How does the Confucian idea of benevolent governance reflect in the contemporary harmonious society?

First, the rise of modern Taoist thought

China's traditional culture is often simplified to Confucian culture, which is mainly due to its long-term exclusive position with the support of the government. But in modern times, with the political and social turmoil, the abolition of the imperial examination system and the impact of new ideological trends, the privileged position of Confucian culture gradually lost, followed by the revival of philosophers. In this situation, Taoism has played an extremely important role because of its unique value. In the twentieth series of Taoist Culture Research edited by me, we mainly discuss the concern and development of modern scholars on Taoist tradition. This understanding can be divided into three stages.

First, the Confucian scholar Wei Yuan (1794- 1857) thinks that Confucianism is not enough to save evil, so he regards old learning as the treasure of governing the country and keeping the country safe. He called Laozi "the book of salvation" in the original meaning of Laozi, trying to play an active role in the innovation and salvation of Laozi. Later, Zeng Guofan (181-1872) put forward the idea of "taking Laozi and Zhuangzi as the body and Mo Yu as the use", which represented the efforts of this generation of intellectuals to seek old knowledge and apply it to the world.

Second, western learning spread to the east. Encouraged by the trend of liberal democracy, Yan Fu (1853- 192 1) repeatedly emphasized that "Lao Tzu's followers are also useful for democratic governance". I want to communicate China and the West, tradition and modernity through the intermediary of Taoist culture. This is an attempt to adapt the Taoist tradition to the requirements of modern society through a new interpretation. Similarly, there is Zhang Taiyan (1868- 1936). He introduced the theory of freedom and equality into his interpretation of everything.

Third, after the May 4th Movement, Taoist thoughts in academic circles became more prosperous. In addition to the emergence of many scholars who interpret Laozi and Zhuangzi, Wu Yu regarded Laozi and Zhuangzi as "negative revolutionaries" who opposed autocracy. Hu Shi believes that Lao Zi created a "revolutionary political philosophy" and especially praised Lao Zi's "inaction" view, which is in line with the modern way of governing the country. The most noteworthy thing in this period is the emergence of neo-Taoism and philosophers who are compatible with Confucianism and Taoism.

Modern China (1840- 1949) was an extremely turbulent era. Political turmoil has not only brought people suffering, but also brought enthusiasm and motivation for creation. This is especially true in the field of philosophy. During this period, many scholars who can be called philosophers appeared. This generation of scholars is knowledgeable and broad-minded, trying to establish their own theoretical system by integrating Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The great influence of Taoism can be seen in their philosophical concepts and thinking methods. Some of them are philosophical historians with Taoist feelings (Tang Yongtong and Meng), some are philosophers who integrate Confucianism and Taoism (such as Feng Youlan and Xiong Shili), and some are contemporary neo-Taoists (such as Jin, Zong Baili).

Second, the rise of modern neo-Taoism

Professor Dong Guangbi published "Contemporary Neo-Taoism" in 199 1, mainly introducing Needham, Yukawa and capra, three "contemporary Neo-Taoists" with scientific humanistic spirit in the world, and thinking that this branch they represent "discovered the modernity and world significance of Taoist thought and showed it. After the publication of this book, it attracted the attention of academic circles. When scholars feel the joy that Taoist culture has become a world cultural heritage, they can't help asking: Is there a new Taoism among contemporary China scholars?

Are there any neo-Taoist figures in contemporary times? Scholars of Taoist studies do not seem to respond to this question immediately. After the publication of Dong Wengang, we founded Taoist culturology. Since the publication of this journal, our eyes have focused more on the excavation and interpretation of ancient cultural heritage, and the unearthed prosperous literature has strengthened our work in this regard. At present, The Study of Taoist Culture has been compiled into nineteen episodes. In this series, we have begun to make a preliminary discussion on the contemporary influence of Taoist thought.

