The Origin And Development Of Huang&Lao Studies In Early Qin

The Study of Huang & Lao was well-known as a popular political trend of thought in the early Han Dynasty. While as the process of the study is closely related with the discovery of the research materials, the study at present is centered around the thought of Huang & Lao in early Qin Dynasty. The research can be divided into two periods: the excavation of the MaWangDui silk book and Chu bamboo book Hengxian and Sande of Shanghai Museum.The Mawangdui silk book, especially the Law of Scripture, the Sateen Scriptures, the Balance, the Origin and the Nine Masters in it, for the first time, draws the researchers' attention to the study of Huang & Lao in early Qin Dynasty. The study's forming time and ideas in it are focused, based on which, literatures in early Qin are reviewed and a set of Huang & Lao's works are circled and researched. As a result, lots of ancient books at that time, having been judged pseudographs, are given a name. Former researchers' work outlines the study of Huang & Lao in early Qin and their exegesis and analysis make the researchers' work today more convenient. The delivery of Hengxian and Sande furthers the study in its form and content, driving out a large number of relative research works.But this doesn't end the early Qin's study of Huang & Lao. There is still a way to go for the research of the study's sources and its general development conditions, which is exactly this discourse's focus.The discourse is constituted with five parts: the introduction, the first part, the second part, the third part and the conclusion.The introduction is mainly about the the academia's research of the Huang & Lao thought after the excavation of Mawangdui silk book in 1972 and the shortcomings of this research. The former part is involved in the appellation of Huang & Lao, its cultural background and headstream, introducing particularly the present research about its origin and history. The latter part deals with several problems in the application of the research material, the study's development background and its origin as well as its development rule and way, all of which will be discussed detailedly in this discourse.The first part is about its origin and birth. It analyzes the 'primitive academics' before the times of the Hundred Schools, in order to make clear the academic relation between the two periods. The 'primitive academics' includes two systems: the folk Fangshu and the official government, which is the basis and cradle of thoughts of the Hundred Schools in early Qin. The 'primitive academics' is studied from different perspectives, thus different schools are formed. And the Huangdi Fangshu, closely related to the study of Huang & Lao, shares much with the 'primitive academics', especially with the augury, the prognostication and the day choosing in it.The Huangdi Study's system is born related with the one of Taoism. They share a common idea: the idea that the Way of Heaven should be understood to make the law of worldly affairs clear makes possible of the Tao School's study of Huang & Lao.To have an overview of On the six schools 'gist, the Historical Records and woks on the study of Huang & Lao, the discourse is to summarize the connotation of the study like this: the study of Huang & Lao, based on the thought of Taoism and utilizing the Huangdi Fangshu, conforms the Confucian ideas and combines form and reality, emphasizes the perfection of oneself mentally and physically to finally form a succinct, practical and effective administration art.The second part is to define the research materials: the literatures on Huang & Lao. For some reason, these literatures are numerous but uneasy to be collected together, which leaves a complicated condition.The literatures excavated are constituted mainly as follows: second volume of Lao Zi, an ancient anonymous work from Mawangdui silk book, including Law of Scripture, the Sixteen Scriptures, the Balance and the Origin; the first volume of the Lao Zi, the Nine Masters and Hengxian and Sande.The literatures handed down from ancient times include four passages in Guan Zi, the passages in Guan Zi-Shu Yan, the passages in Zhuang Zi-Tian Dao, Yin Wenzi, He Guanzi, the passages in Han Feizi and the edited passages in Shèn Zi and Shēn Zi.The third part analyzes the study's development process from three aspects: concept of Heaven Way, concept of politics, concept of rulers and subjects and the study of Huang & Lao, the four's absorption of the Hundred Schools of Thought, especially of Confucian School and Legalist School.The study of Huang & Lao, using the method of Huangdi Fangshu, furthers the research of Way in Lao Zi, which extends the boundary of Way, making inactivity and nature-following of Taoism effective in the society, and enlarges the connotation of Law, driving the Law beyond the limitation of legislative rules to act as the reflection of Heaven Law in the world, thus building a theory that management should be undertaken following the Heaven Law.The study's concept of politics uses for reference the Legalist School's ideas of Law, Skill, Puissance and relation between form and reality to form a set of political concepts, based on the Heaven Law, applied in the world through concepts of Reasoning, Limitation, Discipline, Number and Law and finally transformed to be practical methods.The study's concept of rulers and subjects represents clearly the essence of the ruler's management art. It argues that the rulers and the subjects should have sheer different cares and the subjects should work hard to make the rulers comfortable. Yet different works of Huang & Lao have different arguments, for example, in Law of Scripture and Guan Zi, it is protested that a ruler should upgrade himself in morality and self-restraint. As the time goes, scholars like Shen Buhai and Han Fei consider the relation between rulers and subjects opposite and suggest that stratagem used in dealing with the relation.The study benefits a lot from Confucian School, Legalist School and Mo School, especially from the former two. The Confucian School's concept of humanity, morality and ceremonial management, the Mo School's adherence to logic and skill and the Law School's familiarity with management art, all these can be traced in the thought of Huang & Lao.In the conclusion, it is discussed that the study, as a branch of the Hundred Schools of Thought in early Qin, is in origin closely related with the folk Fangshu and the official government in the primitive academics. It is based on Taoism, utilizes methods of the Huangdi Fangshu, absorbs positive elements from various schools and becomes an effective management art of rulers, to finally develop into an independent learning branch in the later Warring States Periods and even between Qin and Han Dynasties.