govern by doing nothing that goes against nature(wú wéi ér zhì)

govern by doing nothing that goes against nature

"Governing by doing nothing" comes from Tao Te Ching, which is the Taoist idea of governing the country. The core of Tao Te Ching is Tao. Tao is inaction, but Tao has rules, which restrict the operation of all things in the universe, and all things follow the rules. When it comes to governing the country, "governing by inaction" means governing the country by system (which can be understood as the law in "Tao"), restraining the behavior of the subjects by system, and the subjects abide by the legal system.

"Rule by doing nothing" is not to do nothing, but to intervene more, to give full play to the creativity of the people, to achieve self realization, and to move towards loftiness and glory. "Inaction" is not inaction, but inaction. Because it does not violate the objective law and follows the objective law, it can do anything, as long as you follow the Tao and the objective law.

Interpretation of words

origin

During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the five tyrants fought against each other and the seven heroes fought against each other. In the face of the turbulent social situation, thinkers have put forward the great political strategy of governing the country and the people one after another: the famous fortune guides the rule of propriety, the Confucianists advocate the rule of virtue, but the Taoist Laozi proposes the rule of inaction. As a person dedicated to the ruling class, the rule of inaction had a profound impact on China's feudal society.

analysis

The original intention of governing by doing nothing is not to do nothing, but to intervene more and give full play to the people's self initiative, which is suitable for the rulers. The core of Confucianism is the moral standard, which is suitable for everyone. There are similarities and differences between the two, which is worth noting. < / Li > < / UL > it is also of practical significance to study the rule of inaction from the perspective of governance. The so-called rule by inaction is to achieve the great rule of the world through inaction. What is inaction? From the literal point of view, inaction seems to mean inaction and negative inaction. In fact, this is a literal meaning. What Lao Tzu said about inaction is by no means doing nothing. He said: "the difficult things in the world must be done in the easy, the major things in the world must be done in detail", "to do it before it happens, to govern it before chaos". The words "must do" and "do" and "rule" here all mean to do something. "Inaction" is not inaction, but inaction. The core of Tao Te Ching is Tao, which is inaction. However, Tao has laws, which restrict the operation of all things in the universe, and all things follow the laws. Lao Tzu thinks that "I do nothing, but the people become themselves; I am quiet, but the people become upright; I have nothing, but the people become rich; I have no desire, but the people become simple", and emphasizes "doing nothing, doing nothing". The scattered form of Tao is Qi, and the gathered form of Qi is taishanglaojun. ——Laozi Xiang Er Zhu extends to governing the country. "Governing by doing nothing" means governing the country by system (which can be understood as the law in "Tao"), and constraining the behavior of the subjects by system, and the subjects abide by the legal system. Lao Tzu's "rule by doing nothing" is to rule the country by law, not by man; too many people interfere in social order, and the rule of law is orderly. "Rule by doing nothing" is the emperor's personal principle, that is, to have a clear mind and insight, to know people well, to put the right talents in the right positions, to assign the specific things to the officials, and not to do everything personally.

Scope of application

administer a country

Governance by inaction is the strategy of Taoism, so governance is the first application of governance by inaction. In order to implement the policy of governing by doing nothing, government officials at all levels should not only abandon all kinds of utilitarianism and formalism, but also abandon the concepts of benevolent government, such as "seeking happiness for the people" and "serving as an official for the benefit of one party". They should be lenient in punishment, simplify administration, pay less taxes, and share weal and woe with the people. They should try their best to rely on the people's self-reliance and self-government, and do their own necessary services At the same time, we should fully trust and rely on the subordinates, let them complete all the work, and do a good job in identifying and employing people.

business management

The application of inaction in enterprise management requires enterprise managers to jump out of trifles and focus on enterprise development strategy and personnel identification. As for specific R & D, technology, production, sales and other work, they should fully rely on employees and subordinates. If the senior managers want to do something in the big things but not in the small things, they must implement the management method of "the monarch has nothing to do but the minister has something to do". Only in this way can they achieve the management purpose of "the monarch and the minister will prosper, and the monarch and the minister will decline".

Education

In the field of education, it requires teachers and parents to respect their children's nature, fully trust their children's ability and development potential (that is, the self-cultivation ability of Taoism), and let them try, learn, explore, discover and even destroy by themselves, even if they will fail and make mistakes, because they will learn a lot from these failures and mistakes, What teachers and parents should do is to create necessary conditions for children and do necessary auxiliary work.

