| Lao Tzu used water as a metaphor for the Tao,and he used water to refer to the metaphysical Tao.This means that we can understand Lao Tzu’s thoughts on Tao by examining the water in Lao Tzu’s thought.In Lao Tzu’s thought,the relationship between water and Dao unfolds from three aspects.The first is the question of using water as a metaphor for Tao.In Laozi’s thought,the image of water is rich,and correspondingly,the philosophical thoughts pointed to by the metaphor of water are also extremely rich.There are various forms of water in nature,and the same is true for water in Laozi.Rivers,lakes,seas,rain,and valleys are all forms of water in Laozi.Laozi uses "water" as a metaphor for "Tao".",water has a nourishing effect on all things,which points to the birth of Tao,that is,Tao is the original thought of all things;water has soft and weak characteristics,but also has strong power,which points to the idea of Tao’s use for the weak;water has the virtue of indisputable It points to the inaction and indisputable thought of the Tao.At the same time,Lao Tzu discussed the ideal personality concept and social and political concept from the Tao,and the metaphor of water is also reflected in this.The second is the question of comprehending the water.From the perspective of epistemology,in Lao Tzu’s epistemology,Lao Tzu’s understanding of Tao is reflected in the metaphor of water,and we can summarize this by observing water and comprehending Tao.Lao Tzu takes Tao as the ultimate goal of his epistemology.Lao Tzu’s understanding of the world does not only stop at the understanding of things,but also pays more attention to the understanding of Tao.The reason why Lao Tzu was able to observe the water and comprehend the Tao is because Lao Tzu grasped the Tao through the understanding of things.This shows that in epistemology,Lao Tzu can return to Dao from things,and in the observation of water and comprehension of Dao,it is reflected in Laozi’s return to Dao from water.The theory of names is the background of Laozi’s epistemological thought,and its main content is the problem of language concepts.Lao Tzu reflected on the theory of "name learning" and saw the limitations of language concepts,that is,language concepts could not grasp the Tao.Under this background of cognition,Lao Tzu re-examined the object of cognition and pointed out that the object of cognition not only has things,but also Tao,and Tao is the ultimate goal of cognition activities.Laozi believes that the subject of knowledge can recognize and grasp the Tao through the way of "damage" and contemplation.Such a way of knowing has the characteristics of intuitive rationalism,which shows that intuitive reason is the way to grasp the Tao,and at the same time,this way of knowing requires the subject to achieve a state of emptiness and tranquility when entering the Tao.Finally,there is the issue of the beauty of water showing the beauty of Tao.From the perspective of aesthetics,we can know that Laozi not only takes the experience world as his aesthetic object,but also takes metaphysical Tao as his aesthetic object.In the world of experience,Lao Tzu saw the beauty of femininity and pointed out that femininity showed a powerful life force.Behind the beauty of femininity,it points to the Tao of metaphysics,which means that Lao Tzu’s respect for femininity stems from the moral content of the Tao of metaphysics,and the ontological basis of the beauty of femininity is the Tao of the metaphysical world.Through the aesthetics of things,Laozi entered the aesthetics of Tao,which means that there is a close relationship between things and Tao,that is,Tao is boundless.Taoism is boundless is the result based on Laozi’s theory of mind and nature,and reflects Laozi’s aesthetic spirit.Starting from the discussion of water phenomenon and water virtue,we will reveal the boundless aesthetic connotation of Taoism and understand Laozi’s aesthetic spirit of Taoism.In this way,by examining the water in Lao Tzu’s thought,we can see the face of Tao in Lao Tzu’s thought. |
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