Moral Canon - Essence of Chinese Traditional Culture (First Series)

Author: Laozi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: "If the Dao could be expressed in words, it would not be the true Dao. If the name could be clarified in language, it would not be the true name. 'The nameless' is the beginning of heaven and earth, and 'the named' is the origin of all things. Therefore, one must often observe and comprehend the mystery of the Dao from the perspective of 'the nameless,' and often observe and experience the hints of the Dao from the perspective of 'the named.' Both 'the nameless' and 'the named' originate from the Dao; they differ only in name, yet they refer to the same essence. The Dao is profoundly mysterious and far-reaching, serving as the ultimate path through which all things in heaven and earth come into being. Laozi introduces the concept of the Dao in the opening chapter of the Dao De Jing. The Dao is the core of Laozi's philosophy. Laozi believed that the Dao is the origin of all things in heaven and earth, so what are the metaphysical or material properties of the Dao? This question has long sparked widespread interest among scholars throughout history.
Han Feizi, who lived close to Laozi in time and was a scholar who commented on the Dao De Jing, explained the Dao as follows in his Explaining the Old (Jie Lao): 'The Dao is what makes all things what they are, and it is the standard by which all principles are measured. Principles are the patterns that constitute things, and the Dao is what makes all things what they are. Therefore, it is said that the Dao is the principle of principles.' This indicates that Han Feizi understood Laozi's Dao from a materialist perspective. Sima Qian, in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), listed Laozi and Han Feizi in the same biography (along with Zhuangzi and Shen Buhai), noting that Han, Zhuang, and Shen 'all drew from the meaning of the Dao, but Laozi was the most profound.' Wang Chong, a Han Dynasty scholar, also believed in the materialist nature of Laozi's Dao in his Discussions and Balances (Lunheng).
However, during the late Eastern Han and the Wei-Jin periods, the situation changed. Some scholars grasped the profound meaning of Laozi's philosophy that 'all things in the world arise from the named, and the named arises from the nameless,' affirming that the ultimate reality of the universe is a single 'nameless,' which came to be known as Neo-Daoism. Subsequently, Buddhism entered China and gradually flourished, merging with Neo-Daoism, leading to a shift in the interpretation of the Dao toward idealism. Neo-Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties also absorbed Buddhist and Neo-Daoist ideas, continuing to interpret Laozi's Dao from an idealist perspective. In summary, whether the Dao is idealist or materialist has remained a topic of debate among scholars.
In the chapter, Laozi also introduces the concept of 'name' alongside the Dao. This is because Laozi's Dao differs from the conventional Dao of rituals and music—it is an eternal Dao, and the 'names' it generates are not the names of rituals and music but universal names. This raises the issue of the relationship between name and reality, or between thought and existence. Laozi argues that in the original state of heaven and earth, there was no concept of 'name'; heaven and earth existed before concepts, independent of thought. Yet the origin of all things can be explained through the concept of 'name.' Here, Laozi's stance is clear: existence is primary, while thought is secondary, meaning 'reality' precedes 'name' and determines it.
Laozi believed that understanding is limited by subjective biases and obscured by desires. Only those who are free from subjective desires can grasp the essence and mystery of the Dao; otherwise, they gain nothing. Therefore, considering the relationship between name and reality as discussed above, Laozi's Dao can be classified as materialist. P2-3