On the Evolution of Thoughts Reflected in Emperor Huang's Four ClassicWorks on Silk

The study of Taoism has occupied an important position in various Chinese learning. However, the learning about Emperor Huang and LAO Zi did very well in in the inheritance of Taoism. The rule under Emperors Wen and Jing at the beginning of Han Dynasty is the good example of such learning. Accordingly, we cannot neglect the influence of Emperor Huang's Four Classic Works on silk which represents such learning on the other thinkers. With the history evolution, its academic part has gradually diversified. In general, we can find three tendencies of such diversification. The first one is its political concepts which lead to the prosperous period of Emperors Wen and Jing. The second one is the substitution of its political feelings by the pursuit of immortality which developed along the direction of folk religion and eventually evolved to the learning about Emperor Huang and LAO Zi(the predecessor of Taoism). The third one has been oriented academically and its essence has been absorbed by thinkers of later generations.