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1、•••7•••THENATURALWAYOFLAOTZUCHINESEcivilizationandtheChinesecharacterwouldhavebeenutterlydifferentifthebookLaoTzuhadneverbeenwritten.Infact,evenCon-fucianism,thedominantsysteminChinesehistoryandthought,wouldnothavebeenthesame,forlikeBuddhism,ithasnotescapedTaois
2、tinfluence.NoonecanhopetounderstandChinesephilosophy,religion,government,art,medicine—orevencooking—withoutarealapprecia-tionoftheprofoundphilosophytaughtinthislittlebook.Itistruethat,whileConfucianismemphasizessocialorderandanactivelife,Taoismconcentratesonindi
3、viduallifeandtranquillity,thussuggestingthatTaoismplaysasecondaryrole.But,inreality,byopposingConfucianconformitywithnon-conformityandConfucianworldlinesswithatran-scendentalspirit,TaoismisaseverecriticofConfucianism.Initsdoc-trinesongovernment,oncultivatingandp
4、reservinglife,andonhan-dlingthings,TaoismisfullytheequalofConfucianism.InsomerespectsTaoismgoesevendeeperintotheWayoflife,somuchsothatwhileeveryancientChineseschooltaughtitsownWay(Tao)1Taoismaloneisknownbythatname.Ofcoursethename"Tao-istSchool"wasnotuseduntilthe
5、firstcenturyB.C.,2buttheteachingsofLaoTzuandChuangTzuaboutTaoweresoimpressiveandinfluentialbeforethattimethatthenamewasinevitable.WhereasinotherschoolsTaomeansasystemormoraltruth,inthisschoolitistheOne,whichisnatural,eternal,spontaneous,nameless,andindescribable
6、.Itisatoncethebeginningofallthingsandthewayinwhichallthingspursuetheircourse.WhenthisTaoispossessedbyindividualthings,itbecomesitscharacterorvirtue(te).3Theideallifefortheindividual,theidealorderforsociety,andtheidealtypeofgovernmentareallbasedonitandguidedbyit.
7、Asthewayoflife,itdenotessimplicity,spontaneity,tranquillity,weakness,andmostim-portantofall,non-action(wu-wei).Bythelatterisnotmeantliterally"inactivity"butrather"takingnoactionthatiscontrarytoNature"—inotherwords,lettingNaturetakeitsowncourse.TheTaoistphilosoph
8、yisperhapsbestsummedupintheChuangTzu,whichsays,"Toregardthefundamentalastheessence,toregardthingsascoarse,toregardaccumulationasdeficiency,andtodwell1Literallypath,ro
