Laozi's Active Philosophical Views Reflected in the Relationship of Tao and De

Laozi is commonly believed passive and conservative in code of conduct represented by those ideas as value softness and know and observe all but stay obscure 。Is it true that Laozi is passive and conservative,and denies the spirit of progress? This thesis attempts to contradict this inference with the following three points. First,Dao is aimless and a purposeless existence,which possesses no judgment of value. Second,De exists in society,which can't be established by human beings. It needs Dao to visualize it,so that it can become De in real sense. Third,what Laozi emphasizes is the essence of Dao ,as well as its unity,objectivity,harmony,thus all the things including human words and deeds should be judged according to the standard of Dao. Therefore,the so-called passivity and conservativeness of Laozi's philosophy need to be discussed,and its positive nature still has practical guiding significance today.