On The Debate Of Laozi In The 1920s And 1930s

Lao-Tzu era has been a long-standing problem, but in the1920s and1930s hastriggered controversy in academic circles. The outbreak of public polemic againstLao-Tzu era was triggered by Hu-Shih’s works published in1919under the title “AnOutline of History of Chinese Philosophy,” which adopted an old theory thatpositioned Lao-Tzu higher than Confucius. This adoption aroused scholars’ doubts.The whole process, the long time span, the number of participants as much as thelevel of intense debate in academic debates in modern times is rare.Which coverednot merely true and false about Lao-Tzu’s manuscripts and as an individual,but alsodiscussed about the cultural order demand, various schools development intrinsicrules, doubts on antiquity, and even the mundane benefits of the scholars.The study will illustrate the history of this period by means of data integration.First of all, beginning with the problem of Lao-Tzu’s source, the outer edge ofLao-Tzu’s debate, the internal logic—these three procedures which are aimed toanalysis of the reasons for the outbreak of controversy in the1920s and1930s.Secondly, focused on Liang Qichao, Hu-Shih academiccommander and AncientHistory impetus to the whole debate motion, suggesting that the question of how toget into the academic center.Then, the main differences from the debate andresearch methods both in terms of the specific content of Lao-Tzu era’s debate toinspect, to show the vitality and the role of research methods at the technical level.Finally, this text discusses the reasons in the end of Lao-Tzu era controversy after1936.