What does Taoism mean that all laws are unified?

The Taoist principle of unification of all laws means: man follows the earth, earth follows the sky, heaven follows the Tao, and Tao follows nature. Tao is the original mother who created the heaven, earth, and all things. Therefore, humans must imitate the earth, the earth imitates the sky, the sky imitates the Tao, and the Tao imitates nature. This sentence comes from Chapter 25 of "Tao Te Ching".

Everything ultimately returns to Tao, no matter what it is, their source is Tao. From the Tao. Two is born, two begets three, three begets all things, and all things eventually return to the Tao.

The full text of "Tao Te Ching·Chapter 25":

There are things mixed together, born in the heaven and earth, lonely and lonely, independent and not changing, moving around without being destroyed, Can be the mother of heaven and earth.

I don’t know its name, but its name is Tao, and its strong name is Da.

The big day is gone, and the passing day is far away.

Far away is the opposite.

Therefore, the Tao is great, the sky is great, the earth is great, and the king is also great.

There are four major ones in the domain, and the king occupies one of them.

Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature.

Translation:

There is something that was created out of nowhere and existed before the heaven and earth were formed. Its voice cannot be heard and its shape cannot be seen. It is silent and empty. It does not rely on any external force and exists independently forever. It circulates and never fails. It can be the foundation of all things.

I didn’t know its name, so I reluctantly called it “Tao”, and then I reluctantly named it “Da”.

It is vast and boundless and moves endlessly. It moves endlessly and stretches far away. It stretches far away and returns to the original state.

So it is said that Tao is big, the sky is big, the earth is big, and people are big.

There are four major ones in the universe, and humans live in one of them.

Man takes the law of the earth, the earth takes the law of heaven, and the sky takes the law of "Tao", and the Tao is purely natural.

Extended information:

The ontological significance of "Tao follows nature"

1. Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature.

Heshang Gong's Note: "People should live in peace and gentleness. They should sow grains and dig for sweet springs. They should work without complaining and achieve merit without restraint. The sky is immovable, and charity is given. Without seeking retribution, all things grow, and there is nothing to collect. The Tao is quiet and silent, and the yin moves the essence. Yes. If people do not violate the earth, they will be safe. If the earth does not violate the heaven, they will be safe. If the heaven does not violate the law, they will be safe. If the law does not violate nature, it will be safe. It is to obtain its nature; if it is natural, it will be square if it is square, and if it is round, it will be round, and there is nothing against nature. "

"Natural" is an indescribable word. Wisdom is not as good as ignorance, the form is not as good as the spirit image, the spirit image is not as good as the intangible, and the ritual is not as good as the non-ceremony, so it is the method of turning one's appearance. The Tao follows nature and has no reason; the earth follows the law of heaven, and humans follow the same pattern, so it is the master. The one who is one of them is the master.

It can be seen that "law" here is not a legal system, but a verb "to imitate". In Section 25 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu mentioned the word "Dharma" for the first time. According to the silk book, "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the heaven, the heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." Popular understanding is that Tao is the creation The original mother of all things in heaven and earth, so humans must imitate the earth, the earth imitates the sky, heaven imitates the law, and the Tao imitates nature.

“Tao follows nature” does not contradict Tao and nature. Tao is ultimate and absolute, with no “outside”, so “Tao” is “nature”. The concept of "nature" generally consists of three aspects in Laozi's teachings, namely, non-interference and free development; second, no force; and third, it comes from nature and does not pretend to be artificial.

It can be seen from this that the Tao mentioned by Laozi is to follow the laws of nature to achieve the state of "doing nothing and doing everything". Here, the word "law" is used as a verb in the sentence, which means to follow, follow, and abide by, but not to rule or law.

Of course, the "Tao" of law also means the natural law that transcends secular laws, that is, following social common sense, common sense, and common sense. These are the extended meanings of "Tao" and can therefore also be regarded as secular laws. The basis and rationality of the judgment.

Laozi believes that "there are four great things in a country", namely "the great Tao, the great heaven, the great earth, and the great king".

