The Pre-qin Taoism’s Perspective Of Cultivating One’s Mind And Body As Well As Governing The Country

In this article, the Pre-qin Taoism refers to Laotzu, Chuangtzu, the school of the Emperor Huang and Laotzu.In the introduction, we make clearly definition about the theoretical basis of The Pre-qin Taoism’s perspective of Cultivating one’s mind and body as well as Governing the country----"the spontaneous order", and two related core concepts ("spontaneous order" and cultivating one’s mind and body). We think, since Laotzu, Taoism tried to look for a new ultimate guideline from the natural world (including the nature and human society) for the reorganization of the social order. They observed that:(1) the development and transformation of all the things is naturally in the universe, and no power hidden in the behind control and guide the human’s will, but the result is that the human society is organized perfectly;(2) the most powerful force in the universe is not any kind of powerful force spewing out instantly, but the power (flexibility and endless) which don’t be detected by us grow up secretly and gradually. This mystery of the great natural rule is called "inaction" and "emptiness". Accordingly, they argue, as a social leader shall be profound comprehension to this great mystery of the natural rule, and the social leaders preserve his health and ultimate govern his country on the basis of this theory. It is said that the Taoism’s perspective of cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country had a self-evident presuppositions:if the social leaders grasped the essence of "the spontaneous order of Taoism, cultivating their mind and body as well as governing the country were quiescence, pioneered the personality demonstration, so the people will be submitted, the great therapeutic principle would like water following. In other words, physical and mental harmony, it was the result of the social leaders grasped the essence of "the spontaneous order of Taoism rather than the opposite.In the first chapter, we analyze the nature of meaning of Laotzu’s spontaneous order, points out that "Tao" in the main sense is not a theory of knowledge, its characteristic is complex. Laotzu discovered the existence of Hayek elucidating in human society "spontaneous order" through the observation of the objective world, namely "Nature", which means the evolution of society is the result of natural evolution and non-artificial design (although behind between Chinese and western traditions have fundamental differences, the Hayek’s theory is very helpful for us understanding Laotzu’s opinion), which is the core of Laotzu expressing in his five thousand words. Cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country is to be expanded like this, he hoped the social controllers understood this point, and then "cultivated his mind and body " to "inaction". But Laotzu made a mistake in seeking a natural knowledge of the intention and the theory of "spontaneous order". In the second chapter, we discuss Chuangtzu’s theory of cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country. Chuangtzu inherited the core of Laotzu’s "spontaneous order", but he distinguished consciously the Laotzu’s conflicting tendencies. His character of cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country is that, from the reality of various unhappy, he had carried a profoundly reflection about the theory of "selfhess" around him, then he put forward the theory "anatman". He advocated by the society spiritual purification controller and then conveyed to the purification of the political king, the" day "is the natural state of the embodiment in the real life world. Chuangtzu’s theory of cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country, which corrected the Laotzu may tend to give too much of objective tendency, which improved the people’s subjectivity and initiative. In fact The perspective of Chuangtzu’s cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country was a artistic politic.In the third chapter, we set the school of the Emperor Huang and Laotzu as the study of object. The school of the Emperor Huang and Laotzu also inherited Laotzu’s "spontaneous order", and maintained the ambiguity of Laotzu’s "spontaneous order", but their seeking interest in natural knowledge reduced obviously. They absorbed legalism, the school of logicians, the Yin-yang school, Confucianism on the basis of Laotzu’s "spontaneous order", and created their own unique theory of cultivating one’s mind and body as well as governing the country. From the ideal level, the Emperor Huang and Laotzu advocated " spontaneous order ", which is not much difference from Laotzu and Chuangtzu, but in order to achieve this vision, they had made some improvement and innovation:first, as Chuangtzu, they emphasized the importance of cultivating one’s mind, further highlight the principle of "the body as well as the country"; Second, they invoked law into "Tao"," spontaneous order " is made of the rule of law to enrich; Third, they developed the theory of Laotzu’s "convention", and thought of it as the important principles of governing the country; Fourth, they claimed the leaders should took measures from time to time, perhaps it is they paid attentions to this point, and they took the advantage of others, which made them become a leading academic schools in many Pre-qin schools eventually.In conclusion, We point out the shortages of Taoism and it is likely to have realistic meaning. Its practical significance is that the society today provides a unique soil for the growth of "the spontaneous order of Taoism". It also shows the lack of them from the opposite side, namely their ideas did not enter to the system construction in Chinese ancient society; meanwhile, for individuals, the Taoism’s quiescence and inaction is worth learning.