Study On Guan Yin Zi And Daoist Learning Of Life

The concept "Daoxue" in this paper refers to "Daoist Learning" which is based on Laozi's theory of Dao and aimed at integrate into Dao ultimately. It probes into the reason of nature, society and life and explores the wisdom of survival. Seeking after the history of Daoist Learning, of which solicitude of life is one of main characteristics, this paper put forward a new theory of "Daoist Learning of Life" which founds on Laozi' theory of Dao and instructs one to understand Dao for nourishing life and integrate with Dao for pursuing immortal.It was said that the author of Guan Ying Zi was Yin Xi, who was official guarder of Hangu and asked Laozi to write the famous article according to The Records of the Great Historian. But The Records of the Great Historian didn't say that Yin Xi had written a book too. It is The Book of Han which records Guan Yin Zi including 9 chapters while later catalogue in Sui Tang and early Song Dynasty didn't record it until Catalogue and Remark of Zhizhai written by Chen Zhensun. Most scholars agree that the existing Guan Yin Zi is counterfeit. They identified it through investigating where it came from, recognizing the style of language in it and discussing the social context, but there is still not a final conclusion that when it was forged. In this paper, there is an original method for deducing when the existing Guan Yin Zi was written by probing into the text, digging the idea and comparing the history of Daoist Learning of Life.The paper contains four parts, namely,Introduction: Firstly, I define the meaning of "Dao Xue" and "Daoist Learning of Life"; secondly, introduce the book Guan Yin Zi and review the achievement of studying it; thirdly, present studying method, significance and main idea of this paper.Chapter 1: Observe all Yin Xi's life, study Guan Yin Zi, analyse the structure of Guan Yin Zi, then come to a preliminary conclusion that the book was written between Tang and Song Dynasty.Chapter 2: Trace the development of "Daoist Learning of Life", expound the idea of it and compare it to the idea of "Daoist Learning of Life" in Guan Yin Zi, then approve that Guan Yin Zi was written between Tang and Song Dynasty.Chapter 3: Sum up the content and characteristic of Daoist Learning of Life, namely, the life ideology of looking up to Dao and cherishing life, the life experience of understanding Dao and practicing Dao, the life objective of integrating with Dao.