View source for Tao Te Ching

{{Short description|Chinese classic text}}
{{About|the Chinese classic text|the book by William Bennett|The Book of Virtues}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Tao Te Ching
| italic title=yes
| image = Mawangdui LaoTsu Ms2.JPG
| image_size = 160px
| caption = Ink on silk manuscript of the ''Tao Te Ching''{{snd}}from [[Mawangdui]] (2nd century&nbsp;BCE)
| orig_lang_code = zh
| author = [[Laozi]] (trad.)<ref name="Ellwood2008">{{Citation |last=Ellwood |first=Robert S. |title=Lao-tzu (Laozi) |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of World Religions |page=262 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pGbdI4L0qsC&pg=PA262 |publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-1-4381-1038-7}}</ref>
| country = China
| release_date = 4th century&nbsp;BCE
| language = [[Classical Chinese]]
| english_pub_date = 1868
| native_wikisource = 道德經
| wikisource = Tao Te Ching
| subject = Philosophy
| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes
|title = Tao Te Ching
|t=道德經
|s=道德经
|w={{tonesup|Tao4 Tê2 Ching1}}
|p=Dào Dé Jīng
|bpmf=ㄉㄠˋ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄉㄜˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄐㄧㄥ
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|myr=Dàu Dé Jīng
|j=Dou6 Dak1 Ging1
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|y=Douh Dāk Gīng
|h=Tau4 Dêd5 Gin1
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|poj=Tō Tek Keng
|tl=Tō Tik King
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|oc-bs=&ast;{{IPA|[kə.l]ˤuʔ tˤək k-lˤeŋ}}
|l="Classic of [[Tao|the Way]] and [[De (Chinese)|Virtue]]"
|mc=Dɑu<sup>X</sup> Tək̚ Keŋ
|c2=老子
|l2="The Old Master"
|p2=Lǎozǐ
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|bpmf2=ㄌㄠˇㄗˇ
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|y2=Lóuhjí
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|poj2=Ló-chú
|tl2=Ló-tsú
|oc-bs2=&ast;{{IPA|C.rˤuʔ tsəʔ}}
|t3=道德真經
|s3=道德真经
|p3=Dàodé Zhēnjīng
|w3=Tao4> Tê2 Chên1 Ching1
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|l3="[[Sutra]] of the Way and Its Power"
}}
}}
{{Taoism}}

The '''''Tao Te Ching'''''{{NoteTag|[[Standard Chinese]]: {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|Chinese-TaoTeChing.ogg|d|ao|4|-|d|e|2|-|j|ing|1}}; in English often {{IPAc-en|UK|ˌ|t|aʊ|_|t|iː|_|ˈ|tʃ|ɪ|ŋ}} {{respell|TOW|_|tee|_|CHING}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|d|aʊ|_|d|ɛ|_|ˈ|dʒ|ɪ|ŋ}} {{respell|DOW|_|deh|_|JING}};<ref>{{Dictionary.com|Tao Te Ching|access-date=23 June 2020}}</ref>{{pb}}Less common romanisations include ''Daodejing'', ''Tao-te-king'',{{sfnp|Julien|1842|p=ii}} {{tlit|zh|Tau Tĕh King}}<ref name="chalv">{{harvp|Chalmers|1868|p=v}}</ref> and {{tlit|zh|Tao Teh King}}.<ref name="legge">{{harvp|Legge & al.|1891}}.</ref><ref name="suziq">{{harvp|Suzuki & al.|1913}}.</ref>}} ({{lang-zh|t=道德經|s=道德经|first=t|l=Classic of the Way and its Virtue}}) or '''''Laozi''''' is a [[Chinese classic text]] and foundational work of [[Taoism]] traditionally credited to the sage [[Laozi]], although the text's authorship and date of composition and compilation are debated.<ref>{{harvp|Eliade|1984|p=26}}</ref> The oldest excavated portion dates to the late 4th century&nbsp;BCE. While tradition places Laozi earlier, modern versions of the text could more conservatively be estimated to date back to the late [[Warring States period]] (475 – 221 BCE), not having been recovered that early.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Chan|first= Alan|entry-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/laozi/ |entry=Laozi|title =The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |edition=Winter 2018 |editor =Edward N. Zalta |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>

