Transcendental Time and Empirical Time: Two Types of Time and Their Internal Connection in the Laozi

Abstract

The concept of time in Laozi’s philosophy is more complicated than it appears. Its complexity stems from the fact that there are two distinct concepts of time: the temporality of empirical things, which is constructed as a finitely continuous temporal succession that is perceptible, and the temporality of the shapeless dao 道, which is conceived of as a transcendental and infinitely continuous temporal succession that is imperceptible. Referring to the excavated Laozi texts, we find that most of the heng 恆 characters were replaced by the character chang 常 in the transmitted versions of the text. In addition, inspired by the excavated text Hengxian 恆先, the concept of heng in Spring and Autumn period philosophy has become an important subject of study. These two factors collectively lay a thought-provoking foundation for understanding Laozi’s ideas about the continuous, large-scale temporal eternality of dao. This article argues that both the daoheng 道恆 and hengdao 恆道 are used in the Laozi to describe the temporality of dao but that the latter has long been forgotten and overlooked by modern scholars. In the compound word hengdao, the character heng is a noun that acts as an attribute; whereas in the compound word hengdao, the character heng is a noun that acts as the predicate. This article argues that Laozi introduced the theory of “dao is eternal” (dao yongheng 道永恆) as evidenced by the use of heng and several time concepts such as “it seems to have even preceded the first ancestors” (xiangdi zhi xian 象帝之先), “the spirit of the valley never dies” (gushen busi谷神不死), “he who lives out his days has had a long life” (si er buwang 死而不亡), “the way … by which one lives to see many days” (changsheng jiushi 長生久視). The temporality of material things originates from the temporality of dao. Moreover, things can possess and expand their own time if they act in accordance with the universal law of dao.

1. Introduction

The study of time can be conducted in a variety of disciplines. Linguistic studies, for example, are likely to focus on the semantics and pragmatics of time whereas philosophical studies are likely to focus on the nature of time. If studies conducted within one discipline and across multiple disciplines are allowed, we will not only achieve the goals of each discipline but will also be more methodologically flexible. Today, the studies of time are finely compartmentalized (into philosophy, science, culture, and so on), but are yet interconnected in some ways (Wu 2006; Lippincott et al. 2012; Z. Wang 2019). For now, we have a variety of studies on time, such as linguistic studies (Y. Zhou 2012, pp. 4–8; Jiang 2012, pp. 19–20), philosophical studies (K. Zhou 2019, pp. 168–75; S. Chen 2009, pp. 52–55), and intersectional studies.1 The diversity of studies is a result of the cross-cutting yet overlapping nature of the ideas of time in ancient East and West traditions.

This is the case with Laozi’s view of time. From the perspective of philosophy, Laozi’s concepts of time can be divided into two categories: (a) concepts related to dao 道 and metaphorical expressions of dao, such as heng 恆 (replaced with chang 常 in transmitted texts), jiu 久 (dao naijiu 道乃久 [the way to perpetuity]); bushi qisuozhe jiu 不失其所者久 [to not lose what one has is to last]),2 shi 始 (wanwu zhishi 萬物之始 [the inception of the myriad things]), busi 不死 (undying), and so on; and (b) concepts related to the process by which things come into being, change and die, such as sheng 生, si 死, xin 新, jiu 舊, shi 始, zhong 終, zao 早, wan 晚, ji 既, jiang 將, shi 時, xian 先, fu 復, gui 歸, fan 返, chang 長, jiu 久 (for example, “heaven and earth are enduring” [tianchang dijiu 天長地久]). From an astronomical and calendrical perspective, Laozi’s concepts of time are zhao 朝, ri 日, chun 春, dong 冬, nian 年, and so on. Finally, from a historical perspective, Laozi’s concepts of time are xi 昔, xiri 昔日, xizhe 昔者, gu 古, jin 今, gushi 古始.

It should be noted that these classifications are rather relative; additionally, certain concepts (such as jiu, shi, and so on) have multiple meanings. Nonetheless, the concepts of time in the Laozi can be broadly divided into two categories: infinite continuous temporal succession and finite continuous temporal succession. The former is primarily concerned with the temporality of dao and its various metaphors (such as mu 母, gen 根, gushen 谷神, xuanpin 玄牝, men 門, etc.),3 whereas the latter is concerned with the temporality of things, including heaven, earth, and humans, among others. The time concepts under the categories of astronomy, calendrics, and history can be classified as the latter category. The former can be referred to as transcendental time while the latter can be referred to as empirical time. The main aim of this article is to investigate these two different types of time in Laozi’s philosophy, namely the infinite transcendental time of dao and its metaphorical expressions and the finite empirical time of material things and the physical world. These two types of time are internally connected in a way that the temporality of material things shares the infinite time of dao while the temporality of dao becomes perceptible by virtue of the finite temporality of things.4

