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Religion Book Review Project
My dad gave me a copy of Tao te Ching for my 16th birthday, and I have read parts of it
intermittently over the past two years. I chose to reread it two weeks ago to revisit some of the ideas in
the context of a World Religions class. Reading it again is like listening to a song you haven’t heard for a
long time. You realize that you never caught all the words in the chorus, and never appreciated the
crazy guitar solo. I definitely understand, to a certain extent, much more this time around. I feel like it’s
not the sort of book you tire of. It’s not abstruse or unapproachable. It’s not pushy, and it doesn’t try to
counter or persuade. It is flexible enough to adjust to all different kinds of human experience. The book
itself is the perfect size and shape with a manageable number of pages. The blurb on the back cover,
says simply: “THE WISEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN.” Although I have neither the reading repertoire nor the
intelligence to verify this description, I’m fairly confident calling Tao te Ching: “THE WISEST BOOK I HAVE
EVER READ.”
(The first page of Tao te Ching1)
It would be difficult to give a “synopsis” of the Tao te Ching, because it covers such a wide range
of topics. Lao Tzu has written about humility (66), governance (60), the importance of nothing, or non‐
being (11), introspection (54), and many other topics. However, there are certain ideas that come up
frequently, and are recognized as some of the main tenets of Taoism. For example, “wu wei wu” is an
important concept that roughly translates to mean “doing by not doing.” In the introduction, Stephen
Mitchell helps clarify some misconceptions about this phrase, which appears to encourage passivity.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” says Mitchell. He compares it to running, when at some
level one is able to move effortlessly “without any interference of the conscious will.” In this sense, wu
wei wu is like the person becoming the action itself.
In order to understand what it is like reading Tao te Ching, it might be helpful to look at one of
the passages, which I will try to interpret.
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non‐being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
1
http://www.taopage.org/laotzu/tao_te_ching_b.jpg
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
Things disappear and she lets them go.
She has, but doesn’t possess,
acts but doesn’t expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it. (2)
That is why it lasts forever.
This passage is representative of Tao te Ching as a whole. It is full of paradoxes, that are difficult to
comprehend, such as “She has, but doesn’t possess.” I think that the purpose of this verse is to help the
reader understand balance. The first part is similar to the idea of yin yan. You can almost compare it to
physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, when things are considered
good, other things are automatically considered bad. This teaches the reader to be careful in judgment
and to seek balance. The second part of the verse relates the philosophy to the Taoist Master. (It is
interesting to note that here Mitchell uses the pronoun “she,” whereas other times he uses “he.” He
explains this: “The Chinese language doesn’t make this kind of distinction; in English we have to choose.
But since we are all, potentially, the Master, I felt it would be untrue to present a male archetype, as
other versions have, ironically, done.”) I think that this part of the verse is harder to understand. It
definitely relates back to wu wei wu. The last phrase is very interesting. Lao Tzu may be saying that
forgetting things make them permanent because they cannot be altered by memory.
The dimensions that appear in Tao te Ching are primarily doctrinal & philosophical and ethical &
legal. The entire book is a philosophy about how to live life and master the Tao. It has a lot of
statements about truths (doctrine) and things that one should do (ethics). For example, “Throw away
holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier.” (19) This statement (another
paradox) challenges the Taoist to go past the conventional ideas of religion and find true, inner
happiness that isn’t qualified by meaningless standards. There are also some social and institutional
dimensions. This is shown when the book discusses governance: “For governing a country well, there is
nothing better than moderation.” However, dimensions like practical & ritual and narrative & mythic
and material are not found throughout the book. That is part of the reason that Taoism may be
considered more of a philosophy than a religion.
Personally, I really enjoyed reading Tao te Ching. It made me consider ideas that I’d never
thought about before. It definitely makes me question the norm and the way society traditionally
functions. I think that the Taoist philosophy will be important to me throughout my life.