王安石將「道」理解為氣性本體，以道之體為元氣，道之用為沖氣，結合陰陽五行之說，成為一氣化宇宙論的生成結構。他將無有、本末切割成兩層，以無與本指道體，有與末指形名萬物。無（無形無名）與有（有形有名）分別為氣的不同形態之呈現，推演出無有相反、本末相對的架構，而有以動釋靜、以虛明強的詮釋理路，因此一切莫不有對，而發展出他所認定的天道人道的共通性。此外，他以人力之成萬物說明天道自然、人道須有為的互動結構，構成無與有、本與末的完整性，此為其論道最特殊處，也是導因於其以「氣」作為綰合，而走向道生萬物的物質自然義。最後，王安石對儒家道德之學的誤解，導致他把仁義禮智等看成是外在的觀念，為有對的物理現象。以至於王安石能夠理解老子否定仁義禮智的真正意義。此外，其站在儒家道德本位的思考下，認為須將尚賢尚德，安立在人文社會上，而成為其特殊的整合天道人道的用世思維。

In his commentary of the Laozi, Wang Anshi points out that the Way （dao 道） is the material-force（qi 氣）. He contends the essence of the Way is "the original material-force" （yuanqi 元氣） and the function of the Way is "the harmonious material-force" （chongqi 沖氣）. Together with the concept of "yin-yang and the five elements"（陰陽五行說）, Wang's cosmology argues that the cosmos is made of one single kind of material-force. Wang separates the non-existent and the existent, the origin and the originated into two parts. He regards the non-existent and the origin as the Way, the existent and the originated as "the myriad things". The Way as non-being and the myriad things as beings are two different kinds of manifestation of the material-force. Thus he deduces the structure that non-being/the origin and beings/the originated contrast and contrary to each other; and he explains the stillness and the voidness by way of the moving and the solid. Then he concludes that the heavenly Way and the human Way share the common ground; the heavenly Way self-so existes but human beings must act purposefully to let the myriad things created and last. Finally these ideas lead to the conclusion that the Way gave birth to the myriad things in a physical sense. They also show that Wang considers Confucian concepts of humanness, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are external and why he accepts part of Laozi's claims on attacking Confucian ethics. The interesting phenomenon is that while agreeing Laozi's attacking on Confucianism, Wang also emphasizes the importance of human action and prescribes an idea which is based on Confucianism to solve social and cultural issues while adopting Daoist metaphysics.