In order to demonstrate our proposition, we must first analyze the eternity of dao and its connotations in the Laozi, especially the connotation of the concept daoheng in which the noun heng serves as the predicate of dao: “Dao is eternal”. Our questions are: is daoheng really a concept in the Laozi? What does this concept mean when it refers to the temporality of dao? What is a suitable and accurate understanding of the temporality of dao? Based on this, we will further investigate the following questions: what is the relationship between the temporality of dao and the temporality of things? And if they are not the same, how should we understand the temporality of things? These two aspects are intertwined. By discussing these interlinked issues, I propose that the eternal temporality of dao can be understood not only by the phrase hengdao (eternal dao), but also by daoheng (dao is eternal), and also by multiple scales used to measure the temporality of things. These scales are used to depict various forms of time (for instance, continuity, duration, and interval) in the process of generating, changing, cycling, and dying of things. The temporality of things differs from, but is also unified with, the temporality of dao. This is the underlying structure and connotation of Laozi’s view of time.

2. Question on Laozi’s Temporality of Dao

People have come up with ways to calculate time and have made tools to measure it since the dawn of civilization. What is more, numerous terms connoting time have been created to express and convey ideas related to time. It would seem that during the activities of measuring time, constructing calendars, keeping time, and communicating, people fully understand what time is; in addition, they can live conveniently because of their understanding as such. However, people quickly become confused when they are confronted with questions about what “time itself” is and whether there is “independent” time in the universe. Theologians and philosophers are the first to experience this sense of confusion, the first to attempt to reveal the mystery of time, and the first to try to explain what kind of “arrow” the “arrow of time” is. Complex concepts and ideas of “time” have been developed and preserved in the history of the thought of time (Liu 2000), amongst them is Laozi’s concept of time, which is far more perplexing than it appears to be. One of the main disagreements regarding this is whether or not the dao is temporal (Zhang 1996, p. 244). I agree that dao is not outside of time, although it is the shapeless absolute. Beginning from here, this article will take one step further and thoroughly analyze the temporality of dao in the Laozi.

Philosophy, as well as theology, in the Eastern and Western traditions, contains a wide variety of theories on time. People find it difficult to understand why dao, the source of all things, can have a “temporal state” (shitai 時態). It is as perplexing as God creating everything, including time, but all the while existing outside of time. The question of what God did before creating the world was previously avoided with jokes; it was only St. Augustine’s studies that were thought to have reached the deepest level of theories such as the big bang, the origin of the universe, and the beginning of time (Lippincott et al. 2012, p. 12). It is pointless to argue that saying that God is outside of time means that God transcends finite time, that God is eternal, or that God is everlasting in temporal successions since such claims do not exclude temporality from God (Huang 2012, pp. 1–28). Sometimes “God” is translated as dao implying that God is dao (Alexander 1895).5

In this sense, daoheng is comparable to the temporality of God. In the field of philosophy, it is widely accepted that the universals (for example Plato’s idea) and li 理 (for example Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 tianli 天理 [Principles of Heaven]) are invariant and transcend specific time and space. However, does this mean that they are unrelated to time and space at all? In fact, there are two concepts of time in the field of philosophy: finite time and infinite time. The former is the temporality of material things and the empirical world, while the latter is the temporality of the transcendental world which, different from the former, is infinite and eternal. The temporality of material things is measurable, some last relatively long, while others are relatively short. Either way, this “time” we measured undoubtedly is finite. The temporality of the absolute is fundamental to the temporality of things, as was the case of the temporality of dao in Laozi’s philosophy.

As regards Laozi’s dao (i.e., super entities, superpowers, and super laws), we would better avoid finding ourselves trapped in complicated debates, but rather focus on its temporality and its relation to the temporality of things. However long (for example, tianchang dijiu) or short (for example, fangsheng fangsi 方生方死) the time of things might be, it is a finite amount of time. The temporality of dao transcends that of material things since dao has no shape (xing 形) or image (xiang 象), and thus it is different from (and therefore transcends) material things. However, this does not imply that dao is not temporal; rather, it means only that the temporality of dao is difficult to understand.

The Laozi held the view that the universe has a specific beginning, an idea commonly seen in Daoist cosmology. The following two sentences from chapters 42 and 51 of the Laozi illustrate this well, “The way begets one; One begets two; Two begets three; Three begets the myriad creatures” (道生一, 一生二, 二生三, 三生萬物) and “the way gives them life” (道生之). According to these two, it is reasonable to assume that before dao gives birth to the One and the myriad things, there is no temporality of material things, but only the temporality of the ultimate dao. It is similar to the situation before God created things, at least formally. After giving birth to the myriad things, dao remains independent, on the one hand, and internalized in particular things on the other hand. This is similar to the relationship between dao and li 理 in Han Feizi’s 韓非子 philosophy.6 According to Laozi, although dao is independent and self-sufficient, it nurtures and rears things. This is made explicitly in Chapter 25’s “dao stands on its own and does not change” (獨立而不改) and Chapter 34’s “the way is broad, reaching left as well as right” (大道汜兮, 其可左右). In this respect, the temporality of dao is empirical. In other words, even though dao itself is eternal and infinite, it may nevertheless appear to be temporally discontinuous because it goes through the birth-death processes of things.