After a year or two of careful planning and drafting, and combined with the convening of the "96 Beijing International Symposium on Taoist Culture", some experts and scholars were invited to hold a special discussion in the conference group. At this meeting, the name of "contemporary new Taoism" was put forward for the first time. Some young scholars have published relevant academic papers and declared scholars such as Yan Fu, Zhang Taiyan and Jin He as contemporary neo-Taoists. Now I will summarize my colleagues and personal views in this journal as follows:

First of all, we are mainly concerned with the field of philosophy. However, we also extend from the field of philosophy to the field of ideological history and cultural history. Secondly, we believe that both neo-Confucianism and neo-Taoism must establish their own theoretical system, or make breakthroughs and innovations in ideology. Based on this, we believe that the following can be called new Taoism:

Yan Fu was the first outstanding epoch-making thinker who combined middle school with western learning. He introduced the concepts of evolution and natural human rights, and tried to graft the seeds of new democratic ideas on the soil of Taoist culture. He linked Zhuangzi thought with natural expression; Laozi's concepts of "security", "harmony" and "Thailand" are interpreted as freedom, equality and gregarious. He attacked the monarchy and advocated civil rights, pointing out, "Is the monarch's weapon Confucianism?" While criticizing Confucianism as the official weapon, he repeatedly pointed out that Laozi had a "democratic" tendency. He excavated the traditional resources of liberalism, which marked the combination of Taoist thought and the spirit of the times. Yan Fu's efforts have opened up a broad new world for Taoist thought and endowed it with new significance of the times.

When Yan Fu introduced western thoughts, he mainly focused on political thoughts, but less on philosophical thoughts. Wang Guowei, who was later than Yan Fu, had a deeper philosophical view than Yan Fu. Wang Guowei was addicted to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche in his early years. After thirty, he gradually turned from philosophy to literature. Among the works he left behind, the most well-known Ci-Hua on Earth expounds the realm of poetry creation with Zhuang Xue's selflessness, which is fascinating and timeless. If Yan Fu is a new Taoist in the field of political thought, Wang Guowei is a new Taoist in the field of literature.

Jin, a neo-Taoist figure in philosophy, first introduced the rigor and originality of his thought.

Jin (1895- 1984)' s main works include Logic, Knowledge, Argument and On Tao. The former has a far greater influence in the philosophical field than the latter, and his On Tao is a brand-new reflection on China's traditional philosophy, which has only recently been interpreted by young and middle-aged scholars such as Hu Jun and attracted academic attention. In On Tao, Jin still regards the Tao of Laozi and Zhuangzi as the highest and highest category, while Laozi refers to it with the concept of nothingness, and Jin analyzes Tao with the concepts of form and function. Commentators say: In China's philosophy, there are two major breakthroughs in the metaphysics of Tao (Wang Zhongjiang-Wen's "Study of Taoist Culture" Series 8). First of all, Laozi endowed Tao with common sense of metaphysical ontological or ontological significance. For thousands of years, although the metaphysical Tao has been carefully discussed by great philosophers such as Wang Bi, Zhang Zai, etc., its content is still out of the basic category of Laozi and Zhuangzi, until modern western philosophy is well trained. Laozi's metaphysical way has been endowed with a brand-new connotation. He has formed a strict logical system with the concepts of infinite Tai Chi, movement, nothingness and chaos created by the original Taoism, which has completely changed the connotation and appearance of the traditional metaphysical way. Lun Dao is far more pioneering and rigorous than other neo-Taoists and neo-Confucianists in the theoretical system construction.

