What are the Tao and Vessels in Taoism? 什么是道器

It refers to the doctrine on the relationship between The Dao and the concrete.

The Dao denotes non-being, principles or laws, while the concrete refers to tangible things, as well as social institutions and norms of names and entities. As a pair of corresponding categories, "the Dao and the concrete" designates a theory exploring the relationship between the noumenon and physical objects. The discourse on the Dao and the concrete has a long history in traditional Chinese culture. Laozi was the first to mention the Dao and the concrete together. Chapter 28 of the Dao De Jing states: When the uncarved block (i.e., the Dao) is dispersed, it becomes the concrete. The Dao precedes the concrete. As a genuine philosophical question, it first appeared in the Appended Remarks of the I Ching: That which is metaphysical is called the Dao; that which is physical is called the concrete. It defines the Dao and the concrete by metaphysics and physics, setting them in opposition to each other, with the Dao preceding all tangible objects.

What are the Tao and Vessels in Taoism?

After the Song Dynasty, extensive debates on the relationship between the Dao and the concrete unfolded, and the issue thus became an important part of traditional Chinese philosophy. The Cheng brothers argued that the Principle, or the Heavenly Principle, is the foundation of all things, and Qi is derivative—where there is the Principle, there is Qi, and every thing embodies the Principle. All things have form; that which has form is the concrete, and that which is formless is the Dao. All things in the universe are divided into the tangible and the formless, namely the concrete and the Dao. Qi is divided into Yin and Yang, belonging to the physical concrete; the basis of Yin and Yang is the Principle, which is also the Dao. Though the Dao and the concrete are distinct, they cannot be separated—there is no thing outside the Dao, and no Dao outside things. The Dao is also the concrete, and the concrete is also the Dao.

Zhu Xi explained the relationship between the Dao and the concrete through the Principle and Qi. The Principle is the metaphysical Dao, the foundation of all things; Qi is the physical concrete, the specific material constituting all things. The Dao and the concrete inhere in a single entity, yet there is a distinction between them—the former is the foundation (noumenon) of the latter. Wang Fuzhi studied the relationship between the Dao and the concrete from a unifying perspective. All that exists in the universe are individual concrete things, i.e., the concrete. The Dao is merely the Dao of the concrete, existing within the concrete. Only when things exist in concrete form can there be the Dao of those things. Where the concrete abides, the Dao exists; where the concrete departs, the Dao perishes.

There have been numerous debates on the relationship between the Dao and the concrete, yet all schools concur in regarding the Dao as the basis and noumenon, and the concrete as specific things. The difference among various schools lies in whether the Dao and the concrete are seen as two separate entities.

Discourses on the relationship between the Dao and the concrete are extremely abundant, and the debates extended into modern China.