Explaining what is Tao-te ching

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What is Tao-te ching

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 Lao-tzu (The Venerable Master), the father of Taoism, one of the three principal philosophical school of ancient China.

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

Lao-tzu

(Source Stine86Engel pixabay)

The philosophy of the book focuses on concepts like Tao, Te, wu (emptiness), wu-wei (nondoing) and fu (return).

The spiritual 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 today

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.

Read also:

-> Foreword - hints on how to understand the text (very useful for beginners)

Commented chapters:

Please note that you can add your own commentary should you disable the ad blocking feature in your browser.

- 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.)

Further resources:

Versions

-> English version by James Legge | More...

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