Dong Mei (1899- 1977), a contemporary of Jin, has profound attainments in western traditional philosophy. He grasped the spirit of China's philosophy from the combination of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, praised primitive Taoism and affirmed the philosophical spirit of Zhouyi, but belittled The Analects, thinking that it had neither cosmology nor ontology, but only "motto (? He strongly criticized the orthodoxy of contemporary neo-Confucianism and believed that Mo Dao, a famous scholar in the pre-Qin period, showed great knowledge. " In the era of outstanding learning, we don't talk about orthodoxy, just talk about learning. "He pointed out that the disadvantages of learning originated from orthodoxy. Mr. Fang's philosophical thoughts are mainly rooted in traditional philosophies such as Yi, Lao Zi and Hua Yan. From a large number of recorded speeches and English works in his later years (China's Outlook on Life, the Creativity of Man and Nature, and China's Philosophy: Its Spirit and Its Development), wherever he is, he carries forward the positive spirit of aging. When discussing China's philosophy, he often compares it with western philosophy, emphasizing that the universe of China's sages is a kind of value realm, which contains infinite beauty, and Zhuangzi's life sentiment and artistic feelings are always permeated between the lines.

Zong Baihua, an aesthetic master who worked with Fang Dongmei, should also be among the new Taoists. As long as we read his Aesthetic Walk, we will understand that his views have much in common with Fang Dongmei's, and they all admire Zhuangzi's life sentiment and artistic spirit. However, he elaborated from the perspective of "the same origin of poems and books", thus subtly conveying the artistic soul and universal feelings of China people.

Among modern philosophers, there are some scholars who are different from Fang and Zong. They have profound knowledge of academic history and a clear grasp of academic schools, and reconstructed the special position of Taoism in academic history from rigorous academic works. Tang Yongtong and Meng are the most Taoist scholars. Meng has made a special contribution to the historical exploration of the theory of separation and integration of North and South Taoism, and Tang Yongtong is not only a keen and thoughtful historian of philosophy, but also a major breakthrough in the ontological construction of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties.

During this period, some philosophers compatible with Confucianism and Taoism appeared, such as Feng You and Xiong Shili. They have always been regarded as representatives of Neo-Confucianism, but the connotation of their philosophical theory is actually mainly constructed by Taoism, but their influence in this respect has been concealed. www.taoismcn.com

When talking about China's philosophical tradition, Feng Youlan quoted the difference between Laozi's "learning" and "being Tao", and thought that philosophy belongs to the category of being Tao and lies in improving the spiritual realm. When talking about the meaning of life, Feng Youlan thinks that the highest realm is the realm of heaven and earth, and he himself admits that the realm of heaven and earth is the "moral realm" of Laozi and Zhuangzi. When he talked about philosophical methods, he especially mentioned the importance of negative methods, but he also made it clear that negative methods had existed for a long time in Taoism, and the construction of its philosophical system depended largely on Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. However, he did not follow Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, but continued to talk about Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. After in-depth analysis and careful argumentation with Zhang, his "continuation" was not the Confucian part of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, but the Taoist part.

Xiong Shili's ideological system is based on San Xuan, and his interpretation of Lao Dao is also unique. The Taoist elements in Xiong's works are more obvious than those of Feng, but this is another problem.

In short, in the development of modern China's ideological history, we can see the strong vitality of primitive Taoism, which has a distinctive Taoist thought in the contemporary era (II), whether in the general knowledge group or in the academic school.

Taoist Thought of Chen Guying III in Philosophy Department of Taiwan Province University. Taoist Political Wisdom, Life Realm and Metaphysical Speculation

Contemporary attention to Taoist culture shows the vitality of this tradition. This vitality comes from the combination of the inner life of Taoist tradition and the spirit of the times. The inner life of Taoism is expressed through its wisdom, which can be understood from at least three aspects:

1, Political Wisdom As far as the understanding of Taoism in the Han Dynasty is concerned, from Sima to Ban Gu, the main emphasis is on its political wisdom. From Laozi to Huang Lao, it is all authentic Taoism. The political wisdom of Taoism is developed through the concepts of inaction and nature. Inaction is the requirement of the monarch, and it advocates restraining the excessive expansion of personal desire for power and doing everything according to reason. Nature requires rest and respect for the rights and responsibilities of subjects. This kind of political wisdom was put into practice in the early Han Dynasty, creating a peaceful scene known as the rule of Wenjing in history.