The view that dao, the transcendent absolute, is unrelated to time is hardly acceptable (Guan and Lin 1959). This argument has been rejected by Zhang Dainian 張岱年. He believed that dao is temporal or that dao is not an existence that exists outside of time. The Laozi explicitly associates time with dao in Chapter 16: “the way to perpetuity” (道乃久) (Zhang 1996). In fact, the term heng in the Laozi is not only a good example that dao is temporal, but also indicates that Laozi considers the temporality of dao to be eternal, permanent, and infinite. This can be shown by the relationships between dao and heng in the Laozi. It is the case, however, that the semantic connotation of this conceptual relationship has been unfortunately smothered and ignored. This situation is primarily due to the perplexity caused by the complexity of the concept of dao and, to a lesser degree, a lack of linguistic understanding.

It should not be surprising that fully understanding the temporality of the dao is a very challenging task. Fortunately, we now have several factors available as a new condition for understanding the concept of heng in the minds of philosophers during the Spring and Autumn period: (1) we now know from the various excavated texts of the Laozi that the majority of the chang characters found in the transmitted versions of the text were originally written as heng and were substituted with chang in order to avoid the name taboo of Emperor Wen (whose personal name was Liu Heng 劉恆); (2) the Hengxian 恆先 of the Shanghai Museum’s collection of excavated texts has drawn attention to the concept of heng; (3) the concept heng has become the subject of much academic discussion.7

3. The Loss and Recalling of the Meaning of Daoheng 道恆

To begin, we must determine whether heng is used as a predicate of dao in a grammatical sense. In addition, a crucial question that we must seek an answer to is whether or not the phrase daoheng is a legitimate expression in the Laozi.8 In fact, the phrases hengdao 恆道 and the daoheng are both expressions of the temporality of dao in the Laozi. It is because we have failed to accurately comprehend the meaning of three passages related to this that we have been led to parse them incorrectly and therefore misread them. The three passages in question are:

1、道恆無名，樸雖小，而天下弗敢臣。

(Mawangdui version jia)

道常無名，樸雖小，天下莫能臣也。

(Wang Bi version Ch. 32)

The way, as an eternal being, is nameless. Though the uncarved block is small no one in the world dared claim its allegiance.

(Mawangdui version jia)

The way, as an eternal being, is nameless. Though the uncarved block is small no one in the world dared claim its allegiance.

(Wang Bi version Ch. 32)

2、道〔氾呵，其可左右也。成功〕遂事而弗名有也。萬物歸焉而弗爲主，則恒无欲也，可名於小。萬物歸焉〔而弗〕爲主，可名於大。

(Mawangdui version jia)

“大道氾兮，其可左右。萬物恃之以生而不辭，功成不名有，衣養萬物而不為主。常無欲，可名於小；萬物歸焉而不為主，可名為大。以其終不自為大，故能成其大。”

(Wang Bi version Ch. 34)

The way is broad, reaching left as well as right. The myriad creatures return to their own way because of it, yet it does not become their lord. The way (as eternal being) is free of desire, it can be called small; yet as it lays no claim to being master when the myriad creatures turn to it, it can be called great.

(Mawangdui version jia)

The way is broad, reaching left as well as right. The myriad creatures depend on it for life yet it claims no authority. It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit. It clothes and feeds the myriad creatures yet lays no claim to being their master. The way (as eternal being) is free of desire, it can be called small; yet as it lays no claim to being master when the myriad creatures turn to it, it can be called great. It is because it never attempts itself to become great that it succeeds in becoming great.

(Wang Bi version Ch. 34)

3、道恆無為也。侯王能守之，萬物則自化。

(Guodian version)

道常無為而無不為，侯王若能守之，萬物將自化。

(Wang Bi version Ch. 37)9

The way, as an eternal being, takes no acts. Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it, The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.

(Guodian version)

The way, as an eternal being, takes no acts, yet nothing is left undone. Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it, The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.

(Wang Bi version Ch. 37)

In most historical and contemporary readings, the words heng 恆 or chang 常 are commonly read together as modifiers of the word that immediately follows. Therefore, the first passage is read as dao heng wuming 恆無名 or chang wuming 常無名 (i.e., “dao is always nameless”); the third passage is read as dao chang wuwei 常無為 or heng wuwe 恆無為 (i.e., “dao always ‘does nothing’”); and the second passage is read as dao heng wuyu 恆無欲 or chang wuyu 常無欲 (i.e., “dao is always without desires”) where the heng/chang modifies the subsequent binomial phrase as an adverb (“always”).

Reading heng or chang as an adverb is where the problem lies, and to deal with it properly, we must confront the linguistic issues regarding the character heng in the Laozi. It has become a common understanding in recent Laozi studies that heng plays an important role in the text as evidenced by its frequent use.10 In some cases in the Laozi, heng/chang can be considered as an adverb such as in “when someone wants to take control of the world, he must always be unconcerned with affairs” (取天下恆以無事) in Chapter 48, “people always ruin things when they’re right at the point of completion” (常于幾成而敗之) in Chapter 64, and “the dao of heaven is always with the good man” (恆與善人) in Chapter 79.

