Revisiting The Notion Of Wu ?:An Investigation Into Wang Bi's Philosophy Of The Daodejing

The Chinese warring states period classic,an aphoristic and often mystical book the Daodejing??? by Laozi??,is regarded as one of the most prominent classics in world philosophical history.This book has been not only translated in various languages(it is the second most translated book in the world)but also commented by countless scholars over the past two thousand years.Among the commentaries on the Daodejing,Wang Bi's??(d.249)is undoubtedly the most important one,and this is the oldest surviving complete commentary on the Daodejing.My thesis paper is mainly based on Wang Bi's commentary on the Daodejing.The Daodejing itself focuses on some special terms,like,Dao ?,de?,wu ?,you?,yin?,yang?,wuwei??,ziran ?? and so on.However,the central focus of Laozi's philosophy or the Daodejing is certainly Dao,whereas Wang Bi focuses on wu and/or Dao.In this thesis paper,I will attempt to focus on the term wu and the overall the philosophy of wu,with special consideration for the relationship between you and Dao.My effort will encounter a few serious difficulties.One of the most significant philosophical challenges is how to translate the Chinese term you and wu.The relation between two concepts is very puzzling,and some passage in the Daodejing give competing accounts of these relations.The first Chapter of my thesis paper,I will focus on this translation problem and discuss several different translations of you and wu.In the second Chapter,I will suggest a way to resolve the controversy over the ultimate generating force and argue that according to Wang Bi and perhaps the Daodejing itself wu is the generating force that produces all things.I will also concentrate on a well-discussed issue in Laozi's philosophy;that is,how everything is generated from oneness(Chapter 42),with wu as its ultimate root.In the third Chapter,I will provide a study of you and wu themselves,demonstrating that Laozi did rely on an investigation of things in the empirical world for his philosophy.In the fourth and final Chapter,I will provide an account of how you and wu are engaged in the process of return,similar to yin-yang.In other words,according to the yin-yang cosmology of the Daoist worldview,which sees both you and wu as mutually defining structures,you and wu are interdependent and never can be disconnected from one another.