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    Tao Te Ching
    Tao Te Ching
    Tao Te Ching
    Ebook68 pages1 hour

    Tao Te Ching

    By Lao Tzu

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    About this ebook

    The Tao Te Ching, Daodejing, Dao De Jing, or Daode jing, also simply referred to as the Laozi, is a Chinese classic text. According to tradition, it was written around 6th century BC by the sage Laozi, a record-keeper at the Zhou dynasty court, by whose name the text is known in China. The text's true authorship and date of composition or compilation are still debated, although the oldest excavated text dates back to the late 4th century BC.
    The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism, and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners, have used the Daodejing as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, and is among the most translated works in world literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLao Tzu
    Release dateFeb 10, 2016
    ISBN9788892552845
    Author

    Lao Tzu

    Lao Tzu is the reputed founder of Taoism, but there is little evidence that he actually existed. He is said to have been a contemporary of Confucius and to have served as curator of the dynastic archives until retiring to the mythical K’un-lun mountains.

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    Reviews for Tao Te Ching

    4/5

    18 ratings5 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Cramped layout of the text, unnecessary additions in italics. No respect for the space and depth necessary to tune into the vision of Tao Te Ching. There are several better translations available that help the reader to get closer to what this unique book is all about.
    • 5/5
      Clarity is what you need you will get it but words are cryptic nmemonic
    • 5/5
      Explaining the unexplainable :) Ways of those connected with what is beyond words.
    • 5/5
      Life changing. If your spiritual health is strong, everything else falls into place.
    • 4/5
      A little hard to swallow. Telling us about the art of stillness yet making me scratch my head all the time. Poetic.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

    THE BOOK

    The Tao Te Ching, Daodejing, Dao De Jing, or Daode jing, also simply referred to as the Lao Tzu, is a Chinese classic text.

    According to tradition, it was written around 6th century BC by the sage Lao Tzu, a record-keeper at the Zhou dynasty court, by whose name the text is known in China. The text's true authorship and date of composition or compilation are still debated, although the oldest excavated text dates back to the late 4th century BC.

    The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism, and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners, have used the Daodejing as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside East Asia, and is among the most translated works in world literature.

    The Wade–Giles romanization Tao Te Ching dates back to early English transliterations in the late 19th century; its influence can be seen in words and phrases that have become well established in English. Daodejing is the pinyin romanization.

    Text

    The Tao Te Ching has a long and complex textual history. On one hand, there are transmitted versions and commentaries that date back two millennia; on the other, there are ancient bamboo, silk, and paper manuscripts that archeologists discovered in the last century.

    Title

    There are many possible translations of the book's title:

    Dào/tao literally means way, or one of its synonyms, but was extended to mean the Way. This term, which was variously used by other Chinese philosophers (including Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, and Hanfeizi), has special meaning within the context of Taoism, where it implies the essential, unnamable process of the universe.

    Dé/te means virtue, personal character, inner strength (virtuosity), or integrity. The semantics of this Chinese word resemble English virtue, which developed from virtù, a now-archaic sense of inner potency or divine power (as in healing virtue of a drug) to the modern meaning of moral excellence or goodness. Compare the compound word taote ( pinyin: Dàodé; literally: ethics, ethical principles, morals, or morality).

    Jīng/ching as it is used here means canon, great book, or classic.

    Thus, Tao Te Ching can be translated as The Classic of the Way's Virtues.

    The title Daodejing is an honorific given by posterity, other titles include the amalgam Lǎozǐ Dàodéjīng, the honorific Daode Zhen Jing, and the Wuqian wen.

    Internal structure

    The received Tao Te Ching is a short text of around 5,000 Chinese characters in 81 brief chapters or sections. There is some evidence that the chapter divisions were later additions–for commentary, or as aids to rote memorization–and that the original text was more fluidly organized. It has two parts, the Tao Ching and the Te Ching, which may have been edited together into the received text, possibly reversed from an original Te Tao Ching. The written style is laconic, has few grammatical particles, and encourages varied, even contradictory interpretations. The ideas are singular; the style poetic.

    The rhetorical style combines two major strategies: short, declarative statements and intentional contradictions. The first of these strategies creates memorable phrases, while the second forces us to create our own reconciliations of the supposed contradictions.

    The Chinese characters in the original versions were probably written in zhuànshū, while later versions were written in lìshū and kǎishū styles. Daoist Chinese Characters contains a good summary of these different calligraphies.

    Historical authenticity of the author

    The Tao Te Ching is ascribed to Lao Tzu, whose historical existence has been a matter of scholastic debate. His name, which means Old Master, has only fueled controversy on this issue. (Kaltenmark 1969:10).

    The first reliable reference to Lao Tzu is his biography in Shiji (63, tr. Chan 1963:35–37), by Chinese historian Sima Qian (ca. 145–86 BC), which combines three stories. First, Lao Tzu was a contemporary of Confucius (551–479 BC). His

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