The relationship between Confucianism and Taoism is quite complex and can be analyzed from different perspectives. The most obvious difference is that Confucianism mainly focuses on people, society, potential, and people. responsibility, while Taoist thought talks about the liberation of heaven, nature, inaction, and human beings.
As the native culture of China, Confucianism and Taoism are one strong and one soft, one yin and one yang, one society and one nature, one action and one inaction, one responsibility and one liberation, they are both opposite and complementary, ** Together they have forged the traditional virtues and life spirit of the Chinese nation and become an inexhaustible source of Eastern thought and wisdom.
1. Man, society, heaven and nature
Concerning man and society, Confucianism talks about: worry about the world first. Taoist thought talks about the heaven and nature of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely seeing the southern mountains".
Confucianism emphasizes humanity. Confucius advocated restoration to Zhou Dynasty, Mencius advocated restoration to Yao and Shun, and Confucianism advocated the use of "virtue" to regulate the world, and to achieve virtue in order to pursue the Tao. While Taoist thought focuses on the way of heaven, Laozi advocates returning to the primitive clan society, using "Tao" to govern the world, doing what is best, being good at thinking in the context of the universe, but ultimately implementing it into society. Just like in the book "Laozi", the main space is still about society, politics and life, and some of it talks about society, politics and life directly. Ultimately, it is also necessary to seek basis and guidance for society, politics and life in terms of the Taoist view. Therefore, Taoism's enthusiasm for this concern is comparable to that of Confucianism. At the same time, Taoism became complementary to Confucianism. The center of concern of Confucianism is people and society, which is an eternal subject of mankind. However, it still has its own explanations for various phenomena in the universe. It also believes that various moral etiquette in the world are derived from the metaphysical natural laws of the universe, and people can practice them through practicing them. These moral etiquette are used to achieve the unity of nature and man.
2. Action and inaction
Confucianism is about "being", while Taoist thinking is about "nothing". The Confucian "you" comes first and the Taoist "nothing" comes last. The logical relationship between the two cannot be transposed. Otherwise, the Taoist "nothing" will become meaningless. Different from Hegel's point of view, , the Confucian "you" is not consciously transformed into "nothing" due to the lack of stipulations. On the contrary, it is precisely because of the excessive stipulations that it needs to be eliminated with "nothing" in order to realize a historical return.
Confucianism talks about being in the world and governing with action, while Taoism talks about doing nothing and being out of the world. However, the essence of Confucian "doing" and Taoist "inaction" are the same. They both advocate letting nature take its course and being content with the circumstances. The main difference lies in the "time" for which the argument is made. One "time" is a time of governance, and the other is a time of chaos.
The Confucian concept of "doing something" means that when the world is in order, one must be active and promising. The so-called "youwei" is actually "wuwei", that is, "having to do something" or "doing without doing anything", because the "youwei" in Confucianism is all "youwei" that conforms to the requirements of nature, or Analogy to the natural "doing". "The sky is moving vigorously, and a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement; the terrain is turbulent, and a gentleman carries his virtue with great virtue." This is the best explanation for this kind of "progress". Because according to the meaning of this sentence, the reason why a gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement is because "the movement of heaven is strong"; the reason why a gentleman should be virtuous is because "the terrain is Kun". This shows that the reason why a gentleman is active and promising is not modern. The so-called exertion of "subjective initiative" is an unavoidable act that conforms to nature and follows the laws of heaven and earth.
Taoist "inaction" is manifested in the time when there is no way in the world, that is, in troubled times. The so-called Taoism in the world means great order in the world; the so-called Taoism in the world means chaos in the world. The so-called "inaction" means not to "act rashly", that is, not to increase people's vain actions in the natural world, that is, to pursue selfish desires and self-interest, thus destroying the overall harmony and harmonious life, but to require all human actions and values ??to be We must conform to and obey nature, be in harmony with nature, and be in harmony with the community. The influence of Taoist thought seems to be relatively weak, but in fact it is not. This has a lot to do with the Taoist thought of inaction as a whole. In history, many Confucian scholars and officials followed Confucianism when they went to court, but worshiped Buddhism and Taoism after they came down from court. According to Huang Lao's philosophy, being quiet and inactive is also the nature of many Chinese people. Taoism is about doing nothing and doing everything. 3. Human Responsibility and Human Liberation
“Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world!” is the Confucian idea of ??human responsibility, while Taoism mainly talks about politics. Small art is eternal and focuses on the pursuit of human liberation.
The most fundamental thing about Confucianism is the secular nature of its emphasis on general ethics, which means that its purpose is to establish a rule for the secular society, but the core of Taoist thought is not this. Taoist thought is more of a concept for individuals to settle down and live their lives. The Confucian outlook on life takes the achievement of moral personality and the cause of salvation as the value orientation, cultivates one's morality internally, enriches benevolence, and helps the people externally, and governs the country and brings peace to the world. This is the way of being a saint within and a king outside. His attitude towards life is positive and enterprising. He has a strong concern for social reality and a sense of historical mission. He takes the world as his own responsibility, has unparalleled sympathy for his fellow men and others, does not do to others what he does not want others to do to him, and establishes others as he wishes. , If you are successful, you will be good at both heaven and earth, if you are poor, you will be good at yourself, and you will not join in the evil world. When there is a conflict between life and ideals, you would rather sacrifice your life to become a benevolent person, sue your life for righteousness, and achieve your own moral life. The Taoist outlook on life takes the value orientation of transcending the ties of worldly interpersonal relationships and obtaining personal inner peace and freedom. It is opposed to the mind being enslaved by the body, and does not reflect on external things. It does not care about the success of social undertakings, as long as everyone is in harmony. If we let nature take its course without disturbing each other, we will inevitably act on our own and cause each other to achieve a harmonious and peaceful society. It is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes. Their attitude towards life is negative and self-protection, the lowest goal is to avoid disaster for the whole life, and the highest goal is to save everyone's life. Either they are in the mountains or forests, or they are trapped in Lang City, and they have an obvious tendency to be born in the world. The outstanding Confucians are people with lofty ideals and benevolent people, while the typical figures of Taoism are the hermits of the Qing Dynasty.
Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Han Dynasty, cited the theory of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements to establish a theological system with "influence between heaven and man" as its core. He is not only a divine theologian who "reflects heaven and man" and "yin and yang disasters", but he is also an advocate of magical magic. Not only did he echo Confucian classics with the mysterious theory of yin and yang and the five elements, he also created methods of praying for rain, going to the altar, and playing tricks on gods. It was almost impossible to tell whether he was a Confucian scholar or a Taoist priest. This typical example just shows that although Confucianism and Taoism are two different schools of thought and culture, opposition and rejection are only one aspect, but more of a complementary structure of interdependence, absorption and integration.
The complementarity between Confucianism represented by Confucius and Taoism represented by Laozi is complementary in philosophical theoretical thinking. The complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism has influenced Chinese culture as a whole, giving Chinese culture a two-thousand-year-old humanistic spiritual tradition that is different from Western culture, and giving Chinese culture the characteristics of emphasizing the harmony of people and nature. , which promotes the development of Chinese culture in a direction with profound connotations.