The ''Tao Te Ching'' is central to both philosophical and religious Taoism, and has been highly influential on [[Chinese philosophy]] and [[Religion in China|religious practice]] in general. It is generally taken as preceding the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]'', the other core Taoist text.<ref name="stanford">{{harvp|Chan|2013}}.</ref> Terminology originating within the text has been reinterpreted and elaborated upon by [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalist thinkers]], [[Confucianists]], and particularly [[Chinese Buddhist]]s,  introduced to China significantly after the initial solidification of Taoist thought. One of the most translated texts in world literature, the text is well known in the West.<ref name="stanford">{{harvp|Chan|2013}}.</ref>

== Title ==
In English, the title is commonly rendered ''Tao Te Ching'', following the [[Wade–Giles]] romanization, or as ''Daodejing'', following [[pinyin]]. It can be translated as ''The Classic of the Way and its Power'',<ref>{{Citation |title=The Way and its Power |year=1958 |editor-last=Waley |editor-first=Arthur |url=https://archive.org/details/wayitspowerstudy0000wale |place=New York |publisher=Grove |isbn=0-8021-5085-3 |oclc=1151668016 |editor-link=Arthur Waley |url-access=registration}}</ref> ''The Book of the [[Tao]] and Its Virtue'',{{sfnp|Kohn & al.|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NXdzosdR0JUC&pg=PA1 1]}} ''The Book of the Way and of Virtue'',{{sfnp|Julien|1842}}{{sfnp|Giles & al.|1905|loc=[[:s:The Sayings of Lao Tzu/Introduction|Introduction]]}} ''The Tao and its Characteristics'',<ref name="legge" /> ''The Canon of Reason and Virtue'',<ref name="suziq" /> ''The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way'',{{sfnp|Mair|1990}} ''The Book of Virtues'',{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} or ''A Treatise on the Principle and Its Action''.{{sfnp|Wieger|1913|p=[[:s:fr:Les pères du système taoïste/Préface#3|3]]}}{{sfnp|Bryce & al.|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aMLE056g6MsC&pg=PR9 ix]}}

Ancient Chinese books were commonly referenced by the name of their real or supposed author, in this case the "Old Master",{{sfnp|Chalmers|1868|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yxFBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR9 ix]}} Laozi. As such, the ''Tao Te Ching'' is also sometimes called the ''Laozi'', especially in Chinese sources.<ref name="stanford" />

The title ''Tao Te Ching'', designating the work's status as a classic, was first applied during the reign of [[Emperor Jing of Han]] (157–141&nbsp;BCE).<ref>{{Citation |last=Seidel |first=Anna |title=La divinisation de Lao-tseu dans le taoïsme des Han |date=1969 |pages=24, 50 |place=Paris |publisher=École française d'Extrême‑Orient |language=fr |author-link=Anna Seidel}}</ref> Other titles for the work include the honorific ''[[Sutra]] of the Way and Its Power'' ({{zhi|c=道德真經|p=Dàodé zhēnjing}}) and the descriptive ''Five Thousand Character Classic'' ({{zhi|c=五千文|p=Wǔqiān wén}}).

== Authorship ==
The ''Tao Te Ching'' is traditionally ascribed to [[Laozi]], whose historical existence has been a matter of scholarly debate. His name, which means "Old Master", has only fueled controversy on this issue.<ref>{{Citation |last=Cao |first=Feng |title=Daoism in Early China: Huang–Lao Thought in Light of Excavated Texts |date=20 October 2017 |author-mask=Cao Feng |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vf06DwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |language=en |isbn=978-1-137-55094-1}}</ref> Legends claim variously that Laozi was "born old" and that he lived for 996 years, with 12 previous incarnations starting around the time of the Three Sovereigns before the 13th as Laozi. Some scholars have expressed doubts about Laozi's historicity.<ref>{{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching |pages=162 |year=1963 |author-mask=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4GMEAAAQBAJ |publisher=Penguin |language=en |isbn=978-0-14-044131-4 |quote=The tentative conclusion we have arrived at concerning Lao Tzu the man is this. There is no certain evidence that he was a historical figure. |translator-last=Lau |translator-first=D. C. |translator-link=D. C. Lau}}</ref>

[[File:Laozi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Laozi riding a [[water buffalo]]]]

