老子技术思想研究.ppt

1 2 老子技术思想研究刘克明 3 AStudyoftheTechnicalIdeaandTheoriesinLaoZi LIUKeming刘克明 HuazhongUniversityofScienceandTechnology Wuhan ChinaE mail liukeming 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Abstract ThepresentthesisintroducesandcommentsontherecordsinLaoZionancientmechanism probingintothetechnicalideasofLaoZi TheideasinLaoZi suchastheprincipleoftheadministrationmustconformtotheintegrityofthelaw existencegoestogetherwithnonexistence toachieveanythingdifficultmuststartfromeasyone anythinggreatfromsmallone arenotonlypracticalbutalsoenlighteningforcreatingnewthingsandmentalstatesoftoday shigh technologyresearchers 11 12 13 14 1 Introduction LaoZicontributesgreatlytothedevelopmentoftheoreticalthinkinginChina Besides italsomakesinsightfulobservationofancientscienceandtechnology includingmechanicalmanufacturing Amongthe81chaptersofLaoZi altogether5 000words manychaptersarespecificallydevotedtomechanics engineering techniques andmanufacturing Someofthesechaptersdiscussthephilosophicalissuesinmechanicaltechnology whilesomeelaborateontheWayofHumanbeingthroughdiscussingtheWayofHeavenandprobeintotheSocietybytalkingabouttheNature Insomesense LaoZiistheearliestmasterpieceinChinawhichdiscussesscientificandtechnicalissuesandisalsotheearliestliteratureavailablethattouchesuponthetheoriesandmethodsofmechanicaldesign 15 2 AbriefreviewoftheengineeringandtechnicalideasinLaoZi OneexampleofthediscussiononmechanicsinLaoZicanbeseeninthe5thChapter whichsays Isn tthatbetweenHeavenandEarthlikeabellow Whilevacuous itisnotinexhaustible Themoreitisdrawnoff themoreairitsendsforth Muchtalkisdoomedadeadend Itisbettertokeeptomoderation Bellowisanimportanttoolusedincasting 16 Anotherinstancerelatingtomechanicscouldbefoundinthe11thChapterofLaoZi Thirtyspokesareunitedinonenavetomakeawheel butitisontheholeofthenavethattheuseofthecarriagedepends Clayismixedtomoldautensil butitisonitsemptyspacethattheuseoftheutensildepends Doorsandwindowsarecutouttoformaroom butitisonthevacancywithinthattheuseoftheroomdepends Therefore thebenefitsthatexistence You 有 bringstopeoplerestsexclusivelyuponthedecisiveroleofnonexistence Wu 无 17 Discussiononmechanicsisalsoavailableinthe27thChapterofLaoZi Itissaidthat Onewhoisskilledattravellingleavesnotracesofhiswheelorfootsteps Afourthexamplerelatingtomechanicsisinthe77thChapterofLaoZi DoesnottheWay Dao ofHeavenresembledrawingabowandaimingatthetarget Whenitishigh itwillbebroughtdown Whenitislow itwillberaisedup Whenitisoverfull itwillbediminished Andwhenitisnotfull itwillbesupplemented 18 The80thChapterofLaoZiprovidesafifthexampleofthediscussionofmechanics Letthestatebesmall andletthepopulationbesparse Thoughtherearevariouskindsofinstruments letthemnotbeused Letthepeoplenotrisktheirlives notmovetodistantplaces Thoughthereareboatsandcarriages thereisnooccasiontorideinthem Thoughthereareweaponsandmilitaryequipment thereisnooccasiontodisplaythem Letthepeoplereturntotheuseofknottedcordsinrecordingevents delightintheirfood dressinbeauty dwellincomfort andenjoytheirlife 19 3 TechnicalideasandtheoriesinLaoZi LaoZicoversvariousaspectsofancientmechanics Thoughitdoesnottouchuponspecificmechanicaldesign LaoZimakesinsightfulobservationofmechanicalandengineeringtechnologyandprovidesphilosophicalandintelligentviewsonancientscienceandtechnology Theseideascanstillbeappliedtomechanicaldesigntodayandeveninthefuture 20 3 1 Perfectmakingdoesnotariseoutofartificiality Inthe28thChapterofLaoZi itiswrittenthat Whenthesimplicityisbrokenup itisturnedintoconcretevessels Byusingthebreakingupofsimplicity thesagesetsupgovernmentandleadership Thereforetheperfectmakingdoesnotariseoutofartificiality 21 LieZi inthe8thChapterofTheBookofMasterLieZi 列子 说符第八 tellsastoryofacraftsmanwhoengravedaleafoutofapieceofjadeafterthreeyears hardwork Thejadeleaflookedjustlikeatrueleafinanyaspect suchtasthethicknessandsizeofitsveinsandblade andtheamountandcolorofthethornsonit Mixingitwithtrueleaves nobodycandistinguishitfromtrueleaves