Lao Zi Eco-political Theory And Its Modern Value

With environmental pollution, climate anomaly, resource depletion and other ecological issues become increasingly prominent, the ecological crisis has made human beings facing unprecedented survival challenges. In the Pre-Qin Taoism in China, with unique perspective to think over "Heaven-human" relationship, Lao zi proposed the "Dao is nature","Heaven-human in one,""Content is not shame,""inaction" and other simple but quite instructive ecological political thoughts. These are important cultural resources that people reflect on and solve the problem of human ecology, and give us an important reference in current environmental protection, sustainable development and building a harmonious society.In this paper, I firstly analyze Lao zi’s ecological and political theory from two aspects:the harmony between human and nature, the harmony between human and society About the harmony between human and nature, Lao zi advocated "and all things are equal," Heaven-human in one ";so we must be in harmony with nature, acting in accordance with the laws of nature to maintain ecological balance. About the harmony between human and society, the government should carry out an "inaction" policy, and govern people with justice; people should be simple, austere, less private desires to self-cultivation.Secondly, I respectively compare the ecological wisdom of Lao zi with Confucian Ecology and the Western eco-political theory:different from the Confucian Ecology of’utilize natura" and "human are superior to nature",Lao zi attached great importance to the force and fuction of nature. Lao zi denyed that human is the master and dominator of nature, emphasizing naturalization of humanself, hoping people do nothing to keep "Heaven-human in one". Compared with the Western ecological and political theory, Lao zi’s theory reveals more ethics color, he emphasized not only human and nature, harmonious human relations, but also concerned about people’s inherent harmony. And different from the West, concerning about control production, reduce pollution, Lao zi just warned people to be content. By contrast, Lao zi’s ecological wisdom of "Dao is nature " has a broader international significance and profound influence.Finally, I reveal three aspects of modern value of Lao zi ecological political theory: conducive to China’s practise of scientific development, building a socialist harmonious society; walking the path of sustainable development around the world for reference; helping us to self-cultivation and self-sublimation.All in all, Lao zi’s thoughts contain a wealth of ecological and political wisdom, which bring us a new hope for achieving human harmony. As an ideal state, Lao Zi’s "Dao" theory are not only the people’s spiritual life and the everything in nature ought to achieve, but also the self-transcendence of human reason and the self-improvement of mental state.