2. The wisdom of life is represented by Zhuangzi, and the wisdom of life contained in Taoist works is endless. On the one hand, Zhuangzi looks for ways and skills to deal with the world. On the other hand, as shown in the story of I Know Cows, he raised this skill to the level of Tao, thus endowing a miserable life with artistic spirit, and maintaining the independence, freedom and tranquility of the mind while prospering the secular world.

3. Speculative Wisdom Compared with other schools, Taoism puts social, political and life issues in the cosmic background, not limited to the real world, thus greatly expanding the human mind in time and space. While pushing the world from the tangible field to the intangible field, the thought itself has also gone from shallow to deep. Taoism seriously thinks about the origin of everything in the world and tries to find the basis of social politics and life. This kind of thinking created the metaphysical tradition in China culture and the main conceptual categories of China metaphysics, such as Tao and reason. Yes, no; Virtual and real; Dynamic and static; Constant and variable are mostly from Taoism. It is through the interpretation of these categories that China's philosophy shows a strong speculative color.

—— Excerpted from the twentieth series of Taoist Cultural Studies.

Fourthly, the opportunity for the revival of Taoist tradition in the contemporary era.

The wisdom contained in the Taoist tradition shows a unique understanding of the universe, society and life, which is of universal value because of its profundity. Although the rejection of Confucianism by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made Taoism popular only among the people, it was still regarded by many scholars as the main resource to criticize Confucian classics and real politics, which provided the living motivation for people in trouble.

1, critical consciousness A deep impression of Taoist thought to ancient and modern people is its strong critical consciousness. This impression comes from the deep-rooted criticism of the real society and values in the Taoist tradition. Since Laozi, Taoism has strongly emphasized the difference between truth and secularity. For Laozi, the relationship between truth and secularity has become an important issue. This pursuit of "truth" makes everything in secular society in a state of introspection and criticism, especially political power and political ethics. Historically, the Confucian tradition, which represents the mainstream political culture, has often faced challenges from Taoism, and has continued to develop with the help of the critical wisdom of Taoism in many crises. History shows that this critical consciousness is an indispensable factor for cultural development and social progress. In contemporary society, with the further development of secularization, the critical consciousness of Taoism can make people maintain their ideological independence in the noisy downtown, and constantly examine various existing values and orders, which is conducive to the balanced and harmonious development of individuals and society.

2. Taoism's critical consciousness of social order did not make it a denier, but also put forward a new theory of value and order for the existing world. Taoism is not only negative, but also a builder of social order. Laozi's Tao itself is a symbol of human order. Later, Huang Lao's theory advocated "Tao gives birth to law", that is, establishing a new order different from Confucianism on the basis of Tao. Unlike Confucianism, which appeals to human feelings and advocates kissing, Taoism pays more attention to the aspect of heaven, and understands "fairness", "righteousness" and "selflessness" as the spirit of order. This spirit is easier to adapt to the ideal of democracy and rule of law in contemporary society. Compared with Confucianism, Taoism has more important resources in promoting contemporary social order and value.

3. Cosmic Spirit Compared with other traditions, Taoism's emphasis on heaven has opened up a broader space for people's thinking. Thinking about personnel is not limited to human beings, but has extended to the whole universe. This cosmic spirit makes the Taoist tradition contain more topics that can be applied to contemporary society, such as the relationship between man and nature. Taoism maintains human order from the natural order and understands nature according to nature, which can better form the integrated relationship between man and nature. The harmonious coexistence between man and nature, which is generally valued by contemporary society, is naturally a positive ideological resource.

4. The Taoist tradition of artistic conception of life, through metaphysical thinking, leads people to surpass the intangible world with the tangible world. Under this transcendence, human life has different meanings. For example, get rid of people's usual obsession with usefulness and develop useless wisdom. This makes people's life go beyond the pursuit of utility and have an aesthetic and artistic soul. This promotion of personal life is obviously of great significance to people in contemporary society.

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