Introduction to Laozi

Laozi (about 600 BC-500 BC) was a thinker and founder of Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Shu Yue, whose real name is Li Minger, whose name is Bo Yang, was born in Qurenli, Li Xiang, Guxian County (now Taiqing Palace Town, Luyidong, Henan Province, formerly known as Bozhou Qiaocheng). He was a "historian in charge of books" in the Zhou Dynasty. Confucius once asked him for a gift, and then retired and wrote Laozi.

When I say Lao Tzu, I mean Tai Shiyun or Lao Laizi. Whether Laozi was written by Laozi has always been controversial. Laozi used Tao to explain the evolution of all things in the universe, thinking that "Tao gives birth to one, two, two, three and three things" and "Tao" is "the fate of a husband is natural", so "man should be in the earth, the earth should be in the sky, the sky should be in the Tao, and the Tao should be natural". "Tao" is an objective natural law, and at the same time it has the eternal significance of "being independent and unchanging, walking without danger" The book Laozi contains many simple dialectical views, such as that everything has two sides, and the "movement of Tao" can be transformed from opposition, "the right is strange, the good is evil" and "the disaster is a blessing, and the disaster is hidden". He also believes that everything in the world is the unity of "being" and "nothing", and "being and nothing" are the foundation, and "everything in the world is born of something and born of nothing". "The way of heaven, the loss is more than enough, but the way of man is not, and the loss is not enough"; "People's hunger is as much as food tax"; "People die lightly, but they live on it"; "People are not afraid of death. Why are you afraid of death?" . His theory has a far-reaching influence on the development of China's philosophy, and its contents are mainly found in Laozi. His philosophical thoughts and the Taoist school he founded not only made important contributions to the development of China's ancient ideology and culture, but also had a far-reaching impact on the development of China's ideology and culture for more than two thousand years.

Note: Laozi is also called Tao Te Ching. (The Tao Te Ching is the later title. At first, Lao Tzu's book was called Lao Tzu, and there was no name of Tao Te Ching. Its completion date was controversial in the past, but it is still uncertain. However, according to the date of "Laozi" on Guodian bamboo slips unearthed in 1993, it was written at least in the middle and early Warring States period.

Laozi's new theory

Laozi's essays came into being in the late Spring and Autumn Period in China. For more than 2500 years, many versions of Laozi's prose have been copied and printed. This historical miracle is explained in Historical Records by Sima Qian, a subordinate of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: I saw that the Zhou Dynasty was dying and lived in seclusion in the frontier, and wrote more than 5,000 moral articles for Guanyin. This is hard to convince! Many ancient books of the Zhou royal family have not been handed down, but an article written by a so-called "ancient librarian" in frontier fortress has spread all over the country in ancient times with inconvenient transportation. This is complete nonsense! History must have covered up a major historical event at the end of the Zhou Dynasty, as well as people and events of Laozi.

Through the logical textual research on the historical materials of the pre-Han Dynasty, it is believed that the so-called "Wang Zi Chao's rebellion" at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Zhou Dynasty is actually "the rebellion of a single Mu Gong"! "Wang Zichao Uprising" is the biggest unjust, false and misjudged case in the history of China! Its main goal was the reform of Lao Zi's literary style and King Jing, which led to the anti-reformist headed by Shan Mugong, the massacre of the official reformists headed by Zhou, Zhou and Guo Yu, and the rational darkness of China for more than 2,000 years recorded in pre-Qin historical books such as Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu.

In 522 BC, King Jing of Zhou reformed the Zhou Dynasty for 300 years, which was the policy of "Lingde", because Zuo Zhuan recorded that the doctor publicly criticized the Zhou Dynasty for not learning etiquette and distorted Lao Zi's theory of "not learning" in reforming etiquette. Lao Zi's essay is also the method of Zhou Jing Wang shooting without a bell in 522 BC, because it was recorded in Mandarin this year that Shan Mu Gong opposed Zhu shooting without a bell (the bell in The Philosopher Directs Virtue), and he criticized Lao Zi's essay as "crazy, bewildered, and already worried ... For three years, he divorced from the people and the country was in danger"! It is also because the laws on the clock are out of order, which leads to the difference between the silk book Tao Te Ching and other manuscripts Tao Te Ching. It is precisely because of the above reasons that Han Feizi in the Warring States Period called Lao Zi's essays "Lao Zi emphasizes quietness and reform", saying that the reform of the public is "winning the upper hand by kissing" and that Lao Zi's essays are "Zhou Shu", leaving different manuscripts in different countries at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Lao Yuwen is the program of the Zhou Dynasty's political reform at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, and it is also the Book of Changes of China. Due to the sudden death of King Jing in 524 BC, Shan Mugong succeeded in colluding with the coup of the State of Jin, realizing the brutal killing of the royal family, old ministers and hundreds of workers seeking to be masters of the country by big noble hegemony! At this point, China, the lion, has been sleeping for more than 2,000 years, and the ideal of the Zhou Dynasty has become a comforting dream for ordinary people in China. People miss them, call them the God of China, and regard Laozi as "the old gentleman on the throne". In today's reform and opening up, it is very meaningful and important for us to study Laozi seriously and clarify history, which can not only comfort the ancients in theory, but also warn the future latecomers, and now we can learn from experience.

