Abstract:

The current study is a comparative research on the Daodejing (道德經) and Ecclesiastes with the aim of answering the question of the meaning of life. The focus of the study is on the two texts especially the content related to the two terms xu (emptiness 虛)and hebel (vanity) in the Daodejing and Ecclesiastes respectively. It starts with a miniature demonstrating the framework of the current study based on the comparison of the two terms xu and hebel. It then follows by six chapters from the Xu and Hebel Comparison to the Meaning of Life Reflection. It finds that emptiness is the common ingredient of xu and hebel in Chapter 3. It suggests that Socrates is the hidden protagonist of Ecclesiastes in Chapter 4. It offers the possibility of seeing the trueness of one’s life through xu in Chapter 5. It discovers the similarities of the two texts which lie under their very different appearances and backgrounds in Chapter 6. It ends with the findings in Chapter 7 that one lives a harmonious life freely, truly and positively; works for the goodness of all people continuously with the objective of having all humans living peacefully and healthily in an ordered society as the final answer to the question of the meaning of life. The answer is based on the results of the previous chapters which are the process of analyzing and comparing the two texts. The answer ends the current research on the meaning of life through a comparative research on the Daodejing nd Ecclesiastes.