Among the pre-Qin philosophers, Taoism was first compared with Confucianism, which had a great influence on China's ideological and cultural history.
Tao is the philosophical noumenon (Laozi)
I don't know who is the founder of the Taoist school, but Lao Tzu, as one of the founders of Taoist legend, is valued by later generations. Laozi's birth and death year and life story can't be examined in detail. According to Sima Qian's Biography of Lao Fei, Lao Zi may be "a native of Qurenli, Chuku County, surnamed Li, whose name is Zhou Shoucang's history forever". According to Zhuangzi, Confucius once asked Lao Zi for a gift. Therefore, Historical Records of Confucius' Family and Historical Records of Lao Fei's Biography were published.
The central concept of Confucius' thought is benevolence and propriety, and its focus is on people and society, while ethics is the basis of its discussion. Although Laozi's thoughts are similar to Confucianism, they are essentially different. This is most obviously reflected in the attitudes of the two schools towards benevolence and righteousness. "Laozi" said: "Abandoning wisdom and being wise will benefit people a hundred times; Desperate, the people are filial; Never give up profits, thieves have nothing; These three people think they are insufficient, so they have their own; I am simple and simple, and I have few selfish desires. " Chapter 19 of Laozi also said: "Those who treat their husbands with courtesy are loyal and trustworthy, and chaos comes first." (Chapter 38)) Confucius advocates benevolence, righteousness and propriety, while Laozi strongly opposes such civilizations as benevolence, righteousness and propriety, and thinks that only by abandoning wisdom, wisdom and people can we gain a hundredfold benefit; Only by abandoning benevolence and righteousness can the people restore the essence of filial piety. In his view, the appearance of etiquette is a sign of declining loyalty and the beginning of social disaster. Therefore, we should praise benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, because the social atmosphere is deteriorating.
Laozi (Biography of Tang Wu Daozi)
Laozi opposes benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. On the one hand, of course, he hopes that people will return to simplicity, selfishness and humility. His ideal society is "a small country with few people, so that people can get their places, don't use their places, let people die again, and don't migrate far away." Although there is a boat, nothing is taken; Although there are soldiers, there is nothing to say; Let people use it again. Be willing to eat, wear, live and enjoy. When neighboring countries confront each other, the voices of chickens and dogs are endless, and the people are miserable until they die. "But more importantly, Lao Tzu believes that ethics such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are all derived from a more fundamental supreme ontology. This highest noumenon is Tao. If Tao runs smoothly in the world, benevolence and righteousness will run in it. In this way, there is no need to preach benevolence and righteousness. Speaking of advocating benevolence and righteousness, the social atmosphere has gone from bad to worse. Therefore, Laozi said: "Abandoning the Tao, being benevolent, being wise, and being absurd; Six parents don't know, have filial piety; The country is in chaos and there are loyal ministers. " (Chapter 18) Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and so on are all the results of "simplicity as a tool". Wang Bi commented on this chapter of Laozi and said, "Simple and true. If it really breaks up, it will be a hundred lines, and that will be a special life. Among them, "hundred lines" refers to many moral conduct and etiquette norms. But in Laozi's thought, "simplicity is a tool" is unnatural. Therefore, Lao Tzu said, "Therefore, virtue follows virtue, virtue follows benevolence, benevolence follows righteousness, and righteousness follows propriety. The gift of a husband is the first of thin and chaotic loyalty. "Lao Tzu opposes advocating benevolence and righteousness at the level of specific moral norms, but advocates looking for the ontological root of moral benevolence and righteousness at a higher and more abstract level. Laozi's thought broke through the restriction of Confucianism on the specific behavior of social morality, but established the metaphysical source of transcendence, so Laozi's philosophical thinking focused on some more fundamental issues such as how the whole universe formed and how it evolved. If Confucius' thought is full of preaching on social ethics, then Laozi's thought is more characterized by pure philosophical speculation.
It is recognized that the core concept of Laozi's thought is "Tao". Tao is the origin of the world, from which everything is formed. Laozi said: "The Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything. Everything is negative and positive, and it is harmonious. " (Chapter 42) The "one" here refers to the unified state before the formation of specific things, and then it is divided into heaven and earth (Yin and Yang). Through the change of Yin and Yang, harmony is generated, Yin and Yang are harmoniously gasified, and everything is regenerated. As the origin of all things, Tao is of course the real ontology. But it is different from the actual things in time and space. Laozi believes that concrete things are visible, audible and tangible, while Tao is "invisible and named' Yi'; If you don't listen, call it' xi'; If you can't beat it, it's called' micro'. These three are hard to blame, so they are one "(Chapter I or Chapter IV). Moreover, Tao cannot be expressed in words, because "Tao can be Tao, but it is extraordinary;" Names can be named, but they are not common. "The Tao expressed in words is not eternal. So I can only reluctantly give it a name called "Dao" and barely use "Da" to describe its situation. Here, Lao Tzu keenly noticed the fundamental difference between language and philosophical ontology to be expressed by language.
