Laozi The Natural Way

Author: Zhao Nai-Zeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: The term "pre-Qin thought" primarily refers to the thoughts of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, feudal lords engaged in annexation, states launched invasions, powerful states attacked weaker ones, and large states absorbed small ones. The initial tax reform in Lu, the Tian family's overthrow of the Qi state, the division of Jin among the three families, Wuqi serving as prime minister of Chu, and Shang Yang's reforms—all were economic forces ruthlessly paving their own path. Behind the dazzling political and military stage, the economic base was quietly playing a decisive role, demonstrating its immense selective function. Amid fierce political, military, and diplomatic struggles, all classes and political factions sought their theoretical representatives, consciously or unconsciously shouting for their interests through their theorists and thinkers, and intensifying the refinement of their ideological weapons. This led to the spectacle of scholars debating freely and the Hundred Schools of Thought competing in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The outcome of this competition helped our nation shake off the ignorance and constraints brought by primitive witchcraft and religion, establishing a rationalistic cultural psychological structure. The thoughts of the various schools during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were both rich and complex. The works left behind by these schools were mostly compiled by later generations, and some were not the work of a single person at a single time. For example, regarding the Inner, Outer, and Miscellaneous chapters of the Zhuangzi, scholars still hold differing views on which parts were actually written by Zhuangzi. The Mozi contains both the words and thoughts of Mozi and those of his later followers. Who came first, Laozi or Confucius, is also a subject of debate, with no unified conclusion. Issues like these are avoided in this book. Because the target audience of this book is readers with a medium level of education, its task is simply to provide a popular introduction. If, after reading this book, readers gain a general impression of the thoughts and propositions of the various pre-Qin schools, that will have achieved the purpose of this book. The book is divided into eight volumes. Among them, Laozi, Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi each have their own volume; The Book of Changes, The, and The Art of War are combined into one volume.