由於《太一生水》楚簡之出土,本論文乃重新探討太一與水之關係及發展。戰國秦漢太一既是天地萬物的創造者、典章禮樂的本源,又是眾星拱之天極星神。而水是道家的第一性,老莊皆出於淮河水鄕,而受楚宋影響的《管子·水地》亦以水為萬物之準,則太一與水的牽連,有其必然性,然而諸古籍皆未始有「太一生水」的思想,簡文的詞彙、結構、思想卻最近似於《鶡冠子》。本論文進而推論:太一星神的崇拜,與東南道家淮水楚宋故地有地緣關係,而出土於楚地的《太一生水》,即屬於這個地域文化的思想,與燕齊以北方水德為中心的觀念不同。「太一生水」在思想史上缺乏直接承先啓後的脈絡,而其形成應在太一與水兩個獨立概念之後,竹簡被定為戰國中葉,似嫌太早。
This article would like to take a look at the newly excavated Tai Yi Sheng Shui. During the Warring States Period, the Qin and the Han ”Tai Yi” was considered the creator of the universe and the myriad of creatures within. It was the source of ”Li” and ”Yue” in the human realm and also considered the pinnacle of the heavens. Water (Shui) was the first principle of the Daoists. The philosophy of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi found it's origin in the Huai River region. The Daoist cannon. Guan Zi was influenced by Qu and Sung thinking in taking water as the source of creation. In the Tai Yi Sheng Shui, ”Tai Yi” and water have this necessary connection, the other books of this period don't mention it. The structure, content and thought of the Tai Yi Sheng Shui resembles that of the later Daoist book He Guan Zi. This article would like to discuss the worship of ”Tai Yi”, a special trait of the Daoists in the southeastern regions of Qu and Sung. This is where the Tai Yi Sheng Shui was excavated and is part of this cultures philosophy. This is different from the northern region of Yen and Qi where water was tied in with virtue (De). ”Tai Yi Sheng Shui” lacks any later proponents in the history of Chinese thought. ”Tai Yi” and ”water”(shui) must have been two separate ideas before they came to be the notion of ”Tai Yi Sheng Shui”. Placing the the bamboo texts in the middle of the Warring States period would be too early.