What are Being and Non-Being in Taoism? 道教中的有无含义

What are Being and Non-Being in Taoism?

1. The debate on Being and Non-Being originated with Laozi and Zhuangzi, and reached its culmination in Xuanxue (Neo-Taoism) of the Wei and Jin dynasties. Wang Bi regarded Non-Being as the foundation and Being as the derivative. He divided the world into the noumenon and phenomena, with Non-Being as the noumenon and Being as phenomena. Behind the diverse phenomena lies a more fundamental essence—Non-Being—which determines the existence and changes of all things. Pei Wei advocated for Being, arguing that Non-Being cannot generate Being, and all substantial things can only produce themselves. Being is the noumenon, and abandoning this noumenon will inevitably impair the generation and transformation of all things. Non-Being is merely a form of manifestation of the disappearance or non-existence of Being.
   
   
2. Being and Non-Being are fundamental concepts in Daoist and Taoism philosophy, and the two exist in mutual relation. Laozi endowed Being and Non-Being with philosophical connotations of cosmic noumenon in the Dao De Jing, defining them as two manifestations of The Dao: Non-Being is the essence of The Dao, and Being is its function. Chapter 40 of the Laozi states: "All things in heaven and earth are born of Being, and Being is born of Non-Being." Non-Being is more fundamental than Being. Taoist philosophy developed various interpretations of the view that Being is born of Non-Being. Ge Hong stated in Baopuzi: Inner Chapters · The Ultimate Principle: "Being is born of Non-Being"—Non-Being is the origin, and Being is the manifestation of Non-Being. Cheng Xuanying, in his theory of the "Twofold Mystery of The Dao", described The Dao as Non-Being, emptiness, the intangible and the soundless, yet also as Being, from which all things are born. The Dao is Non-Being, meaning it is not Being; The Dao generates all things, meaning it is not Non-Being—The Dao is neither Being nor Non-Being. Practicing the Dao is the pursuit of the middle way of "neither Being nor Non-Being", and further, freedom from attachment to both Being and Non-Being. The Classic of the Supreme Lord Laozi on the Origin of Spontaneity refers to The Dao as empty, Non-Being and void, with Non-Being as one of its manifestations. Being and Non-Being are particularly valued by practitioners of Internal Alchemy: Being is generated from the primordial vital energy, and Non-Being is the state of returning to emptiness and uniting with The Dao—the supreme realm of Dao practice.