Original Text
Receiving favor or disgrace is like being startled. Valuing great trouble is like valuing your own body. What does it mean that favor and disgrace are like being startled? Favor is lowly; obtaining it causes anxiety, and losing it also causes terror. This is what is meant by favor and disgrace being like being startled. What does it mean to value great trouble as your own body? The reason I have trouble is that I have a body; if I had no body, what trouble would I have? Therefore, one who values the world as much as his own life can be entrusted with the world's heavy burden; one who loves the world as much as his own life can be entrusted with the world's responsibility.
Guide
This chapter presents Laozi's integration of self-cultivation and governance, discussing how to handle honor and disgrace and how to treat oneself. It puts forward the important view: "Therefore, one who values the world as much as his own body can be entrusted with the world; one who loves the world as much as his own body can be entrusted with the world."
Analysis
This chapter mainly discusses two issues: one is "favor and disgrace cause alarm," and the other is "valuing great troubles as highly as one's own body." These two sentences are classic quotes from the Tao Te Ching, where Laozi offers unique insights into favor and disgrace, as well as advancement and retreat.
"Favor" refers to the unconventional way, while "disgrace" refers to the constant way. The character for "favor" is composed of the image of a "dragon" in the universe. In ancient Yijing and Bagua theory, the dragon is a crucial concept, as the eight directions of the universe are formed through the continuous extension of six dragon heads. Hence, the Chinese have the saying "descendants of the dragon." The character for "disgrace" is formed by the image of using the hand to grasp and measure the precise moment and measure. The character for "alarm" combines "reverence" and "horse." Zhuangzi said, "All things are one horse." This "one horse" is the "Way." Thus, "alarm" can be seen as "reverence for the Way." Therefore, "favor and disgrace cause alarm" means that both favor and disgrace should be grounded in the Way.
As emotional beings, humans are highly sensitive to feelings of honor and disgrace, because ordinary people rush through various arenas of fame and gain, unable to completely escape their influence. Faced with honor or disgrace, people always react. For example, when praised or flattered by others, one feels joy; but this joy is fleeting, as humans have a tendency to worry about gains and losses, and receiving favor does not bring eternal happiness. Similarly, when met with coldness, insults, or contempt, we show unease and fear. In fact, all this is determined by human weaknesses, so whether favored or disgraced, people remain anxious and restless. The saying "regard great trouble as seriously as the body" means: to value honor, to see it as important; great trouble, extreme worry; as, like. Being delighted by favor and frightened by disgrace, treating worry as equal to life and death—"favor and disgrace cause alarm, regard great trouble as seriously as the body" is the common mindset of ordinary people in the world.
In Laozi's view, people's reactions to honor and disgrace, though common, are abnormal. Because honor and disgrace are fleeting reputations that become passing clouds after events pass. People cannot completely detach from honor and disgrace, but they must not become slaves to them. Only those who see honor and disgrace lightly and maintain transcendent self-control can grasp the direction of their own lives and become their own masters.
To help people understand, Laozi also explained the above viewpoint: "What does it mean that favor and disgrace are like being startled? Favor is lowly; obtaining it is like being startled, losing it is like being startled; this is called favor and disgrace being like being startled. What does it mean to value great trouble as much as the body? The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body; if I had no body, what trouble would I have?" That is to say, receiving favor and suffering disgrace are equally alarming, valuing great calamities as much as life itself. What does it mean that favor and disgrace are equally alarming? Receiving favor is base; when you gain it, you seem startled, and when you lose it, you also seem startled; losing favor also brings unease. This is called favor and disgrace being equally alarming. Having a body means still harboring thoughts of self-interest; "for" means because; "if" means supposing; "no body" means having no thoughts of self-interest. Why do ordinary people in the world have these common weaknesses? Laozi further analyzed the reasons for this mindset. He believed that the reason ordinary people are always fixated on their own interests and worry about gain and loss for their own benefit is that they lack spiritual pursuits. Laozi did not directly tell people what spiritual pursuit he advocated, but instead compared those who can bear great responsibilities with those who cannot, to illustrate what kind of spiritual pursuit people should have: "One who values the world as much as the body can be entrusted with the world; one who loves the world as much as the body can be entrusted with the world." If you govern the world with a mind full of personal gain and loss, you are only fit to dwell in the world as an ordinary person, not fit to govern it; if you cherish the world as you cherish your own body, then the affairs of the world can be entrusted to you for governance. The spiritual pursuit that Laozi advocated is to merge oneself into the world, having no self-interest, only the interest of the world. From Chapter 9 to this point, Laozi has been discussing cultivating virtue rather than cultivating the Way; in fact, cultivating the Way is a higher level than cultivating virtue. Cultivating virtue emphasizes: seeking to "give birth and nurture, but not possess, act but not rely on, lead but not control," emphasizing "using emptiness for utility" and "loving the world as the body," while cultivating the Way emphasizes pure naturalness and non-action.
In real life, most people place great importance on external gains and losses, with many valuing favor and disgrace even more than their own lives. Living in this world, one inevitably deals with fame, fortune, honor, and disgrace, and many take glory and success as their highest life goal, aiming to enjoy wealth, honor, and blessings for their descendants. In short, people live for external things like longevity, status, and wealth, which everyone seems to need. But where should these be placed? If you put them above life itself, you are gravely mistaken. Laozi, from the perspective of valuing life, believed that life is far more precious than fame, fortune, and honor, advocating for a quiet and desire-free state, unmoved by sensory pleasures and material gains, so as to bear the world's heavy responsibilities. Therefore, Laozi argued that there is no need to treasure favor as a precious thing, nor to view disgrace as a flood or beast; there is no inevitable boundary between them, and they are not irreconcilable—the key lies in how one perceives them. If handled correctly, disgrace can become a stepping stone to honor; if mishandled, honor can become a prelude to disgrace. Properly dealing with honor and disgrace allows one to live with magnanimity, unbound by them.