What is the next sentence of Heaven and earth are unkind .

Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs.

Translation: Heaven and earth are merciful, they have no love, and they treat everything like a dog.

All things are left to their own devices.

Original sentence - Heaven and earth are not benevolent.

Take all things as dogs;

Annotation – Heaven and earth are not benevolent: Heaven and earth are not benevolent. Treating all things as dogs: There are two interpretations of this sentence. One said, heaven and earth regard all kinds of cautious things, like grass dogs.

Hail in the forest. Another theory is that the dog is a dog made of thatch used in ancient rituals, and it is discarded after the sacrifice. "Zhuangzi Heavenly Fortune": "The husband and the dog are not Chen, and the scarf is embroidered with text."

The corpse wishes Qi (fasting) to abstain from it; And it has been Chen, the walker practices its first spine, and the Su person takes it. The two are different, but they are both based on Dr. Yu Qing.

and the people for the lowly.

Source – Tao Te Ching

Chapter 5. <>

Heaven and earth are unkind. Take all things as dogs;

From Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching".

Chapter 5. According to the conventional literal translation, there must be many people who believe that this sentence means that God is not merciful, and treats all things as a lifeless and emotionless tribute. However, if you read the original text, you will find that this understanding is contrary to the original meaning that Lao Tzu wanted to express.

What Lao Tzu really means when he says this sentence is that heaven and earth are fair and just, so everything is treated equally (as a tribute). So let's take a look at what the original article says.

Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs. The saints are unkind, and they use the people as dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it still like a slurrel? Void but unyielding, moving and getting more and more. ”

If the first sentence is taken out of context to mean that God is not merciful, then the second sentence is difficult to understand. Is it to say that the saints were not merciful and treated the people as tribute? From this point of view, there is definitely a big problem in the first understanding.

In ancient times, dogs were sacrificed animals by ordinary people, because in ancient times, large livestock such as cattle, sheep and pigs were very expensive, especially cattle were still laborers in ancient times, so they could only be worshiped with small objects as sacrifices. Before the dog was used for sacrifice, everyone attached great importance to it, and they couldn't touch it with the nucleus, but when the sacrifice was over, they threw it away.

The meaning of this sentence is that heaven and earth are very just, so that everything is treated equally (as a sacrifice), and the saints are also very just, and there is no distinction between high and low.

If you want to understand this sentence correctly, then what has to be mentioned here is Lao Tzu's own political concept. Lao Tzu lived in the Spring and Autumn Period all his life, social turmoil, at this time when the three generations had just ended, Lao Tzu, as a scholar, will naturally make research on the history of the three generations, and Lao Tzu, who yearns for the three generations, is very respectful of the social model of the world's great duke. And the concept of class has become more and more obvious since the Spring and Autumn Period, so Lao Tzu said that this sentence is actually Tangerine Hong's praise of a society that does not distinguish between dignity and inferiority.

And why do so many people have the first wrong understanding when they see this sentence?

This is because we are influenced by Confucianism.

The concept of "benevolence" has a fixed mindset.

In Confucius. In the eyes, "benevolence" is great benevolence, "benevolence" is fairness and justice, and we have been influenced by traditional Confucianism for thousands of years, although we have entered the modern civilized society, but the thoughts of the ancestors have become solidified things, it is obvious that in the eyes of the old-timers Lao Tzu "benevolence" meaning is richer, here "not benevolence" is not to say the great evil, but just the opposite of the great duke.

To sum up, to understand that "heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs", we must return to the original sentence, return to Lao Tzu's time, and return to Lao Tzu's thinking, so that you can more thoroughly understand the just society advocated by Lao Tzu.

Heaven and earth are selfless, so they treat everything equally. That's what this sentence really means.

Original text] Heaven and earth are unkind 1, and all things are dogs 2; The saints are not benevolent and prospering3, and the people are dogs4.

Note to the gods] 1 Heaven and earth are not benevolent: Heaven and earth are not benevolent.