With all these examples, which have a formal resemblance to the relation of dao and heng in the phrases dao heng wuming and dao heng wuwei, people have widely accepted the idea that heng is an adverb. The underlying assumption is that since people do certain things frequently, so does the dao. Is this right, though? Is it possible that in the preceding three sentences the heng is a noun rather than an adverb? If this is the case, these sentences should be read as:

• 道恆，無名。樸，雖小而天下弗敢臣。
  The way is eternal and nameless. Though the uncarved block is small no one in the world dared claim its allegiance.
• 道〔氾呵，其可左右也。成功〕遂事而弗名有也。萬物歸焉而弗爲主，則恒,无欲也，可名於小。萬物歸焉〔而弗〕爲主，可名於大。
  The way is broad, reaching left as well as right. The myriad creatures depend on it for life yet it claims no authority. It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit. It clothes and feeds the myriad creatures yet lays no claim to being their master. The way is eternal and free of desire, it can be called small; yet as it lays no claim to being master when the myriad creatures turn to it, it can be called great.
• 道恆，無為也。侯王能守之，萬物則自化。
  The way is eternal and takes no actions, yet nothing is left undone. Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it, The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord.

The usage of heng and its relationship with dao in the Laozi provide substantial evidence that the heng in the phrase daoheng is a noun. This can be proved in other instances, in Chapter 28, for example, the heng in the phrase hengde buli 恆德不離 is also a nominal attribute. Hengde refers to invariance, consistency, and long-lasting virtue. When it comes to the temporality of dao, especially its eternal property as a temporal succession, usually the first thing that comes to mind is the term hengdao from Chapter 1 of the Laozi, where heng is a nominal attribute.

It is logical and reasonable to say that people do or do not do something frequently. However, such statements are inappropriate to describe the original dao. Dao is the standard measure of the myriad things and its activities are consistently persistent. It is just as Xunzi says: “Nature has its constant motions”. (“Tianlun 天論”) We may conclude that, just as the heng in the phrase hengdao is a nominal attribute that defines the traits of dao, the heng in the phrase daoheng can be considered a nominal predicate that defines the traits of dao as well. Even if no such term exists, we could reasonably assume that the meaning of daoheng is hidden in the text. However, we do not have to infer this because the phrase daoheng is in the Laozi (daoheng wuwei and daoheng wuming). Most interestingly, both of the characters heng are nominal predicates, the same as wuming and wuwei.

For the instances of heng used as a nominal predicate, we have Chapter 34’s “the way is broad … hence it is eternal” (道泛呵 …… 則恆)11 in which heng is a noun serving as a predicate of dao at the beginning of the sentence; in the sentence zhixu heng 致虛恆 in Chapter 16, the heng is also a nominal predicate implying that one needs to persist and concentrate in the process of cultivating the spiritual realm of emptiness and tranquility,12 a notion reminiscent to the Chinese idiom “to persist in doing something with perseverance” (chizhi yi heng持之以恆). The heng in Chapter 16 is equivalent to heng of ren er wuheng 人而無恆 (a man devoid of constancy) which Confucius quotes from the southerners (Lau 2000, p. 129).

4. Infinite Continuous Temporal Succession: The Eternity of the Transcendental Dao

Based on the linguistic evidence shown thus far, it seems clear that the word heng in the phrase daoheng in the Laozi is a noun rather than an adverb. The following part of this article delves into the meanings of heng as a nominal attribute and as a nominal predicate of dao in the Laozi. We have repeatedly pointed out that Laozi’s dao is temporal, and that the temporality of dao differs from the temporality of things for it is an infinite instead of finite temporal succession devoid of specific forms of time such as birth and death. Now we can finally examine the connotation of the heng in the text of the Laozi and the premise of our argument that dao is infinite in temporal succession.

In terms of etymology, the word heng originally referred to the regularly changing phases of the moon. This meaning was later extended to include such ideas as continuous (chixu 持續), enduring (chijiu 持久), long-lasting (changjiu 長久), everlasting (yongjiu 永久), forever (yongyuan 永遠), frequently (changchang 常常), principle (faze 法則), and so on. As previously discussed, the majority of these usages in the early Chinese classics may also be found in the Laozi.

Philosophically, it is acknowledged that the universe is constantly changing where material things exist in a cycle of birth and death; their temporality is expressed as the enduring continuity of their life between the two poles of birth and death. Regardless of how long things exist, whether long, short, or even in the blink of an eye, they exist in a finite temporal succession, just as they occupy finite space. The concept of “relative time” (the observable time of a given entity, particularly those in motion) employed by Isaac Newton suggests that the temporality of things is finite.13 As already said, however, philosophers generally believe that there is a kind of time that is infinite (Q. Wang 2019, pp. 118–24). For example, Chinese natural philosophers believed that time (zhou 宙) and space (yu 宇) were both infinite. The chapter “Gengsangchu 庚桑楚” of the Zhuangzi says “it has reality, yet there is no place where it resides—this refers to the dimension of space. It has duration but no beginning or end this refers to the dimension of time”14 and the Shizi 屍子 also says “The north, south, east, west, the above, and the below are called yu (space); the past, present, and future are called zhou (time)”. In addition to relative time, Newton also proposed the notion of absolute time (which is independent, does not change, and passes evenly through things) which may suggest that time is infinite (an idea no longer accepted by scientific research).

