There is a man who has several opinions about his biological parents and date of birth. At first, he didn't even have a formal name, and he didn't have his own name until he could show his talents in society. After that, although people invited him out from time to time to save the situation when he encountered difficulties and setbacks, and often secretly adopted his ideas, on the whole, he had retired to the second line and was often in a depressed state.
This man is what we call Taoist thought.
As we all know, Taoism was founded by Laozi, and his thoughts were concentrated in a 5,000-word book, Tao Te Ching. In view of Laozi's lofty status, Taoism, a religious form, later called him the old gentleman on the throne. But there are different opinions about the age and identity of the old gentleman, and there is no complete conclusion until now. Some people say that he was Lao Dan in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and Confucius asked him many times. Some people say that he is Lao Laizi of Chu, who was once famous for his filial piety. Some people say that he was Tai Shiqi in the early Warring States period and once met Guanyin in Hanguguan. There are also some fanatical supporters of Confucianism, who think that Confucianism is even later than another giant of Taoism, Zhuangzi. However, the bamboo slips unearthed in Guodian in 1993 have completely proved that the masterpiece Tao Te Ching has been widely circulated at least in the early Warring States period. Although it was revised many times later, it has generally maintained its original appearance.
During the spread of Tao Te Ching, people at that time learned wisdom and nutrition from it and formed many different schools. Among them, there are Yang Zhu School which advocates pursuing individual freedom "for me", Guanyin School which tries to build a model of the universe with water as the basic element, Huang Lao School which advocates generating life with Taoist thought and is keen on politics, and Zhuangzi School which advocates carefree pursuit of spiritual freedom. They argued and influenced each other with Confucianism, Mohism, famous artists, Legalists and other schools at that time, showing the scene that "Taoism is the division of the world", a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers blossom.
However, different from Confucianism and Mohism, although many schools appeared under the influence of Tao Te Ching, there was no unified concept of Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. So when it comes to excellent schools at that time, only Confucianism and Mohism are mentioned, not Taoism.
Both the Yang Zhu School and the Zhuangzi School had a sensational effect in society, but at that time, the Huang-Lao School, which was closely related to real politics, was the most powerful and lasting school. Divided into north and south factions. The thoughts of the South Yellow School are mainly embodied in Wen Zi, Four Classics of Huangdi, Guanzi and so on. The northern Huang-Lao school is concentrated in the Qi school, and its thoughts are mainly reflected in Guan Zi. During the period when Lu Bu was in charge of Qin State, a large number of figures from Huang Lao School came to Qin State. They cooperated with Lv Buwei and absorbed many thoughts of Confucianism and Mohism under the guidance of Huang Lao's thought, and made a brilliant masterpiece-Lv Chunqiu.
After a hundred schools of thought contend, it is the formation of political unity. However, China's first unified dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, did not implement Huang Lao's thought, and later attached importance to Confucianism, while the son of the Huang family, the Legalist School, advocated "forbidding a hundred schools of thought and taking officials as teachers", which dealt a heavy blow to the hundred schools of thought, including the Huang family, but some sparks of thought remained among the people.
The rigor of legalism directly led to the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Shortly after the establishment of the post-Han Dynasty, Cao Can, then prime minister, found the spark of Huang Lao's thought from Tiqi, the birthplace of Huang Lao School under Xia Ji, and led it to the whole country, which became the guiding ideology of the whole country at that time.
Under the guidance of the thought of "governing by doing nothing" of the Huang-Lao School, the wounds caused by the long-term war soon healed and a prosperous period called "cultural landscape governance" began. In this context, Sima Tan (the father of Sima Qian) put forward the concept of Taoism for the first time, which gave Taoism its own official name. He said: "Taoism is inaction, and it is said that everything is there. In fact, it is easy to do, but its handwriting is difficult to understand. Its technology is based on nothingness and uses conformity. Nothing is possible and impermanent, so we can study the feelings of everything. Not the first thing, not the last thing, so it can be the master of all things. " He also said that "because of the harmony between Yin and Yang, it is not appropriate to adopt the goodness of Confucianism and Mohism, grasp the importance of fame and law, keep pace with the times, and do things by changing things and establishing customs; This is easy to operate and less and less. "
In fact, Taoism in Sima Tan mainly refers to the Huang-Lao School. Later, people further expanded this concept, and all the schools formed under the influence of Tao Te Ching, such as Yang Zhu School, Guanyin School, Zhuangzi School, and Huang Lao School, were included in the ranks of Taoism, which made Taoist thoughts show the characteristics of miscellaneous colors, which is also the reason why many Taoist thoughts are classified as miscellaneous schools.
