Lao Tzu believed that the Tao exists before individuals and is the fundamental principle of all existence, while Chuang Tzu saw the Tao as the result of the activities and interactions of individuals. Zhuangzi argued that language is also arbitrary and shaped by convention. Wang Chung believed that natural disasters are not the will of the heavens, but rather a phenomenon that occurs by chance in the cycle of nature, and that human life is also determined by chance.
Lao Tzu believed that the Tao is the supreme principle that enables harmonious relationships between entities, and that the Tao pre-exists before entities. He understood the Tao as the fundamental principle of the universe and nature, and argued that all beings move and change according to the Tao. In contrast, in the Analects, Zhuangzi saw the Tao as something that is created after the fact through the activities of individuals. He argued that just as the paths people walk on are created because countless people have walked on them, the Tao is not predetermined, but is merely a trace of the relationships between individuals, or the result of their communication. Thus, Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi had a fundamental difference in their views of the Tao.
For Lao Tzu, the Tao is deeply connected to the laws and order of nature. Lao Tzu believed that following the Tao was in keeping with human nature, and that it was important to live according to the natural flow of life rather than artificial regulations or constraints. These ideas later became the basis for Taoist philosophy and influenced many philosophical and ethical ideas that emphasize harmony between nature and humans. Zhuangzi’s Taoism, on the other hand, is more fluid and multifaceted. Zhuangzi saw everything as constantly changing, with no fixed entity or essence. This view shows that Zhuangzi had a relativistic worldview.
Chuang Tzu held the same view of language as he did of the Tao. He believed that when people give names to objects and use them to categorize them, the names they give to objects are not based on their inherent properties, but are merely arbitrarily associated with them. In other words, the relationship between objects and names is imprinted on people by the customary use of language in a particular community, and as a result, the objects are seen as if they were actually separate. Zhuangzi believed that language does not reflect reality as it is, but rather serves to distort or limit it. He recognized these limitations of language and emphasized true understanding and communication that transcends language. In this sense, Zhuangzi argued that the names we give to things are not inherently related to their properties. This view of language makes us reflect on the nature of our everyday language.
Like Zhuangzi’s assertion that the Tao is created after the fact, Wang Chung believed that the meaning of things in the world is also determined after the fact, and that there is no principle that governs the order of the natural world, such as the will of heaven. At the time, people believed that the will of the heavens was predetermined and that humans should follow the will of the heavens, or else natural disasters such as droughts and floods would occur. However, Wang Chung argued in the Analects that while it is true that natural disasters affect things in the world, including humans, they are not caused by the will of the heavens, but are merely phenomena that appear by chance in the course of nature’s cycle. In that sense, it is impossible for humans to influence the workings of the heavens. In this way, Wang Chong tried to explain the various phenomena surrounding human life as a series of natural causes and effects. Wang Chong’s argument is similar to modern scientific thinking that separates natural phenomena from human behavior.
Wang Chong believed that just as the workings of the heavens are a matter of chance, so too are human lives determined by chance. For example, he believed that a person’s success or failure in the military does not depend on his or her talent, but rather on the era in which he or she meets people of the same level of talent, and that no matter how talented a person is, he or she cannot be promoted unless he or she meets a monarch who recognizes his or her talent. Through this argument, he emphasized that human destiny is not set in stone, but is determined by many variables and chance. Wang Chung’s views challenged the fatalistic mindset of the society of his time and offered the possibility that humans could shape their own destiny. Wang Chung also criticized social inequality and the lack of reward for individual effort, and sought to overcome the pessimistic view of fate. His ideas are also linked to modern philosophy, which emphasizes human autonomy and free will.
