The connotation of Huang Lao
So what is the content of the so-called Taoist scholarship of Huang Lao’s school? Of course, the one who best represents Taoist thought is Laozi. His book "Laozi" (also known as the "Tao Te Ching" in the era of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty) best represents Taoist thought, with the most systematic and specific narrative. The person who expounded and interpreted Laozi most clearly and correctly, and who promoted Taoist thought most thoroughly, was Zhuangzi. The book "Zhuangzi" written by Zhuang Zhou was also known as the "Nanhua Sutra" during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The principles discussed in it can be applied in various aspects such as politics, military, education, economy, etc. It has great influence on the achievements of historical figures and even on personal cultivation - cultivating Taoism, nourishing Qi, as well as establishing oneself, conducting oneself in society, etc. usefulness.
This does not only refer to the seven inner chapters of "Zhuangzi". In fact, for thousands of years, all dynasties have secretly used Zhuangzi's scholarship and taken the essence of "Outer Chapters" and "Miscellaneous Chapters" . Therefore, it is the Taoist learning of Laozi and Zhuangzi that has truly brought Chinese culture to its full glory over the past five thousand years. In particular, the "Outer Chapters" and "Miscellaneous Chapters" of "Zhuangzi" have the most parts. This was before the study of Laozi. A fact that must also be understood.
Modern people’s concept of Taoism is the concept held by people after the Han and Tang Dynasties. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was no separation between the so-called "Taoism" and the so-called "Confucianism" of Confucius and Mencius. They were all one word "Tao", and this word "Tao" represented China's religious outlook and also It represents Chinese philosophy - including philosophy of life, political philosophy, military philosophy, economic philosophy, and even all kinds of philosophy, all contained in this word "Tao".
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the famous scholar Ji Xiaolan, who edited the "Sikuquanshu", once said: "All the principles and things in the world have been described in the books of the ancients. If they are written again now, they still cannot surpass them. There is no need to write more about the scope of the ancients." This is indeed a famous saying. If you look at the ideological and academic works written by scholars from all over the world today, they all pick up the wisdom of the ancients, and even, to emphasize, they are all words that the ancient Chinese have already said. Therefore, Ji Xiaolan never wrote a book in his life, but only compiled books - sorting out the classics of his predecessors and systematically classifying Chinese culture to facilitate the study of later scholars. His own works are only "Notes of Yuewei Thatched Cottage". Just a book.
Because he relied on this attitude to learn, he naturally read a lot, and his understanding was deeper and more accurate than others. He made an eight-character comment on Taoist scholarship: "Comprehensive "Luo Baidai, Guangbo Jingwei" means that Taoist cultural thought includes the entire culture of China for five thousand years. "Extensive" means encompassing many things, and "subtle" means extremely refined and incredibly subtle.
However, Taoism also has great drawbacks. The techniques of drawing talismans, chanting mantras, swallowing knives and breathing fire have all become Taoist culture, as well as yin and yang, feng shui, fortune telling, medicine, martial arts, etc. etc., almost all of them are included, and they all belong to Taoist scholarship. Therefore, although it is "combined from all ages, extensive and subtle", it has also caused disadvantages.
If we read it from the perspective of "extensive and subtle", it is enough for us to discuss and elaborate.
Some people also say that when it comes to our history and culture, the so-called Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the era when the "Three Mysteries" of the "Book of Changes", "Laozi", and "Zhuangzi" were most popular. . However, the historical background of this era is a period of instability, chaos, and social, political, economic, and cultural decline for more than two hundred years. However, in terms of philosophical thought, due to the high-spirited speeches of intellectuals, it has also been promoted to the extreme. Therefore, some people say that the study of "Three Mysteries" is a book of decline and chaos, because in every era of decline and chaos, the study of "Three Mysteries" has become a book of decline and chaos. Will be particularly popular. This is because in the turmoil, people have lost their spiritual sustenance, and they hope to find a way out from this aspect. They went further and said that in this century, these three things are very popular, which shows that this era is of course an era of decline and chaos.
Actually, it is not necessarily what they say. If you have different stances on anything, your views will be different. Depending on the angle from which you stand, your impressions will be different. When we look at Chinese history, the heydays of the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were all based on the learning of the "Three Mysteries". Moreover, in Chinese history and culture, there is a difficult rule. Whenever the times are extremely chaotic and hopeless, the characters who come out to "rectify the chaos" are all Taoist characters. However, they have their usual style - "Success, fame, retirement, this is the way of heaven." Help others to build a good world and succeed, or in private career, help others make a fortune and become a boss, Then he drifted away. For example, Yi Yin and Fu Shuo during the Shang Dynasty, Jiang Taigong during the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Fan Li during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping during the founding of the Han Dynasty, and Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms were all Taoist figures. Jiang Taigong and Fan Li completely achieved the "Way of Heaven" of "success, fame, and retirement"; Zhang Liang was just a little bit close, but finally wanted to retreat but couldn't, and his ability was not great; as for Zhuge Liang, his attitude and conduct, It is completely a Confucian attitude, "dedicate yourself to death and die", which is appropriate.
