Lao Zi's Thought on Softening the Glare and Mingling with the Dust

Lao Zi (dates unknown) was an ancient Chinese thinker and philosopher. The school of Daoism that he founded has exerted a deep impact on the thinking and behavioral patterns of the Chinese people.

His philosophical thought of softening the glare and mingling with the dust offers a deep insight into Hehe Culture. It basically means keeping a low profile and being in harmony with the rest of the world. Humans all have distinctive characters and desires, so if everyone acts in their own way, there will inevitably be contradictions and even chaos in society and individual goals cannot be achieved in the meantime. 

Lao Zi found that the state of youwei (making constant efforts for success) arose from people's competition with others, as they simply thought that they should be better than others. This kind of impulse driven by desires would upset the natural balance of people's minds and make them suffer a lot. It was in light of this observation that Lao Zi proposed the thought of softening the glare and mingling with the dust. He believed that people should simply allow themselves to be in tune with the surroundings instead of contradicting with them. Only in this way could they return to the state of peace and calmness, that is, the state of wuwei (letting things take their own course) in Lao Zi's words. In essence, wuwei does not mean doing nothing, but indicates taking proper and moderate actions. 

老子與“和光同塵”

老子是中國古代思想家、哲學家，其創立的道家學派深刻影響著中國人的思維方式和行為模式。

“和光同塵”就是老子對于和合文化的深刻理解，其基本含義為不露鋒芒、與世無爭。每個人都有自己的性格特點和理想追求，如果每個人都按照自己的方式做事，必然會引起與他者的沖突，從而會導致社會混亂，也很難達成個人目標。老子發現，人們在日常生活中的種種努力、奮斗等的“有為”狀態，其實都是在欲望的驅動之下和他人的競爭之中產生的，往往表現為“我要比別人更好”的樸素想法。這種基于欲望的沖動，會讓人的內心失去平衡，從而陷入一種無窮無盡的欲望深淵。基于這樣的考慮，老子強調“和其光，同其塵”，亦即人應當與生活環境達成一種和解而非沖突。只有這樣，人心和社會才有可能重新達到恬淡和寧靜的狀態，正如老子所言的“無為”。所以，“無為”并非什么都不做，而是將這種作為保持在一種適度、平衡狀態。