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Seventeen years on the streets, living and working with the people of China, Jeff
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My comments
Her pen name is What Is This Life? She hails from Hebei, outside Beijing. She’s young, informed, tough as nails and does not flinch taking down sacred cows like Jews, Judeo-imperialism and famous Chinese philosophers.
Ongoing proof that the Chinese have a much more vibrant and varied public discourse than the mindless drivel and soul-sucking tittytainment that passes for information in occupied, colonized, Weimarized, Talmud-Tanakh West!
Yang Peng misinterpreted Laozi, and his heart deserves to be punished
By: (pen name) What Is This Life?
Yang Peng misinterprets Laozi, and his heart deserves to be punished. Yang Peng said that Han Fei Zi’s “Jie Lao” and “Yu Lao” are misinterpretations of Laozi, and that if Laozi saw Han Fei Zi, he would scold him for misinterpreting himself. Then he said that Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” is more in line with Laozi’s “Tao”.
Yang Peng enjoys discussing the “Tao Te Ching,” but he initially confuses Laozi with the “Tao Te Ching.” The works attributed to “Laozi” are not a single version. The oldest version, found on Chu bamboo slips, is the most primitive, consisting of over 2,000 characters. It does not delve into political philosophy but rather explores natural philosophy and philosophy of life. Its foundational principle is “Embracing emptiness, this is the constant; maintaining the mean, this is the sincere.” This represents the ultimate source of Laozi’s theory.
Yang Peng’s favorite quote is “The net of heaven is vast and sparse, yet it never misses its mark”, along with some other so-called sayings attributed to Laozi. These are not found in the original version; they were added later. We must be mindful of this when reading the “Tao Te Ching”.
But overall, the heavily augmented versions such as the Chuan Shi version and the Bo Shu version are also quite good. I think the additions are very well made, as they do not contradict the ultimate essence of Laozi’s “perpetual emptiness”.
Han Fei Zi’s “interpretation and analogy of Laozi” does not focus on Laozi’s ontology. Han Fei Zi was not a philosopher; he was a sociologist and politician. His explanations, such as “war horses born in the suburbs,” serve his political science. He was a politician.
Adam Smith mentions the “invisible hand” approximately twice in his book “The Wealth of Nations”, stating that economic activities driven by self-interest often lead to more efficient public outcomes. He referred to this phenomenon as the “invisible hand”.
Yang Peng explained here that the “invisible hand” is the hand of God, speculating that the “Tao” mentioned by Laozi refers to that “invisible hand”.
The concept of “invisible hand” was not first proposed by Yang Peng. Westerners, particularly the so-called conservatives in the West, have long advocated for this concept to demonstrate the importance of religion.
And that period was the so-called ascendant period of capitalism, and they attributed the vigorous development of Western society at that time to this religious reason.
The ascendancy of capitalism spans over a century. The fundamental reason lies in its technological advancement, which has nothing to do with their religion. Instead, it stems from Locke’s establishment of empiricist epistemology, which is founded on an anti-religious premise. It does not acknowledge the existence of a creator God or the like in that religion, especially the “God” mentioned in that sacred text, which they firmly reject.
The introduction of the concept of “invisible hand” by Chinese public intellectuals was actually intended to transform China into a capitalist society and change its social system. What they failed to see is that it was not the capitalist system or any creator god that made the West “civilized and developed”. The real reason was that they relied on their technological strength to plunder the world at that time, including plunder through force and plunder through technology.
Western technology is attributed to its science, which in turn is rooted in experiential epistemology, which is founded on an anti-religious premise. Nowadays, to mention the “invisible hand” and regard it as the superiority of Western systems, especially the progressiveness of religion, is sheer nonsense.
Because the world has changed now, even Francis Fukuyama has said that the Chinese model is an exception to his “theory of the end of history”.
