《太一生水》中的宇宙论问题与米利都学派

The cosmology from Tai Yi Sheng Shui(Tai Yi Generates Water) and the Milesians

1993年湖北荆门郭店出土的战国楚简中有《太一生水》一篇,被认为属于道家失传已久的一种宇宙生成论。自简文公布以来,许多学者对它进行过讨论,认为它在中国思想史上占有重要的地位。对照希腊米利都学派类似的宇宙论,可以看出这二者之间有不少的差异,这主要表现在宇宙的发生顺序和宇宙论问题之终极目的上。《太一生水》宇宙论的最终目的是在政治,米利都学派的目的则在于寻找宇宙起源的纯粹基质。宇宙理论这种差异或许影响了东西方自然哲学和科学的发展方向。

Tai Yi Sheng Shui （ Tai Yi Generates Water） , which gives a description of Taoist cosmology, has been thought to be lost long ago. Thus, it has raised a lot of discussion since it was found from the bamboo slips unearthed in a Chu tomb in Guodian, Jingmen city, Hubei Province in 1993, for its important role in Chinese ideological history. This thesis compares ancient Chinese cosmology with its Western counterpart, the Milesians in Greece, and finds that there are many differences between the two cosmic theories, mainly lying in the order of emergence and ultimate purpose of the universe. The ultimate purpose of the cosmology of ＂Tai Yi Sheng Shui＂ is politics, while that of the Milesians, the pure stroma of the cosmos ori- gins. As a result, these differences between Eastern and Western universe theories may influence the direction of natural philosophy and science in their developing history.