At the end of Wenjing's reign, there was also a masterpiece of Taoist thought-Huainanzi. In addition, Sima Qian's Historical Records is also permeated with Huang's thoughts. Because of the prosperity brought by "governing by doing nothing", Sima Qian also made an unprecedented discussion on the law of economic operation and entrepreneurship.
However, at that time, Huang Lao's thought became the mainstream, which was based on the separation of the three powers of emperor, vassal and military class, and the imperial power was restricted to a certain extent. After Emperor Han Jing put down the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion", the vassal power was greatly weakened, and the military class was worse than the previous generation. The emperor, whose power expanded, could no longer bear the shackles of the "quiet nature" of the Huang family. Therefore, Confucianism, which advocates respecting the monarch and making long rites, has replaced Taoism and become the orthodox thought of the country. This situation lasted for nearly two thousand years.
After Confucianism replaced Taoism as the orthodox thought of the country, Huang Lao's Taoist thought did not completely disappear. Many times, the rulers are "tyrannical and miscellaneous", as Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, said. That is, sometimes it is "serving Confucianism outside" and sometimes it is "serving Confucianism outside". Whenever the imperial system is partially restricted by subjective and objective conditions, the Huang Lao family will revive and bring economic and cultural prosperity. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "governing the world, being a Buddha in troubled times, and being a Confucian from governing to chaos".
When the huge ideological trend of Huang Lao was turned into an underground river by the rulers, the rational spirit developed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was temporarily frustrated, and the whole society was shrouded in the mysterious atmosphere of "the feeling between heaven and man" advocated by Confucianism. In line with this, the folk Taoist thought also developed into mysticism, and on the basis of absorbing many Confucian and Mohist thoughts, it was combined with the widespread immortal magic in the pre-Qin period, and finally formed the local religion of China-Taoism.
The great influence of Taoism on society is related to the peasant uprising at the end of Han Dynasty. The uprising was mainly launched on the basis of two important factions of Taoism-Taiping Taoism and Wudoumi Taoism. Finally, Taiping Road was suppressed and Wudoumi Road was embraced by Cao Cao. So Taoism embarked on the road of peaceful development.
On the contrary, some intellectuals who are good at independent thinking prefer to discuss problems from a rational perspective. First of all, in his masterpiece Lun Heng, Wang Chong strongly criticized the mysticism prevailing in the society at that time. Soon, this skepticism became a trend of thought called metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. The whole intellectual community began to think about the relationship between natural humanity and Confucianism. Wang Bi advocated two-way transformation and the integration of Confucianism and Taoism. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, the soul figures of the seven sages of bamboo forest, advocate that "the more famous, the more natural"; The following Guo Xiang still advocated reconciling the contradiction between Confucianism and Taoism, but his individualized theory made Taoism climb to a new peak. In addition, Tao Yuanming's The Peach Blossom Garden, Bao Jingyan's On No King, Liezi's Liezi under the guise of the Warring States Period and the Yellow Emperor's Yin Fujing, which appeared later, are also one of the important achievements of Taoist thought in this period.
Driven by metaphysics, Zhuangzi's thought of pursuing spiritual freedom revived and became the orthodoxy of Taoism in the eyes of later generations. The whole society began to admire those gossips. This not only produced the negative effect of empty talk and misunderstanding the country, but also greatly improved the abstract thinking ability of the Chinese people and reflected the spiritual consciousness of the Chinese people at that time. It not only created conditions for the widespread spread of Buddhist culture at that time, but also promoted the rapid development of science, technology, culture and art at that time, making Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties an extremely splendid era of culture and art..
