Take Love as the Way What is the "Dao"? I've thought and thought, and besides "love," I can't find a second thing to compare it to. You can't see or touch love, but everyone's heart understands it; the Dao is the same. When you think of the "Dao" as love, many things become clear. Both can make you let go of fixations on good and bad, right and wrong, and allow kindness to grow in your heart. If a person has no love in their heart, the more knowledge they have, the greater the harm they could cause.
"Knowledge is power," and this power is neither good nor evil. Whether it brings fortune or disaster depends entirely on what the person wielding it holds in their heart. What would the world have become if the Nazis had built the atomic bomb first? Let's talk about something smaller: many years ago, my mom went to deposit money, and the bank clerk sweet-talked her, coaxing her into buying a high-interest dividend insurance plan. But what was written in black and white was a different story entirely. That's using a little extra knowledge to rip people off. This kind of thing still happens today.
Survival of the Fittest When I look at this world, my heart always feels a bit cold. From the perspective of Heaven and Earth, it doesn't care if you love or talk about justice. Whoever is strong sets the rules. Every time I say "survival of the fittest" online, someone always feels uncomfortable, unwilling to look at the hard, cold facts. On the Russia-Ukraine battlefield, if there's a huge disparity in weaponry, it becomes a one-sided slaughter. It's useless even if you're in the right and your heart is full of love. Survival can be said to be determined entirely by the strength of power, with little direct connection to right and wrong.
Laozi said, "Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs." These words are as cold as ice. But think of it another way: it is precisely because of this coldness of Heaven and Earth that people learned to huddle together for warmth. Nature doesn't recognize love or hate; it only recognizes the power of continuance. And it is this very ruthlessness that forces people to become smarter—to understand that by joining hands, their strength grows; by uniting all who can be united, the chances of survival increase. You see, cooperation and great love, these warm things, are rooted in this icy soil. Coincidentally, perhaps Heaven and Earth's seeming lack of benevolence is, in fact, its deepest "Dao"—it doesn't grant small favors, but with its iron-clad rules, it forces all creatures to find a way to live, forcing life to give birth to a resilient love through interdependence. This is its silent, great love, and it is the most powerful force.
| First Move | Second Move | First Mover's Outcome | Second Mover's Outcome | In a Nutshell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't Contend (Dove) | Don't Contend (Dove) | +2 | +2 | We both benefit and thrive. |
| Contend (Hawk) | Don't Contend (Dove) | +4 | 0 | You take advantage, I lose out. Unjust. |
| Contend (Hawk) | Contend (Hawk) | -1 | -1 | A fight to the death where no one truly wins. |
The Evolution of Cooperation When two people work together for a long time and it comes time to divide things, do they cooperate for a win-win or backstab each other? My understanding of Laozi's "not contending" is not forcefully taking what isn't yours. But what if the other person swoops in like a hawk to snatch it?
I think if you can fight back, you must. To yield blindly is not "virtue," it's stupidity. You have to make them feel the pain; only through pain will they know they were wrong. Once they understand and change, then you can forgive and work together again—this is the true backbone of "repaying injury with kindness." Confucius said, "Repay injury with justice, and repay kindness with kindness." He's talking about this very balance: a balance weighed down by the character for "justice."
Does defending what you're rightfully owed count as "virtue"? Of course it does! Look, our civilization stands today because it's built on this foundation. What are laws and rules, these hard things, for? They are to put a bit in the mouth of those who "dare to be the first under heaven" to do evil! It tells you: malicious contention is possible, but at the same time, others will treat you with equal measure. It's like war—when everyone is dead, nobody has actually won.
Decentralization As I see it, Laozi's "Wu Wei" (non-action) simply means don't meddle in others' affairs. Let people live their own lives, as long as they don't impede the freedom of others, or maliciously harm others' love and freedom.
To talk about "Wu Wei," there's a prerequisite: you must have the power "to act" (wei), but you choose to hold back. If you don't have that power in the first place, it's not "Wu Wei," it's "being unable to act." Therefore, the concept of "Wu Wei" is mainly for those in charge in centralized institutions, those who have been empowered, like government or corporate management. It means to act in accordance with the trend, not to act recklessly and twist people's arms. What is "reckless action"? If what you do violates the freedom people ought to have and makes everyone feel stifled, that is "reckless action." It would be better not to do it.
On the other hand, what if people can't control their own desires? Delegate power, establish oversight, and introduce some "decentralization." When power is distributed, it's harder to control everything, and it becomes impossible "to act" even if one wanted to. Of course, I dare not imagine complete decentralization. The crypto world is sometimes like a dark forest; when smart people have no constraints, lawlessness reigns, and they steal hundreds of millions as if it were a game.
Ultimately, "Wu Wei" means not always centering yourself in your heart, but understanding that everyone has their own path. You must let people walk their own path. You can influence with love and wisdom, but you can't drag them along by force. People should live as they wish. It's like when parents get old; their love for their children means that even if they still have the strength to discipline, they must learn to let go, because in the end, they can't control them anymore.
Manifesting Love through Benefit Love is an ethereal thing; it can't be scientifically studied as an object. It's not a piece of meat you can cut open and examine. Like the "Dao," it can only be understood intuitively. It's simple: if someone says "I love you," only they know if it's true or false. You can't crawl inside their heart.
