The Inheritance And Development Of Laozi’s View Of The Way Of Heaven In Yi Zhuan

As an important academic direction in the history of Chinese philosophy,the convergence of Zhouyi and Laozi has had a significant impact on the development of traditional Chinese philosophy.The fundamental reason why the convergence of Zhouyi and Laozi was possible is that philosophy of the two are closely and intrinsically related.Zhou Yi contains Yi Ching and Yi Zhuan.Yi Ching influenced philosophy of Laozi,while Laozi played an important role in the formation of philosophy of Yi Zhuan.The philosophical mode of thought of both Laozi and Yi Chuan is to ’infer heavenly way in order to understand human society.And their philosophy consists of two main areas:the Way of Heaven and the Way of Human.The view on the way of human of Yi Zhuan is based on the Confucian position and differs from Taoism,while its view of the Way of Heaven is inherited and developed from Laozi.Through analyzing the views of Laozi and Yi zhuan on the Way of Heaven,we can find that Yi Zhuan has inherited and developed both the theory of root and Cosmology of overall transformation of Laozi.As far as the theory of root is concerned,Laozi believes that Tao was born before the heaven and the earth,and Tao is the ultimate root of the universe,thus transcending the dualistic world view for the first time.As a work of interpretation of Yi Ching,Yi Zhuan does not stick the thought of Yi Ching,which regards heaven and earth as the root of the universe,but taking Taiji as the root of the universe,thus inheriting the monistic worldview of Laozi.Taiji,as it is called in Yi Zhuan,is an alternative name for Tao.Yi Zhuan develops the thought of Tao of Laozi and thus differs from the latter.Laozi regards Tao as both being of invisible and chaotic and the principle of existence.The being of invisible and chaotic is the essence of Tao,the principle of existence is the effect of Tao.Yi Zhuan defines "Tao" in terms of "one Yin and one Yang is Tao",thus rejecting Tao as substance and regarding Tao as the principle of the development of the universe and the process of its great transformation.Influenced by the analogue thinking way of Yi Ching,Laozi compares Tao to female,which shows t the character of creatation of Tao.Yi Zhuan defines the essence of Yi Tao by saying that "Sheng Sheng is Yi",and clearly gives Yi Tao the characteristics of creatation and endless creatation,thus inheriting and developing the essence of Tao of Laozi.In terms of Cosmology of overall transformation,Laozi deliberately uses the gradually increasing numbers to illustrate his theory of cosmogenesis,indicating that the process of the creation of the universe from root to all things is a process of continuous enrichment from simple to complex.Yi Zhuan inherits this idea from Laozi and constructs a model of cosmogenesis in the form of increasing numbers squared,that is Taiji-Two Polarities-Four Images-Eight Trigrams.Yi Zhuan inherits Laozi’s view of change,which holds that Tao,the root of the universe,is the fundamental cause of change in the universe,and that the effect of Tao causes the universe to move and change in a cyclical manner.However,Yi Zhuan develops the thought of Tao of Laozi that Tao becomes the developmental principle of the universe,and so Yi Zhuan develops Laozi’s view of change.In contrast to Laozi’s emphasis on the fundamental causes of change in the universe,Yi Zhuan focuses on both the fundamental and the direct causes of change in the universe.In contrast to Laozi,which places more emphasis on the return to the original beginning,Yi Zhuan places more emphasis on change in the opposite direction.In Laozi,the fundamental cause of the overall transformation of the universe is Tao,that is the root of the universe.Tao is different from the Heaven,which has a personal will.Tao does not bring forth all things at the behest of others,nor for its own purposes,but naturally.Thus,in Laozi,the overall transformation of the universe is a natural process.Yi Zhuan inherits Laozi’s understanding of the nature of the overall transformation of the universe.Tao,the fundamental cause of the overall transformation of the universe,is natural and inactive,so that the overall transformation of the universe is a natural process and does not come from divine will.