After metaphysics, Taoism, as an independent school of thought, no longer exists. It relies more on its religious form-the existence and development of Taoism, and reincarnates through the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism (that is, it is attached to Neo-Confucianism and Zen Buddhism, showing the soul of Taoist thought).
Under the influence of metaphysics and the stimulation of foreign religion Buddhism, Taoism developed to the upper level and refinement during this period. Ge Hong, an outstanding representative of Taoism, put forward the theory of Confucianism outside Taoism in his works, which laid a theoretical foundation for the further development of Taoism. Since then, from the late Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoist reform activities initiated by Taoists and Taoists have appeared in the north and south of China, and Taoist classics, doctrines, canons and sectarian organizations have been transformed and enriched. Emerging Taoists, such as Shangqing School, Lingbao School, Xinshidao Road and Louguan Road, with the main purpose of attaching importance to classical science and education and immortal magic, have appeared one after another and become the mainstream of Taoist development. Neo-Taoism was recognized by the official rulers, which laid the foundation for the later pattern of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the government held Taoism in high esteem, and Taoism enjoyed the title of state religion. The official presided over the compilation and revision of Taoist classics for many times, and scholars who studied Taoist classics, doctrines and scientific instruments emerged one after another, making great contributions to the development of Taoist academic culture. Cheng's further elucidation of Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts and his emphasis on metaphysics, Sima's On Sitting Forgetting, Shu Hua's, The Incompetent Son Without a Gentleman's Theory, Chen Tuan's Taiji Diagram, Inner alchemy, and Deng Mu's Boya Qin were all important achievements of Taoist thought at that time. By the time the Southern Song Dynasty confronted the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, great changes had taken place in Taoism, and new Taoist schools emerged one after another. The characteristics of these Taoist teachings are that they advocate the unity of the three religions and the homology of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. After the reunification of the Yuan Dynasty, the northern and southern Taoist schools regrouped to form Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism, which have been passed down to this day.
From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the present, Taoism tends to decline and its social status gradually declines. Especially since modern times, all kinds of activities to combat feudal superstition have done the most serious harm to Taoism. At the same time. Except for the enlightenment thoughts of Cai Gentan and Fu Shan, the immortal Taoist theories and minor theories of hundred schools of thought and, the Taoist teachings and teaching system have not developed greatly on the whole, but the Taoist thoughts have been further popularized and spread in the vast society. Inner alchemy, popularly explained by Taoist priests, spread to all walks of life, especially among Confucian scholars.
Taoism is second only to Confucianism in Chinese traditional culture. As an independent school of thought, Taoism no longer exists after metaphysics, but it has a lasting influence on rulers, intellectuals and the lower classes.
For rulers, Taoism is one of the secrets of governing the country. You can see the shadow of Huang Lao's thought in many famous emperors. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Song Huizong, Zhu Yuanzhang and Kangxi all commented on Tao Te Ching. Although they often distort Laozi's thoughts from the perspective of legalists, it is undeniable that "the rule of Wenjing", "the rule of Zhenguan", "the prosperous time of Kaiyuan" and "the prosperous time of Kangxi" are all products of Huang Lao's thoughts, both of which are. Of course, when rulers carry out the idea of governing by doing nothing, they are generally strictly limited to economic and cultural aspects. As for the political field, except for the active mass organizations in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the folk political forces have never really developed. This situation even continues to this day.
Among Taoist thoughts, the thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi School has the greatest influence on intellectuals. This is also the orthodoxy of Taoism in the minds of future generations. For those intellectuals who want to keep their spiritual freedom in the ancient autocratic society, such as Tao Yuanming and Li Bai, Laozi and Zhuangzi thought is the best place for them to settle down. For Wang Chong, Li Zhi and Huang Zongxi, the ideological giants who are ahead of the times, Taoism is a powerful weapon for them to criticize the society. For those officialdom people who are temporarily frustrated, such as Liu Zongyuan and Su Dongpo, Taoism is their best placebo. The so-called "speed is to save the world, and it is difficult to be immune to it". In addition, Taoist thought has also profoundly influenced intellectuals' aesthetic concept and cultural and artistic creation, making them show their unique concise and implicit national style. Taoist thought also played a key role in the rise of Neo-Confucianism and Zen thought.
