Chapter 767: The Dialogue of the Two Giants

The two giants' dialogue

April 18: The two giants' dialogue

Kongzi and Lao Dan met and came to know each other; it was not a coincidence or chance encounter, nor could it be explained simply by the term "fate." Their gathering was an intentional arrangement by the heavens above in the unseen depths. Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu from Dream of the Red Chamber are different. When Baoyu and Daiyu meet, it is the repayment of grudges and gratitude of individual lives, a karmic bond from a previous life. Their love story, no matter how twisting, bizarre, absurd, tragic, or even splendidly performed, concerns only individual lives, not the masses, nor history.

But Kongzi and Laozi are different.

Kongzi and Laozi met and came to know each other; that is a major event concerning the people and history. If it were not for their meeting and mutual understanding, China's history would certainly not be as it is today. Although Kongzi and Laozi, in their meeting, had differences and divergences in viewpoints and scholarship, but their differences and divergences were like the sun and moon, complementing each other's differences and divergences, being very harmonious differences and divergences.

Therefore, the meeting of these two cultural giants, due to their tacit understanding and spiritual affinity, quickly became a friendship that transcends age and a bond like fish and water.

After Kongzi saw Lao Dan, he asked this and that, about life and death, wealth and poverty, benevolence and righteousness, governing the state and securing peace, the workings of heaven's mandate, and the vicissitudes of human affairs. In short. All phenomena of the world, the changes of history, heaven and earth, there was nothing he did not ask about or discuss.

But what they talked about most was each of their own "Dao" and "benevolence and righteousness," which are Kongzi's academic achievements: the Classic of Poetry, Classic of Documents, Classic of Rites, Classic of Music, Classic of Changes, and Spring and Autumn Annals. Without these achievements as topics, their conversation would be like clouds and smoke in the sky, long since dispersed without a trace.

When Kongzi spoke of the "Dao," he sighed and said: "Ah, difficult! Difficult! In the past, I did not know the cause of the difficulty in implementing the Dao; now, having seen you, I finally know the cause of that difficulty."

Laozi asked Kongzi: "Then what is the cause of that difficulty?"

Kongzi thought for a moment and said: "It is the Dao: when a wise person puts it into practice, they exceed its standards; when a foolish person puts it into practice, they fail to reach its standards."

Laozi felt that Kongzi's answer, though its words were sparkling, did not clearly say what the Dao is.

But when speaking of the "Dao," Laozi's interest was aroused, because the "Dao" that Kongzi spoke of is exactly the topic he himself wants to expound to the world.

Thus Laozi said: "You have not made the principles of the Dao clear, causing listeners to feel as if they have fallen into a five-li mist. Some say it is formless and cannot be explained in words. That is wrong. In fact, the Dao can be explained clearly in language. It is not as difficult to understand, as profound, or as infinitely wondrous as people say."

Kongzi asked: "Master, what kind of Dao is it that you speak of? Could it be different from the Dao we speak of?"

Laozi said: "Exactly! The Dao I speak of is indeed different from the Dao you usually speak of. The Dao I speak of is the Dao at the beginning of heaven and earth's naming, the fundamental basis for naming all things. Therefore, when I speak of this Dao, you should often use 'non-being' to observe the subtlety of the formless, and use 'being' to experience its thresholds. The 'non-being' and 'being' between heaven and earth both originate from the Dao I speak of. This 'non-being' and 'being' constitute the two different forms and realms between heaven and earth. 'Non-being' contains 'being,' 'being' contains 'being.' From the wonder of 'being' one reaches the wonder of the formless. And the Dao I speak of is the way to explore all 'being' and 'non-being' in heaven and earth."

…….