Finding your own love is like walking down a dark corridor, feeling your way one step at a time. In this journey of life, it doesn't hurt to try a few more times. Remember: love must be allowed to grow on its own. Laozi calls this "the Dao follows what is natural." Don't try to force its growth with "shoulds," and don't get hung up on "how I should be," and especially not "how you should be." If you fall into the trap of "should" but can't reach it, you either become a hypocrite or suffer from internal damage. Laozi said it long ago: "When the great Dao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness appear; when wisdom and knowledge emerge, there is great hypocrisy." When the great Dao collapses and there is no love, only then do people fill their mouths with benevolence and righteousness, employ clever tricks, and tell monstrous lies.
It's best to start from "I want." As long as you don't harm others and don't engage in malicious conflict, as long as you walk a fair path, just follow that bit of warmth in your heart, and you will slowly learn how to love.
I heard about a woman whose daughter went to college, and she didn't pay a penny. Instead, she sold her house and donated the money to a temple she couldn't even name. Later, when she was short on cash and asked her daughter for help, the daughter ignored her. That woman's intentions were grand, but her love was ungrounded, floating in the air, so it couldn't last. Over time, the human heart finds its own balance.
If a person only cares about themselves, doesn't care about the love of others, and has no desire to connect with others' love, they will surely not receive love and care from others. But if it's the other way around, and they only know how to accommodate others while completely disregarding themselves, they will live a miserable life that doesn't even touch upon righteousness.
In this life, try your best to avoid playing zero-sum games, where you win and I lose through malicious contention. Those games usually end up being negative-sum—both sides lose. You should try to play positive-sum games where everyone can gain something; only then can love be lasting. To play a positive-sum game, goodness must come first. You have to put love out there first. How do you do that? It has to be grounded in "benefit"! "Benefit" is different; it can be weighed, it can be laid out on the table. Someone who truly carries love shouldn't just talk about it; they must put their mind to creating "benefit." Laozi said, "The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things and does not contend." If you think about it carefully, this has a similar meaning. For example, when a man pursues a woman, can he prove his sincerity with a few cheap words? It probably has to be grounded in tangible "benefit" for the other person to feel the warmth. On a larger scale, one must create situations for "positive-sum games," creating transactions where you, me, and everyone benefits. Free trade, where more people gain, feeling the love. I think this might be the core principle of the I Ching.
Thinking of this, I don't understand: from ancient times to the present, why do so many people still look down on commerce? If you ask me, modern commerce is the ultimate vehicle for practicing the Dao and spreading love! Why? It lays "benefit" out in the open, under the sun. What is the iron law of free trade? Both sides must get something sweet for the deal to happen! Isn't love hidden right in this joint of giving and receiving?
Perhaps the ancient sages were too lofty, and they skewed public opinion. Add to that a bunch of scoundrels who only think about lining their own pockets through cheating and swindling. When enough people get burned, they start to look down on business. But I see it clearly now: in this world, everyone plays an important role in commerce—you can be a consumer voting with your feet, or a builder providing services. Everyone can act as Qian, providing excellent products and services to the market, creating positive-sum situations, creating benefit and creating love. Everyone can act as Kun, cheering for the Qian enterprises that share love and benefit, becoming their loyal fans, making "change" (I, 易) possible. Together, we can create more benefit and achieve a win-win. This is solid, great love!
Speaking of which, I'm reminded of the very clever Meituan, which exploits legal loopholes to classify its delivery riders as "independent contractors" to avoid paying their social security. How many people grit their teeth in hatred? Yes! It is temporarily stained with the stench of being "profit-obsessed." But lift the lid and look: without this pot, how many people wouldn't even have rice to cook? The benefit it throws out is crude, yes, but it's emergency rations, and it's not forcing anyone. The way to break this situation isn't to overturn the pot and obstruct others' freedom, but to cook a new meal—to provide better, freer options. JD.com's approach in this regard is very much in line with the Dao; their willingness to share profits with people truly makes them stand out, and their competitiveness is comparable. I truly hope the public can act as Kun, and under similar conditions, be more inclined to support these ethical Qian enterprises. When people gather to form a force, manifesting love through benefit, that is the warm appearance that great love should have.
Manifest love through benefit, practice the Dao through love. —This is the full length of the ruler in my heart.
The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao.
Just think of the "Dao" as "love." This love isn't just about romance; as long as you still care about or think of someone or something in your heart, that is love. You can speak this love out loud, to yourself, to others.
But remember, the "love" that is spoken is not the real love. It's just a sentence, a declaration that anyone can say, that anyone can fake.
It's a little better than a thought hidden in the heart—after all, if you don't say it, it might take a long time for others to feel it. Once the words are spoken, they at least serve as a form of evidence, allowing others to notice you.
But at this point, love is still light and insubstantial. Only when this love is genuinely felt in your every action and interaction with others does it truly come alive.
I wrote the main content of this article myself and then used Google AI to help polish it in the writing style of Yu Hua before translating it into English. I did this on purpose, as I love Mr. Yu Hua's novel To Live so much. I consider him a person of great love and wisdom. His writing style helped me understand that the purpose of words is simply to convey intent—and nothing more.
I have created an X Community called "The Dao of Exchanging Love" I primarily interpret the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching from the perspective of love, hoping to bring a little more love into the world of WEB3. The views expressed are my own, not necessarily correct, and I only hope to start a conversation. Everyone is welcome to share their own insights and experiences.