What role did traditional Taoist thought play in modern development?

Taoism was one of the most important schools in hundred schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China. Its profound philosophical significance has played a decisive role in the long history of China through continuous inheritance and development. We can still find some solutions to various problems in today's society from Taoism. Therefore, Taoist thought not only has profound significance in the past, but also its modern significance can not be ignored.

First, Taoism in modern society

With the tide of industrial revolution, mankind has entered an era of great development of productive forces, and people have discovered some laws.

And apply it to production and life, so as to improve living standards. It can be said that scientific progress has brought great material satisfaction to mankind. However, in the past two centuries, due to the predatory exploitation of natural resources by human beings, the ecological balance has been destroyed, which has led to a series of natural disasters, such as global warming and environmental pollution, many of which have begun to threaten human survival, which are caused by human beings violating the laws of nature. Now, people have begun to realize this, pay attention to the protection of the ecological environment, and put forward the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, which coincides with Taoist thought. As early as more than two thousand years ago, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching said, "There are four domains, but no one lives there." Man is a part of nature, so human activities will inevitably affect the environment, and will also react on ourselves through the environment. Therefore, we must follow the laws of nature in order to achieve sustainable survival and benefit our own development. Similarly, Taoism also advocates "harmony", which is deeply infiltrated into the traditional culture of China. This expression of Taoism is profound and philosophical. "Tao, law and nature" regards the whole world as an interconnected whole with natural development, and the overall harmony lies in the natural development of each according to its own conditions, rather than being forced by external forces. Moreover, the "Taoist Opposition Movement" emphasizes that contradiction is a kind of "harmonious dialectics" which is based on weakness and step by step, which is conducive to alleviating the tension and confrontation between people in society and conforms to the theme of "peace and development" in today's world. In today's world, peace is constantly threatened and destroyed by racial discrimination, resource competition, hegemonism and many other factors. This will help us to re-understand the "harmony" advocated by Taoism.

Second, the Taoist thought contained in modern science With the progress and development of modern science, human beings have approached the truth step by step, and made rational use of these discovered natural laws, which further improved our quality of life and promoted our enthusiasm for continuing to study natural laws. At this point, in Taoist thought, we can also realize the love of ancient Taoism for nature, and the exploration of nature is strikingly similar to the scientific pursuit of contemporary human beings. For example, in medicine, modern people also pursue a scientific way of keeping in good health, that is, following the laws of nature. The Taoist thoughts such as "quietness", "returning to simplicity", "conforming to nature" and "harmony is precious" have great influence and promotion on TCM health preservation. The combination of form and spirit advocated by it coincides with the definition of health in modern medicine, that is, physical and mental health. It can be seen that Taoist thought is scientific and conducive to inspiring scientific research.

At the same time, Taoist thought experienced the "contention of a hundred schools of thought" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" in the Han Dynasty, and developed into metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. However, it has survived the postgraduate entrance examination and continues to this day, and it is still an important philosophical thought. Contemporary people's research and development on it is conducive to the further development of social sciences, especially philosophy. In this sense, Taoist thought also promoted the development of science.

Third, the embodiment of Taoist thought in modern economic law

The core of Taoist thought is "inaction". In Tao Te Ching, there is a saying that "heaven and earth are heartless and everything is a grass dog", which embodies a philosophical thought of "inaction", that is, "natural inaction" means conforming to the original development law of things and not forcibly interfering with or changing the development process of things, which is undoubtedly an important enlightenment for politicians in the market economy. In economic activities, we can't interfere excessively with some normalcy. Similarly, for enterprises, the idea of "inaction" provides us with a new management model-"soft management", which is very beneficial to the long-term development of enterprises. On the other hand, Taoism advocates the ideas of "getting something for nothing" and "being selfish and unprofitable", and understanding these ideas is conducive to preventing and controlling all kinds of individualism and money worship ills under the market economy. This has reference significance for moral construction under the current market economy.

Fourth, personal cultivation and Taoist thought Some people say that the "inaction" emphasized by Taoist thought is a negative thought of avoiding the world. From its development history, we will undoubtedly see this negative influence of Taoist thought in the process of inheritance. However, its positive influence on our personal cultivation can not be ignored, such as "Taoism is natural", which emphasizes that everything follows the laws of nature and reveals an idea of equality and freedom. Its thought of "doing things without dispute" and "benefiting others for self-interest" is helpful for us to cultivate a realm beyond fame and fortune, which can make our cultivation reach a higher level. So Taoist thought is of great significance to us personally.