老子：道法自然 Laozi: Dao Follows the Way of Spontaneity

我们注意到天道、地道和人道是形而下道。它们与形而上道有什么关系呢?
老子在道德经中说：‘故道大，天大，地大，人亦大。域中有四大，而人居其一焉。人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。’
所以道就是天、地、人道所遵守的最后之法。道法什么呢？道法自然。
这个自然需要解释。
在先秦，‘自然’二字几乎毫无例外是指‘自然而然’。自就是自己，然就是如此，自然就是自己如此。
后来，这个词的意思延伸指天然，物质世界，或自然的。这样，有些学者就把‘道法自然’错解为‘道师法自然界的规律’。
可以总结说，道不可名，无声，无形和无限。它就是自己如此而已。
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We noted that Dao of Heaven, Earth and Man are within-form Dao. What is their relationship with the Above-form Dao?
Laozi said in Daode Jing: ‘Therefore the Dao is a great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and Man is also great. The four are great things in the universe, and Man is one of them. Man follows the way of Earth. Earth follows the way of Heaven. Heaven follows the way of the Dao. And the Dao follows the way of spontaneity.’
Dao is therefore the ultimate rule to be followed by Heaven, Earth and Man. But what rule does Dao follow? It follows the way of spontaneity.
The Chinese term ‘zi ran’ needs clarification.
During and before Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), the word ‘zi ran’ was used almost without exception to mean spontaneity or as-it-is. The word ‘zi’ means itself or on its own, and ‘ran’ means as it is. When the two words are put together, it means ‘as-it-is-ness’, or ‘as it is’.
However, the meaning of the term was later extended to mean also natural world, physical world, or naturally. As such, some scholars misinterpret the last sentence to mean ‘And the Dao follows the way of the Nature’.

One can therefore conclude that the Above-form Dao is unnamable, soundless, formless and boundless. It is itself and is ‘as-it-is’.