The Threefold Meaning of the Concept Tianxia in Laozi
Tianxia is a unique concept in ancient Chinese political discourse,with complex and diverse meanings.However,current academic research on the meaning of tianxia still focuses on its historical context of the Confucian understanding of the concept.Separate from this,Laozi maintained Dao as the source and foundation of all things.In his ideological system,the meaning,status,and role of tian have undergone important changes that reflect his view of the concept with its own characteristics.Clarifying the meaning of tianxia in the text of Laozi is a prerequisite for exploring his view of tianxia,and it can also enrich the understanding of the concept in ancient China.There are three separate meanings of tianxia in the text of Laozi.First,tianxia is used as a geographical concept,referring to the space between heaven and earth where all things exist.Laozi emphasizes that Dao exists before the birth of heaven and earth and is their source.This implies that Dao gave birth to them,with all other things generated afterwards.Heaven and earth provide not only the field where all things are generated but also the continuous power and conditions for their creation.In this sense,tianxia can be used to qualify all people,events,and things by referring to them generally as that which exists between heaven and earth.By extension and abstraction,tianxia can further refer to all things whatsoever including heaven and earth themselves.This leads to the second meaning of tianxia,which refers to the entirety of all tangible things generated by the intangible Dao.In the text of Laozi,both"the ten thousand things"(万物)and"things"(物)can refer to the totality of"things"born from Dao.The term"ten thousand things"denotes differentiated and specific entities,while"things"can also refer to the unformed state between Dao and specific tangible entities.Furthermore,even Dao itself is sometimes referred to as a"thing".Tianxia is more often regarded as a political concept with reference to a political community.From this perspective,the third meaning of tianxia refers to the territory ruled by the Zhou dynasty's emperor,which has boundaries.However,in Laozi's philosophy,the territory of this political community of tianxia has no specific boundaries and can extend to all the earth under heaven.It can be said that tianxia is a political community without limits.As a political community,tianxia is not only a collection of people,but also includes the world of all things,embodying the second meaning of tianxia from a political perspective.As the object of governance,tianxia is actually the"entirety of all things".The three meanings of the concept of tianxia were inherited by the Zhuangzi school and Huang-Lao Daoism,leading to various further developments of the Daoist view of tianxia.The concept of tianxia in Laozi,and in Daoism more generally,involves the relationships between Dao and Heaven,Dao and things,and Heaven and all things.In sum,the Daoist view of tianxia is not confined to political topics.
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