The meaning of Innate Knowledge in Taoism 什么是良知

The meaning of Innate Knowledge in Taoism

"Liang Zhi" (良知, "Innate Knowledge") originally referred to innate moral concepts.

The term comes from Mencius·Jinxin Shang: "What people can do without learning is their innate ability; what they know without deliberation is their innate knowledge." Mencius believed that moral concepts such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are endowed by Heaven, not learned from outside. Later Wang Shouren developed this into the doctrine of "extending innate knowledge" as a method of moral cultivation. Internal alchemist Liu Yiming borrowed this term to refer to dao-nature or true nature, integrating Confucianism moral philosophy into Taoism cultivation theory.

The meaning of Innate Knowledge in Taoism