Confucius said, "It's fun to eat and drink water and bend your arms and pillow it." . Unjust wealth is like a cloud to me. "(The Analects of Confucius) also said:" One scoop of food, one scoop of drink, in a humble alley, people can't bear to worry, and they won't change their interest when they go back. Xian zai returns. "(The Analects of Confucius Yongye) Kong Qiu means that a person can live a happy life even in a bad environment. He doesn't mean that poverty itself is a kind of happiness. Kong Qiu and Yan Hui are not enjoying poverty itself. They just "don't change their fun", even in a bad environment. What are they happy about? This is a problem. Zhou Dunyi's tutorial "What pleasure do you like to find in Confucius? "Is to clearly put forward this problem. Hao Cheng said that their brother got it from Zhou Dunyi. The discussion on this issue later became a major content of Taoism.

Where is Confucius' joy? What is it? Zhou Dunyi gave some answers in the general book. "Tongshu" said: "There are the most expensive, richest, lovely, agreeable and extraordinary things in the world (worldly wealth). See its big forget its small. Look at it, you will be moved, you will be moved, and you will not lack it. If there is no shortage, it is one of the rich and the poor, and one of the places can be reconciled (rich and poor), so Yanzi is a saint. " (Yanzi 23) This answer is not comprehensive, because he did not explain what is "the most expensive and richest" or why the so-called "the most expensive and richest" is "the most expensive and richest".

According to the explanation of Zhou Dunyi's Taiji Diagram, Taiji Diagram represents a theory of universe generation, starting from "infinite Taiji" and going down layer by layer until "all things are transformed". It uses many words "life", but it doesn't say what "life" is. This "life" can be living life, just like a mother giving birth to a child, or lifeless life, just like a factory producing machines. The Book of Changes says: "Heaven and earth are great virtues, that is, life", but it does not say what kind of life this "life" is. With so many words "life" used in Taiji illustrations, Zhou Dunyi may also mean "the size of heaven and earth means life". Although Zhou Dunyi did not specify what "life" is like, we can infer that what he said is living. He likes to "leave the grass in front of the green window." Someone asked him why he didn't do it, and he said, "Just as he meant." He said, "Look at the biological weather of heaven and earth." Judging from these words, he believes that "heaven and earth" has "business", that is, life. This "business" is shared by "I" and everything. The moral expression of this "business" is "benevolence". It can be seen that "what Kong Yan enjoys" lies in "benevolence" and "what he enjoys" is also "benevolence". This truth is clearly stated by Cheng Hao in his "Knowing the Benevolence", which shows that Zhou Dunyi is really Cheng Hao's teacher.

Cheng Hao said, "Ever since I met Uncle Zhou Maoshu, I have been flirting with the moon and returning to China, which means' I am with you'." What does "Me and Point" mean? It has been quoted above that there is a long explanation in Zhu's Annotation to the Analects of Confucius (see Chapter 49 of the General Theory of Taoism in this volume), which is about the greatest happiness that a person can get in his life. Cheng Hao could not have seen Zhu's notes, but Zhu's notes may have absorbed Cheng Hao's meaning. Buddhism gives people the illusion of a "paradise", while Taoism gives people the illusion of a "paradise full of land", and preaching them can make people have a happy life. Taoism criticizes Taoism and Buddhism, which can make people have a happy life. The so-called "happy life" in Taoism and Buddhism is based on the denial of society and life; The happy life of Taoism is based on affirming society and life. This is a remarkable advantage of Taoism. There is another feature. Taoism believes that a happy life is a by-product of self-cultivation, not the main purpose of "looking for sages and sages". The main purpose of "looking at sages" is to be a complete person who meets human standards. Perfect people naturally have this kind of happiness, but a perfect person naturally has this kind of happiness, not to be a perfect person for this kind of happiness. If so, he is selfish, he is not a complete person, he can't be a complete person, and he can never be a complete person.

In his early years, Cheng Yi wrote an essay "On why Yan Zi is eager to learn", in which he said, "If Yan Zi is only good, why should he be eager to learn?" Learn to be a saint. "This sentence expresses the overall goal of Taoism. This is a paper written by Cheng Yi when he was studying in imperial academy. He may have learned this sentence from Zhou Dunyi. There was originally a chapter in Zhou Dunyi's Tongzhi called "Knowing Learning", which said: "Scholars are like sages, sages are like saints, and sages are like heaven". Cheng Yi didn't mention Yan Hui's "music", because this kind of "music" is a by-product of the spiritual realm of the sage, not the purpose of the sage.

Wang Gen, a Taoist in the Ming Dynasty, wrote the Song of Learning Music, saying, "The happiness of the human heart is bound by one's own selfish desires. When selfish desires are exhausted, the heart is still happy. Happiness is learning, and learning is learning this kind of happiness. Unhappiness is not learning, and not learning is not happiness. " The first four sentences of this song tell the truth of Taoism, but the following is wrong, especially "learning is learning this kind of fun". If so, Yan Hui learned the way of seeking happiness, not the way of connecting saints.

Generally speaking, Zhou Dunyi has put forward the theme of Taoism and made a preliminary solution. It is no accident that Taoists all admire him as a senior.