現在流行的《老子》王弼注本,學界早已認識到其底本絕非王弼本人所使用的原本。馬王堆帛書、郭店竹簡等《老子》的發現都對我們認識這一問題提供了證據。北大漢簡《老子》的發現又為我們研究這一問題提供了新的契機。通過比較,可以發現《老子》王弼注本與漢簡本在很多地方有著相同之處。就義理方面講,漢簡《老子》在"道"與"天地"及"萬物"關系方面、"道"與"萬物之始"關系方面以及"下德"的方面都為我們了解王弼注本提供了新的認識。但這并不意味著王弼注本與漢簡本源于同一版本系統。本文通過王弼注本與漢簡本的比較,一方面說明漢簡本并非后人偽作,另一方面對重新認識王弼注本及其思想也有重要意義。

Scholars have realized that the current Laozi text with commentaries by Wang Bi should not be taken as the original version that Wang read personally.Both the Mawangdui manuscript Laozi and the Guodian Bamboo-slip Laozi have provided textual evidence supporting this belief.The Peking University text(aka the Beida Laozi) also offers fresh glimpses into current discussions.The Beida Laozi shares philosophical and philological similarities with the current,received Laozi.It also provides significant new insights into three aspects of the received version of the text:(1) the relations among Dao,Heaven and earth(tiandi),and the myriad things(wanwu),(2) the relationship between Dao and the mother of the myriad things,and(3) the"inferior virtue"(xiade).Even so,the two versions should not be said to trace back to the same textual tradition,because there are various differences between them.By comparing the Beida Laozi and the current Laozi,this paper argues that the Beida Laozi is not a forgery,and further argues that the Beida Laozi provides a new way to rediscover the value of the current Laozi text with the commentary by Wang Bi.