Heaven, earth, and kings must all be accomplished according to the Tao. The relationship between them is that Tao is the foundation and mother body. As the ruler of the country, the king should also follow the Tao mentioned by Lao Tzu when he wants to govern the country, and this Tao is applied to political governance, that is, laws, ethics, policies, rules, etc. should all comply with the development laws of the Tao.

2. The king’s law is the earth, the law is the heaven, the law is the way, the law is the nature

Since ancient books generally do not have punctuation and paragraphing, later generations are limited by differences when adding annotations. knowledge, thus producing different meanings of this sentence. This division was formed by Li Yue in the Tang Dynasty's "New Commentary on the Tao Zhen Jing". He changed "人" to "王" and connected the previous sentence with the four major kings in the country.

Li Yue's note: "The Tao is great, the sky is great, the earth is great, and the king is also great", which is called "the four major ones in the domain". The three kings, "Dharma Earth", "Dharma Heaven" and "Dharma Way", naturally govern the world. The world will be at peace with it, so it is called "virtue". When it is said that people belong to others, the meaning is "the land of the law" is like the selfless carrying of the earth.

"The law is revealed every day", just like the selfless cover of heaven. "Dharma, Tao, Tao" is just the selfless creation of Tao. Such as the example of king, king, minister, father, son, son. Those who use the later words are mistakenly passed down from generation to generation, all saying that "man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." Then there are five major elements in the domain, not just four.

Is it true that the king can only "Dharma Earth" but not "Dharma Heaven" and "Dharma Way"? Heaven and earth have no intention, but can they still turn to the Dharma? What's more, the Tao of "the earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature" is the father of heaven and earth and the son of nature. It is fragmented and alienated.

Gao Ming also believed in "Commentary Notes on Silk Books by Laozi" that although Li's theory was differentiated, scholars in the past dynasties mostly discarded it or said it was "just a child's babbling" with overlapping words, not Laozi's. Although there are no words to say it, it is indeed an ancient saying, and there are still people who believe it today.

According to the saying that "human beings follow the earth, earth follows heaven, and heaven follows the way", those who are not kings can only "dharma the earth" but not "the heaven" and "the way". However, it is said that people, earth and heaven are all dharma. Yu Daoye. If this syntax is like Chapter 42, "Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things." Although it is self-evident that "three gives rise to all things", the thing that gives rise to all things should be regarded as "Tao" and will never be understood as The "three" ears give birth to all things.

Gu Di explained these four sentences in "Laozi's Exegesis": "Dharma, Earth, Earth", which means that the reason why Earth is Earth is Dharma, and the reason why Earth is Earth is that Earth is selfless. Zai; "Fa Tian Tian" means that the reason why Heaven is Heaven is Dharma, and the reason why Heaven is Heaven is that Heaven is selfless; "Dharma Dao Dao" means that the reason why Dao is Dao is Dharma.

The reason why Tao is the characteristic of Taoists is that "Tao follows nature." "Natural" means what it is, that is, self-caused, self-formed, self-original, and self-rooted. "Tao follows nature." That is, Tao is what it is, self-formed, and self-caused, without any interference, that is, "inaction." .

The word "Dharma" here means law. The king must take the selflessness, humility and non-controversy of the earth as the law, the selfless treasure of the sky as the law, and the nature of the Tao as the law, so that Tao and nature Unify.

The law here is the law of Tao. Following Tao can make the three worlds of heaven, earth and man orderly and manageable. Gao Dingyi believes that this sentence expresses the ancient people's system theory point of view. All things in the universe are a whole, and humans, heaven, earth, nature, etc. constitute a hierarchical, structured, and holistic system that is interconnected and restricts each other.

Of course, from the king to the earth, heaven, and finally to Tao and nature, Ye Haiyan believes that there is also a meaning of transcendence in this progression, that is, "Dharma" can be expanded into "Dharma" The connotation of "return" and "transcendence" is not limited to "follow" and "imitate".

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