The Basic Characteristics of Taoist Outlook on Life and Its Modern Significance

First, the basic characteristics of Taoist outlook on life

1, on living standards

Taoist view of life is based on Laozi, and one of the basic characteristics of Laozi's view of life is the establishment of life-oriented consciousness. The logical premise and foundation of Laozi's view of life is his consciousness of life worship, which is the foundation of Laozi's view of life. The basic content of Laozi's view of life is the consciousness of respecting morality, valuing body and cherishing life. Morality is an important concept of Laozi's philosophy. Its basic connotation means that the vitality of all things, especially people, comes from Tao and the inherent characteristics of life formed from it. The essence of virtue is precious human vitality and life characteristics. Laozi not only cherishes the inherent characteristics of life. He also attaches importance to the external form of life, which is reflected in his consciousness of attaching importance to the body. I put myself above everything. In the value comparison between body and name, body and benefit, body and the world. Laozi's value scale is aimed at the body. The existence of human life lies in its state of existence. In this regard, Laozi believes that life is a dynamic process of life, and morality and body are the static structure of life. Real life must be an organic combination of structure and process. He advocates cherishing the state of being alive, taking pictures and pursuing immortality. After Laozi, Zhuangzi inherited and developed Laozi's outlook on life. First, we have established the life value orientation of attaching importance to life and respecting life, and believe that fame and fortune, home country and the world are all things outside the body, and what really belongs to people and what people can really have is life itself. Therefore, people should cherish life itself, not the association outside the body, and second, advocate living all the year round. Making good use of life means being kind to life. Only in this way can Tao be embodied to the greatest extent. Based on this, Zhuangzi put forward the useless symbiosis method; The third is to promote health and even longevity. He put forward a whole set of health preservation methods, including keeping fit, nourishing the heart, dieting, abstinence and so on.

2. About nature care

Taoist outlook on life is a natural outlook on life in a certain sense, full of concern for nature. This kind of natural concern is manifested in Taoism's attribution of the original essence, the way of existence and the final destination of life to nature, which embodies the ideological characteristics of integrating life and nature from beginning to end.

The natural concern of Taoist life view is mainly reflected in:

(1) Life comes from nature. Laozi attributed the origin of life to Tao, and Tao in Laozi refers to the vitality existing in the popularization of the universe. This kind of vitality appears in the process of showing itself as all things in the universe, and the process of all things is the process of the gradual expansion of the yin and yang forces contained in the vitality of the universe. Man's life is the result of turning Tao into Qi and gathering Qi. This view of the origin of life takes Tao as the ultimate source of life and Qi as the material basis for the formation of life, which closely links life with the universe and nature itself and makes life and nature have a natural connection, which is an important content of Taoist view of life nature.

(2) Life exists in nature. First, life depends on the natural environment, and life must depend on the support of everything in the world to exist. Second, human beings and all things in nature have the same roots and are naturally connected. Zhuangzi called this relationship between man and nature a natural state in which man and nature are in harmony with each other.

(3) The essence of life is nature. Life is the essence of Tao, externalizing human nature is the embodiment of Tao, and only the state closest to Tao is the natural state of life.

(4) Take natural care as the end-result of life. As far as individual life is concerned, the destination of life is undoubtedly death; But as far as group life is concerned, the destination of life is not death, but in the reproduction of its children and grandchildren, and in the achievements it has established. Confucianism holds this view. Taoism brings the change of human life and death into the popularity of all things in the universe, and thinks that the change of life from birth to death is like the change of four seasons, which is a natural phenomenon. Life comes from Tao, grows and develops to aging and death, and finally returns to Tao, that is, to the root of life and to the embrace of nature.

In short, in the Taoist view, life is rooted in nature, exists in nature, and returns to nature, and nature is a veritable home of life.

Second, the life concern of Taoist life view and its practical significance

Taoist outlook on life, with its profound rational spirit and rich concern for life, has had a far-reaching impact in history. Moreover, in the real life where life care tends to be indifferent and the relationship between life and environment tends to be tense, the Taoist view of life also has practical significance. Taoist outlook on life contains a strong concern for life, which is reflected in the concern and thinking about how life should exist or how people should survive. How should human life exist? Taoist philosophers have made in-depth exploration and research on how life should exist, how to realize the value of life, and how to transcend the mental troubles caused by the end of life, and put forward unique solutions and ways. Regarding the way of life, Lao Tzu put forward the principles of humanity, weakness, kindness, frugality and not being the first in the world. He advocates being open-minded, calm and indifferent, advocating simplicity and simplicity, and advocating selfishness and no desire. He believes that such a way of life is most in line with the way of nature and is most conducive to preservation and long-term life. Zhuangzi also advocates that life should exist in a natural way, that is, without affectation, affectation, pursuit of external things, intrigue with others, and loss of his simple nature, and always maintain a normal heart. Taoist philosophers believe that life needs social peace, equality and fairness, members of society need to abide by the way of nature, and everyone can live in peace by their own labor. Faced with the unfairness in reality, Taoists, Laozi and Zhuangzi expressed their strong dissatisfaction with social reality and made sharp criticisms with the urgent mood of saving the world. They designed a way to save the world by doing nothing, showing obvious social concern.

The reason why Taoists care about society is that they care about life, and their social care is the embodiment of life care. Taoism is committed to improving the living environment of individuals out of concern for life itself. Taoism's strong concern for life is of great practical significance in contemporary times. Nowadays, productivity and science and technology are developing very rapidly, material wealth is much richer than in the past, people's living conditions have been greatly improved, and the external situation of human survival has also undergone fundamental changes. With the development of science and technology and the richness of material, people's eyes have turned to things outside their bodies. From the obsession and pursuit of money, power, fame and fortune, it can be seen that more and more people pay attention to external things and ignore life itself. Some people even try their best to try the law and go to the circle for things other than themselves. What is more, they lost their lives. China is in a period of social transformation. In such a special period, the mainstream culture and traditional values have been challenged, but the new mainstream values have not been established, and the society is in a state of value anomie, resulting in the phenomenon of value fracture.

Three. conclusion

Taoist thought is a thorough and rational consciousness of human situation in nature. It calls for a return to nature, yearns for and strives to realize spiritual freedom without any burden, and fundamentally creates a spiritual realm completely different from Confucianism, surpassing the realization of ethical and moral goals and the pursuit of material utility in life. The philosophical theory of caring for life established by Taoist philosophers more than two thousand years ago has its unique value in this respect. Faced with the disorder of modern social ethics and the loss of value, those of us who live in the era of fully developed instrumental rationality and cognitive ability can be inspired by Taoist philosophy of life and rethink the essence of life, the principle of survival, the attitude towards life and other major life issues. Therefore, people should cherish their life more, dilute fame and fortune, keep a normal mind, get rid of the pursuit of things outside their bodies, and return to the state that life should have. This is a life that truly belongs to people.