Abstract

The works of the Huang-Lao school include the seven chapters of "Tian di" , "Tiandao" , "Tianyun" , "Zaiyou, xia" , "Keyi" , "Shanxing" , and "Tianxia" . In the following we shall refer to these collectively, and by way of abbreviation, as the "Heaven's Way" chapters. Of this group of "essays," the "All Under Heaven" chapter appeared relatively early in time, whereas all the others represented later works in the book Zhuang Zi. In general, however, they all were works produced in the pre-Qin era. The ideas presented by this group of essays are significantly different from those contained in the "inner chapters" of Zhuang Zi, and there are also clear and important differences between the Huang-Lao school and the other schools—namely, the Shu Zhuang school and the Wu Jun school—of latter-day Zhuang Zi thinkers. The ideas presented here of the Huang-Lao school, however, are basically consistent with the characteristics of the ideas conveyed in the "silk-scroll" ancient books on the teachings ascribed to the Yellow Emperor and to Lao Zi that have been discovered in Han-dynasty tombs, and with the way in which Sima Tan described and critiqued the school of Daoism. Therefore, we have called the authors of this group of essays the Huang-Lao school among latter-day Zhuang Zi thinkers. The works of the Huang-Lao school are not only material for the study of the evolving conditions within Zhuang Zi philosophy, but are also important grist for the mill in the study of the "teachings of the Yellow Emperor and of Lao Zi"