<i>Notes on the Laozi</i> and Yan Fu’s Theory of <i>Dao</i>

Abstract

In his Notes on the Laozi, Yan Fu constructs a new and unique theory of Dao that incorporates ideas from both Chinese and Western philosophies. Yan’s Dao is a unity of the physical and the metaphysical. It not only inherits the characteristics of Dao in the Laozi, as the origin and destination of all things, but also adds materiality by being equated to Aether. Yan further draws on the principles of calculus to bridge the physical and metaphysical sides of Dao. However, his infusion of evolution into his Dao conception is incompatible with the cycles of reversion that are the characteristic motion of Laozi’s Dao and this leads to internal contradictions in Yan Fu’s vision. When applied to realpolitik, the principles of void and non-being expounded in Yan’s theory of Dao become embodied in democracy. It can be said that democracy is the ultimate result of applying this new theory of Dao to politics.

Keywords

• <i>Notes on the Laozi</i>
• <i>Dao</i>
• ximing
• zhong
• democracy