The first biographical reference to Laozi is in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Records of the Grand Historian|loc=vol. 63}}, tr. Chan 1963:35–37.</ref> by Chinese historian [[Sima Qian]] ({{circa|145–86 BCE}}), which combines three stories.<ref>{{Cite Shiji |63 | anchor=老子| lp=y|trans-chapter=Vol. 63, biography of Laozi |ref={{sfnref|Records of the Grand Historian}}}}</ref> In the first, Laozi was a contemporary of [[Confucius]] (551–479&nbsp;BCE). His surname was Li ({{zhi|李}}), and his personal name was Er ({{zhi|耳}}) or Dan ({{zhi|聃}}). He was an official in the imperial archives, and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the West; at the request of the keeper of the Han-ku Pass, [[Yinxi]], Laozi composed the ''Tao Te Ching''. In the second story, Laozi, also a contemporary of Confucius, was Lao Laizi ({{lang|lzh|[[:zh:老莱子|老萊子]]}}), who wrote a book in 15 parts. Third, Laozi was the grand historian and astrologer Lao Dan ({{lang|lzh|老聃}}), who lived during the reign of [[Duke Xian of Qin (424–362 BCE)|Duke Xian of Qin]] ({{reign|384|362&nbsp;BCE}}).{{sfnp|Records of the Grand Historian|loc=vol. 63}}

== Textual history ==
=== Principal versions ===
Among the many transmitted editions of the ''Tao Te Ching'' text, the three primary ones are named after early commentaries. The "Yan Zun Version", which is only extant for the ''Te Ching'', derives from a commentary attributed to [[Han dynasty]] scholar Yan Zun ({{lang|lzh|巖尊}}, {{fl.|80&nbsp;BCE{{snd}}10&nbsp;CE}}). The "Heshang Gong" version is named after the legendary [[Heshang Gong]] ("legendary sage"), who supposedly lived during the reign of [[Emperor Wen of Han]] (180–157&nbsp;BCE). This commentary has a preface written by [[Ge Xuan]] (164–244&nbsp;CE), granduncle of [[Ge Hong]], and scholarship dates this version to {{circa|the 3rd century&nbsp;CE}}. The origins of the "Wang Bi" version have greater verification than either of the above. [[Wang Bi]] (226–249&nbsp;CE) was a [[Three Kingdoms]]-period philosopher and commentator on the ''Tao Te Ching'' and ''[[I Ching]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Rudolf G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3DvtkuXRfBsC&pg=PA10 | page=10 |title=The Craft of a Chinese Commentator: Wang Bi on the Laozi |date=2000 |place=Albany|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-4395-8  |language=en}}</ref>

=== Archaeologically recovered manuscripts ===
''Tao Te Ching'' scholarship has advanced from archaeological discoveries of manuscripts, some of which are older than any of the received texts. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, [[Marc Aurel Stein]] and others found thousands of scrolls in the [[Mogao Caves]] near [[Dunhuang]]. They included more than 50 partial and complete manuscripts. Another partial manuscript has the ''[[Xiang'er]]'' commentary, which had previously been lost.<ref>{{Citation |last=Boltz |first=William G. |title=The Religious and Philosophical Significance of the Hsiang erh Lao tzu 相爾老子 in the Light of the Ma-wang-tui Silk Manuscripts |work=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=45 |year=1982 |jstor=615191 |author-link=William G. Boltz}}</ref>{{rp|95ff}}<ref>{{Citation |last=Zandbergen |first=Robbert |title=The Ludibrium of Living Well |journal=Monumenta Serica |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=367–388 |year=2022 |doi=10.1080/02549948.2022.2131802 |s2cid=254151927}}</ref>

In 1973, archaeologists discovered copies of early Chinese books, known as the [[Mawangdui Silk Texts]], in a tomb dated to 168&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="stanford" /> They included two nearly complete copies of the text, referred to as Text A ({{lang|lzh|甲}}) and Text B ({{lang|lzh|乙}}), both of which reverse the traditional ordering and put the ''Te Ching'' section before the ''Tao Ching'', which is why the Henricks translation of them is named "Te-Tao Ching". Based on calligraphic styles and imperial [[naming taboo]] avoidances, scholars believe that Text A can be dated to about the first decade and Text B to about the third decade of the 2nd century&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Citation |last=Loewe |first=Michael |title=Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide |pages=269 |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e10hAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China |language=en |isbn=978-1-55729-043-4}}</ref>