For the following reasons, we may confidently come to the conclusion that the heng in the phrase daoheng in the Laozi is used to indicate the infinity and constancy of dao in temporal succession: the character heng is a noun in both the phrase hengdao and daoheng; the semantics of the heng in both phrases are the same; theories of infinite time have been brought up in the field of philosophy, and finally, the original meaning of the character heng is “permanent” and “everlasting”. Even if the temporality of dao in the Laozi is absolute in some ways, it differs from Newton’s absolute time in that time is inseparable from dao rather than independent of everything, as Newton claims. One of the theories that Zhuangzi developed from the Laozi is that the temporality of dao is infinite. In the “Qiwulun 齊物論” chapter, Zhuangzi questioned the origins of the world, claiming that because ancients had varying degrees of knowledge, they counted time on different scales. He used tongue-twister language to explain the concept of infinite time:

There is a beginning. There is a not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is being. There is nonbeing. There is a not yet beginning to be nonbeing. There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be nonbeing.

This infinite time is the temporality of dao, as the “Dazongshi 大宗師” chapter states: “dao … is its own source, its own root. Before the heavenly and the earthly existed, it was there, a firm from ancient times. It gave spirituality to the spirits and numinous; it gave birth to the heavenly and the earthly. It exists beyond the highest point, and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six directions, and yet you cannot call it deep. It was born before the heavenly and the earthly, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old”. The time that exists “before the heavenly and the earthly” and “earlier than the earliest time” refers to the temporality of dao. The “Qiushui 秋水” chapter explicitly points out that the temporality of dao is continuous and expands to infinity: “dao is without beginning or end, but things have their life and death”.

Other passages in the Laozi, such as those dealing with the traits of dao, the relationship between dao and ancestral deity (di 帝), and metaphorical depictions of dao, can further illustrate that the phrase daoheng relates to infinite time. Laozi employs two crucial analogies to represent dao’s temporal affinity and turn the meaning of the phrase daoheng in this direction. The di was regarded as the supreme religious god or supernatural force, the creator of myriad things, and the beginning of things in the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties (c. 1500–750 BCE). (Chao 2016, pp. 130–46; Fan 2017, pp. 46–55) Laozi replaced di with dao as the origin of things, claiming that dao was born and existed before di implying that dao is the beginning of temporal succession and would endure without cessation. The heavenly and the earthly were also regarded as the creators of myriad things and the beginning of temporal succession in the Western Zhou dynasty and the Confucian school of thinking. Laozi also said that dao exist before the heavenly and the earthly implying that dao exists in eternity.

In the Laozi, dadao 大道 and daoda 道大 are two phrases used to describe the qualities of dao. So, what exactly does da mean? Normally, big (da 大) and small (xiao 小) are scales used to quantify how much space something takes up. The “Qiwulun” chapter of the Zhuangzi has shown through da and xiao that the scale used to measure the space of things is relative: “there is nothing in the world bigger than the tip of an autumn hair, and Mount Tai is small;” similarly, in the “Qiushui” chapter, it says that “if we regard a thing as big because there is a certain bigness to it, then among all the ten thousand things there are none that are not big. If we regard a thing as small because there is a certain smallness to it, then among the ten thousand things there are none that are not small”.

For the Zhuangzi, if the da in the phrase daoda refers to the ultimate entity and universal principle, then it is different from specific things and principles since dao is the mother of the whole universe and the myriad things while not being a thing itself. Likewise, dao’s relation with space is that dao is spaceless in the sense of existing in infinite space, so it is different from material things, which occupy a big or small space. Space and time are two inseparable qualities of things. Anything that is finite in space must also be finite in time. Since the dao is infinite in space, it is undoubtedly also infinite in time. Chapter 14 of the Laozi emphasizes that dao is infinite in the sense of space by saying that “Go up to it and you will not see its head; follow behind it and you will not see its rear”. Chapter 25 emphasizes that dao is infinite in the sense of time by saying that “it stands alone and does not change”. Therefore, the da in the phrases dadao and daoda illustrates that dao is infinite not only in space but also in time.

The Laozi says that “the way conceals itself in being nameless” (道隱無名) and that “I know not its name” (吾不知其名); similarly, the Zhuangzi says that dao transcends language. Despite the seeming contradiction between dao and language, both the authors of the Laozi and their successors not only used language to depict but also discuss dao in many ways. One way depicts dao metaphorically. There are various metaphors for dao in the Laozi that are also considered to be infinite, such as mu, xuanpin, gushen, and so on. For instance, Laozi describes the “mystic female” thus: “The gateway of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth” (Chapter 6). We can see from the phrase “Constantly, and so forever” that the dao is inexhaustible as the greatest energy and that the dao is infinite. Correspondingly, Laozi had also said that “the valley spirit does not die” thereby illustrating that the dao is eternal and everlasting.

