Lao refers to Laozi, and yellow refers to Huangdi. Laohuang means Huanglao thought: the thoughts of Huangdi and Laozi - the learning of Huanglao.

Huang-Lao thought is a school of philosophy and political thought in China during the Warring States Period. "Huang" refers to the teachings of Huangdi, and "Lao" refers to the teachings of Laozi. Huang-Lao School began in the Warring States Period and flourished in the Western Han Dynasty. It respected the thoughts of Huangdi and Laozi, and adopted the views of Yin-Yang, Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism and other schools. It inherited and developed Laozi's "Tao" thought and believed that "Tao" is the Objective necessity, "the virtual and the same are one, and the constant is one." In addition, it also emphasizes that "Tao generates law", advocating that "there is a distinction between right and wrong, judge it with the law, listen quietly and carefully, and use the law as a symbol", and believes that the monarch should "govern by doing nothing", "avoid harsh things, use less tax and restrain it, Don’t seize the people’s time.”

Huang-Lao's Thoughts:

In the social and political field, Huang-Lao's philosophy emphasizes that "Tao generates law" and advocates that "there is a distinction between right and wrong, judge it with the law, listen quietly and carefully, and Law is the symbol." It is believed that the monarch should "rule by doing nothing", "avoid harsh affairs, reduce taxes and restraint, and do not take away the people's time". The above proposition had a certain influence in the early Han Dynasty, and the "Government of Wen and Jing" appeared. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Huang Lao's learning was combined with the superstition of prophecy and evolved into a natural way of immortality, which had a certain influence on the formation of primitive Taoism.

Main transformation:

The progress of society is like a train with huge inertia and difficult for people to fully control. It will never slow down before it reaches the end. Once it reaches the end, it will If we slow down again, the huge inertia will drag the train far, far away from the ideal target.

Politicians in the early Han Dynasty had a famous saying: The techniques of offense and defense are different. These few words contain the heavy price paid with blood and lives. The establishment of the Qin Dynasty marked the completion of the social transformation of ancient China, and the diversification of political thoughts that accompanied the social transformation period would also come to an end. However, most thinkers and politicians at that time did not seem to realize this, and they were still interested in "freedom of thought" and still used their original thinking patterns to discuss politics and criticize characters. In the confrontation between ideas and power, ideas appear so fragile. In a small-scale burning of books and entrapment of Confucians, free ideas become the target of arbitrary power. The unification of ideas is an urgent political task, but people have different understandings of what kind of ideas should be used to "unify". Politicians in the Qin Dynasty unhesitatingly adopted past experience: using the law as teaching and officials as teachers.