Yang Zhu's Philosophy

Yang Zhu advocates the theory of personal standard, but he is by no means an anarchist. As mentioned earlier, Yang Zhu put forward the view that "everyone does not lose a cent, everyone is not beneficial to the world, and the world is governed". Due to the lack of literature, we do not know how Yang Zhu specifically demonstrated and developed his view. A paragraph in Shuoyuan Zhengli makes up for this defect. "When Yang and Zhu saw Wang Liang, they said," governing the world is like good luck. " The king of Liang said: '" Why? " Yang Zhu said, "it's true. Don't you see your husband shepherding? A hundred sheep flock together, so that the five foot boy follows with his staff. He wants to go east and West. If you make Yao lead a sheep, and Shun follow it with his staff, then chaos begins Those who will rule the big will not rule the small, and those who have made great achievements will not be small. That's what it's called in this metaphor of "boy shepherd", the sheep "desire East and East, desire West and west", enjoy full freedom. However, the "boy" symbolizing the ruler and manager is just a "Lotus stick" and does not interfere. This reminds us of Adam Smith's metaphor of "invisible hand" and his view that the state should only act as a "night watchman" and not interfere in economic activities. Compared with Adam Smith's modern economic liberalism theory, Yang Zhu's view can only be called the ancient simple liberalism political theory, but its historical position should not be underestimated. Lao Tzu is the initiator of ancient Chinese liberalism. Laozi's theory of inaction is the "base camp" and "basic form" of liberalism in ancient China. Yang Zhu's theory of "boy herding sheep" is a concrete manifestation of the theory of "governing by inaction". What is worth mentioning here is Guan Zi's "or Shi theory". Meng Wentong pointed out that in Guanzi Baixin, "explaining or preparing for the meaning of it" is really unique. "White heart" says: "the sky or dimension, the earth or carry it." "If the sky doesn't fall and the earth doesn't sink, it's better for you to carry it! What about people? People are governed by law, and they are created by the action of thunder and drums. If you can't shake yourself, you can shake it. Husband or what? If so, it's the same. If you see it, you will not see it; if you hear it, you will not hear it In ancient Chinese, "or" refers to a person or other object that does exist although it can not be referred to temporarily. In Bai Xin, this "or" refers to a kind of power that plays a basic, promoting and dominating role in natural and social phenomena. It is characterized by "seeing is invisible" and "spilling all over the world". It is not difficult to see that this "or make" theory is the same as Adam Smith's "invisible hand" theory. The deep meaning of the two is the recognition of the objective laws of nature and society which exist objectively but have not been fully understood yet. Bai Xin advocates "governing without governing", that is, governing by doing nothing. "White heart" says: "no benefit words, no damage words." Guanzi mental skill, which belongs to the same school as Baixin, says: "the way of inaction is the cause. Because of this, there is no benefit and no damage. " Meng Wentong thinks that this theory and Yang Zhu's theory can be regarded as "consistent way". Mengwentong said: "when things come to self-government, it's better to pull out a hair for the benefit of anyong. It's good to pluck hair, but it's bad to suit it. " "If you take out the gross profit, you will benefit it and be suitable for chaos. Yang Zi's theory is based on the words of "mental skill" and "white heart" Contemporary scholars have different views on the school affiliation of the authors of Bai Xin and Xin Shu. The general principles of Mongolian put the author in the school of Yang Zhu. I think, even if I don't agree with mengwentong about the attribution of the school of authors, I should at least agree with his following views: Yang Zhu said that "everyone does not draw a hair, everyone is not good for the world, and the world is governed". Yang Zhu's argument is no longer known, and the relevant arguments and arguments in Baixin and Xinshu can be regarded as the further "concrete argument" and continuous development of Yang Zhu's viewpoint. Yang Zhu school and the authors of Xinshu and Baixin, as a school of the same origin or two schools with certain connections, have made their own contributions to further enrich and enrich the liberal political theory in the pre Qin period of China.

Practical examples

In ancient times, Shun was virtuous and Yao sent him to manage the world. At that time, floods were everywhere in the Central Plains. In the past, Yao sent him to control the floods. Nine years later, he failed, and Shun sent his son Yu to control the floods. As expected, Yu lived up to people's expectations, and the flood subsided 13 years later. Like Yao, Shun was lenient to the common people and used symbolic punishment. Those who should have cut off their nose were allowed to wear colorful clothes instead; those who should have cut off their heads were only allowed to wear cloth clothes without collar. In order to let the common people understand music and dance, Shun sent Kui to spread music everywhere. Some people worry that Kui alone can't take on the important task. Shun said: "the foundation of music is harmony. A person like Kui, who is proficient in temperament, is enough. " Kui finished the task excellently. Confucius praised

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