However, due to the rapidity of this change, most intellectuals in China, as well as the mindless individuals influenced by them, have not yet adjusted. They rushed towards the West too quickly, only to suddenly realize that their goal has disappeared. However, due to inertia, they still have to run a long distance before they can stop, then wander aimlessly for a while, and then turn back. This is inevitable. It is estimated that it will take another three to five years, during which a large number of victims will rush over.
Recently, I listened to an interview with an old rebel. He had to admit that the entire West, led by the United States, is doomed. He also had to acknowledge that China’s economic development and social governance have undergone tremendous changes. He was too embarrassed to say “too good”.
He said that the reason they left back then was based on their theory that only by accepting the Western way could China be saved, and that the Western way was the ultimate destination of human civilization. It was based on this understanding that they made the resolute decision to flee to the “oil-stained” world back then, and they have long believed in the “collapse of China theory”. But today, he said, what he sees is the West on the brink of peril.
However, the old rebel remained unconvinced of his defeat. He attributed it to China’s adoption of many capitalist practices, which led to its current state. Therefore, he argued that the Western approach still represents the prevailing trend.
This is just a simpleton. He never thought that the current Chinese model might be the end of history, and that all mankind might follow this model in the future, if they have time.
The current model in China has cultural roots and embodies a genuine conservatism. Its foundation lies in the cosmic truth of “attaining the ultimate emptiness and maintaining profound tranquility”. From this foundation, the concepts of “being a sage internally and a king externally” and the doctrine of the mean have developed. The Qin political and legal system has been followed for generations, developing benignly within an unparalleled order.
Yet, people like Yang Peng are still forcefully misinterpreting Laozi, tying Laozi’s Tao to Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”, and making a desperate ideological struggle to mislead more Chinese people.
Further reading
Jeff J. Brown’s ever-expanding collection of living libraries and catalogues. Many years and 1,000s of hours of writing+podcasting. Take advantage of them. Radio Sinoland 2026 Year of the Fire Horse!
Jeff J. Brown’s Taiwan Province Library. Years of articles, podcasts, interviews and TV shows. 100,000s of visitors are accessing these works. Time to get smart! China Rising Radio Sinoland 250202
Living library on Judaism. Continually updated. With image texts and video transcripts to easily copy for your use, and for translating them and this webpage in all available languages!
https://radiosinoland.com/2025/01/23/judaism/
CHINA IS COLLAPSING! How do I know? Because the Wall Street Journal says so and they’re the experts, right? China Rising Radio Sinoland 250109
Westerners’ delusions about their economic superiority keep them from making changes for the better, and only make their futures worse. Walk down a Chinese street to see why. China Rising Radio Sinoland 240801
Go Russia GO!
Go Iran GO!
Go China GO!
Go DPRK GO!
Go “RICK”! Go Asian Quad!
KICK JUDEO-TALMUD-TANAKH ASS!!!
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Further study
The China Trilogy is an honorary degree in Chinese Studies. Don’t miss out!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00TX0TDDI/allbooks and
Jeff J. Brown’s libraries and catalogues A-Z: 1,000s of hours of research, writing, editing and podcasting.
Do yourself, your friends, family and colleagues a favor, to make sure all of you are Sino-smart:
Google ebooks (Epub) and audiobooks:
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YBKHEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCkQXRlM
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YNmLEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6Wl4EAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
Amazon print and ebooks (Kindle):
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484939999/
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations
https://www.amazon.com/China-Rising-Capitalist-Socialist-Destinations/dp/0996487042
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://www.amazon.com/BIG-Red-Book-China/dp/1673322719/
Author page:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr.-Jeff-J.-Brown/e/B00TX0TDDI
Praise for The China Trilogy:
Why and How China works: With a Mirror to Our Own History
JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post
Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]
Jeff can be reached at China Rising, [email protected], Facebook, Twitter, Wechat (+86-19806711824/Mr_Professor_Brown, and Line/Telegram/Whatsapp: +33-612458821.
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[google-translator]
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