Journal of Asian Restudy 2021 Fall

Laozi said in the Daode Jing: “ 人 多 伎 巧 , 奇 物 滋 起 ”, if people have
gotten too many tricks with them, all sorts of strange things would
come out. However, the inevitable outcome would be:“ 五 色 令 人 目 盲 ,
五 音 令 人 耳 聋 , 五 味 令 人 口 爽 , 驰 骋 畋 猎 令 人 心 发 狂 , 难 得 之 货 令 人
行 妨 。” The colorful goods could blind people’s eyes, the loud and
exciting music could deafen their ears, the juicy and saucy food could
numb their sense of taste, constant game hunting on horse could
make people go wild, the precious goods could impair people’s
behavior. That exactly said what the modern civilization has created
for current people, as well the consequences it has brought to them.
Just because all these things that created by people with high
technologies or complex schemes or sophisticated techniques are
usually away from simplicity, attracted them and made them get lost
in that fantasy world, thus they never want to pursue Dao, the
simplest, effective and profound guide for their life journey.
When people truly understand Dao of their life, they know when to
agitate, and when to stay quiet. Just as people know since they are
little kids that they get up when sun rises and go to bed at night by
following their parents who had followed the rhythm of the nature.
They go to work by minding their own business and trying not to
disturb others; they start to work at the smallest parts of their task in
order to conquer a big project. They try different things in their life,
however, let the nature decide the end, instead of over aggressively
pushing into something unreasonable with apparent
nonconsideration for others and awe-dropping ignorance to the
possible consequences to the society. And the same way works for
people of any field, including the people who work for government.
Laozi, in his Daode Ching, especially emphasized “ 无 为 Wuwei”, the
46