The Study On Lao Tzu’s Taoism

Any philosophy is the essence of its time spirit. Lao Tzu’s Taoism is rooted in the ideology and culture of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Sublating inter-connected value system of propriety and ethics, with salvation compassions and awareness of the unexpected development, it reviews and criticizes the outlook on benevolence, royalty and honesty, filiality and compassion, ritualism, and ghost and god. Thus Lao Tzu constructed an ideology system of humanistic spirit in accordance with Taoism. Inheriting the unsophisticated culture of Xia Dynasty, the naturalism in concept of cosmos in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and naturalness factors in indigenous culture of the Chu region, Lao Tzu’s Taoism introduce a unique naturalism values. He drew abundantly from the recluse’s Taoism, such as countering dignity and supremacy with Tao and ethics, giving straightforward advices to government while living in seclusion, living in consistent with the order of nature, etc. With natural, social, historical, professional rationality as a historiographer, Lao Tzu reviewed the“success and failure, weal and woe, gain and loss, and the path either to thrive or ruin”of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasty. He came up with the“relationship between humanity and cosmos”, which is the subject of his era, and realized the“philosophical breakthrough”of the pre-Qin days. Consequently, Lao Tzu fully deserves to be honored as the“Chief Philosophy”in Chinese philosophy history.Lao Tzu’s Taoism falls in scope of philosophy, rather than“government’s method of ruling its people”. Tao combines the ontology of existence and that of value. With ontology of existence serving as ordinate and that of value as abscissa, Lao Tzu built a unique Taoism philosophical system.In terms of the ordinate, Tao represents a superorganic ontology of existence, which means Tao is the“originality”and“creator”of the universe. In order to highlight the originality and ontology of Tao, Lao Tzu emphasizes that order of the universe is a logical one, rather than truly emerging according to the time table.“Presence”and“Absence”are dual attribute of Lao Tzu’s Taoism. They serve as the bond between ontology of existence and the universe. So they are indispensable for us to well understand the relations between ontology and the universe. In terms of abscissa, Tao represents superorganic ontology of value, which means the evidence of the universe, natural world, and human society. Tao provides the principle of“naturalness and inaction”for their generation, existence, and development. Many researchers and commentators can’t precisely understand the principle of“naturalness and inaction”, because they don’t regard the principle as ontology of value. The so-called naturalness is neither the objective natural world and its discipline, nor an ideology of spirituality. As principle of value, nature is manifestation of Tao. It both refers to the natural process of Tao creating the universe, and the presence and development of the universe. So naturalness is hardly subject to the control, interference and influence of the external forces. As a core value principle, the so-called“inaction”contains many concrete choosing ways of value.“Inaction”is the premise of“action”, and“action”must be conformed to the value principle of“inaction”.“Non-inaction”is a kind of effect and purpose, inevitable outcome of the“action”under the guidance of“inaction”principle. So the three fall into a logical order, which is“inaction”——“action”——“non-inaction”.There is also an intermediary between ontology of value and the universe, natural world and human society. It consists of three principles, which are Tao of the heaven, Tao of the earth, and Tao of humanity. Tao of heaven consists of principles such as“nurture all creation and be harmless”, fairness and equality, and“retire after winning merit”. Tao of the earth consists of principles such as“conquering the unyielding with yielding”,“possessing strength, but retaining gentleness”. Tao of humanity is the collection of philosophical concepts focusing on“inaction”, which boasts of principles such as“action through inaction”and“governing by setting noble moral examples”. According to the Chinese traditional thought,“understanding the laws of human society by learning from the natural laws”, the implementation of“naturalness and inaction”is dominated by the“three jewels”, with Tao of the heave serving as logical starting point, Tao of the earth as logical medium, and Tao of humanity as logical target.Tao of humanity extends to the Taoism outlook on society, politics, life and history. Viewpoints such as“Wise ruler gives priority to people’s well-being”,“Conform to the law of nature”, the redefining of“obscurant”and“abandoning wisdom”, as well as the war outlook of“not relying on military force”, are indispensable components of the outlook on society and politics.“Return to nature”(outlook on human nature),“Happy is he who is content”(outlook on life),“being immortal by the existence of one’s spiritual legacy”(thanatopsis),“being modest and acknowledgeable”(outlook on desire), and the idealist outlook of“small territory and population”are organic components of outlook on life and history.The Taoism philosophy system contains a thinking mode, which reviews the universe through the Taoism lens, and emphasizes that the universe is derived from Tao. Reflecting and returning to Tao is the logical premise of this mode. The thinking mode is featured by holistic thinking, poetic thinking, dialectical thinking, and contrary thinking. The Taoism thinking mode is only reflected in Lao Tzu’s Taoism philosophy. The mode contains and transcends physical thinking mode, presents human nature, and differs from Hegel’s dialectics. In terms of the existence of the universe, their differences lie in harmonious condition against conflicting condition. In terms of development pattern, their differences lie in straight-line development against recycling development. In terms of starting point and ultimate target, their differences lie in virtual creation against substantial creation, and practical dialectics against speculative dialectics.Taoism philosophy puts forward a theory on Taoism mind, which argues that by purifying internal world and improving external manner, one would constantly cultivate his mind. Sage-being-in-Tao is the ideal model.Researching Lao Tzu’s Taoism philosophy system is conducive for us to grasp the development of Taoism. Highlighting the“Chinese characteristics”in Lao Tzu’s theory, and drawing more from Taoism in a critical way is positive for the value of Chinese philosophy. It also exerts pragmatic influence on Chinese traditional culture and modernization.