In 1993, the oldest known version of the text, written on [[bamboo slips]], was found in a tomb near the town of Guodian ({{zhi|郭店}}) in [[Jingmen]], Hubei, and dated prior to 300&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="stanford" /> The [[Guodian Chu Slips]] comprise around 800 slips of bamboo with a total of over 13,000 characters, about 2,000 of which correspond with the ''Tao Te Ching.''<ref name="stanford" />

Both the Mawangdui and Guodian versions are generally consistent with the received texts, excepting differences in chapter sequence and graphic variants. Several recent ''Tao Te Ching'' translations utilise these two versions, sometimes with the verses reordered to synthesize the new finds.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvp|Lau|1989}}|{{harvp|Henricks|1989}}|{{harvp|Mair|1990}}|Henricks (2000)|Allan and Williams (2000)|Roberts (2004)}}</ref>

==Chronological theories==
Although debated more in early scholarship, early modern scholars like [[Feng Youlan]] and [[Herrlee G. Creel]] still considered the work a compilation;{{sfnp|Creel|1982|pp=1–2}} [[Gu Jiegang]] believed it to have been written over three centuries.{{sfn|Creel|1982|p=38}} Most modern scholarship holds the text to be a compilation, as typical for long-form early Chinese texts.<ref>{{ Cite book | last= Zhang | first= Hanmo | date= 2018 | title= Authorship and Text-Making in Early China| series= Library of Sinology, vol. 2 | publisher= De Gruyter| chapter = Text, Author, and the Function of Authorship | doi= 10.1515/9781501505133-003 | doi-access= free| jstor= j.ctvbkk21j.5| jstor-access= free |pages=26, 30| isbn= 978-1-5015-0513-3 }}</ref> Discussing concepts of names and realities, Feng Youlan's early work theorized the [[school of names]] as preceding the work, but it does not demonstrate school of names influence the way the ''Zhuangzi'' does.{{sfnm|1a1=Hansen|1y=2024b|2a1=Hansen|2y=2024|3a1=Feng|3y=1948|3p=93|4a1=Hansen|4y=1992|4p=217}}

Derived of Sima Qian's perspective in the mid-early Han dynasty, the term Daoist would typically bring Laozi and Zhuangzi to mind. Alongside the [[Han Feizi]], the Tao Te Ching was likely becoming more influential than [[Shen Buhai]] and the [[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]] by [[Sima Qian]]'s time, if they were not already influential going back to the late [[Warring States period]]. Sima Qian discusses them together, but names the chapter "Biographies of Laozi and Han Fei".{{sfn|Jiang|2021|p=403}} Though influencing the Han Feizi and [[Huangdi Sijing]],{{sfn|Peerenboom|1993|p=12-15,17}} [[Shen Dao]] does not appear to have comparable influence to [[Shang Yang]] and Shen Buhai by the Han dynasty.{{sfn|Creel|1982|p=95 footnote 95}}

Based on [[Shen Dao]], academic activity developing some earlier Tao te Ching versions would theoretically emerge in the early-mid Warring States period.{{sfn|Hansen|2024b}} But the [[Guanzi (text)|Guanzi]] would theoretically have been influential among late Warring States period nobles.{{sfnm|1a1=Pines|1y=2017|1p=23|2a1=Pines|2y=2024|2p=142}} Early survey considered the [[Guanzi (text)|Guanzi]] most prominent in the recovered Daoistic [[Huangdi Sijing]], which didn't quote the Tao te Ching yet.{{sfn|Chang|1998|p=208}} It is easier to place a subsequent more marked increase in Tao te Ching influence closer to the end of Warring States period, where it is found in the Han Feizi.{{sfnm|1a1=Mou|1y=2008|1p=215|2a1=Graham|2y=1989|2pp=213,217}}

Though scholar Pei Wang primarily treats the similarities and differences of Laozi, the [[Huangdi Sijing]] and [[Han Feizi]], at least in review with Pei Wang, [[Yuri Pines]] ''Dao Companion to China's fa tradition'' has modernly expressed openness to the "indebtedness" of early Warring States thinkers like Shen Buhai to Laozi.{{sfn|Pines|2013|pp=13,575-576,590-591}}

