The Study On The Relationship Between Tao And Thing Of Lao Tzu And Zhuangzi

Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi’s understanding of the relationship between Tao and Thing is consistent in the overall direction.They both agree that there are four relationships between Tao and Thing,that is:Tao creates,grows,dominates,and connects all things.Their meanings are divided into:Tao is the source of creating things,is the basis for making everything grow and giving everything full play to its own nature and becoming itself,dominates the operation and change of all things,and makes all things connected into an organic whole.However,their understanding of the relationship between Tao and Thing is different on the specific content.The most fundamental difference is the understanding about the way that Tao creates all things.Lao Tzu’s Tao evolves from Nothing to "One","Two" and "Three" step by step,and then creates everything.After living things,Tao as an external law regulates the operation and changes of all things.Zhuangzi’s Tao successively creates and constitutes the De,destiny,shape and nature of all things,which are internalized into the internal essence of all things in the process of creating things.The two kinds of different creation processes of the world determine the differences between Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi in the other three aspects:making things grow,dominating things,and connecting everything.Therefore,the social and life value systems established on the basis of the relationship between Tao and Thing are also very different.First,they both believe that we should respect the objective law,however,Lao Tzu emphasizes the compliance with the natural law of Tao,while Zhuangzi emphasizes the obedience to the inevitability(destiny)determined by the internal essence of all things.Second,they both believe that the person who obtains Tao should be impartial as Tao,however,Lao Tzu emphasizes that the saints generally and fairly benefit all people and all things without favoritism,while Zhuangzi emphasizes that all existence and phenomena,such as life and death,misfortune and luck,beauty and ugliness,are completely the same,so a person who obtains Tao does not transform the inner silence because of anything.Third,they are all opposed to seeking external things,however,Lao Tzu emphasizes avoiding disasters and mistakes,while Zhuangzi emphasizes maintaining the perfection of one’s own nature.Fourth,they both believe that individuals should consistent with Tao and De,however,Lao Tzu is to let people preserve themselves,while Zhuangzi goes further and pursues freedom on the basis of not damaging their own nature.At the level of cognitive model,Lao tzu and Zhuangzi can stand in the perspective of Tao that transcending all things to obtain the whole understanding about the world,but they pays too much attention to the pursuit of Tao and ignores the value of objective things.In the aspect of life practice,Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi advocate acting in accordance with the objective law,but because they ignore people’s subjective initiative,acting according to Tao becomes inaction,which eliminates the possibility of changing one’s own situation and destiny by active practice.At the level of value pursuit,Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi stress that we should take things as they are,be at ease in the helpless,not be bound by anything,and enter the realm of leisure and freedom.However,such freedom is unrealistic and empty,which is not conducive to the development and progress of human society,and overlooks the practical essence of human,and ignores human’s responsibilities and obligations to the society as an individual.Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi’s thought of the relationship between Tao and Thing is a unified theory system of cognition,social governance,behavior practice and even the pursuit of life value.It can make people’s value system very clear and avoid falling into confusion.This provides a reference for us to build a value system unified with the cognitive model of modern society.