A Discussion of the Meaning of ‘Dao’ and ‘Tian’ Based on the Political Thought of the Jingfa (Canonical Laws)
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Chu, Hung-Tao
Abstract
Ever since scholars started studying the ancient lost manuscripts preceding Version B of the Mawangdui Laozi in 1973, a good number of research results have been published. Nevertheless, as much of the research is premised on questionable views regarding the identity of these manuscripts, research methods and related results are compromised. It is my aim to change the current methodology and to arrive at a different set of conclusions. The concrete goal of my work is to understand the relation between the political thought and the concepts of ‘tian’ (天) and ‘dao’ (道) in the Canonical Laws (Jingfa 經法) of the manuscripts. Following this line of inquiry, I attempt to justify four related claims. Firstly, research on the ancient lost manuscripts preceding Version B of the Mawangdui Laozi is based on the ungrounded assumption that these manuscripts are authored by a single hand; it is reasonable to focus exclusively on the Canonical Laws. Secondly, the main concern of the Canonical Laws is political thought, with a focus on the behavior of the ruler; this political thought is relevant to the notion of ‘dao.’ Thirdly, since the current research on the notion of ‘dao’ in the Canonical Laws is flawed, a new analysis of the characteristics and the importance of the notion of ‘dao’ is needed; such analysis reveals that the notion of ‘tian’ may contain useful information for an accurate understanding of ‘dao.’ Fourthly, through a careful interpretation of the notion of ‘tian,’ we can come to a better understanding of the notion of ‘dao’ as well as the respective theoretical positions of both these notions in the Canonical Laws.
Subjects
Mawangdui
Huangdi sijing
Jingfa
Dao
Heaven/nature
Type
thesis
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