Is this infinite temporal sequence of the dao linear and reversible, or is it nonlinear and irreversible? Or is it both? Is the path of dao cyclical and periodic? The answers to these questions differ depending on the interpretation of related passages of the Laozi, including “turning back is how the way moves” (反者道之動) in Chapter 40 and “goes round and does not weary” (周行而不殆) in Chapter 25, and so on.15 If we consider the fan 反 and zhouxing 周行 as the qualities of dao, and the zhou in zhouxing as having the meaning of a circle (yuanzhou 圓周), we may argue that the temporality of the dao has features of returning and cycling. If we agree with this view, then we must ask why the movement of dao is returning and where it returns to? Why does dao move in a cyclical manner? Can we project the cyclical movements of particular things onto that of dao? We already discussed why, even though the Laozi truly contains the notion of zhouxing, the character zhou cannot be interpreted as “circular” but rather must be understood as “everywhere” (bian 遍) instead. In other words, the character zhou in zhouxing is comparable to the fan 泛 in the phrase dadao fan xi. Similarly, the fan in the phrase fanzhe dao zhi dong does not refer to “to return”, but instead refers to the alienated things returning to themselves with the help of the dao. The concepts of fu and gui in the Laozi refer to things that “after they are transformed, should desire to raise its head” (化而欲作) returning to themselves which provides us with additional strong evidence for our argument (Z. Wang 2016b, pp. 139–68). Taken together, these ideas suggest that the infinite temporal succession of dao in Laozi’s philosophy is linear and irreversible, rather than non-linear and reversible and cyclic and periodic.16

5. The Relationship between Empirical Time and the Eternality of Dao

Based on the connections between dao and heng and other related concepts in the Laozi texts, the previous section of this article argued that the term daoheng denotes that the temporality of dao is infinite. This is, however, only one type of time theory in Laozi’s philosophical ideas. When we consider the temporality of material things, we will obtain a different picture. For starters, physical time and physical things have finite temporalities. In Laozi’s philosophy, no finite thing can exist forever, rather, they are existences with beginnings and ends, life and death.17

The concept of finite temporal succession indicates that material things develop in a linear, reversible, circular, or periodic way. For example, the linear temporal succession is evident in the statements of continuous accumulation (such as from few to many, from small to big, which is also the accumulation of time), e.g., “the great vessel takes long to complete” (大器晚成) and “be as careful at the end as at the beginning” (慎終如始).18 The reversible temporal succession is evident in the states related to the returning of things to their original state; the circular temporal succession is evident in the statements related to the transition of increase and decrease (sunyi 損益) (including a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished [sunzhi er yi 損之而益] and diminished by being added [yi zhi er sun 益之而損]) and of disaster and fortune (fuhuo 福禍). These are all features of physical time. Below, we will look at the inherent relationship between the finite temporality of things and the infinite temporality of dao.

One of the peculiar psychological features of human beings is the desire for the things they love, whether it is their own lives or natural things, and also to live longer, even eternally despite the fact that they are mortal and cannot transcend the limitations of time. Once this hope becomes a belief, they will pursue it, or at the very least, expect it. This is why Chinese people developed early ideas of immortality which were later systematized in religious Daoism. A person who is aware that their physical body will die but refuses to accept this fact will fantasize about immortality. In contemporary society, people who are motivated by the advancement of life projects expect advancements in human abilities. In addition, the superhuman belief in immortality was enhanced (Alexandre and Besnier 2019, pp. 81–90).

Pursuing the immortality of material things is closely related to theological beliefs about the absolute (such as God) and various philosophical ideas about absolute beings and supreme entities. The infinite temporal succession of dao endows things with finite temporality while ensuring that things have their own time (one of the instances is the notion of living to the full extent of their destined age). If the finite temporality of material things can be extended on a larger or smaller scale, then human beings will naturally lengthen their lifespan as long as they live according to the principle of dao. Otherwise, their lives only will be shortened. Laozi expanded on this idea claiming that the eternity of dao enables the finite time of things to unceasingly extend. Seeking unity with God or the absolute through self-cultivation, whether or not it is a kind of mysticism from the perspective of religion and philosophy, implies a desire to pursue eternal time. This concept is also present in Laozi’s theory of health preservation (yangsheng 養生) (Ikeda 2019, pp. 438–82). It is not out of thin air that Daoist believers regard Laozi as the founder of immortality beliefs.

