| Abstract |
According to Hsei Hui （a scholar of the Ming Dynasty）, Laotse （Tao Te King） is a book about human nature and life. He brought up this issue in his Variorum Laotse and explored the truth of human nature and life in philosophical aspects. His deliberation upon Laotse had converted the Confucian understanding of Lao-Tze thinking. First, Hsei Hui addressed the question about the truth of human nature and life that built a connection between Confucianism and Laotse. He combined Laotse with Confucianism according to the implications of human nature and life cited from Golden Mean and Yi Zhuan （Commentary on The Book of Changes）. Second, living and dying is the essence of human nature and life. Laotze suggests unconcern for living and dying, gains an insight into the non-differentiation between life and death, and points to the abstruse reasoning of the incredible union of life and death. Third, emptiness and stillness is the way of nature. Hsei Hui established a philosophical framework to expound the rationale of returning to the original nature. And finally, the study of human nature and life is the study of mind. The way to manage the mind and prevent it from blindness and confusion reflects the manner to response and handle all things on earth. These are the principles to discover Hsei Hui’s thought on human nature and life discoursed in his Variorum Laotse.
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