On the Natural Ecological Law of Taoism〔*〕

Lü Zheng

(School of International Education and Exchange Zhejiang College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower，Hangzhou Zhejiang 310018)

Ⅰ．Definition of the ecological law of Taoism

There is an ancient“natural ecology”system in the study of ancient methodology and instrumentalism，which puts ethics value against the background of ecology．That is to say，ancient natural thoughts focus on philosophical significance and abstract nature，which is natural philosophy，or ecological philosophy．The Taoist philosophy refers to the abstractness as“Tao keeps to nature”，and on the other hand，the Taoist philosophy bestows the theory of“Tao derives from nature”to natural philosophy，the philosophical mode of which is referred to as“Taoism”．The Taoist philosophy on ecological ethics is called the foundation of Tao in terms of academic classification，based on which the“method”of Taoism methodology refers to the yin-yang dialectics．Human，earth and heaven constitute the“greatness”of ecological philosophy，thus being called“nature”．Apparently，natural appearance is not a man-made theory，and instead，with the diversification of social appearance，a“natural mode”has come into being in the social history and culture．The development result of natural philosophy based on “multiculture”has become the independence and coordination problem of“environment law”and“natural resource law”．Natural philosophy，which originates from wild consciousness，indicates the regularity，circularity and effectiveness of Taoism．

The Taoist philosophy on ecological ethics is a basic subject in Taoism，which involves the logical premise of“nature”and“l(fā)aw”．It is wise that Taoism builds the mode of“natural wildness”in the multiple?socio-structures．It answers the natural system problems and regards nature as philosophical mirror．Therefore，ecological ethics has become the new philosophical definition．Recently，the hot issues of the Taoist philosophy on ecological ethics have become evident．First，the rural ethics study which focuses on human has been emphasized．The study and modern interpretation of urbanization has become the hot spots of present Taoism study with the focus on the modern interpretation of“manor industry”in terms of Taoism，including the nature worship and the myth of nature maintenance．Second，the various schools of inheritance，the local records of ecological ethics and the systemic study of celebrity have gradually developed．Third，inspired by“modern new Confucianism”，many scholars who study the Taoism ecological culture has tried their best to construct the contemporary theoretical system of Taoism ecological ethics in order to better advocate the traditional cultural legacy of Taoism．

Ⅱ．The independence of the principle that“Tao keeps to nature”and the modern environment law

Tao keeps to nature．Thus，“nature”is the main body of philosophy．In terms of Confucian classics studies，we cannot acquire a natural research mode that can be fully discussed．The environmental justice and ecological ethics of the Taoism natural philosophy avoids the interpretation of Taoism natural philosophy from the perspective of classic texts by the modern scholars．There is no way to summarize the“greatness”of nature in the eco-system which imitates Tao．It is all about self-imitation，therefore，nature includes its self-image．Due to the limitation of self，Tao can be shown as a circulatory and operational one，which can explain the boundary of our ecological period，which has given rise to the infinite division and infinite combination of nature，namely the Tai Ji in the multiple?socio-struc tures．Experiments have become ecological model after being transformed by Diderot in terms of western philosophical methodology．Therefore，Diderot is sure that experiments are able to overturn humans in the center of nature and restore the living quality and production?attribute of humans．Humans can only return by being accepted by natural ecology，which is why the Taoist philosophy on ecological ethics pays attention to the maintenance of ecology．

What’s more，Taoism natural philosophy values more the creation status of humans．Only humans can approach nature periodically，instead of moving away from nature．Therefore，Taoism natural philosophy helps to unfold the mask of Taoism，and introduces the creation spirit of humans into the field of natural law．Furthermore，the study of Taoism natural philosophy has become a scientific methodology which pays attention to field，experiments and ecology．At present，the academic study on Taoism natural philosophy mainly focus on the people’s attitude and principle in learning nature from the perspective of“Tao derives from nature”，namely interpreting human culture from the perspective of ecological sense with the basic element of the application and research of modern scientific system．The first one is the“interactive”system of traditional ecological nature by means of natural wisdom，which is quite prevalent in the present academic circle and quite close to the wild natural philosophy of the western world．The second one is the environmental school or school of people and place with the dominate role of narrating the relationship between human and nature，which has triggered more and more relevant study with the increasing attention to the environmental deterioration in the worldwide during recent years．The third one is the“l(fā)ife school”with the focus on the influence of ecology over human health，which has caught our eyes for the frequent“ecological disease”in the modern society．It is worth mentioning that in the field of animation literature，the construction of ecological image，with the presentative of Miyazaki?Hayao，the grand master of Tokyo animation，has inspired the information technology and brought out something new by combining ecological theories with modern animation industry so as to realize the aim of“returning to nature”．

