in2ebook Chapter 635 The Way That Can Be Told
Chapter 635 The Way That Can Be Told
Chapter 635 The Dao That Can Be Told
After two days there, Ye Ru's injuries had fully healed, and he was able to move around freely.
"Is it almost healed?"
Lin Ru looked at Ye Ru, who was deep in thought, and said.
"Hmm, that's about it. May I take a look around the scripture pavilion here?"
"We should ask Master Qingxu about this. After all, your Daoist Holy Mountain is not my Confucian Holy Mountain. We can only enter with Master Qingxu's permission."
Lin Ru pondered for a moment, then spoke, patting Ye Ru on the shoulder and saying:
“I know you are a diligent student, please allow me to ask you.”
"Of course, why not? It's rare for Confucianists to think highly of my Daoist school. What's wrong with letting him go and take a look? However, we must avoid any conflict."
Before Lin Ru could turn around, a laugh came from behind. Master Qingxu walked out and looked at Ye Ru and the other person with a smile.
"In that case, thank you very much, Daoist Master."
Ye Ru bowed gratefully to the other party and said.
Afterwards, Ye Ru arrived at the Scripture Pavilion of Dao Sheng Mountain. This Scripture Pavilion was not connected to the Library of Ru Sheng Mountain. There were not many Confucian classics here. On the contrary, all of them were classics of various sages that were biased towards Taoism.
Throughout history, there have been many Taoist saints, with Laozi being the most famous. Although emperors of all dynasties respected Confucianism, it was simply because Confucianism's worldly philosophy was more suitable for each dynasty. However, fundamentally, they outwardly applied Confucianism while inwardly practicing Huang-Lao philosophy.
After wandering around for a while, Ye Ru found a copy of the Tao Te Ching in a corner. The book seemed to have been neglected by many people and was quite old.
"What, you're interested in reading the most important book in Taoism, the Tao Te Ching?"
Before anyone knew it, Master Qingxu and Lin Ru arrived beside Ye Ru, and the former asked with great interest.
"I only know a little bit about it. Back then, my family was poor, so I just looked at whatever I could get my hands on."
Ye Ru said with a smile.
He wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.
"Oh? Is that so? In recent years, there haven't been many people who want to join my Taoist school. Since you know a little about it, let me test you. How do you interpret the Tao Te Ching's 'The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.'"
Master Qingxu spoke slowly.
These words startled Lin Ru. He wondered how Ye Ru knew the interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. This book was obscure and difficult to understand; even he himself had hardly ever come into contact with it.
"Master, Ye Ru is a Confucian. If he cannot answer your question about the Tao Te Ching, wouldn't that be disrespectful to the Sage?"
After pondering for a moment, Lin Ru spoke up for Ye Ru, while also giving Ye Ru a wink, telling him to be careful with his words.
After all, the classics of Taoism are quite different from those of Confucianism. It's better to annotate Confucian classics, at least there's a chance to correct mistakes.
However, if you make a mistake when discussing Taoism, you will truly offend the Taoist community.
At least on the surface, Master Qingxu didn't seem to care, but deep down he was still somewhat unhappy.
"Um……"
Ye Ru took two steps, pretending to be thinking, and after a moment, slowly said:
"Shouldn't this sentence be 'The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name'? The Taoist priest said that the first two sentences are not quite right."
These words piqued Master Qingxu's interest. He had said this on purpose to see if Ye Ru had actually read the Taoist classics carefully.
"Tell me about it."
"it is good."
After a brief pause, Ye Ru continued:
"The original text by Lao Tzu was, 'The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.' During the Han Dynasty, to avoid the taboo of Emperor Wen of Han's name, Liu Heng, it was changed to 'eternal.' This sentence is the general outline of the *Tao Te Ching*, and it should be: 'The principles that can be described in language are not eternal principles; the things that can be described in language are not things that can exist forever.'"
"Ah."
Master Qingxu nodded, seemingly agreeing with Ye Ru's statement, and then continued:
"Go on, what is the profound meaning of this?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Ru continued:
"The key to this statement is the Dao and the name. The Dao and the Heaven are interconnected, implicitly referring to nature. As Laozi said later, the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things. And the two sentences, 'Man follows the Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature,' are also mentioned. The Zuo Zhuan says, 'The Dao of Heaven is far away, the Dao of Man is near.' From all of this, we can see that this Dao is not the Dao of the past."
"Within this, there is also the power of the sacred way. The first way is the way of heaven. The meaning of the way is to follow the natural order and do everything in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth. Don't be arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat. This is the best explanation of following the natural order."
"Therefore, I think these two sentences imply that the way of Heaven is in operation, and one should not forcibly seize it, but rather let it take its natural course."
After Ye Ru finished speaking, he bowed to Master Qingxu.
These words made Lin Ru fall into deep thought. He hadn't expected that Ye Ru not only had knowledge of the Confucian classics, but also had his own ideas about the Daoist classics.
However, whether it is right or wrong still depends on Master Qingxu's meaning.
At this moment, Master Qingxu pondered, seemingly considering the meaning of Ye Ru's words.
After all, he had studied the Tao Te Ching for decades, and his understanding of it was beyond what ordinary scholars could achieve.
"Master... Ye Ru is just talking nonsense, please don't take it to heart."
Seeing that Qingxu Daojiu remained silent for a long time, Lin Ru's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly spoke.
"No, no, his explanation is correct, that's right, that's right. He is well-versed in the classics of Taoism, and his reputation is well-deserved."
Master Qingxu shook his head, then said with admiration.
This surprised Lin Ru, who hadn't expected that even the number one person from Dao Sheng Mountain would praise him so highly.
"Perfect timing. I haven't finished annotating the Tao Te Ching yet. Lin Ru, should it be alright if I let him stay here for a few more days?"
Master Qingxu turned his head and asked.
"That is certainly possible. However, Ye Ru is young and impetuous, and he may make some mistakes. I hope that Daoist Qingxu will be more tolerant."
Lin Ru quickly bowed and said.
"That's alright, he might even do a better job than me."
Lin Ru saw the love for talent in Master Qingxu's eyes and thought to himself, "Oh no, could it be that the other party wants to recruit Ye Ru into Zhongsheng Mountain?"
The other party had done this before, but Ye Ru, who studied Confucian classics, did not agree. If this continued for too long, it would inevitably raise suspicions that he was forgetting his homeland.
But I have no right to call the other person away.
Thinking to himself, he wondered if he should ask Dean Song to come to Daosheng Mountain.
If Ye Ru really goes to Dao Sheng Mountain, their Ru Sheng Mountain will suffer a great loss.
"Don't worry, I won't keep him here. It's his freedom to go wherever he wants. I just hope that the Tao Te Ching can be fully annotated."
"Ye Ru, come with me, I'll take you to see our Taoist commentary room."
Master Qingxu rolled his eyes at Lin Ru and slowly said, which made the latter scratch his head embarrassedly and give a wry smile.