Wisdom Of Harmony

Along with the enjoyment of hi-tech products in modernization, man is confronted with one and another predicament: destroy of ecological environment, energy crisis, frequent regional conflicts, global financial crises, various emotional and psychological problems, etc. All these result from alienation between man, society and nature, which are caused by overflow of "anthropocentrism" under the background of industrialization.Ancient Chinese Taoism is just a solution to the above-mentioned social ills. Taoist wisdom can be concluded in one word, that is, harmony. Led by their integral and connected cosmology of "Man and heaven as a whole", Taoists practice such ideal as "Non-coercive action", "recover one's purity and simplicity" and "the way emulates what is spontaneously so", Taoists keep dynamic balance between various systems of man and their environment, which are reflected in the negotiation among man and man, man and society, man and nature. Based on "Lao Zi" and "Zhuang Zi", and referring to the latest national academic fruits in the field, the paper is intended to compare, discuss and draw on the works by famous overseas Taoist researchers, and to establish the harmonious theory, and its value to today's physical and psychological problems.Taoists apply heaven's law to human society, and develop an integral cosmology with "the way" as the unique origin. Sinologists such as Joseph Needham, Ben jamin I. Schwartz, David L. Hall and Roger T. Ames, offer their instructive opinions on the Taoist cosmology through different angles. The paper is intended to classify and analyze their viewpoints, based on which, "the way" characteristic of harmony and negotiation is concluded.On living practices, I will focus on Taoist self-cultivation and their views on government running. Taoists put great emphasis on cultivating themselves, which best manifest their harmonious ideas. Scholars at home and abroad discuss a lot in the field, but most of them are concerned about such moral qualities as heart cleansing, love and frugality, which are not intrinsic qualities that man should possess. They do this to evade sensitive and controversial mysticism. Such evasion ruins the Taoist reputation to coward and wiliness. Although A.C.Graham, Wolfgang Bauer and Ben jamin I. Schwartz mention the Taoist practice similar to Indian Yoga, they don't give a detailed explanation. After repeatedly reading the original classics and referring to national scholars such as Meng Peiyuan, Hu fuchen, and Wang Jianjiang, I come to a conclusion that Taoist practices are made to hit the target of "utmost emptiness" and "best equilibrium", which enable man to be closer to "the way", and in doing so, man may be enlightened to accomplish everything in life. De, the intrinsic moral quality will spontaneously appear at the final harmonious stage, instead of being purposefully required by other people.Two by-products arise from Taoist self-cultivation, that is, a unique viewpoint on death, and aesthetic lifestyle. Compared with evasion or whitewash of death in the western world, Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi's view on death is characteristic of a very wide vision of three arguments, that is, death is a return to the original root, cyclic transformation, and life and death is regarded as an integral part. In this way, human life will reach a final harmony. Also, "utmost emptiness" and "best equilibrium" enable man to create an aesthetic heart to view his life, and therefore, to have the ability of fully enjoying his life.In politics, Taoists dream of establishing a small state with a minimal population, whose governor adopt a policy of "non-action", but it is the most advanced "action" in fact.Taoists adapt unique language skills to their books, which is quite harmonious with their philosophy.