ThecraftsmanthenmadehislivinginthecountrySongbythisuniqueskill WhenLieZiheardthestory hesaid IfittakesthreeyearstoformaleafinNature fewthingsinNaturewouldhaveleaves Therefore thesagetreasuresnaturalgrowthinsteadofintelligenceandskill 22 Theideaof perfectmakingdoesnotariseoutofartificiality isenlighteningformechanicaldesign First LaoZi sideaof whenthesimplicityisbrokenup itisturnedintoconcretevessels indicatesthatincreatingandmakinganytools peopleshouldcomplywithitsnatureandobeytherulesofNature Besides increatingnewthingoutoftheoriginalones thesuccessfulcasesshouldbetakenasexamples whilelessonsshouldbedrawnfromfailures Onlyinthiswaycanpeopleattainthegoalof perfectmaking Second throughDaZhi 大制 peoplecanprocesstheideasorthingswhichalreadyexistbychangingtheirmeaning function principles structure ormaterial Inthiswaypeoplecanobtainnewideasorproductswhicharemorecreative original andpracticalthanthepreviousones Actually perfectmakingdoesnotariseoutofartificiality teachespeopletoviewthesituationasawholeandtousecombinatorialtheoriesinmechanicaldesign Inthissense itisthefundamentaltechniqueforinventorstocreatenewthings 23 3 2 Havingadvancedscienceandtechnologybutwithnooccasiontousethem The80thChapterpresentsanoverallpictureofLaoZi sideas Moreimportantly itreflectshisviewonthedevelopmentandtendencyofscienceandtechnology LaoZigivessolutiontotheproblemwhetherhumanwillcancontrolscienceandtechnology Developingscienceandtechnologyandcontrollingthenhavealwaysbeenatoughissuefacedbyhumanbeing andarealsothedesireofhumanbeing LaoZiholdstheviewof letthestatebesmall andletthepopulationbesparse 24 Undoubtedly LaoZiholdsanoptimisticviewonthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology aswellasontherelationshipbetweenhumanandscience technology His5 000 wordsmasterpieceisindeedaimedatsolvingtheproblemofhowhumancivilizationcancomplywithNatureandhowmoralprinciplescanbecombinedwithscienceandtechnologyatoptimum LaoZiiswellawarethatrealityisnotalwaysinaccordancewiththeideal Inordertorealizetheideal peopleshouldsettlethecontradictionbetweenrealityandtheidealandthentrytomaketherealityprogresstowardstheideal 25 LaoZi sidealistheNature Forhim thecontradictionbetweenrealityandtheidealliesinrealityviolatingNature ThesolutiontotheproblemistomaketherealitycomplywithNature namely toreturntosimplicity Regardingthetendencyofthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology LaoZiisinfavorofhavingadvancedtechnology Hisidealistohave thetoolstheefficiencyofwhichisequaltothatoftenorahundredworkersworkingtogether butnotusingthem However therealitycontradictsthisideal Therefore inhisdiscussionoftheuseofmilitaryequipment suchasweaponsandarmor LaoZiadvocates onlyusingthemwhenwehaveto 26 Table 27 First scienceandtechnologyistheproductofthedevelopmentofhumanhistory Inthefirststage thereisnoadvancedscienceandtechnology andinthesecondstagethereisandpeopleusethem Isitnecessarytostepintothethirdstageofhavingadvancedscienceandtechnologybutnotusingthem ThisisaseriousquestionputforwardbyLaoZi Theideaof havingadvancedscienceandtechnologybutnotusingthem providessolutiontoatoughproblemfacedbymodernscientists howcanhumanbeingproperlycontrolnuclearweapons LaoZi sideareflectsthehopethathumanbeingshallgaincontroloverscienceandtechnology Itshouldbenotedthatthethirdstagedifferssharplyfromthefirststageinthatthereisadvancedscienceandtechnologyinthethirdstage whilethereisnotinthefirststage 28 Secondly theideaof havingadvancedscienceandtechnologybutnotusingthem providesguidelinesfortheresearchandapplicationofscienceandtechnology Thereisnolimittoscientificresearch butthereislimittoitsapplication Modernatomictechnologycanbeusedingeneratingelectricity curingcancer aswellasmakingatomicbombsandhydrogenbombs LaoZipointsoutthatscienceandtechnologyshouldbringhappinessandconveniencetohumanbeing Therefore atomicenergyshouldnotbeusedinmakingnuclearweapons Indeed whentheapplicationofscienceandtechnologyendangersthesafetyofthepeopleandthesociety