In Laozi’s philosophy, no matter how significant the effect of material things is, it is limited and no matter how insignificant the effect of dao is, it is infinite. This is why ideas and beliefs frequently appeal to universal principles and laws. That is what the dao is. In Laozi’s ideological structure, the relationship between dao and things is the relationship between origin and flow (yuanliu 源流), substance and application (tiyong 體用), mother and child (muzi 母子), and so on. The myriad things originated from dao but they nonetheless each have their own sovereignty. On the one hand, dao respects the autonomy of all things; on the other hand, it assists all things (with their growing and developing). So, Chapter 51 of the Laozi depicts the inconspicuous virtue (xuande 玄德) of dao as “it gives them life yet claims no possession; it benefits them yet exacts no gratitude; it is the steward yet exercises no authority” (生而不有, 爲而不恃, 長而不宰). The dao generates and feeds all things, so things, especially humans, can become immortal if they use the energy and principle of the dao.

In these ways, the eternity of dao is shown not only by the contrast between the infinite temporality of dao and the finite temporality of things but also by the approximation of finite temporality to the infinite temporality. There are two types of inner relationships between empirical time and transcendental time in the Laozi: the first is between the duration of things in general and the eternity of dao and the second is between the lifespan of humans and the eternity of dao. In both cases, living a long time is not only desirable but also expected to become a reality. The foundation of this expectation is the unity of things and the dao. Things and people can live a long time if they comply with and hold on to the dao.

Concerning the length of life, Chapter 16 of the Laozi says, “the way to perpetuity” (道乃久), and Chapter 33 says “he who lives out his days has had a long life” (死而不亡者壽), Chapter 59 says “the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives to see many days” (長生久視之道), and Chapter 52 says “to the end of one’s days one will meet with no danger” (沒身不殆). In these passages, concepts such as jiu 久, chang 長, and shou 壽 are used to describe the length of life. Lets us now examine Laozi’s assertion of the phrase “the way to perpetuity” (道乃久) on its own. It appears to speak about the infinity of dao itself. However, based on the context, it is clear that the subject of this sentence is “people”, just as in the previous sentences in this verse: “but should one act from knowledge of the constant, one’s action will lead to impartiality, impartiality to kingliness, kingliness to heaven, heaven to the way”. Therefore, the meaning of this sentence is that people who can understand the constancy of dao will become all-embracing; and those who can be all-embracing will become impartial; those who can be impartial will become kingly; those who can be kingly will be able to conform to the way of the heavenly; those who can conform to the way of the heavenly will be able to conform to the dao; those who can conform to the dao will “be long-lasting” and “to the end of one’s days will go unharmed”.19

In short, a dangerous life will surely be short-lived, yet a life without danger can be long. So, the notion of dao nai jiu reveals that one’s life can be prolonged as long as one’s behavior “conforms to the dao”. Living reasonably is a necessity for a sound life, and living in accordance with dao is far more prosperous than a sound life. In addition to the term “one who excels in safeguarding his own life” (善攝生), Laozi also offered ideas about how to conduct oneself in a reasonable manner, such as “in a home, it is the site that matters; in quality of mind, it is the depth that matters; in an ally, it is benevolence that matters; in speech, it is good faith that matters; in government, it is order that matters; in affairs, it is the ability that matters; in action, it is timeliness that matters”. (Chapter 8) The idea “in action it is timeliness that matters” (動善時) combines rational conduct with appropriate timing. It should be noted that “timing” here refers to more than an opportune moment.

According to the phrase “he who lives out his days has had a long life” (死而不亡者壽), “long life” is when people do die but do not disappear. This “long life” certainly refers to something other than a natural lifespan. The maximum human lifespan is said to be one hundred years. Laozi, on the other hand, believes that humans have a mental existence that lasts far longer than their physical lives. This mental longevity is future generations’ eternal memories of human excellence. In other words, even after a person’s physiological life has come to an end, his spiritual existence can continue and be remembered. What Laozi truly advocated was the immortality of the human spirit and the endurance of human spiritual influence which can compensate for the length of human physical life. This is the meaning of the ancient saying of three immortalities (sanbuxiu 三不朽 i.e., renowned “virtue”, “success”, and “sayings”).20

The two assertions, “you can then endure” (可以長久) and “the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives to see many days” (長生久視之道), both indicate that the lives of humans can be long. The reason for this can be found in Chapter 44:

Your name or your person, which is dearer? Your person or your goods, which is worth more? Gain or loss, which is a greater bane? That is why excessive meanness is sure to lead to great expense; too much store is sure to end in immense loss. Know contentment and you will suffer no disgrace; know when to stop and you will meet with no danger. You can then endure.

名與身孰親？身與貨孰多？得與亡孰病？是故甚愛必大費，多藏必厚亡。知足不辱，知止不殆，可以長久。

From this, we can see that people who know contentment and when to stop will suffer no harm as a result of living according to the principles of dao. On the contrary, people who desire more will lose more and those who store a lot will lose a lot as a result of not living according to the principles of dao.

The idea of changsheng jiu shi zhi dao indicates that long life and long-lasting vision are a result of cultivation. What is the meaning of dao here? Let us take a look at Chapter 59:

In ruling the people and in serving heaven it is best for a ruler to be sparing. It is because he is sparing that he may be said to follow the way from the start; following the way from the start he may be said to accumulate an abundance of virtue; accumulating an abundance of virtue there is nothing he cannot overcome; when there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limit; when no one knows his limit he can possess a state; when he possesses the mother of a state he can then endure. This is called the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives to see many days.

