思想与文本:传世本《老子》首章释义

Thought and Text:Definition of the First Chapter of the Received Laozi

传世本《老子》第一章系《道经》之首,是《老子》哲学思想的核心所在。在此章里,《老子》提出了“常(恒)道”“非常(恒)道”等其思想体系中的核心概念,又分别以“无名”代指“常(恒)道”、以“有名”表示“非常(恒)道”。而在此基础上,其进一步论及“无名”与“有名”,即“无”与“有”各自范畴下相对存在的“始”与“母”这组概念,进而重点对“有”之范畴下的“妙”与“徼”,即其后曰“此两者”之所指予以阐释,最终揭示了二者同出于“玄”(“道”)而“异名”的本质关系,借此表达了“有”出于“无”的哲学观点。不唯如此,此章还从整体上展现了两个层面、共三重意涵的《老子》思想,一者“本体论”层面,即《老子》道家哲学中以“无中生有”为核心的“宇宙生成论”;二者“认识论”层面,其一是《老子》所表示“常(恒)道”之“不可知论”的基本立场,其二是《老子》提出的体认“非常(恒)道”以追求“常(恒)道”的实践途径。正是基于如上两点理论创见,其后《老子》“道论”的整个哲学体系才得以构建起来。

The First Chapter of the Received Laozi is the beginning and outline of the Taoist scriptures,which is also the heart of the Laozi's philosophy.In the chapter,Laozi puts forward the core concepts of"unvarying Tao""varying Tao"in its ideological system,using"the nameless"to refer to the"unvarying Tao"and using"the named"to refer to the"varying Tao".On this basis,Laozi discusses the set of concepts of"Shi"and"Mu"under the category of being or not namely that of"the named"and"the nameless".Then,Laozi explains another set of concepts of"Miao"and"Jiao"under the category of being namely that is the meaning of"both of these".Finally,Laozi reveals"both of these"springing from the same source namely that of"Xuan"("Tao")but differing in name,which is an essential relationship,Laozi expresses a viewpoint of creating something out of nothing by means of the discussion.Not only that,the chapter exhibits the two levels and three meanings of Laozi's thought in integrate.Firstly on ontology,namely that is the"cosmogony"centered around the idea of creating something out of nothing in Laozi's philosophy.Secondly on epistemology,on the one hand,it is the stance of agnosticism about"unvarying Tao"as Laozi says,on the other hand,Laozi proposes the practical path of comprehending the"varying Tao"to pursue the"unvarying Tao".Based on the above two original theories,the system of Laozi's"Tao theory"is able to be structured subsequently.