To better understand what “Heaven” or “天” represents in China, let me give a few examples:
In Chinese folk culture, if someone enjoys life immensely, they might say, “I wish I could borrow another 500 years of life from heaven.”
If someone is in great distress, they might curse, “Heaven, please open your eyes and see all this.”
If someone chooses a path of separation, they might say, “I won’t let the heaven cover my eyes again.”
If someone decides to defy fate, they might declare, “My fate is determined by me, not by heaven.”
In China there isn’t a concept of God as in Western traditions, but rather the concept of heaven and earth. To some extent, heaven is regarded as a sort of God or creator.
Certainly, you can interpret this passage in another way. You are free to interpret the meaning of the “straw dog” and why heaven and earth are not humane. After all, words are just tools, and everyone can have their own understanding.
I say it has negative implications because of its impact in China.
Many Chinese works like to use this sentence as the central theme of their stories. When I was young, I read a novel called “Zhu Xian”, in which the protagonist had a very tragic background. In the end, the author used this sentence to declare the “operating rules” of this world, conveying a central idea of survival of the fittest and self-service. The core of the entire novel is about constant upgrading, becoming stronger, conquering others, and achieving one’s own goals. The novel conveys the meaning that “heaven and earth are not humane, treating all things as straw dogs, so we cannot rely on heaven’s mercy and must become strong enough to achieve our goals ourselves.”
However, this novel was very popular in China and sparked a wave of cultivation novels, whether it’s “Fan Ren Xiu Xian Zhuan” or “Xian Ni.” All are based on this core idea, expressing a worldview of survival of the fittest, where the protagonist continuously grows stronger, conquers others, and achieves their own goals.
Yes, you could say that Laozi’s original intention wasn’t like this. But from my personal viewpoint, what matters isn’t Laozi’s original intent, but how people interpret this passage. The general public doesn’t have very profound analytical abilities; they tend to interpret things literally. At least in China, this passage is widely understood in a very negative light.
. I was sort of connecting the Ra material with Seth material.