What are the main elements of Lao Tzu's dialectical thinking

Lao Tzu believed that both nature and human society are fluid and unstable. He observed that there are two contradictory opposites in everything in heaven and earth, such as existence and non-existence, rigidity and flexibility, strength and weakness, misfortune and fortune, rise and fall, etc., which are all interdependent and interconnected. That is why it is said, "The existence of nothing is born from each other, the difficulty and the ease are formed from each other, and the length is shaped from each other." It also says: "Nobility is based on inferiority, and superiority is based on inferiority," and "Woe is where fortune lies, and fortune is where misfortune lies," indicating the sameness of the two sides of the opposites. Lao Tzu also recognized that opposites are not static, and that they are transforming to the opposite side. He said, "Positive is strange, and good is evil," and "Curve is whole, wrong is straight, puddle is full, and new is new, and less is gained, and more is confusing. Lao Tzu recognized transformation, but emphasized that "the way of the sage is to be, but not to contend," and that "because he does not contend, there is nothing in the world with which he can contend.

Lao Zi's dialectical thinking is also prominent in the use of military strategy and tactics. In terms of tactics, he advocated the "use of military force by means of surprise", and also paid attention to "if the general wants to be weak, he should be strong" and "if the general wants to take away, he should be strong with him". Strategically, he put forward the guiding principle of "softness is better than strength", saying that there is nothing softer than water in the world, but there is nothing more powerful than it in attacking. This kind of strategic thinking has the aspect of preventing blind pride, but it is also extremely one-sided.

This simple dialectical thinking of Laozi had serious defects; he not only ignored the necessary conditions for the transformation of opposites, but also regarded the transformation of things to the opposite side as cyclical rather than as an ascending development. Laozi's doctrine had a great influence on the later development of Chinese philosophy, and both the materialistic and idealistic schools absorbed his ideas from different perspectives.

There is a negative side to Laozi's thought. Laozi lived in the Zhou Dynasty for many years, and at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou Dynasty became increasingly politically disorganized, and society was facing a great change. In the face of all this, he was negative and pessimistic, and put forward the idea of a return to the ancient times of "small countries and few people", "neighboring countries look at each other, the sound of dogs and chickens are heard, and people do not communicate with each other until they are old and dead" ("Tao Te Ching"). This ideal society to which he aspired was in fact nothing more than an early slave society that retained the vestiges of a primitive commune. This is obviously a kind of negative thinking of the declining class that drives history backwards