===Before Zhuangzi===
Linguistic studies of the ''Tao Te Ching''{{'}}s vocabulary and [[syllable rime|rime]] scheme point to a date of composition after the early ''[[Classic of Poetry]]'' (or Book of Songs), but before the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]'',<ref>{{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching |pages=162 |year=1963 |author-mask=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4GMEAAAQBAJ |publisher=Penguin |language=en |isbn=978-0-14-044131-4 |translator-last=Lau |translator-first=D. C. |translator-link=D. C. Lau }}</ref> and would generally be taken as preceding the ''Zhuangzi''.{{sfn|Chan|2013}} This is the traditional "before Zhuangzi" theory.{{sfn|Mou|2008|p=213}} Although the Book of Songs is a diverse work, they do not bear any ''especial'' resemblance.{{sfn|Mou|2008|p=217}} Upholding the traditional early dating of Sima Qian, Hong Kong [[Sinologist]] Liu Xiaogan argued that the Tao Te Ching's poetic structure resembles the Book of Songs more than the later, [[Warring States period]] [[Songs of Chu]].<ref name="stanford" />

Compared by [[Sima Qian]] with Laozi, the text would traditionally be taken as preceding [[Shen Buhai]]. Questioning their chronology, Creel proposed that Shen Buhai may have preceded it as well,{{sfnp|Creel|1982|pp=48-51,93}} but Shen Buhai does bear a "striking" resemblance to [[Daodejing|Laozi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Creel|1974|p=189 (Creel's opinion)}}; {{harvnb|Creel|1982|p=50}} (citing {{harvnb|Jin|1963|pp=241–246}}); {{harvnb|Liu|2014|p=248 (citing Jin 1962)}}</ref> Although not enough to eliminate a late dating, the discovery of the early [[Mawangdui silk texts]] and [[Guodian Chu Slips]] again made a dating before the third-century BCE more probable.{{sfnm|1a1=Mou|1y=2008|1p=213,214|2a1=Barlow|2y=1985|2p=92}} Admittedly, the Mawangdui's [[Huangdi Sijing]] itself is considered a late compilation, but it does increase the prominence of Laozi or similar currents late in the Warring States period.{{sfn|Yates|1997|p=196,198}}

As one suggestion the work is an ancient text, ancient texts are arguably divided in two parts. The Mawangdui versions divide the text in two parts, and one version also didn't have chapters yet.{{sfn|Kim|2012|p=6}} When the Tao te Ching did get chapters, they weren't given titles.{{sfn|Yates|1997|p=197}} Alongside the [[Huangdi Sijing]], late Warring States texts [[Xunzi (book)|Xunzi]] and [[Han Feizi]] are the first to give titles to chapters.{{sfnm|1a1=Yates|1y=1997|1p=197|2a1=Peerenboom|2y=1993|2p=12-15,17}} As another criticism of late theories for the work, although the earliest recovered versions are from late in the range of possible dating, their language is already "coherent and natural".{{sfn|Liu|1994|p=184}} [[Benjamin I. Schwartz]] still considered the Tao Te Ching remarkably unified by the time of the Mawangdui, even if these versions swap the two halves of the text.{{sfn|Schwartz|1985|p=187}}

===After Zhuangzi===
Essentially the dating of [[A.C. Graham]], the [[Stanford Encyclopedia]] supposes compilation of the ''current'' text as dating back to the late [[Warring States period]] circa 250 BCE, drawing on a wide range of versions further dating back a century or two.<ref name="Stanford"/>

Termed the "After Zhuangzi" theory, representative of [[Ch'ien Mu]] and Graham, a lack of early references contributes to Graham's late dating. While the Zhuangzi is the first ''reference'' for the Tao Te Ching, its Inner Chapters do not demonstrate familiarity with it. Thus, an early stratum representative of the ''Zhuangzi's'' core Inner Chapters may have preceded it.{{sfnm|1a1=Mou|1y=2008|1p=215|2a1=Graham|2y=1989|2pp=213,217|3a1=Creel|3y=1982|3p=5}} As a work which includes discussion of government, the ''Tao te Ching'''s more governmentally complex ideas of [[Dao]] or [[wu wei]] could well be expected to come after early ideas of them in the Zhuangzi, which didn't as much involve government.{{sfn|Creel|1982|p=5}} The [[Analects]] have wu wei as an idea of government, but one of virtue, not a technique of governmental control like the ''Tao te Ching''.{{sfnm|1a1=Creel|1y=1982|1pp=59,78|2a1=Slingerland|2y=2007|2p=9}}

