Dao Beyond Dao: On the Transcendence and Ultimate Ground of Dual-Source

The metaphysical traditions of both China and the West have generally understood the transcendent ontology as the One, the Absolute, or the Supreme Good of unity and identity, leading to an inherent tension between transcendence, duality, and difference. Under the ontological framework of "Dao is inherently Two", this paper further addresses the ultimate metaphysical questions: Is the dual-source self-sufficient? What makes the dual structure itself possible? Must transcendence inevitably return to the One? This paper proposes "Dao Beyond Dao" as the transcendental ground and ontological condition of the dual-source, aiming to articulate a new form of transcendence that is non-identical and non-unifying. It adopts an argumentative strategy of "problem diagnosis – conceptual construction – argumentative defense – dialogical expansion". First, it sorts out the typological characteristics and structural dilemmas of Chinese and Western transcendental traditions. Second, it defines the core connotation and basic features of "Dao Beyond Dao", clarifying its non-objectified, neither-one-nor-two, transcendent yet immanent nature. Third, it demonstrates the theoretical rationality of positing "Dao Beyond Dao" from three dimensions: logical necessity, philosophical necessity, and epistemic necessity. Furthermore, through in-depth dialogue with Kant’s "thing-in-itself", Heidegger’s "ontological difference", and Wang Bi’s "Nothingness", it highlights its paradigmatic breakthrough over traditional transcendental theories. Finally, it clarifies the "manifesting–letting-manifest" relationship between "Dao Beyond Dao" and "Dao Within Dao (the dual-source)", revealing its philosophical significance as the foundation for dynamic generation and the possibility of freedom. This paper attempts to provide a non-dogmatic path of transcendence oriented toward the possibility of duality, free from the shackles of identity, for the problem of the ultimate ground of metaphysics, completing the systematic extension of Dao-Er philosophy from ontology to transcendental theory.