Tao is the source of all things. Laozi pointed out: "Nothing is the beginning of heaven and earth; Yes, the mother of all things. Therefore, there is often nothing and I want to see its wonders; Often, I want to see it. The two come out with different names, called Xuan, Xuan, Xuan and Wan Qi Gate. " Yes and no both come from Tao. Tao is the unity of being and not being. As far as everything is concerned, it is true. From the point of view that everything is a natural process, this is nothing. Tao forms all things, but Tao is "born without being, not relying on being, long without killing" (Chapter 51). Therefore, it is a natural process for Tao to produce everything. Or nature. Laozi also pointed out: "People should be everywhere, the land should follow the sky, the sky should follow the Tao, and the Tao is natural." People take the earth as an example, the earth takes heaven as the law, heaven takes Tao as the law, and Tao takes nature as the law, that is, Tao is pure and natural. In Laozi's philosophy, being is relative to being, but unparalleled being is more important.
"Tao" is not only the origin of all things, but also the law that all things in heaven and earth should follow. Laozi said, "Opposition is the movement of Tao." (Chapter 40) That is to say, everything moves in the opposite direction, which is determined by the essential characteristics of Tao. "Anti" means both anti and return. Therefore, Tao has both the meaning of the transformation of opposites and the content of circular motion.
Laozi believes that everything is antagonistic and interdependent. Laozi said: "Everyone in the world knows that beauty is beauty and evil; As we all know, goodness is good, but it is not good. There is no phase, it is difficult to complement each other, the length is consistent, the height is oblique, and the sound and sound are in harmony. " Everything has its opposite. Opposite, opposite. Moreover, the opposing sides often show the characteristics of opposing each other. For example, "Lao Zi" said: "Misfortune does not know happiness, and happiness does not know happiness in misfortune." There is a blessing in misfortune and a curse in happiness. Laozi also said that "great achievements are insufficient", "great frankness and unyielding", "great ingenuity and clumsiness" and "great discussion and clumsiness". In addition, he believes that the opposing sides will transform each other. He said, "It is amazing to restore the right things, but it is evil to restore the good things." Point out that things will turn to the opposite side when they reach a certain limit. Laozi said: "If you want to keep it, you must keep it; : if you want to be weak, you must be strong; If it is to be abolished, it must be consolidated; If you want to take it, you must fix it. It's called Twilight. "This transformation of opposites is a natural process of the development of things. When things develop to a strong level, they will inevitably turn into aging and death. Lao Tzu called it "the strong things make the old." "In order to prevent aging and death, we must oppose being strong and remain weak. The strong do not conform to the Tao, "Tao has been around for a long time", and the weak can save their lives with humility. " The strong die, the weak live "and" the strong are weak. " "Further, Lao tze put forward the idea of the weak conquering the strong. He said: "The world is not weak, but the strong can't win." "Weak wins over strong, soft wins over strong. "
Zhuangzi (Biography of Ancient Sages and Sages in Qing Dynasty)
Everything is in the process of movement and change, but this process of movement and change is bound to return to Tao itself in Laozi's philosophical thought. "The movement of Tao" means that the movement of Tao is periodic. Laozi said: "Things are scarce, and ... it's not dangerous to walk around. ..... The strong word "Tao" is called "big", which means "big" and "far" means "far". " "Laozi" also says: "To the extreme, keep quiet. Everything works together, and I will see it again. Everything must be traced back to the source. In the final analysis, it is static. This is called life. " All movements will eventually return to absolute emptiness. Static is the foundation of movement, and static dominates movement. Therefore, it is said that "the quiet person is the king." As the source of all things, the source of movement, the regular Tao itself has no nature, and of course it cannot move.
When Laozi's Tao is put into social life, it is manifested as the code of conduct of life. "Tao", as the characteristic of life criterion, is embodied in the characteristic of "Tao" as a world view. It can be seen from this that the basic characteristics and spirit of Tao, as a life criterion, are advocating natural inaction, advocating weakness, uncontested, inferior, backward, kind and thrifty, and eulogizing the attitude and philosophy of life of being born without anything, doing without relying on it, being long without killing, and retiring after success. Laozi's way about the law of life can be summed up by the phrase "natural inaction", which is not inaction, but opposing ignorance, advocating that things develop freely according to their own characteristics, and not destroying the natural nature of things by external coercion.
