Xiong Shili’s Interpretations Of Lao Tzu And Chuang Tzu’s Theories

Xiong Shili said he was interested in Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu during his childhood. Hestudied Buddhology at middle age and at his old age, he was converted to Confucian I Ching.The starting point of Xiong’s philosophy is based on Taoist philosophy and the destination ofhis philosophy is Confucian values. Related theory in Buddhology and San Xuan, whichrefers to the following books, Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu and I Ching, are also developed inXiong’s philosophy. Even though Xiong’s criticism on Lao and Chuang increasedsignificantly in his later stage, the basic system of his philosophical use of mind was reservedfinally.There are four aspects of Xiong’s interpretations on ontology and cosmology of Lao andChuang. Firstly, he interpreted Tao as noumenon that does not leave all things and does notexist independently. Secondly, he experienced the process of change when he interpreted“being and nothingness”. In earlier stage, he used “mind and substance” to explain“nothingness and being” and later used “noumenon and presentation” to explain “being andnothingness”. Thirdly, Xiong transformed “one creates two, two create three” to the principleof being opposite and complementary to help to understand “Xi Bi Cheng Bian” and “instantcreation annihilation”. Fourthly, when he interpreted “domination of noumenon oneverything”, he thought the foundation of Lao and Chuang’s theory was “She Yong Gui Ti”.There are two aspects of Xiong’s interpretation of the epistemology of Lao and Chuang.Firstly, he expanded Lao’s theory of “the act of learning makes one gain, the act of pursuingTao makes one lose” to the level of academic distinctions. This includes the dividing linebetween philosophy and science, as well as the different schools of Chinese philosophy.Secondly, Xiong considered Lao’s cognition of Tao was a self-realization that went beyondknowledge. Specifically speaking, it was mainly about “returning mind”,“emptying yourselfand keeping quiet” and “Ming Jue”. With regard to the life theory of Lao and Chuang, Xionginterpreted it from the perspective of life. In his view, the substance of the life theory was“Quan Xing Bao Zhen”, namely a state of life that combined individual life and universe life, which was also the ultimate ideal of the unity of man and nature. However, Lao and Chuang’sontology takes nothingness as the foundation and it adopts anti-knowledge and asceticism to keep the purity of life that finally leads life into nothingness.Generally speaking, Xiong Shili interpreted Lao and Chuang’s theories by using thethinking model of the unity of noumenon and its presentation. This added new vitalities to theresearch and development of Lao and Chuang and Taoists. However, Xiong criticized Lao andChuang from the perspective of Confucian values too strictly and subjectively in his laterstage, which was a deficiency in his interpretations.