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History, content, wisdom, comments Tao-te ching (translated The Book of Tao and its Characteristics) is the most important of the Taoist inheritance.
Its traditional author is
Tao-te ching pages written in Chinese |
- History of the Book
According to tradition, the work originates in the 4th century BC, but recent discoveries showed that it is not earlier than the 4th or 3rd century. The oldest existing copy is from 206 or 195 BC.
Lao-tzu would have composed this work at the request of Yin Hsi, the Guardian of the pass, while he began his wandering towards West.
- Content
Tao-te ching consists of 81 short chapters among which 37 form the first part - the Classic of the Way (Tao) -, and the next 44 form the Classic of Te ("te" means "characteristics" in the translation of James Legge so the entire title of the book would be The Classic about Tao and its Characteristics).
This division in chapters is considered to be the result of the remarks of mysterious master Ho-shang kung (Han dynasty).
The book's concern is the Way or Tao, and the emulation of its characteristics in our day-to-day life.
Part of the chapters describe these characteristics, parts are intended to teach us the Tao, meaning the optimal behavior one should adopt in order to achieve something, avoid failure and even preserve one's life.
Another part of the book is somehow a handbook of rulership for the use of princes and noble men involved in the public life.
- Wisdom, sageness
Tao te-ching is a book of wisdom meant to the use of Taoist disciples who in
search of methods acquire stilness and reteatThe philosophy of the book focuses on concepts like Tao, Te, wu (emptiness), wu-wei (nondoing) and fu (return). The disciple of Lao-tzu is taught to practice wu and nondoing as a modus vivendy, finally leading to the emotional detachment and
feeling of ease and stillness.
Tao-te ching has many disciples even in the West, challenging the Western culture and effort to understand the meaning of life and find a way out of turmoil and depression of these days.
Tao te-ching Quotes
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Foreword to Tao-te ching teaching you how to read and understand the book (very useful for beginners) ->
Commented chapters
- Definition of Tao (
ch. 1)- The Condition to See the Tao (ch. 1bis)
- Waiting for the Right Time (ch. 2)
- About Abstinence from Action (ch. 3)
- About Wu and Tao (ch. 4)
- Chapter 5
- About Long-enduring (ch. 7)
- The Way of Heaven (ch. 9)
- They Make Mad the Mind (
ch. 12 )- About the State of Stillness (ch. 16)
- About the Ancient Rulership (ch. 17)
- The Great Tao and the Ethics (ch. 18)
- Features of Masters (
ch. 20)- The Partial and the Complete (ch. 22)
- Avoiding Excess (ch. 24)
- Heaven's Law vs. Man's Law (ch. 25)
- The Sage Follows the Tao... (ch 26)
- About the Two Parts of a Whole ( ch. 27)
- Keeping the Opposites as One (ch. 28)
- Avoid Excessive Effort (ch. 29)
- Avoid Force (
ch. 30)- He who Knows Others... (ch. 33)
- Chapter 35.
- Hiding the Light of the Procedure (ch. 36)
- The Mutual Change (ch. 39)
- Who Knows to Stop is Free from Dangers (
ch. 44)- About the Mysterious Agreement (ch. 56)
- Parable of the Small Fish (ch. 60 and 60b)
(More commented chapters will follow, please bookmark this page.)
Tao Te Ching translations
D.C. Lau Tao Te Ching Tao Te Ching, translated by James Legge with commentaries
Tao Te Ching The Book of Meaning and Life, translator Richard Wilhelm
Traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu, an older contemporary of
Confucius (551 - 479 BC), it is now thought that the work was compiled in about the fourth century BC. An anthology of wise sayings, it offers a model by which the individual can live rather than explaining the human place in the universe. The moral code it encourages is based on modesty and self-restraint, and the rewards reaped for such a life are harmony and flow of life.
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The wisdom of being a part of the Tao leads to a serenity of spirit that improves all aspects of human life, from the demands of work and family, to the dealing with life's joys and difficulties.
An essential for the meditation of Taoists for thousands of years, the "Tao Te Ching" is as beneficial and informative as it is enduring. This edition is translated with commentary by James Legge and is printed on premium acid-free paper.
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No other work of Chinese literature has attracted as much attention as Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching". It has been translated more often than any other book except the Bible and more commentaries have been written on it than any other Chinese classic. Both philosophical speculation and mystical reflection, the "Tao Te Ching" is about the harmony and flow of life and the
necessity for affinity to it.
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