The Role of Laozi's Thought in China's Traditional Culture

The role of Laozi's thought in China's traditional culture is as follows:

1. Philosophically, the concept of "heaven" is put forward, with "Tao" as the highest criterion.

This is a hot topic in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the pre-Qin philosophers and their works, there is no one who does not talk about "heaven". Each school puts forward questions and explanations from different angles, draws different conclusions and creates different schools. Only Laozi's Tao Te Ching takes "Tao" as the highest category, and takes it as the focus, raising it to an important position in the history of China's philosophy. Laozi is the first person.

Laozi's view of heaven says that "heaven" means inaction, and naturally there is no will. Began to question the lofty status of God. Tao in Tao Te Ching: Tao is chaotic and simple. Tao-nature already exists. Tao-the foundation of all things. Tao-the law of things.

Tao is a new concept put forward by Laozi for the first time, which is a bit difficult to express. It is nameless, simple, iconless, intangible and formless. Although there are many knowledgeable people to explain later, no one can touch the core of Laozi's thought.

Second, the first one put forward the concept of "nothing".

This is the first milestone in the history of China's philosophy. The first chapter of Tao Te Ching says, "Unknown is the beginning of heaven and earth; Fame is the mother of all things. " Everything in the world is born with it, and everything is born without it. This paper puts forward the questions about "nothing" and "being". This is an important theory of Laozi. Only by understanding the problems of "nothing" and "being" can we truly understand the Tao Te Ching.

"You" is the existence of a specific object and a specific state, while "Nothing" is the existence before the existence of a specific object and a specific state. Nihility is the predecessor of existence, and nothingness and existence are mutually transformed. The principle of "inaction" is applied to political life and summarized as the principle of governing the country: "Take the world and always do nothing".

When dealing with interpersonal relationships, we should follow the principle of "nothing" and adopt the principle of concession and convergence: "If you don't look at yourself, you will understand; Self-evident, so obvious; If you don't cut yourself, attack it; Not self-sufficient, so long. " "The husband does not dispute, and the world cannot compete with it." The profound value of Laozi's thought lies in summing up the concepts of "nothing" and "one negative" from the chaotic and diverse phenomena, and giving positive affirmation to the negative concepts.

In a word, I found and put forward "nothing" as a great contribution. His nobleness is to affirm life rather than passively escape from the world.

Third, put forward a dialectical view like the general characteristics of "water".

"If water is good, water is good for everything.

Living in a good place, kind-hearted, kind-hearted, good at words, good at governance, good at doing things, good at dealing with people. Husband is just indisputable, so there is nothing special. "I think water is the closest way. He quoted various phenomena in life that are similar or similar to water's personality as metaphors.

Live humble as water; Meaning as deep as water; Making friends is like water; Speak sincerely like water; As orderly as water for politicians; Everything is like water. ...

Water tells people that weakness is better than strength: nothing is weaker than water. And no power can defeat it, because its power is irreplaceable. The weak can overcome the strong, and the soft can overcome the strong. There is no one in the world who doesn't understand. Is that no one can do it.

Laozi's principle of respecting softness guides the use of troops, and then the enemy is the enemy; If it is used in combat, then wait; For powerful enemies, avoid reality and be empty. The Red Army led by China's * * * Production Party invented guerrilla warfare, defeated the powerful enemy with inferior forces, and gradually grew stronger. They were influenced by Lao Zi's weak dialectics to some extent.

In fact, it is very difficult to understand a copy of Tao Te Ching, and it is not easy to understand it. Laozi wrote this book more than two thousand years ago, which shows that he has a profound humanistic understanding of everything in the world. Maybe he is no longer the original himself, but the same with everything.