老子和孔子各自創立的學說在綿延兩千餘年的中華傳統思想文化史上經歷了不同的命運。老學多受冷落和貶抑，難與民眾親和，淪陷於象牙之塔，並溶入了神秘的道敎；孔學則廣受信仰和崇拜，被奉為圭臬，以至最終在傳統社會的思想文化中形成了「揚孔抑老」的定勢模式。本文第一部分從三個方面探討了「揚孔抑老」的成因：其一，孔子尚「仁」重「禮」，保守溫和，老子棄絕「仁」、「禮」，激進犯上，這是「揚孔抑老」的政治成因；其二，孔學入俗務實，直面人生，老學消極遁世，無爭無為，這是「揚孔抑老」的社會成因；其三，孔學義理明晰，雅俗咸賞，老學佶屈聱牙，難深晦澀，這是「揚孔抑老」的學術理論成因。本文第二部分著重闡釋了「揚孔」之利和「抑老」之弊：前者有利於國家的統治和人民的软化；後者則無助於中華民族抽象思維能力的提昇、科技的發達和經濟的成長。最後，本文提出了「揚老尊孔」這一存利去弊的主張。

　　　　　The doctrines of Laozi and Confucius have met with different destinies in the very long Chinese history. The former has been left out in the cold, and the latter was always believed by the rulers and the mass of the people. (It was simply called “Valuing Confucius and Negativing Laozi”) Why? The reasons were probed in the essay as follows: First, as a conservative, Confucius advocated 'Ren' (Benevolence) and 'Li' (Rites); but Laozi belittled them. Second, Confucianism was utility for the public; rather the Laozi’s philosophy taught the people to renounce the world. Third, “The analects of Confucius” was very simple, oppositely, the “Laozi' had few readers because it is too difficult to understand. The essay also analysed the effects of “Valuing Confucius and Negativing Laozi” in the Chinese traditional society. “Valuing Confucius” could be advantageous to the consolidation of the society; Nevertheless, “Negativing Laozi” had been impeding the development of the abstract thinking ability of the Chinese people as well as the progress of the Chinese economy.