Professor Ye Zicheng of Peking University: Lao Tzu's political philosophy has no complete solution

The 40th chapter of Lao Tzu has only 20 words in total: "The movement of the opposite Tao, the use of the weak Dao." All things under the heavens are born of being, and some are born of nothing. In the explanation of this chapter, Ye Zicheng, director of the China Strategic Research Center of Peking University and professor of Peking University, recently gave a special lecture on "The Wisdom and Modern Significance of Lao Tzu" at the study and reading meeting.

Lao Tzu has 81 chapters, a total of more than 5,000 words, all written by Lao Tzu himself, not compiled by later generations. In the lecture on the same day, Ye Zicheng believed that there are several problems in the comments on Lao Tzu's thought in today's society: We have not seen that Lao Tzu's entire ideological system is centered on political philosophy; it is impossible to distinguish between the five organic components of Lao Tzu's political tao, virtue tao, zhi dao, shu dao, and instrumental tao, such as confusing Tao with art, insufficient understanding of the values of "the four selfs of the people", "making up for losses and suppressing the move", and "ruling the country by law" in Lao Tzu's political tao; and it is impossible to accurately distinguish the relationship between Lao Tzu's thought and the Zhuangzi school and the Huang Lao school, and so on. Although the essence of Lao Tzu's thought has been preserved and studied by future generations. However, due to the difficulty of writing, version, reference, distinction between factions, content and other reasons, Laozi thought has long been misunderstood and misunderstood. ”

In fact, the three major schools of Taoism, Confucianism, and Law in China are all about politics, and "Lao Tzu is a systematic work of political philosophy. When we understand and learn the wisdom of Lao Tzu, we should not be confused by the version, nor should we be misled by what our predecessors saw, but should re-objectively and seriously study Lao Tzu's political thought. Lao Tzu was the first political thinker to put forward the concept of 'taking the hearts of the people as the heart', and formed a political philosophy system of 'taking the hearts of the people as the heart'. Lao Tzu's political philosophy can be said to be the first political philosophy system in human history that 'takes the hearts of the people as the heart', and puts forward the trend and direction of the country's political development from the five aspects of political tao, moral tao, governance tao, shu dao, and instrumental tao. Ye Zicheng said, "The humanistic ideas in Lao Tzu have influenced Chinese culture for more than two thousand years and are an indispensable part of the treasure house of Chinese culture." Lao Tzu's political thought has a strong vitality, which not only affects the political consciousness of Chinese, but also has a wide impact on the entire human society. At the end of the lecture, Ye Zicheng concluded.

Text/Photo Li Xiaolu, all-media reporter of Guangbao Daily

(Source: Dayang.com)