This paper adopts the title of "Twofold Mystery (Chongxuan)" and "Daoist Nature": The Study on the Interpretation Dimension of the Laozi of the Tang Dynasty", and explores Laozi under the Twofold Mystery thought of the Tang Dynasty, including the four versions of Tao Te Ching which are Cheng Xuanying’s Commentary to Laozi(”Dao Der Jing Kai Ti Xu Jue Yi Shu”) and Li Li-Rong’s Commentary to Laozi at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Xuanzong’s Commentary to Laozi in the mid Tang Dynasty, and Du Guangting’s Commentary to Laozi (“Daode zhenjing guang sheng yi”) in the late Tang Dynasty. The theory content and ideology of the Twofold Mystery of Laozi are analyzed and the interpretation of Laozi is explored to unravel the contemporary philosophical interpretation of Laozi.
The author found that under the “Twofold Mystery (Chongxuan)” thought of the Tang Dynasty, some "creative hermeneutics" were developed for Laozi, such as "body cultivation", "the nature of the Dao/Dao-Nature" and "neither one nor difference". What was more important was that under the influence of the “Twofold Mystery (Chongxuan)” thought, the "Dao" of Laozi further illustrated its deeper meaning and special character. On one hand it introduced emptiness (voidness) of Buddhism for the interpretation of "Dao", and on the other hand it established the subjectivity of Taoism philosophy, making the "Dao" in Laozi a philosophy between "substantialism" and "non-substantialism" which can serve as a reference for contemporary Taoism interpreters on comparative philosophy.