Taoism,the Doctrines of Huangdi and Lao Zi,the Political Practice in Qin and Han Dynasties,and Scholastic Development——A Re-reading of Xiong Tie-ji’s On New-Taoism in the Qin and Han Dynasties

It is a scholastic summary to the original Taoism of the early Han period,namely the Doctrine of Huangdi and Lao Zi,that “the doctrine followed the basic law of change and development by Yin-yang School,absorbed the refinement of Confucianism and Moism,and embraced the nucleus parts of the Schools of Logicians and Legalists”.The notion “New-Taoism”,however,is a new scholarship in the untouched parts of the field and is suggestive to the deeper studies.With the main doctrine elucidated mainly in Bo Shu (The Book Copied on Silk) of the Warring States Period,the Taoism marked the making of the New-Taoism,and Lu’s Annal of History was its development.The politics of the early West Han Dynasty was the total practice of the New-Taoism.In the early East Han Dynasty,the bureaucratization of the scholars and the control of Chenwei ,the divination combined with mystical Confucianist belief,changed the scholastic approach of intellectuals and resulted in the combination of Confucianism and Legalism,the Confucianists’ reconsideration upon and reselection of the doctrine of New-Taoism,and,after all,the integration of Confucianism and Taoism.