For example, Wei Zheng in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Bowen in the Ming Dynasty, Fan Wencheng in the Qing Dynasty, etc., and there are many unknown and countless Taoist figures.
Decades ago, there was a popular trend in China to study the history of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, when studying chronological history, the history of the Ming Dynasty is the most difficult to study. If Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is the center of the research object, then we should pay attention to the general historical books. Several articles written by Zhu Yuanzhang himself were not adopted by many people, and they are indeed of great historical value. It is pointed out in these articles that there were several Taoists who helped Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the world. In fact, they are all Taoist characters who pretend to be crazy and act stupid. One of them is Zhou Dian, a native of Jianchang, Jiangxi. People only know his surname Zhou, but don't know his name. Because he often goes crazy on the streets, they call him Zhou Dian. In fact, he is a Taoist who learns the ways of immortals. Zhu Yuanzhang tested him many times. Once he put him in a steamer, covered it with a large vat, and steamed him with hot water for a long time. Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was steamed, so he moved the vat and opened the steamer to observe. Unexpectedly, he was doing something inside. The steam bath was the same as the popular sauna or Turkish bath. He was covered in sweat and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Hello! Your career can be completed. It's so comfortable!" Zhu Yuanzhang had nothing to do with him. But every time Zhu Yuanzhang encountered difficulties, he would appear and lend a helping hand. Like when he was fighting Chen Youliang, he also followed him. Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself that if this lunatic showed up, he would be in trouble. Going to fight Chen Youliang this time was originally a difficult and dangerous war, but here he comes again. It's really annoying. So he wanted to sink Zhou Dian into the river. Zhu Yuanzhang led his troops to Nanchang, but he still appeared out of nowhere. Sure enough, at the critical moment on the battlefield, he helped Zhu Yuanzhang again.
These characters are too mythical, and those who wrote official histories were mostly Confucian figures. Due to their traditional concepts, they did not include many historical facts. In fact, there are many such historical materials described in Zhu Yuanzhang's own works. Here is just one example.
Taishang Laojun and Li Laozi
Now let’s go back through the historical era. For example, the most famous "Reign of Wen and Jing" in the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han and his father and son Emperor Jing succeeded each other, which was the peak period of the Han Dynasty; It describes Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty who whispered to Concubine Yang in the middle of the night and swore that "he would like to be a winged bird in heaven and a branch on earth." When they were young, they used Taoist academics to establish their business in the early days - that is, "internal use of Huang Lao, Expressing Confucianism externally." The two eras of Han and Tang are considered to be the most impressive eras in the entire history.
This can prove that Taoist scholarship has the most important value in the opportunity of "rectifying chaos", and we cannot ignore it.
Looking at modern historical facts, the Qing army entered the customs and ruled the Chinese nation, which had a population of 400 million at that time, and established the Qing Empire. The strategy he used and the highest philosophical thought that led politics were the scholarship of "Laozi". The military tactics he used did not pay attention to "Sun Tzu" or other military books, and simply studied "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
To study the academic study of "Laozi" and its application in politics, economy, education, military, society, etc.; especially its relationship with the founding period of the People's Republic of China, we must clearly study the affairs of the past dynasties since Kangxi. Then you can probably understand the application of Lao-Zhuang philosophy.
Qing Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne as emperor at the age of twelve. At that time, China's territory was not actually completely under his rule. There were four powerful vassal towns and princes outside, and there were powerful ministers who held great power inside. His throne was still crumbling. However, in the next few years, he was able to remove internal obstacles and level off external forces, further laying the foundation for the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years. Because of his more than sixty years of hard work, he laid the foundation for peace and prosperity, and this was not achieved by accident. It can be said that with the achievements of the Qing Dynasty, it was more prosperous and prosperous than the Han and Tang dynasties.
Looking back at the traces of history and looking forward to the future, the turbulent era we are currently living in will probably not last much longer. According to the laws of history, it should be 1987, the year of Ding Mao. From now on, our national destiny and destiny will begin to turn towards the prosperous times like Kangxi and Qianlong, and it can last for two to three hundred years. I hope that modern young people will seize this opportunity. Then, they must understand Laozi's thoughts and doctrines. .
Most modern people call the book "Laozi" "Tao Te Ching" or "Laozi Tao Te Ching" because the first part of this book talks about "Tao" and the second half talks about "Virtue". Therefore, it has this alias, and it has been divided as far back as the Han and Tang Dynasties. According to the "Tao Te Ching Stele" built by Long Xingguan in Yizhou in the second year of Emperor Jinglong of the Tang Dynasty (708 AD), the content is the book "Laozi", and the front of the stele is engraved with the thirty-seventh chapter of the "Tao Jing" Chapter 44 of the De Jing engraved on the back. In addition, in Mou Zi's "Lihuo Lun" recorded in "Hongming Collection", there is a saying that "the rationale is based on thirty-seven articles, and it also contains the thirty-seven chapters of Pharaoh's Taoism", and Shanzi was from the Han Dynasty. It can be seen from this that as far back as the Han Dynasty, some people had divided the book "Laozi" into two classics: Tao and De. However, the use of the three words "Tao Te Ching" to collectively refer to the book "Laozi" may have been a habit that started in the Tang Dynasty.