Yoon Moon

... Taoism had its origins in the chaotic Warring States period itself, namely the distrust in politics and anxiety about life that were brought about by this great social change, and it offered people comfort by providing a theoretical solution to these problems. As a result, Taoism not only gained many supporters among the disappointed scholar-officials of the time, but has been widely followed to this day by people of similar times and circumstances. Its precursors may have been the hermits mentioned in the Analects, but its direct predecessors were people from the middle to late Warring States period such as (1) Yang Zhu, Zi Huazi, and Zhan He, who valued the fulfillment of individual life, (2) Song Jian and Yin Wen, who advocated few desires and the rejection of conflict, (3) Tian Pi and Shen Dao, who advocated breaking away from moral preconceptions, and (4) Hui Shi, who relied on the "reality" of the world as a whole and downplayed the "names" (concepts, judgments) that distinguish between this and that. The establishment and development of this movement can best be seen in works such as Zhuangzi, Laozi, and Huainanzi. Beginning in the early 3rd century BCE, the philosophy of the unity of all things advocated that one should merge into the one and nothing world by eliminating one's ego, because this was the subjectivity of a sage who had grasped the path. This was passed on to the thought of Yu, who preached that one should control the world while at the same time transcending it and being free, and has since expanded in various directions.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Yun Moon" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　道家は，その源が戦国の乱世それ自体，すなわちこの一大社会変革の生み出す政治への不信ないし生の不安にあり，それらを理論的に解決して人々に慰めを与えるものだったので，当時の失意の士大夫の間に多数の支持者を得たのみならず，今日まで同様の時代･類似の境遇の人々に広範に信奉されてきた。その先駆は《論語》にいう逸民であるかもしれぬが，直接には戦国中～後期の(1)個人の生命の充実を重んじた楊朱，子華子，詹何（せんか），(2)寡欲に徹し闘争の否定を唱えた宋牼（そうけい），尹文（いんぶん），(3)道徳的先入観からの脱却を説いた田駢（でんへん），慎到，(4)総体としての世界の〈実〉に依拠して，あれとこれとの区別である〈名〉(概念，判断)を軽視した恵施（けいし）などであり，その成立と展開は《荘子》《老子》《淮南子》などによって最もよく知りうる。前3世紀初め，自我の撥無（はつむ）によって一の無たる世界に融即せよ，それこそが道をとらえた聖人の主体性だからとする万物斉同の哲学に始まり，そのように世界を統御しつつ同時にそこから超出して自由であれと説く遊（ゆう）の思想に受け継がれ，以後各方面に展開していった。…

※「尹文」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報