Listed in the Outer ''Zhuangzi's'' history after [[Mozi]] but before Laozi and Zhuangzi, [[Shen Dao]] shares content with the Inner ''Zhuangzi'',{{sfnm|1a1=Graham|1y=1989|1p=376|2a1=Hansen|2y=1992|2pp=345,205,208|3a1=Schwartz|3y=1985|3p=186|4a1=Liu|4y=1994|4p=55}} and can also be directly compared with the Tao Te Ching.{{sfn|Emerson|2013}} Less technically complex than Shen Buhai, Shen Dao's current might theoretically even precede him,{{sfn|Barlow|1985|p=93}} back to the fourth century BCE.{{sfn|Peerenboom|1993|p=12–15,17}} Sinologist Chad Hansen does not consider the Outer ''Zhuangzi'' entirely accurate chronologically, but positioned Shen Dao under "Pre-Laozi Daoist Theory" for the theoretical framework of the [[Stanford Encyclopedia]] of Daoism's 2024 edition. With Shen Dao being comparable, his time would theoretically form a grounding for its development, or ''might'' have existed by his time, if the Zhuangzi's (and other) indications are not chronologically accurate.{{sfn|Hansen|2024b}}

The late [[Han Feizi]] has the work's earliest known commentaries,{{sfn|Pines|2013|p=71 footnote}} though it can be argued that it influences the [[Huangdi Sijing]]. With a compilation supposed to date back to the late Warring States period, but including earlier [[Shen Dao]] content, Leo S Chang ''theorizes'' potential Laozi influences for the Sijing, with some passages similar to the [[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]. But it does not actually quote the Laozi. As Chang notes, there are "no lengthy parallel expressions between" the Sijing and Laozi, arguably baring more resemblance to the [[Guanzi (text)|Guanzi]]. The Sijing has similar ideas to Laozi of strategically "assuming feminine conduct", but the ruler switches to an active posture at "the right moment", countervailing against Laozi's passivity. In Laozi, the [[Dao]] gives birth to the One; in the Sijing, they are the same. Laozi disparages law; the Sijing's law 'derives from Dao'.{{sfn|Chang|1998|p=18,29,69,91}}

== Contents ==
=== Themes ===
{{See also|Laozi#Tao Te Ching}}
{{expand German|title=Daodejing|fa=yes|section=yes|date=June 2022}}
{{#section:Laozi|DDJ themes}}

=== Structure and style ===
The ''Tao Te Ching'' is a text of around 5,162 to 5,450 [[Chinese characters]] in 81 brief chapters or sections ({{lang|lzh|章}}). There is some evidence that the chapter divisions were later additions—for commentary, or as aids to rote memorisation—and that the original text was more fluidly organised. It has two parts, the ''Tao Ching'' ({{lang|lzh|道經}}; chapters 1–37) and the ''Te Ching'' ({{lang|lzh|德經}}; chapters 38–81), which may have been edited together into the received text, possibly reversed from an original ''Te Tao Ching''.<ref name="Austin 2010 158">{{Citation |last=Austin |first=Michael |title=Reading the World |date=2010 |page=158 |place=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-93349-9}}</ref>

Contrasting with Confucianism, its general statements are free of narration or reference to "any ''particular'' persons, times, or places."{{sfn|Pines|2024b|p=27}} The written style is laconic, with few [[Chinese particles|grammatical particle]]s. While the ideas are singular, the style is poetic, combining two major strategies: short, declarative statements, and intentional contradictions, encouraging varied, contradictory interpretations. The first of these strategies creates memorable phrases, while the second forces the reader to reconcile supposed contradictions.<ref name="Austin 2010 158"/>  With a [[Reconstructions of Old Chinese|partial reconstruction]] of the pronunciation of [[Old Chinese]] spoken during the ''Tao Te Ching''{{'}}s composition, approximately three-quarters rhymed in the original language.<ref name=":13">{{Citation |last=Minford |first=John |title=Tao Te Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao |pages=ix–x |year=2018 |place=New York |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |language=en |isbn=978-0-670-02498-8 |author-link=John Minford}}</ref>