治人事天莫若嗇。夫唯嗇，是謂早服；早服謂之重積德；重積德則無不克，無不克則莫知其極；莫知其極，可以有國；有國之母，可以長久。是謂深根固柢，長生久視之道。

According to this chapter, being frugal, temperate, and appreciating one’s own life are the keys to longevity. One will become resourceful and immortal if one can develop this virtue and consistently practice it. According to Chapter 50 of the Laozi, one will not be able to live to the destined lifespan if they “set too much store by life” (生生之厚). Instead, he who is adept at preserving his life will be able to avoid all dangers “because there is no place for death in them” (以其無死地) (Chapter 50) and will live to their destined lifespan. One will be long-lived if he practices the dao, holds fast to the dao, and lives in accordance with the dao:

The world had a beginning and this beginning could be the mother of the world. When you know the mother go on to know the child. After you have known the child go back to holding fast to the mother, and at the end of your days, you will not meet with danger.

(Chapter 52)

天下有始，以為天下母。既得其母，以知其子，既知其子，復守其母，沒身不殆。

Sayings that regard the duration of things in the Laozi include Chapter 7’s “heaven and earth are enduring” (天長地久), Chapter 33’s “to not lose one’s place is to last” (不失其所者久), and Chapter 59’s “when he possesses the mother of a state he can then endure” (有國之母，可以長久). According to the line “to not lose one’s place is to last” (不失其所者久), things that do not lose their place can last for a long time. In this case, “place” (suo 所) refers to dao. If things do not lose their place but stay in their place, hold on to their place, and hold on to their dao, then they will “last a long time”. According to“heaven and earth are enduring” (天長地久), the heavenly and the earthly can last long. Why is this the case? According to Laozi, “the reason why heaven and earth can be enduring is that they do not give themselves life” (天地所以能長且久者，以其不自生，故能長生). The heavenly and earthly, as material things, can exist for a longer period of time than other things. This is an anthropomorphic approach to explaining why heaven and earth may continue for so long which is akin to the explanation of a short life span by saying that people “set too much store by life” in Chapter 50.

The salient attributes of dao include non-interference, non-control (wuwei 無為, wushi 無事) tranquility, and softness. As previously mentioned, humans who follow the principle of dao can live out their natural lifespans and things that act according to the dao can live a long time. Soft things seem to be feeble so people tend to regard them as powerless and ignore their virtue and value. However, according to Laozi, what is truly powerful is what is ruo 弱. In Laozi, softness is the nature of dao as well. The dao treats everything with softness, “softness is the means the way employs” (弱者道之用). On the contrary, properties such as rivalry, toughness, strength, and fullness appear to be powerful but are not. It is weakness, gentleness, and humility that are most powerful, “the submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong” (柔弱勝剛強). Things endowed with the softness of dao can last a long time.21 It is not so much to say that Laozi exaggerated softness as it is that we exaggerate the strength.

Laozi believed that the dao plays an indispensable and fundamental role in sustaining the life of things and humans. Considering the distinctive worldview of the ideology of softness (rouruo zhuyi 柔弱主義) of Laozi, this relationship between dao and things can be recognized by the fact that when things take action they should be tenderly, similar to the dao, and avoid being powerful and radical. Otherwise, things will lose their existential foundation. In Chapter 55, Laozi claimed that “that which goes against the way will come to an early end” (不道早已), which is a conclusion drawn from “a creature in its prime doing harm to the old is known as going against the way” (物壯則老，謂之不道).

Other statements relating to this principle include Chapter 9’s “rather than fill it to the brim by keeping it upright better to have stopped in time; hammer it to a point and the sharpness cannot be preserved forever”, Chapter 23’s “hence a gusty wind cannot last all morning, and a sudden downpour cannot last all day. Who is it that produces these? Heaven and Earth. If even heaven and earth cannot go on forever, much less can man”, and so forth. The effects of being weak and strong were further illustrated in Chapter 76’s saying that “thus the hard and the strong are the comrades of death; the supple and the weak are the comrades of life. Therefore, a weapon that is strong will not vanquish; a tree that is strong will suffer the axe. The strong and big take the lower position, the supple and weak take the higher position”.

6. Conclusions

Understanding the philosophy of time in the Laozi has proven to be more challenging than we expected. In fact, Laozi distinguishes two types of time: one is empirical time, which is finite continuous temporal succession associated with things that are not difficult to understand; the other type of time is transcendental time, which is an infinite continuous temporal succession associated with dao and its various metaphors. Through genuine understanding of the connotation of heng, especially in the phrases hengdao and daoheng, in combination with time ideas expressed by metaphors of dao, this article has argued that the Laozi not only proposed the notion of hengdao but also daoheng and that the temporality of dao is infinite, eternal, and transcendental. The empirical time and the temporality of things are endowed by the temporality of dao. The transcendental temporality of dao is the source of temporality in things, the guarantor of the temporality of things, particularly human life, and also the guide that assists things and humans in prolonging their lives.