When I was born in Zhou Lingwang, I shared the same political reform aspirations as King Jin and King Jing. When he worked under King Jing of Zhou, he served as the Minister of Construction "Sikong" and wrote the Reform Program of Zhou Dynasty. When he died in Zhou, Zeng and Zhou went to Qin to return to their ancestral home.

Laozi was born around 570 BC, about 20 years older than Confucius, and he was his teacher. Lao Dan is a royal family. "Zuo Zhuan Ding Gong's Four Years" said: "Wu Wang's mother and brother are eight, Zhou Gong is a big butcher, Shu Kang is a sheep herder, and the season is vulgar, and the fifth uncle has no official." This family inherited the common position of the Zhou Dynasty. "Historical Records Biography of Guan Cai's Family" said: "Wu Wang collapsed, became king, became a royal family, and the season was set in nature." Jean Valjean is an exiled country, so Ji is also called the exiled monarch, and Lao Dan is the heir to this fact, so he is also called the old gentleman. Benji is Wang Cheng's uncle, so it is also the eldest son of Benji, Wang Cheng's uncle, who was removed in the twelfth year of mourning for the public in Zhao Gong. He always called Wang Wen's old son Yongji, and Lao Zi's real name was Lao Yoko, from which the word came. He is known as Yoko academically, Bai Yang among nobles, Lao Dan among teachers and Laojun among officials. When Wang Zichao went to Renli, Chu, he was called Lao Laizi. Because the fief was located in Peize, Pengdi (Kaifeng area) in the south, later generations also called him Lao Peng and Peng Zu. "Li Er" was the way that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty opposed the situation of Huang Lao, and the derogatory meaning of the word "Ji Meng" was reversed, which was not based on the pre-Han Dynasty. Lao Tzu used to be the king. He left Zhou for Qin and returned to his ancestral home. He died in Thailand.

The Tao Te Ching we see now was called Zhou Shu by Han Feizi in the Warring States Period, Shangzhi Ching by Qin Shilu in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Laozi in the Han Dynasty. Historical records began to say that "Laozi wrote books from top to bottom, expressing moral righteousness." Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty took Huang Zi and Lao Zi as the classics, and Yang Xiong's Records of the King of Shu said that "Lao Zi wrote the moral classics for Guan Yinxi" and "I was forced to leave my moral classics". It can be seen that the earliest title of Laozi's text is Han Feizi's Zhou Shu. Shi Kuang, the State of Jin in the Zhou Dynasty, called it "the cultivation of righteous books", and the King of Jin and Zhou called it "the establishment of righteous laws". Recently, the archaeological excavation in Zhengdian Village, Guoyang County, Anhui Province unearthed Laozi's residence in Chu State. There are some fragments about the tomb of Yin, the tomb of the Virgin, and the stone statue of the sage Laozi, such as the pottery shaft lining in the Spring and Autumn Period, as well as "characters" and "mixed yuan and lost life".

According to these clues, it is easy to find the relationship between the text of Laozi 2520 years ago and Zhou's "shooting-free" clock. Because the order of Zhou Shu's copying and casting on the round bell was different from that of the six books at that time, the silk book De Jing, which has been handed down to this day, precedes the Tao Jing, and other biographies precede the De Jing. There are no answers for other reasons.

Laozi's social philosophy is broad and profound, advocating arguing without arguing, knowing without creating, and being king, with the aim of perfecting social spirit and opportunity construction. He is a rare master of social dialectical logic at all times.

Confucius asked for gifts.

Confucius once asked him for a gift, then retired and wrote Laozi. When I say Lao Tzu, I mean Tai Shiyun or Lao Laizi. Whether Laozi was written by Laozi has always been controversial. Laozi used Tao to explain the evolution of all things in the universe, thinking that "Tao gives birth to one, two, two, three and three things" and "Tao" is "the fate of a husband is natural", so "man should be in the earth, the earth should be in the sky, the sky should be in the Tao, and the Tao should be natural". "Tao" is an objective natural law, and at the same time it has the eternal significance of "being independent and unchanging, walking without danger" The book Laozi contains many simple dialectical views, such as that everything has two sides, and the "movement of Tao" can be transformed from opposition, "the right is strange, the good is evil" and "the disaster is a blessing, and the disaster is hidden". He also believes that everything in the world is the unity of "being" and "nothing", and "being and nothing" are the foundation, and "everything in the world is born of something and born of nothing". "The way of heaven, the loss is more than enough, but the way of man is not, and the loss is not enough"; "People's hunger is as much as food tax"; "People die lightly, but they live on it"; "People are not afraid of death. Why are you afraid of death?" . His theory has a far-reaching influence on the development of China's philosophy, and its contents are mainly found in Laozi.

