《老子》中的“婴儿”

The“Infant”in Tao Te Ching

《老子》中的“婴儿”具有柔弱性、自然性、平衡性的特点。《老子》中的“婴儿”并非专指刚出生的婴儿,而是达到婴儿那种纯真的状态,实现“复归于婴儿”的哲学追求。上古汉语时期,也有典籍中使用“孺子”“赤子”“幼弱”等称谓指称婴儿,但其“婴儿”特点与《老子》中的“婴儿”同中有异;《老子》中的“婴儿”的内涵、使用“婴儿”称谓的目的、对“婴儿”状态的态度明显不同于其他典籍。

The“infant”in Tao Te Ching has the characteristics of softness,naturalness and balance.The“infant”in Tao Te Ching does not refer specifically to the newborn infant,but to the pure and innocent state of the infant,achieving the philosophical pursuit of“returning to the infant.”In the period of ancient Chinese,there were also other names to refer the infant,such as“ru zi”,“chi zi”and“you ruo”in the classics.There are some similarities as well as some differences of the characteristics of the“infant”in the classics and of the infant in Tao Te Ching,and more of them are different:connotation,purpose of using and attitude towards its state of the word“infant”in Tao te ching is distinctively different from other classics.