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The Laozi has been studied and commented constantly for about 2000 years, and yet there remain some passages that need to be further clarified. Among them, ��dayinxisheng (����ϣ•, chapter 41)�� and ��yinshengshanghe (��•���, chapter 2)�� can be picked up as the most important passages concerning Laozi's philosophical account of art.
This paper begins with the shortcomings of previous studies regarding the interpretation of these chapters. Most of the commentators have failed to give an adequate account of the concept of ��yinshengshanghe�� because they failed to understand that yin and sheng stand in opposition. Contemporary Chinese scholars who have specialized in the philosophy of music also fail to show the relationship between ��dayinxisheng�� and ��yinshengshanghe��; although they take a stepforward in understanding the relationship between yin and sheng, they come to theabsurd conclusion that Laozi rejects the culture of music as well as culture in general.
This paper shows that yin and sheng in the Laozi have a relation so called ��shangfanshangcheng(�෴���)��; it means that yin refers to ��the sound to which humans give meanings�� and sheng refers to ��the sound in a spontaneous natural state.�� Yin further refers to ��the musical note comprehended conceptually by human mind,�� sheng to ��the actual musical sound.�� In sum, Laozi tries to express the Tao(��) that makes music through the concept of ��dayinxisheng��; nevertheless, he also attempts to show that yin and sheng complete each other and that they are not to be misunderstood as building a hierarchical structure.