2 Treating all things as dogs: There are two interpretations of this sentence. One said, heaven and earth regard all things as grass, dogs, and animals.

Another theory is that the dog is a dog made of thatch used in ancient rituals, and it is discarded after the sacrifice. "Zhuangzi Heavenly Fortune": "The husband and the dog are not Chen, they are filled with Zheng Yan, the scarf is embroidered, and the corpse is blessed with Qi (fasting) to prescribe it; And it has been Chen, the walker tramples its spine, and the Su takes it and endures the blind posture.

The two are different, but they all regard Dr. Yu Qing and the people as cheap.

3 The saints are unkind: The kings of the saints are not merciful.

4 The common people are a special term for the nobles below the princes, not the "common people" as we now call them.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are regarded as "dogs"; The monarch is also not benevolent, and regards the doctor as a "dog", and when he uses it, he treats him with courtesy, and when he finishes it, he kills him at will, without any mercy.

Heaven and earth are not emotional, and all things are treated equally. The saint is not emotional, and treats the people equally. Ren here means charity, kindness, kindness to the people.

In the past, the dog was used to replace the living dog as a sacrifice during the sacrifice, and the sacrifice was like a waste, and it was discarded. The whole sentence means that heaven and earth have no consciousness of likes and dislikes, nor do they have mercy on all things, let them grow, and fend for themselves. As Wu Cheng of the Yuan Dynasty said:

Dogs, binding grass in the shape of dogs, and praying for rain are also used. If you pray, you will abandon it, and there is no longer any intention to cherish it. Heaven and earth have no intention of loving things, but let them be self-sufficient; The saint has no intention of loving the people, but allows them to do their own thing, so they use the dog as a metaphor.

I think the meaning of this sentence is that heaven and earth have no feelings, and in the eyes of heaven and earth, people are the same as pigs and dogs.

This sentence runs through the entire four volumes of the Book of Heaven in Xiao Ding's Zhu Xian **.

Translation: Heaven and earth are merciful, they have no love, they treat everything like a dog, and they let everything die on its own.

Original sentence - Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs;

Annotation – Heaven and earth are not benevolent: Heaven and earth are not benevolent. Take all things as dogs;

There are two interpretations of this sentence. One said, heaven and earth regard all things as grass, dogs, and animals. Another theory is that the dog is a dog made of thatch used in ancient rituals, and it is discarded after the sacrifice.

"Zhuangzi Heavenly Fortune": "The husband and the dog are not Chen, they are filled with Zheng Yan, the scarf is embroidered, and the corpse is blessed with Qi (fasting) to prescribe it; And it has been Chen, the walker practices its first spine, and the Su person takes it. The two are different, but they all regard Dr. Yu Qing and the people as cheap.

Source – Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching.

The original words are: Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs: saints are unkind, and the people are dogs.

The meaning of the whole sentence is: Heaven and earth do not have a sense of likes and dislikes.

There is a common understanding that God is not merciful and only treats all things as lifeless tribute; However, in context, this understanding is biased. Another understanding is that Lao Tzu wanted to express the idea that heaven and earth are fair.

To put it in layman's terms: Heaven and earth look at all things the same, not to be particularly good to anyone, nor to anyone who is particularly bad, everything follows the natural development of the scum.

This sentence is from Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching". In the past, dogs tied with grass were used instead of live dogs as sacrifices, and after the sacrifice, they were like waste and discarded at will.

Meaning: Heaven and earth are merciful, they have no love, they treat everything like a dog, and let everything die on its own.

From: Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching.

Dynasties: Spring and Autumn.

Original text: Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs; The saints are unkind, and they use the people as dogs.

Between heaven and earth, what is it? Void but unyielding, moving and out.

It is better to keep the middle than to talk too much.

Translation: There is no benevolence to be found between heaven and orange earth, because all things have become soulless dogs made of grass, shaped like shells. The saints could not find benevolence because the people had become soulless dogs made of grass. But heaven and earth are not selfish, and treat everything the same.