Tao is the spiritual realm (Zhuangzi)
If Laozi's philosophy emphasizes the cosmology and ontology of Tao, then Zhuangzi transforms it into a spiritual realm. Zhuangzi, Zhou, was born in Song Dynasty. His date of birth and death is unknown, about 369-286 BC. At the same time as Mencius and later, he became a small official in charge of the lacquer garden. Zhuangzi is the main material for studying Zhuangzi's thought.
Zhuangzi believes that Tao has no image, but it is a real existence. He said: "the husband's way, love and believe, do nothing but see;" It can be transmitted but not received, and it can be obtained but not visible. " (Great Master Zhuangzi) Tao is the ultimate basis of its own existence. Tao, he said, "has its roots, no heaven and earth, and has existed since ancient times" (ibid.). Tao produces all kinds of ghosts and gods in the world, so it is said that "ghosts and gods are born." Tao transcends time and space and is an infinite reality. Before Tai Chi, it was not high, but below the six poles, it was not deep, born, not long, and longer than ancient, not old (ibid.).
Since Tao is the source of all things in the world, it is also the creator of human beings. Therefore, the highest state of man is to achieve the state of unity with Tao, not just to satisfy his own interests, realize the happiness of his family, or realize himself in society. What Zhuangzi wants to achieve is to break through the material limit of human life, infinitely expand the inner life of human beings, and constantly sublimate it, and finally reach the highest spiritual realm of "heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me". He demanded the absolute freedom of the human spirit, and he wanted to "swim infinitely by taking advantage of the righteousness of heaven and earth, but resist the debate of the six qi" and "travel around the world by taking advantage of Yunlong" (Zhuangzi's Happy Tour). Its ideal figures are supreme figures, saints and real people. "God to people! Ozawa can't be hot, He Han can't be cold, Lei Zhenshan can't be hurt, and the wind can't shock the sea. If so, ride the clouds and travel four overseas, and life and death will remain the same. " ("Zhuangzi's Theory of Everything") "Sages don't do business, … but swim outside the dirt. ..... next to the sun and the moon, holding the universe. ..... Long live the ginseng, and it will become fine. " I enter the highest spiritual realm of the Tao, which is the universe. My subject in this universe should be my real self. People should not succumb to authority and money, nor should they become the interests of a certain social group or the means of individuals for a certain purpose. The highest purpose of human beings in the real world is to maintain and safeguard this true self. Man should not be a means in any sense. Zhuangzi has been pursuing the realization of this value ideal all his life. "Historical Records Biography of Lao Fei" contains: "Wen Zhuang made him encounter thick coins and thought it was a photograph. Zhuang Zhou said with a smile that the envoy of Chu said,' A thousand dollars is worth a lot of money. Qing Xiang's status is also respected. I don't think the sacrifice in the suburbs is the only sacrifice. When I was a few years old, I entered the ancestral temple with words embroidered on my clothes. When it is, although you want to be a lonely dolphin, how can you get it? I am eager to go, it won't pollute me. I'd rather hurry up in the blasphemy game, not be held hostage by people with a country, and never be an official for life, so that I can hurry up in my ambition. ""This is an extremely true portrayal of Zhuangzi's attitude towards life.
Zhuangzi's philosophy wants to elevate man from the narrow material self to the realm of a larger self integrated with the Tao or the universe. So he has always stressed that everything should be viewed from the Taoist point of view, that is, "from the Taoist point of view." "In the Taoist view, nothing is noble, and nothing is cheap" (Zhuangzi Qiushui). From the perspective of Tao, this is another and that is the same, and there is no clear boundary between them. For example, "Qi and Ying, Li and Shi, the strangeness of reduction, and the unity of Tao" (Zhuangzi's Theory of Everything). However, the world is always obsessed with looking at everything with a narrow eye, so it is "taking things as a matter of view, taking expensive as a base" (Zhuangzi Qiushui). Therefore, I always think that I am expensive and other things are cheap. I am and others are not, and life is expensive and death is cheap. This obsession with things, ourselves, each other, right and wrong, and life and death has brought endless pain and unnecessary disputes and killings to mankind. It is rooted in the metaphysical narrow thought of "seeing things from one's own perspective". Zhuangzi demanded that man should be promoted from "taking things as the view" to the metaphysical transcendence level, so as to achieve the spiritual realm of ignoring things, inequality, mortal and the unity of man and nature.
Taoism, represented by Laozi and Zhuangzi, has a great influence on China's ideological and cultural history and is an important part of China's traditional ideological culture. Taoism and Confucianism are two complementary thoughts in China's traditional thought.