Taoist philosophy

Taoism was one of the most important schools in hundred schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China. Taoism originated very early. According to legend, Xuanyuan Huangdi had the idea of harmony between man and nature.

Generally speaking, it is recognized that Laozi was the first person to establish Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Laozi elaborated it in detail in his book Laozi (Tao Te Ching).

Other representatives of Taoism include Zhuang Zhou, Li Yukou, Hui Shi and others in the Warring States Period. Taoism advocates the natural world outlook and methodology, and respects Huangdi and Laozi as founders, which is called Huang Lao.

The core of Taoist thought is "Tao", which is regarded as the origin of the universe and the law governing all movements of the universe. Laozi once said in his works: "Things are born in harmony, and they are born naturally. Little ha! How rare! Independent and unchanging, it can be the mother of heaven and earth. I don't know its name, but it is a strong name "(Chapter 25 of Laozi).

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han ruled the country with Taoist thoughts, so that the people could recuperate from the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty. History calls it the rule of cultural scene. Later, Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu advocated the policy of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" to Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which was adopted by later emperors. Taoism has since become a non-mainstream thought. Although Taoism has not been officially adopted, it continues to play an important role in the development of China's ancient thoughts. Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties was developed on the basis of integrating Taoist thoughts.

Taoism and Taoism. Taoism is one of the major religions in China. Because "Tao" is the highest belief, it is thought that "Tao" is the source of all things in the metaplasia universe, hence the name. The "Five Mi Dou Daoism" founded by Zhang Daoling in the Eastern Han Dynasty is the beginning of Taoist stereotypes. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, religious forms gradually became complete. Lao Dan is regarded as an ancestor, and he is addressed as "grandfather". Tao Te Ching is the main classic. So Taoism and Taoism are often confused.

basic concept

First of all, Taoist philosophy is different from the approach of Confucian social philosophy, which directly cuts into the principle of the operation of heaven and develops the philosophy of "Tao" with natural meaning and neutral meaning as the mainstay. The operation of heaven has its natural principle, and the philosophy of Tao is to understand the connotation of this principle, so as to put forward a lively and comfortable world space. Taoist philosophy has developed a completely different social philosophy from Confucianism through its infinite and persistent understanding of this world operation order. Society is only the object of one party's existence, and people living in it should have their own freedom of independence and self-existence, not bound by any ideology. Taoist philosophy basically does not deny the Confucian social ideal, but the attitude towards social responsibility does not exist first, but it can have an attitude and orientation of existence that respects people's autonomy more.

Taoism attaches importance to the freedom and liberation of human nature. On the one hand, liberation is the liberation of people's knowledge and ability, on the other hand, it is the liberation of people's life mood. The former puts forward the cognitive principles of "learning is getting worse and worse" and "this is also right and wrong", while the latter puts forward the ways of dealing with the world with modesty, weakness, softness, Zen and become a butterfly.

Literary features

I'm out of customs.

Lao Tzu finally saw that the Zhou Dynasty was getting weaker and weaker and had been deformed. He decided to run away and fly away. This is going to talk about Lao Tzu going through customs.

I want to go to the state of Qin and the western regions, and I must pass through Hangu Pass. Another way of saying this is great diversion. Hangu Pass was probably originally located in today's Lingbao County, Henan Province, and later it was moved to today's Xin 'an County, Henan Province. The two mountains face each other here, with a path in the middle. Because the Tao is in the valley, it is deep and dangerous, and it seems to be in the letter, so it is named Hanguguan.

The head of the customs guard is Yin, who is called Guan Ling Yin. On this day, he stood on the gate and watched, only to see a purple gas coming from the valley in the east of Ran Ran. Xi is a man with profound cultivation and knowledge. As soon as he saw this weather, he thought, there is a saint coming! Only a saint can have such a cloud. Today, there must be saints passing by my city. I don't know who it is. Not long after, I saw a man with extraordinary personality and sage like type riding a green cow and slowly coming to the pass. It's Lao Tzu! Guan Lingyin Xi knew that he was going to fly away, so he must let this most famous thinker leave his wisdom, so he pestered him to write some works as a condition for him to go through the customs.

