The Ben-Mo Thoughts And The Related Interpretation Methods Of Wangbi’s Commentary On Laozi

Wang Bi used “Chong Ben Xi Mo” to summarize the idea of Laozi in his Laozizhilue. To interpret Laozi by the category of Ben-Mo is Wang Bi’s contribution. Andthe Ben-Mo is not only his understanding of Laozi, but also his own thoughts whichis important in his ideology, and runs through his commentary on I Ching and TheAnalects too. The concept of Ben-Mo is not Wang Bi’s invention. It has appeared inthe ancient books and records of the pre-Qin period, and it has little philosophicalmeaning. It is Wang Bi who attach the ontological meaning to the concept, whichbrings the turning of ontology. Wang Bi’s definition of Ben is the “suoyi” of all things,and the existing phenomenon are all Mo. The expressions, such as “suoyi-ren”,“suoyi-mi”,“suoyi-huangbing”,“suoyi-an”,show explicitly that Ben and Mo areheterogeneous. That is to say, Ben is the metaphysical basis of Mo, being contained inMo and being revealed by Mo, providing support for Mo and making Mo possible. So,as an early concept, Ben-Mo is sublated and transformed into a peculiar categorywhich has both ontological meaning and cosmological meaning of Chinesephilosophy.In Wang Bi’s ideology, as the general category, Ben or Mo is not the isolatedconcept but be composed of a series of concepts. Ben, Mu, Wu, Pu, Wuwei, Wuyu,Gua and Yi are one series, and Mo, Zi, You, Qi, Youwei, Youyu, Zhong and Duo arethe other series. Ben and Mo are hierarchical and heterogeneous, and Mo are alsomultivocal. Wang Bi’s ideology consists of three propositions:“yi Wu wei Ben”,“chong Ben xi Mo” and “yi Gua tong Zhong”. The three propositions correspond tometaphysics, political operation and political structure. As well as Laozi, themetaphysics is the basis of political philosophy in Wang Bi’s thoughts.“Yi Wu weiBen” is the principle;“yi Wu wei yong” which requires “Wu Wei” and “Wu Yu” isthe stretch of the metaphysical principle; political operation requires “chong Ben xiMo”, which contains “chong Ben ju Mo” inherently and accords with Laozi; politicalstructure requires “yi Gua tong Zhong”, which is similar to but inherently differentfrom Huang-Lao’s thoughts that the monarch should let things go in their own wayand the minister should do their duties sparing no effort.The thoughts of Ben-Mo is also referring to Wang Bi’s interpretation methods.“Scripture interprets scripture” shows his strict attitude and is an attitudinal proof ofthe “consequent interpretation”. The transformation from Tao to Wu/Ben is anexample of the “consequent interpretation”, is supported by sound reasons, is atensioned reinterpretation and responds the question that “How understanding ispossible” mutely. Interpretating Laozi by Zhuangzi is an example of the “cross-textualinterpretation”, inheriting the thoughts of Zhuangzi selectively with the quotation and the the way of thinking that sublates the cosmology. The annotation of “Returninggood for evil” is an example of the “confluent interpretation”, which is also hisposition of annotation, and has been expressed in his Laozizhilue as well as the“Sheng ren ti wu” explicitly. And the “confluent interpretation” is also the atmosphereat that time as well as a backtracking on the “common root” of Chinese culture.