This book seeks to reconstruct Laozi’s thought on the basis of Daodejing, highlighting the main aspects of Laozi’s philosophy and ideological system. It explores the connotation of the core concept of Laozi’s philosophy—“Dao”(the Way), Laozi’s dialectics and Zhuangzi’s further deepening and development of Laozi’s philosophy, the concepts of Being and Not-being, the unity of opposites, the theoretical basis of Zhuangzi’s famous argument of “Making All Things Equal”, and the Daoist philosophy of life and the Daoist view of life and death etc. With the help of some illustrations and classical stories, we try to illustrate the essence of traditional Chinese culture.

Dr. Zhai Jiangyue is a senior professor of Ludong University in China, she got her doctor’s degree on Classical Chinese Literature at Shandong University. She was promoted professor in 2007 and granted the highest ranking in social science by Ludong University in January 2020. She is good at ancient Chinese language and is well-versed in ancient Chinese documents. Several of Zhai’s ancient documents translations are collected in “Library of Chinese Classics”. Zhai’s in-depth comprehension of Chinese philosophy, religion and culture, is reflected in her new publication, which will consists of four volumes: “Benefiting the Whole World: The Wisdom of Kongzi”, “Free and Unfettered Wandering with Dao: The Wisdom of Laozi and Zhuangzi”, “The Way to Happiness and Liberation: The Wisdom of Chan Buddhism”, and “The Art of War: The Wisdom of Sunzi”.