One day Confucius went to see Laozi to discuss benevolence and righteousness.
In the course of the conversation, Laozi said, “Segulls don’t become white by washing themselves every day. And crows don’t become black by dipping themsleves in ink every day. Black and white are both natural characteristics. So you can’t say one is better than the other. From crow’s perspective, black seems more natural and beautiful. From seagull’s perspective, the opposite is true.”
So, when people use benevolence and righteousness to distinguish between good and evil, they’re making the same mistake. Who’s to say white seagulls are beautiful than black crows? Whose standard is the standard?
As a Chinese saying says, “A name that can be named is not a real name; an ideology that can be expressed is not a real ideology.” What this means is that if you say something is white, then it’s not black…but are you sure it’s absolutely not black? Black and white are relative terms, and their meanings changes with time and individual perspectives. As soon as you use words to express a thing, the meaning of that thing is immediately changed and obscured by the language you use. Language is just an aid to help people understand an idea or a thought, but it can never represent the true meaning of the idea.
《莊子·外篇·天道》:孔子見老聃而語仁義。老聃曰：「夫播糠眯目，則天地四方易位矣；蚊虻噆膚，則通昔不寐矣。夫仁義憯然，乃憤吾心，亂莫大焉。吾子使天下無失其朴，吾子亦放風而動，總德而立矣！又奚傑然若負建鼓而求亡子者邪！夫鵠不日浴而白，烏不日黔而黑。黑白之朴，不足以為辯；名譽之觀，不足以為廣。泉涸，魚相與處於陸，相呴以濕，相濡以沫，不若相忘於江湖。」
