“抱一为式”论——修身理国的道学智慧发秘

Guarding the One as Formula:Revelation of the Wisdom of Self-Cultivating and State-Governing

老子《道德经》有一句名言,即“圣人抱一为天下式”。自春秋战国以来,道家学派就对这句话不断进行解说并充实其内容,成为修身理国的重要主张。如何理解“抱一”之“一”?有人直接将“一”等同于“道”,但也有人认为其指的是“太和之精气”。其实,按老子“道生一”的逻辑,“道”是母,而“一”是子,相当于太极,二者是一种母子关系。在《周易》象数学中,“一”代表事物的起点,也是归宿。道家发挥了这种思想,把“一”作为纯粹的思想符号,象征虚静、纯朴、廉洁、无私、奉献、中和。“抱一为式”既是修身模式,也是社会治理模式。在长期的探索过程中,道家积累了“抱一”的丰富经验,对于当今的健康生活与社会管理具有一定的借鉴价值。

There is a saying in Daode Jing,written by Laozi:“The sage guards the One in his embrace,as the formula of the world”.From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period,Taoists as philosophers kept interpreting this sentence,formed and developed the important idea about“Self-Cultivating and State-Governing”.How to understand the One in“Guarding the One”?In the past,there were opinions viewing the One as the Tao,or viewing the One as some essential pneuma full of the world.The author thinks,according to the logic of“the Tao produced the One”by Laozi,since the One was produced by Tao,there is a mother-son relation between them,in which the Tao is the mother,and the One is the son,equaling to Taiji.In Xiangshu Yi learning,the One represents both the beginning of things and the destination.Taoists developed the idea and take the One as a pure symbol of thoughts,representing tranquility,honesty,clarity,selflessness,dedication and harmony.“Guarding the One as Formula”is a mode of self-cultivating,also a mode of society-governing.In the long exploring process,Taoists accumulated abundant experiences of“Guarding the One”,which has some reference value for healthy life and social management nowadays.