秦汉新道家与黄老之学修身修心修行于天然道观中
20世纪70年代末，我研究《吕氏春秋》和《淮南子》，提出了“秦汉新道家”的概念。1981年，在《文史哲》第2期刊物上发表了题为“从《吕氏春秋》到《淮南子》——论秦汉新道家的文章，1984年又集结有关论文出版了《秦汉新道家略论稿》（上海人民出版社）。虽然“秦汉新道家”这一提法曾经受到学界广泛的注意，但明确赞同和使用这个提法的人不多。而同时引起的一个研究就是黄老之学的研究，先后有吴光的《黄老之学通论》（浙江人民出版社1985年出版）、丁原明的《黄老学论纲》（山东大学出版社1997年出版）等著作出版。此二书皆从战国黄老之学讲起，包括秦汉“黄老道家”。而研究战国“黄老新学”的更多，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）。陈丽桂的《战国时期的黄老思想》（台北联经出版社1991年出版）更早一些，她在研究 黄老思想时是注意了 《秦汉新道家略论稿》的。我所说的“秦汉新道家”与“黄老”关系十分明确，黃 老 道 家 也 是 我 提 到 过 或 思 考 过 的。 “黃 老”一詞，在文献上有根有據，眾所周知，《史記》中就有：申不害之學「本於黃 老」，韓非也「歸本於黃 老」，慎到、田骈、接子、環渊皆「學黃 老 道德 之術，因發明、序其旨意」。還有一些如蓋公「善治黃 老 言」、「陳平 本 好 黃 帝、舊 子 之 術」等幾十處「黃 老」連稱（參見 《史記 》 有關 列傳、世家）。不論是說 「黃 老 之 語」，抑或稱 「黃 老 之 術」，或被稱為 「黃_old_之 學 」，實際上都是講的是道家的思想，是以 Laozi 清靜虛無為核心的一派思考突出的是在 Laozi 前加了一個 Huangdi。 隨著 Huangdi 傳說越來越多，从戰國中後期開始，被增加到了書籍，這些書籍基本上可以歸入 “雜而多端”的天地日月陰陽五行類四種神仙類四種醫經經方各兩種天文歷譜雜占房中陰陽小說各一種，不難看出這些 Huangdi 書基本上可以歸入 “雜而多端”的天地日月陰陽五行類四種神仙類四種醫經經方各兩種天文歷譜雜占房中陰陽小說各一種。不難看出，這些 Huangdi 書基本上可以歸入 “雜而多端”的天地日月陰陽五行類四種神仙類四種醫經經方各兩种。
因此，“ QinHan New Daojia ” and " Yellow Old Learning " have a very clear relationship. The term "Yellow Old" has roots in the literature, as recorded in the Shiji (Historical Records), which states that Shen Buhai's learning is based on the Yellow Old, while Han Fei's learning is also based on it. Other scholars such as Shan Dao, Tian Pian, Jie Zisi, and Huan Wen all studied the Yellow Old teachings and developed them further. There are also records of Gai Gong being skilled in governing according to the Yellow Old teachings and Chen Ping being fond of the teachings of Emperor Huang Di and Laozi.
The concept of QinHan New Daojia was proposed by me in my research on Lushi Chunqiu (Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals) and Huainanzi (The Master from Huainan) during the 1970s. In 1981, I published an article titled "From Lushi Chunqiu to Huainanzi: On QinHan New Daojia" in Issue 2 of Wen Shi Che (Literature History Philosophy), followed by a collection of related papers published as QinHan New Daojia Outline Studies (Shanghai People's Publishing House). Although this term gained significant attention within academia at first, there were few who explicitly supported or used it.
During this time period, there was another area of study that garnered considerable interest: that of Yellow Old Learning. Several works were published around this time period including Wugang's The Comprehensive Study on Yellow Old Learning (Zhejiang People's Publishing House) released in 1985; Ding Yuming’s Systematic Study on Yellow Old Learning (Shandong University Press) released in 1997; Hu Jiasheng’s Discussion on Conflict between Scholars at Juizhou over Newly Emergent Thoughts with Special Reference to Qing Dynasty Philosophers' Confucianism; Bai Xi’s Research into Schools at Juizhou; Chen Ligui’s A Study into Thought Patterns During War-Time Periods with Focuses Upon Qing Dynasty Philosophers’ Confucianism.
In these studies conducted during different periods we can see how they built upon each other through their shared core focus – namely understanding human nature - but differed slightly due to various factors such as historical context or geographical location.
Therefore when considering both sides - one side focused more deeply upon China history especially before Chinese imperial dynasties like Han dynasty then called it 'Qin-Han new daoist', while others chose terms like 'Yellow old school', we can see how these two perspectives may overlap but still maintain some distinctions depending upon specific contexts under consideration.