The Chinese characters in the earliest versions were written in [[seal script]], while later versions were written in [[clerical script]] and [[regular script]] styles.<ref>{{cite journal <!-- Citation bot no -->|last=Henricks|first= Robert G. |title=Examining the Ma-Wang-Tui Silk Texts of the ''Lao-Tzu'': With Special Note of Their Differences from the Wang Pi Text|work= T’oung Pao|volume =65|issue= 4/5 |date=1979|pages= 166–199 at 167 | jstor= 4528176}}</ref>

== Translation ==
The ''Tao Te Ching'' has been translated into Western languages over 250 times, mostly to English, German, and French.{{sfnp|LaFargue & al.|1998|p=277}} According to Holmes Welch, "It is a famous puzzle which everyone would like to feel he had solved."<ref>{{Citation |last=Welch |first=Holmes |title=Taoism: The Parting of the Way |pages=7 |year=1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe7XAAAAMAAJ |publisher=[[Beacon Press]] |language=en |isbn=978-0-8070-5973-9}}</ref> The first English translation of the ''Tao Te Ching'' was produced in 1868 by the Scottish Protestant missionary [[John Chalmers (missionary)|John Chalmers]], entitled ''The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality of the "Old Philosopher" Lau-tsze''.{{sfnp|Chalmers|1868}} It was heavily indebted{{sfnp|Chalmers|1868|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yxFBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR19 xix]}} to [[Stanislas Julien|Julien]]'s French translation{{sfnp|Julien|1842}} and dedicated to [[James Legge]],<ref name="chalv" /> who later produced his own translation for Oxford's ''[[Sacred Books of the East]]''.<ref name="legge" />

Other notable English translations of the ''Tao Te Ching'' are those produced by Chinese scholars and teachers: a 1948 translation by linguist [[Lin Yutang]], a 1961 translation by author [[John Ching Hsiung Wu]], a 1963 translation by sinologist [[D. C. Lau|Din Cheuk Lau]], another 1963 translation by professor [[Wing-tsit Chan]], and a 1972 translation by [[Taoism|Taoist]] teacher [[Gia-Fu Feng]] together with his wife [[Jane English]].

Many translations are written by people with a foundation in Chinese language and philosophy who are trying to render the original meaning of the text as faithfully as possible into English. Some of the more popular translations are written from a less scholarly perspective, giving an individual author's interpretation. Critics of these versions claim that their translators deviate from the text and are incompatible with the history of Chinese thought.<ref>{{Citation |last=Eoyang |first=Eugene |title=Review: ''Tao Te Ching: A New English Translation'' by Stephen Mitchell |work=The Journal of Religion |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=492–493 |year=1990 |type=book review |publisher=University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1086/488454 |jstor=1205252}}</ref> Russell Kirkland goes further to argue that these versions are based on Western [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] fantasies and represent the colonial appropriation of Chinese culture.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kirkland |first=Russell |title=The Taoism of the Western Imagination and the Taoism of China: De-Colonizing the Exotic Teachings of the East |work=University of Tennessee |year=1997 |url=https://religion.uga.edu/sites/default/files/inline-files/TENN97.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102000401/http://kirkland.myweb.uga.edu/rk/pdf/pubs/pres/TENN97.pdf |archive-date=2 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |first=Russell |last=Kirkland |title=Taoism: The Enduring Tradition |page=1 |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gg0XCJcGDhYC&pg=PP1 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-64671-7}}</ref> Other Taoism scholars, such as Michael LaFargue<ref>{{cite book | last=LaFargue | first= Michael | title= Tao and Method: A reasoned approach to the Tao Te Ching | date= 1994 | publisher= State University of New York Press |isbn= 9781438409863}}</ref> and Jonathan Herman,<ref>{{Citation |last=Herman |first=Jonathan R. |title=Reviewed work: Tao te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way, Ursula K. Le Guin |work=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=686–689 |year=1998 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/66.3.686 |jstor=1466152}}</ref> argue that while they do not pretend to scholarship, they meet a real spiritual need in the West. These Westernized versions aim to make the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching more accessible to modern English-speaking readers by, typically, employing more familiar cultural and temporal references.