Taoism, which pursues immortality, is more attractive to secular society. Taoism not only brings religious comfort to thousands of people in Qian Qian, but also makes a unique contribution to the development of China culture and even the world culture through its religious activities. Many Taoist priests, such as Wei Zhi, Chen Tuan and Liu Bowen, also took an active part in politics and had an important influence in the history of China. Taoism's contribution to China's ancient science and technology is unparalleled. Even the Mohist school thought with the most scientific spirit in the pre-Qin period was preserved by Taoism. Traditional Chinese medicine, gunpowder and magic are the most representative scientific achievements of Taoism. Taoist music combines the characteristics of China folk music and western music, and is known as the treasure of fairy songs and national music. As for Taoist qigong and martial arts, they developed with the practice and exploration of practicing health preservation, and have become popular all over the world today. Taoist protection of documents, classics, cultural relics and historical sites can not be ignored. Taking philosophy as an example, Daozang, a Taoist classic, contains not only all Taoist philosophical works and their annotations, but also hundreds of works outside Confucianism, such as Han Feizi, Yin Wenzi, Gong Sun, Mozi, Gui Guzi and Huainan Jie. It can be said that Taoist collection is not only a treasure of Taoism, but also a treasure of Chinese national culture. In addition, many folk customs are also deeply influenced by Taoism.
/kloc-In the 6th century, the book Laozi began to spread to the west, which had a growing influence on western society. Many famous scholars attributed their scientific discoveries to the enlightenment of the oriental sage Laozi. Hegel, the master of dialectics, Tolstoy, Bohr, Hayek and Heidegger, the founders of quantum mechanics, all favored Taoism. Nietzsche commented on the book Tao Te Ching and said, "Like Jing Quan, which is inexhaustible, it is filled with treasures and put in a bucket, so you can get it at your fingertips." The famous mathematician Chen Shengshen said, "I met Einstein in America in 1943. There aren't many books on his bookshelf, but there is one that appeals to me very much, which is a German translation of Laozi's Tao Te Ching. Most thoughtful scientists in the west like Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy and advocate Taoism and nature. "
Nowadays, in developed countries such as Germany, France, Britain, Japan and the United States, a "Laozi fever" is quietly rising. According to the statistics of UNESCO, the circulation of Laozi's Tao Te Ching in Europe and the world is second only to that of the Bible. Even Iceland, a sparsely populated island country, has more than two versions. In Germany, almost every family has a copy of Tao Te Ching. In Austria, Switzerland and other countries, many literate people often give the Tao Te Ching as a wedding gift to their children. Former US President Ronald Reagan said in his "State of the Union Address" speech on 1988: "China and Lao Tzu rule a big country, if they cook small things." Since then, the value of Tao Te Ching has doubled, and eight publishing houses are competing to publish this book.
In modern China, Taoist thought also showed signs of revival. Wei Yuan, Yan Fu, Hu Shi, Yin and others all admired Taoism. Wang Guowei's "Ci Hua on Earth" expounds the realm of poetry creation with Zhuangzi's selflessness, which is fascinating and timeless. Shen Congwen, Lu Xun, Lin Yutang and others are all deeply influenced by Taoist thought. During the Anti-Japanese War, Jin formed a strict logical system with the concepts of infinite Tai Chi, movement, nothingness and chaos created by primitive Taoism in books such as On Taoism, which completely changed the connotation and appearance of traditional metaphysical Taoism. Tang Yongtong and Meng reconstructed the special position of Taoism in academic history from rigorous academic works. There are also some philosophers who are compatible with Confucianism and Taoism, such as Feng You and Xiong Shili. They have always been regarded as representatives of Neo-Confucianism, but the connotation of their philosophical theory is actually mainly constructed by Taoism.
199 1 year, Mr. Dong Guangbi first put forward the viewpoint of contemporary neo-Taoism, which was warmly responded by Chen Guying. Since then, the influence of Neo-Taoism has become more and more important, especially the theory of self-variation and the liberalism of heaven, which indicates that Neo-Taoism and Neo-Confucianism are neck and neck.