Of course I don't want to, but I won't let Yin pass unless I promise to. He won't give you a passport and visa! I have no choice, so I have to agree to these conditions. Besides, I promised him for another reason. According to Records of Historical Records, Guan Ling ordered Yin to be "good at learning the stars", so he could see astronomical phenomena, stars and clouds, and knew he was a saint when he saw purple gas floating. Even if we see this purple gas, we can't read it. It is said that Xi himself has a book called Guan Zi Ling. I also admire this wise man who "takes its essence and hides its benevolence" and "knows its wonders", so I have a feeling of meeting my bosom friend and let me write a book for him. What a pleasure it is to write for a bosom friend?

At that time, I meditated and wrote his wisdom word for word on bamboo slips. I wrote the first part, and then the next part, which is said to have been written for a few days. I wrote a number, * * * with 5000 words, named Tao Te Ching. The first book is called Tao Te Ching, and the second book is called Tao Te Ching, which is divided into 8 1 chapter. So an earth-shattering masterpiece "Five Thousand Words" was born! It is said that Xi was deeply intoxicated and attracted by such a wonderful book. He said to Lao Tzu, "After reading your book, I don't want to be a border officer anymore. I want to elope with you. " I smiled and agreed. It is said that Guan Ling Yin Xi really ran away with Lao Zi. Later, someone saw them together in quicksand in the western regions, and they all lived for a long time!

Laozi's going abroad has always been legendary and is interpreted with relish. Mr. Lu Xun also became interested in this, specially created a new story "Laozi Going through Customs", and also had a little pen-and-ink dispute with others. In addition, the "purple gas coming from the east" in Laozi's going abroad has also become a gene in China culture. The royal family regards "purple gas" as auspicious and auspicious things. You see, if a child is born purple, the ancients thought that this child must have great promise. People's homes also regard "purple gas" as a symbol of good luck, so words like "purple gas comes from the east" are written on the gate. Ancestors also believed that where there is treasure, there will be purple gas in the sky.

Interestingly, the "green cow" that Lao Zi rode also became a famous image in Taoist culture, and the green cow later became the mount of immortal Taoist priests. Later, "green cow" became synonymous with Laozi, and Laozi was also called "green cow teacher" and "green cow Weng". This green cow is also regarded as a god cow by people in Lao Tzu's hometown. It is said that Lao Tzu flew there by this green cow when he went through customs. There is also a wonderful legend.

Today, in the northeast corner of Luyi County, Henan Province, there is also a high platform about 13 meters, which is called "Laojun Terrace" and "Shengsen Terrace", and there is a Laozi Temple on the platform. There is an iron column with a thick bowl mouth buried in front of the temple, which is called "Mountain Whip". According to legend, when I was in my fifties, I gave lectures here. There are many roads from my home, and we all go through a mountain called "Yin-Yang Mountain". The mountain is very high and blocks the sun. There is no sun in the north of the mountain. There is no grass in the ice and snow. The sun in the south of the mountain is like fire, crops are dying, and the people are miserable. Seeing all this, Lao Tzu wants to save the people, but he is willing but can't. Now I have flown over Hangu Pass on a green cow, knowing that I have become an immortal, and the green cow can speak human words, so I want to let the green cow fly back to my hometown to manage the mountain together. When I arrived at my hometown, I whipped the mountain, the top of which was cut off and flew to Shandong, becoming Mount Tai. Another whip, the mountainside arrived in Henan and became Pingdingshan. At this time, the tip of the whip was broken and the broken whip flew to Shanxi. When I saw that there was only one rod left in my whip, I stuck it in the ground. This is the origin of this iron crutch. Lao Tzu was beaten away by the green cow again, and the whip and stick stayed there forever. The people thanked Laozi for driving away the mountains, because the weather was good in Laozi's hometown from now on. The common people call the earthen platform where Laozi stood when he drove the mountain away with a whip "Ascending to Sendai" and the iron column on the ground "Driving the Mountain Whip". Tang Gaozu Tang Gaozu addressed Lao Zi as "the old gentleman on the throne" and called this podium "the podium of the old man". He also built a temple to offer sacrifices. How rich people's imaginations are! After reading this legend in my hometown, I feel that I am living among the people with flesh and blood! Laozi's culture is accumulated bit by bit, while China's profound culture is derived bit by bit and accumulated layer by layer.

Taoist social philosophy is not aggressive and positive, because society is just a process of heaven, not an end in itself. Taoism believes that the social ideal of Confucianism is reasonable, but not absolute, so there is basically no need to put forward a set of decisive social ideals, because the change of heaven itself does not have the absolute expression of right and wrong, good and evil, so Taoism emphasizes more the principle of wisdom to survive in society, and this wisdom must be an effective way to survive in any historical situation. It is precisely because the social philosophy of Taoism does not pay attention to its own development norms, but emphasizes the wisdom of coping, which is conducive to people's needs of self-cultivation, so the treatment of Huang Lao in the early Han Dynasty has an experimental theoretical basis. At the same time, after thousands of years of frustration with the official culture based on Confucianism, China literati can also have a vast spiritual world to live smoothly.