello everyone the story I'm going to tell you today is the story of Laozi I am Li Er also known as Laozi with the style name Dan and I am the great philosopher thinker and founder of the Daoist school He left the world the immortal work "Tao Te Ching " In 571 BC Laozi was born in the state of Chu in the east and his father was the general of the state of Song at that time In the summer of 573 BCE the state of Chu launched a military campaign against the state of Song with General Zuo personally leading the troops but he was unfortunately betrayed and killed causing the Song army to immediately disperse Laozi's mother and the two remaining maidservants and a coachman were on their way to the capital of the State of Song As soon as they arrived at Chen Guo Xiang Laozi's mother suddenly felt severe abdominal pain she was pregnant and had traveled a long distance so Laozi was born in the wagon It is said that Laozi was born with a weak body large ears thick eyebrows and two big ears his eyes clear and deep Because of his large ears he was named Dan Although I was intelligent and wise beyond others I loved to think deeply and often troubled the family guards to listen to stories about the rise and fall of the country the success and failure of wars and the observation of stars His mother invited Master Shang Rong an expert in the music of the Yin Dynasty to teach him Mr Shang Rong was well-versed in astronomy and geography truly knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times and deeply respected by the Lao family Laozi was different from other students his curiosity drove him to constantly explore things he did not know Some things are not even recorded in historical records one day Master Shang was giving a lesson to Laozi and said "Among all things in heaven and earth human beings are the most precious among all people the ruler is the foundation " "Then I asked 'What is the sky ' The master said 'The sky is the clear and pure entity above '" Laozi asked again "What is the 'clear and pure' " The old scholar replied "The 'clear and pure' refers to the vast emptiness " I still wasn't satisfied so I asked again "What is above the sky " This time the old man was stumped so he said "The sages have not passed it down and the ancient texts do not record it " So he dared not speak recklessly Since then I often gazed at the sky at night constantly thinking about the questions that had no answers Once Master Shang said "Within the six directions heaven earth people and things exist Heaven has its way earth has its principles people have their ethics and things have their nature " "There is the Way of Heaven hence the sun moon stars and constellations can move There is the Way of Earth hence mountains rivers and valleys can form There is the Way of Humanity hence the distinctions of respect rank age and status can be established There is the Way of Things hence the differences between length shortness hardness and fragility can be discerned " Laozi upon hearing this immediately asked "Who controls the movement of the sun moon and stars in the sky Who created the mountains rivers and seas Who determines the hierarchy and status of people Who decides the length size shape weight and color of things " The old man said "It is the work of the deity " Laozi asked "How can the deity regulate all this " The old man said "The deity has the power to change and the ability to create so it can do so " Laozi then asked "Where does the deity's power come from " The old man thought for a while and finally replied "The sages have not passed it down and ancient records do not mention it so I dare not speak recklessly " Laozi puzzled by this question didn't know the taste of food for three days Once again Master Shang said "The affairs of the world value the river To drink from the river is to cool it cooling it leads to mutual destruction mutual destruction causes mutual harm and mutual harm is harmful and beneficial Therefore giving others benefits oneself and giving others misfortune brings misfortune upon oneself " Laozi asked "Why doesn't the ruler take action when there are conflicts and the people suffer " The master replied "When the people quarrel it's like a small stream a small stream brings small misfortune which the ruler can manage When the country quarrels it's like a great river a great river brings great misfortune which is the ruler's fault How can the ruler govern himself " Laozi then asked "If the ruler cannot govern himself why doesn't the deity intervene " The old man had no answer and again replied with the same sentence as before After three years of teaching Master Shang told Laozi's mother "My knowledge is limited Your son is extremely intelligent I have already passed on all my knowledge to him Today I have come to bid farewell " Laozi said "This is a child with great aspirations I recommend you send him to the capital of the Zhou state where there is a gathering of learned and virtuous scholars If your son wishes to achieve great things in the future you must send him there to study " Later Laozi became a student of the chief scholar of the Zhou state's academy Later this teacher recommended Laozi to take the position of chief archivist of the Zhou state After Laozi came of age Master Shang had become very old Once Master Shang fell very ill and upon hearing this Laozi naturally went to visit him He reached the master's bedside the master just opened his mouth looked at Laozi then raised his hand pointed to his mouth and asked Laozi "Is my tongue still there " Laozi felt very strange and wondered if his teacher had gone crazy from the illness How could you ask that Without a tongue how can you speak teacher The master asked Laozi "Where are my teeth " The master had no teeth left in his mouth Laozi answered honestly and the master said "Do you know why I asked that " Only then did Laozi realize that the teacher was defaming himself The tongue is soft so it remains the teeth are hard so they are easily lost Many things in the world are like this Later I wrote in the "Tao Te Ching": "Nothing in the world is as soft and weak as water yet nothing is stronger than it in overcoming the hard and strong because it has nothing to suppress it The weak overcomes the strong the soft overcomes the hard All under heaven know this but none can put it into practice Therefore the sage says 'He who bears the blame of the nation becomes the master of the state he who bears the calamities of the nation becomes the king of the world '" This means that nothing in the world is softer than water yet nothing can overcome it Softness overcomes hardness and gentleness overcomes strength everyone knows this but no one puts it into practice So the sage said "To bear the humiliation of the entire nation one can become the ruler of the country to bear the disasters of the entire nation one can become the ruler of the world " Laozi thus further understood the Dao: when dealing with people and matters one should maintain the seven altars keeping the altar positions soft gentle and quiet able to embrace the world In this way the Dao will flow into the body like a gentle stream keeping people from straying from morality The etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty that his teacher told him about whose core was humility was when he gained a deeper understanding In 485 BC Laozi saw the Zhou Dynasty gradually declining resigned from his position as the keeper of the archives and prepared to leave through the Hangu Pass to civilize the people in the Western Regions Laozi knew that the official in charge of the Hangu Pass Yin Xi was destined to obtain the teachings so he dictated five thousand words Yin Xi recorded them in a book titled "Tao Te Ching " Following Laozi's teachings Yin Xi indeed became a immortal and later Daoists revered Laozi as their ancestral teacher According to historical records Laozi finally ascended to heaven on the White Day of the Moon in the Lingtao Mountains which refers to a person who has cultivated and attained the Dao then ascending to the heavens during the day to become an immortal Later people built the Ascension Platform at the place where he ascended also known as the Offering Platform or the Transcendent Platform to commemorate this event Okay that's it for today's story If you like these traditional tales please subscribe Thank you