With the strengthening of environmental awareness during recent years，the value and significance of Taoism ecological philosophy are rediscovered and constitute the foundation of society，nature and humanistic?studies．The basic research of Taoism ecological philosophy has gradually showed the ecological instrumental quality．Scholars of mainland China has come to realize that the natural philosophy of Chinese Taoism also possesses the methodological value of ecological sociology，covering many discipline systems，such as ethics mirroring and architecture mirroring．Therefore，study of the Taoism natural philosophy and its ecological ethics value indicates that academy and mirroring are closely connected，which shows that Taoism philosophy has stepped into a phase featuring comprehensive and sys temic study of instrumentalism．

Ⅲ．The integration of the principle that“Tao derives from nature”and the modern law of natural resources

Taoism has explicitly proposed the idea of“Tao derives from nature”．The academic research of the ancient natural ecological theory of China has regarded natural interaction as an isolated theoretical system for the long run．The socalled ecological ethics refers to a function possessed by all living creatures．Hence，ecology，as a principle，is a prevalent ethics．“Tao derives from nature”is the ecological appearance of“Tao”．

All the living creatures have their own qualities，namely“Tao”，which presents the abundant environmental ethics，territorial ethics and social system ethics of Taoism natural philosophy from the perspective of ecological ethics．The new research mode and practical path of Taoism natural philosophy have been found as a conclusion．In terms of“Tao derives from nature”，we need to establish the coordination and unification of modern natural resource law，namely the scientific system，industrial system and institutional system in the ecological ethics mechanism on the basis of natural philosophy so as to be adapted to the epochal topic of globalization and popularization．

The coordination and unification of modern natural resource law aims at maintaining present ecological rules and stressing the territorial features of ecology．People can copy the economic mode of natural manor and regards“environmental maintenance”as the presupposition of productive activity．Sustainable development is the“principle”of natural resource．The stress on ecology is the blessing of human and there is the foundation of survival and development for all living creatures in nature．Nature is the shelter for all humans and at the same time，it approves the moral ability of learning from nature．Based on the diverse natural resources，Laozi puts forward the proposition of“keeping the country small and population sparse”，in the hope to exert influence on the daily thoughts and survival deduction of people，thus constituting the resource protection mechanism of tribes and ethnic groups．The representative of Taoism natural philosophy，based on human morality and natural morality，is the proposition of“peripateticism”raised by Zhuang Zhou，who advocates the non-instrumentalism of nature and establishes“ecological social moral circle”on the basis of earth ethics，ocean ethics and universe ethics．

There is no doubt that the concept of“seclusion”of natural philosophy has set the doctrine of“wealthy ethics”．However，the idea of“inaction”warms us with the“hegemony ethics”．Therefore，the open communication on the basis of national ecology is the theoretical logic starting point of cultural renaissance of peaceful rise．

First of all，from the perspective of the connotation and characteristics of defining“Taoism natural philosophy”，it is likely that we can find out the practical features of the ecological mechanism of Taoism natural philosophy，which may be of great academic value of understanding and mastering human activity and its evolution．

Second，Taoism natural philosophy，as a natural resource idea，includes the traditional studious spirit and social customs，instead of classifying natural knowledge according to western academic braches．

Third，the systemic research on the natural mirroring of Taoism during recent years are conducive to our understanding of the connotation and scientific value of Taoism natural ecological practice and theory，which is also one step forward to get a glimpse of the natural ecological activity．

Ⅳ．Conclusion

In one word，against the present background of ecological civilization，Taoism natural philosophy has eliminated the“sear”of nature left by humans and returned to natural ecology，which boasts abundant ecological ethic thoughts．Taoism natural philosophy has transcended the limitation of egoism of western ethnoecology and the hegemony of national ecology．As a“civilization mode”，Taoism natural philosophy，as the basic ethics of China’s cultural renaissance and peaceful rise，has solved the development mechanism problem of“the beginning of the world”from the source and that of“the mother of all living creatures”．Hence，the study of the combination of ecological ethics and modern management，law and institution is undoubtedly the bright future of the development of ecological ethics of China．

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