老子“贵柔”思想及其当代价值

Laozi’s Philosophy of “Valuing Gentleness” and Its Contemporary Significance

摘要: 老子在中国哲学史上的地位非常重要，代代都有学者对其思想进行研究，且研究出的文献和书籍都比较丰硕。基于如此丰富的素材下，受学者思想的影响，结合前人的研究，进而阐述老子“柔”的思想。以《道德经》为主要研究对象文本，在《道德经》中单论“柔”的有十一处，单论“弱”的有十处，多数分布在德经之中，可以看出老子对“柔”“弱”的观点还是较为重视。所以从老子所处时代的生活背景和影响老子思想的各因素出发，根据《道德经》文本，来阐述老子“柔”的具体内容，解决了当时何种问题以此分析老子“柔”的意义，以及产生的意义放到当下来看又有了怎样的现实性表达等等。

Abstract: Laozi holds a very important position in the history of Chinese philosophy, and scholars across generations have studied his thought, producing a substantial amount of literature and publications. Based on such abundant material, influenced by the ideas of scholars and combined with previous research, this paper elaborates on Laozi’s concept of “softness”. Using the Tao Te Ching as the primary research text, there are eleven passages discussing “softness” alone and ten passages discussing “weakness” alone, mostly distributed throughout the Tao Te Ching, indicating that Laozi attaches considerable importance to the concepts of “softness” and “weakness”. Therefore, starting from the living conditions of Laozi’s era and the various factors influencing his thought, this paper elucidates the specific content of Laozi’s concept of “softness” based on the text of the Tao Te Ching, explores the problems it addressed at the time, analyzes the significance of Laozi’s notion of “softness”, and further examines its contemporary practical relevance.