endangersthecivilizationanddevelopmentoftheworld theapplicationshouldbecontrolledorevenbanned ThisisamoderninterpretationofLaoZi sidea Itmakescleartheacademicandhistoricalresponsibilitywhichshouldbeconsideredbyscientists 29 3 3 Thebenefitsthatexistencebringstopeoplerestsexclusivelyuponthedecisiveroleofnonexistence The11thChapterofLaoZitouchesuponengineeringandmechanicalmanufacturing LaoZitakestheexampleofcarriages utensils androoms elaboratingontherelationshipbetweenexistenceandnonexistence Hepointsoutthattheuniverseisentirety butnotsimpleentirety Itiscomposedofcountlesspairsofcontradictionswhicharebothcontradictorytoandinterdependentoneachother 30 31 32 LaoZi stheoryof existence and nonexistence contributesgreatlytothetheoriesandmethodsofmechanicaldesign Infact nomatteritisacarriage autensil oraroom itisthespacewithinthatpeoplearedirectlyusing Thisisthesocalled nonexistence However theroleof nonexistence isusuallyignoredbymen JustasWeiYuan 1794 1857 says Thebenefitsthatexistencebringstopeoplerestsexclusivelyuponthedecisiveroleofnonexistence Itisnotthatpeopledonotknow existence and nonexistence areinseparable butthattheroleof existence isknowntoeveryone whiletheroleof nonexistence isnotrecognized 33 Existence and nonexistence aredialecticallyunifiedandinterdependent Fromaphilosophicalpointofview peopleshouldnotonlypayattentionto existence suchasconcreteobjects butalsopayattentionto nonexistence suchasthespaceinaroomandinautensil Existence and nonexistence existsidebysideanddevelopsimultaneously Thistheoryisactuallyenlighteninginmechanicaldesign 34 3 4 Prepareforadifficultproblemwhileitiseasy enteronagreattaskwhileitissmall Ascanbeseeninthe63rdChapter Considernoactionasanaction havingnotroubleasanaffairandflavorlessasaflavor Nomatterhowhostileothersaretowardsme Ialwaysrepaythemwith De Prepareforadifficultproblemwhileitiseasy Enteronagreattaskwhileitissmall AllthedifficultthingsunderHeavennecessarilyarisefromthestateinwhichtheywereeasy AllthegreattasksunderHeavenarisefromthestateinwhichtheyaresmall Forthisreason thesageneverdoesgreatthings andheaccomplishesgreatthingsjustonthataccount Lightpromisingmakesoneloseone scredit andthinkingbringseasyleadstodifficulties So thesage thoughheisverywise paysmuchattentiontothedifficulties Thereforeheisfreefromdifficultiesintheend 35 First itisnecessarytodeterminewhetheritisbettertostartfromeasyonestodifficultones DaTu大图 ortostartfromdifficultonestoeasyones XiaoTu小图 Thismeansthesameasthecommonsaying Intermsofstrategy weshoulddespisetheenemy whileintermsoftactics weshouldtreattheenemyseriously Thatistosay withrespecttostrategy weshouldbeconfidentinourselvesandregardourselvesas10timesgreaterthanwereallyare Withrespecttotactics weshouldbecarefulandprudentandtreattheenemyasiftheywere10timesgreaterthantheyactuallyare DaTushowsakindofheroicspirit Ontheotherhand XiaoTuemphasizesmoreonpracticeandsymbolizestherigorousandconscientiousmannerincarryingoutscientificresearch 36 Secondly prepareforadifficultproblemwhileitiseasy and enteronagreattaskwhileitissmall suggestthatfromsmallerpartswecangettoknowthewhole Itisespeciallysointheinventionandmanufacturingofmachines Thetinyindividualiswithoutexceptionconnectedwiththegeneral whilethegeneralcanonlyexistandbereflectedthroughtheindividual 37 Thirdly enteronagreattaskwhileitissmall indicatesthattheprocessofdevelopmentforanythingisfrom small to big andfrom few to many Therefore inaccomplishingagreattask forinstance hugeengineeringprojects itisessentialtostartfromtinydetails Takemechanicalmanufacturingasanexample Tomakeamachine countlessparametersshouldbecalculatedandcountlessexperimentsshouldbecarriedout Ifthereisamistakeintheprocess evenassmallasthemissingofanail thewholeprojectmayendinfailure Therefore thebiggertheproject themoreattentionpeopleshouldpaytodetails Withtherapiddevelopmentofpeople sunderstandingofNature itismoreurgenttoresearchintothemicroworld Indeed LaoZi sideaof entero