秦汉新道家与黄老之学修道分为几个境界天然道观探秘古代道教文化
在20世纪70年代末，我深入研究了《吕氏春秋》和《淮南子》，并提出了“秦汉新道家”的概念。在1981年，《文史哲》第2期刊物上发表了一篇文章，题为“从《吕氏春秋》到《淮南子》——论秦汉新道家”，后来在1984年，我将有关论文集结出版成书籍《秦汉新道家略论稿》（上海人民出版社）。尽管“秦汉新道家”这一提法曾经引起学界广泛的关注，但明确支持并使用这个术语的人并不多。
与此同时，黄老之学也得到了相应的研究。吴光的《黄老之学通论》（浙江人民出版社1985年出版）和丁原明的《黄老学论纲》（山东大学出版社1997年出版）是这方面的一些著作，它们从战国时期的黄老之学讲起，并包括了秦汉时期的“黄老道家”。其他如胡家聪的《稷下争鸣与黄老新学》（中国社会科学出版社1998年出版）、白奚的《稷下学研究》（三联书店1998年出版），以及陈丽桂更早一些于台北联经出版社1991年出版的一本书，都注意到了我关于“秦汉新道家的讨论”。
我所说的“秦汉新道家”与“黄老”之间有着直接关系，因为黃老也是我的提及或思考过的一个议题。“黃老”一詞，在文献中有根據，最著名的是出現在 《史記》 中，其中記載申不害之學「本於黃 老」，韓非也「歸本於黃 老」，慎到、田騧、接子、環渊皆「學黃 老 道德 之術， 因發明、序其旨意」。還有蓋公「善治黃 老 言」、陳平「本好黃 帝、 老 子 之術」等幾十處連稱（參見 《史記》 有關列傳、世 家）。
隨著對於古代帝王傳說越來越多，从戰國中後期開始，加上了一個 “ 黄帝”的書就紛紛出現了，《漢書·藝文志》 中記載有二十七種冠以 “ 黃帝君 ” 或者 “臣名”的書籍：這些書基本上可以歸入為 “ 雜而多端”的 道教思想，大部分是由達官貴族創作，而且如 《大戴禮·儀禮注疏·禮器篇注疏》的所說：“起六國時，与 《左传·宣公十九 年 》 相似也。” 是戰國時人根據 《左傳》的基本思想而創作出來 的。
實際上當然不只以上二十七種，這些簡帛材料中，有許多被認為是屬於 戰國時代 的思潮的大量資料，也就是更多地擴展了我們對於 戰國時期 和 秦漢時期 的知識。毋庸置疑，“Yellow School of Thought” 是 Daoism, 以Daoist Philosophy as the core thought, created and included a variety of ideas and knowledge related to Huangdi. This is Daoism's development and inclusiveness in one significant manifestation.
The elevation of Huangdi by the Daoists, creating books under his name, should have arisen during the debates with Confucianism. The Confucians such as Kongzi and Mengzi would often speak highly of Yao and Shun; this was a clear fact at that time. The Daoists elevated Huangdi to counterbalance this by claiming he was even earlier than Yao and Shun, thus enhancing their own debating capital. As stated in "修务训" chapter of "Huananzi", "People commonly venerate antiquity but slight modern times; therefore those who practice the way must rely on gods like Shen Nong or Huangdi before they can discuss it." They used Huangdi's name to establish their teachings for greater competitiveness.
During West Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 9 CE), when powerful individuals like Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Han (Han Wudi) followed Yellow School teachings, Yellow School philosophy flourished. Thus came into existence comprehensive works on Yellow School philosophy such as Huananzi which represents the culmination point for discussions about Yellow School thoughts during Han Dynasty.
From here we can see that terms such as "Yellow Learning," "Newer Learning," or "Schools within Schools" are indeed employed.
The tolerance exhibited by Daosim allows its continuous growth with evident developmental nature. The flourishing Han-era followers' belief in yellow learning led to more diverse interpretations beyond what existed before—hence my terming them 'Qin-Han New Daosim.' These new developments encompassed not just intellectual expansion but also practical applications making it an integral part of Chinese history.
In conclusion using terms like Qin-Han New Daosim', 'Jin-Dynasty New Daosim', Tang-Song New Daosim' etc., helps reflect upon the dynamic evolution & assimilation process undergone by daosm over centuries while showing its adaptability & inclusiveness towards other philosophical schools & beliefs.
By so doing we gain insights into how these philosophies coexisted within ancient China leading up to present-day understanding.
( Author: Professor at Wuhan University's History Culture College)
