生成还是指导:老子论“无”的新探究

Becoming or Guiding: A New Study of the Concept Wu in Tao Te Ching

对老子"无"观念的研究,除了生成论的角度,更应从规范问题入手。因为老子更多谈论的不是等同于"道"本身的作为宇宙万"有"之根源的生成之"无",而是关联于"道"之"德"的指导性的"无"。这样的"无",是对"道"之"德"的非掌控特征的总概括,即从动词性的"上德不德"或"玄德"之"不有""不恃""不宰",走到名词性的"无名""无欲""无为""无以为",最后概括为"无"。而所谓"无"的指导性,正是针对政权如何"长久"的问题来说。

esides any descriptive interpretation,there is a new possible way to approach in a nominative sense to the concept of wu(non-being)employed as a terminology by Laozi.Because this term,according to Tao Te Ching,mainly serves for offering the guidance for the rulers rather than any kind of cosmological origin for the things or you(what there is).In some sense,wuis just an abbreviation of wuwei(non-intervention),wuming(nonhonor),wuyu(non-desire),all of which stand for the character of non-control,or the de(virtue),only belonged to the Dao.Hence,the concept of wu should be construed as a guidance of how to save political resources in virtue of reducing all kinds of control of state affairs in order to keep the authority of rulers for a long time.