何谓《稻草狗》

Straw Dogs

本文从电影《稻草狗》片名谈起，论述东西方以及不同时代对老子“天地不仁，以万物为刍狗”一句的理解。“仁”与“刍狗”两个词的不同解读反映出读者／论者对“生存”的截然相反的态度。影片所表现的内容和老子的思想是完全背道而驰的。它所代表的西方的误读正是缘于在西方（这里主要指英国）的传统祭祀中“火”和“祭品”的含义与中国是不同的。同时，二战后一直到20世纪60～70年代普遍存在的“庸俗存在主义”也是导致这种误读的原因之一。

Beginning with a discussion on the title of a film--Straw Dogs, this essay tries to analyze several readings of Lao Tzu＇ s sentence, “Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs. ” The diverse reactions to the two terms “humane” and “straw dogs” reveal readers＇ different attitudes toward “existence”. Ideas conveyed through the film are contrary to the Taoist teaching. This is because that The Straw Dogs represents a different tradition. The nihilistic “Existentialism” which was popular since the end of World War II is responsible for the “new” reading of Lao Tzu.