Abstract: Hideki Yukawa's scientific outlook and scientific thinking are deeply influenced by Taoism. Yukawa believes that Laozi's Taoism has a self-consistent, rationalistic characteristic, and infers from this that the development of science is a process in which old theories are constantly being replaced by new ones. Guided by Zhuangzi’s “Chaos” theory, Yukawa regards the world of elementary particles as a kind of chaotic state where existence and non-existence become more and more blurred. Inspired by the debate between Zhuangzi and Huishi on “the joy of fish”, Yukawa advocated that when reason is incapable, the creative power of intuition should be fully exerted. Inspired by Zhuangzi's theory of creation, Yukawa understood the laws of physics as “invisible molds”. Enlightened by the Taoist romantic view of time and space, Yukawa formed a poetic view of space. Under the influence of Taoism, Yukawa's scientific thinking achieved the coordination and balance of intuition and abstraction.

Key words: Taoism, Hideki Yukawa, physics, intuition, invisible mold