=== Challenges in translation ===
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2018}}

The ''Tao Te Ching'' is written in [[Classical Chinese]], which generally poses a number of challenges for interpreters and translators. As Holmes Welch notes, the written language "has no active or passive, no singular or plural, no case, no person, no tense, no mood."<ref>{{harvp|Welch|1965| p=9}}</ref> Moreover, the received text lacks many [[grammatical particle]]s which are preserved in the older [[Mawangdui]] and Beida texts, which permit the text to be more precise.<ref>{{harvp|Henricks|1989|p=xvi}}</ref> Lastly, many passages of the ''Tao Te Ching'' are deliberately ambiguous.<ref name="Record_2022">{{cite journal |last1=Record |first1=Kirby |date=March 2022 |title=On Translating the Dark Enigma: The Tao Te Ching |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/tal.2022.0494?role=tab |journal=Translation and Literature |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=52–65 |doi=10.3366/tal.2022.0494 |quote=The problem of intentional ambiguities in the original work lies at the heart of all poetry translations but is particularly challenging in the case of ideographic texts of antiquity... |access-date=9 April 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Chan_1993">{{cite journal |last=Chan |first=Alan K. L. |date=October 1993 |title=Review: On Reading the Tao Te Ching: Mair, Lafargue, Chan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1399212 |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=745–750 |doi=10.2307/1399212 |jstor=1399212 |access-date=9 April 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Since there is very little [[punctuation]] in Classical Chinese, determining the precise boundaries between words and sentences is not always trivial. Deciding where these phrasal boundaries are must be done by the interpreter.<ref name="Record_2022" /> Some translators have argued that the received text is so corrupted due to{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} its original medium being [[bamboo strips]]<ref name="Harvard Gazette 2001 v799">{{cite web |last=Shen |first=Andrea |title=Ancient script rewrites history |website=Harvard Gazette |date=22 February 2001 |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/02/harvard-gazette-ancient-script-rewrites-history/ | access-date=9 April 2024}}</ref> linked with silk threads—that it is impossible to understand some passages without some transposition of characters.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

=== Notable translations ===<!-- In chronological order -->
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Le Livre de la Voie et de la Vertu |year=1842 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ll5TAAAAcAAJ |place=Paris |publisher=Imprimerie Royale |language=fr |ref={{harvid|Julien|1842}} |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Julien |translator-first=Stanislas |translator-link=Stanislas Julien}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality of the "Old Philosopher" Lau-tsze |year=1868 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxFBAAAAYAAJ |place=London |publisher=Trübner |isbn=978-0-524-07788-7 |ref={{harvid|Chalmers|1868}} |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Chalmers |translator-first=John |translator-link=John Chalmers (missionary)}}
* {{Citation |last=Strauss |first=Victor |title=Laò-Tsè's Taò Tĕ Kīng |year=1870 |place=Leipzig |publisher=Friedrich Fleischer |language=de |author-link=Viktor von Strauß und Torney}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=The Tao Teh King |volume=XXXIX:V |year=1891 |editor-last=Müller |editor-first=Max |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/216 |series=Sacred Books of the East – Sacred Books of China |publisher=Oxford University Press |ref={{harvid|Legge & al.|1891}} |display-authors=0 |editor-link=Max Müller |translator-last=Legge |translator-first=James |translator-link=James Legge |via=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}.
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=The Sayings of Lao Tzu |year=1905 |editor-last=Giles |editor-first=Lionel |display-editors=1 |series=The Wisdom of the East |place=New York |publisher=E. P. Dutton |ref={{harvid|Giles & al.|1905}} |display-authors=0 |editor2-last=Cranmer-Byng |editor2-first=S. A. |editor3-last=Kapadia |editor-link=Lionel Giles}}
* {{Citation |last=Wilhelm |first=Richard |title=Tao te king: Das Buch des Alten vom Sinn und Leben |year=1911 |place=Jena |publisher=Diederichs |language=de |author-link=Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=The Canon of Reason and Virtue: Lao-tze's Tao Teh King |year=1913 |editor-last=Suzuki |editor-first=Daisetsu Teitaro |display-editors=1 |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/crv/ |place=La Salle |publisher=Open Court |ref={{harvid|Suzuki & al.|1913}} |display-authors=0 |editor2-last=Carus |editor2-first=Paul |editor1-link=D. T. Suzuki}}.
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=[[:s:fr:Les pères du système taoiste|Les Pères du Système Taoiste]] |year=1913 |series=Taoïsme, Vol. II |publisher=Hien Hien |language=fr |ref={{harvid|Wieger|1913}} |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Wieger |translator-first=Léon |translator-link=Léon Wieger}}
* {{Citation |translator-last=Cheng |translator-first=Lin |title=The works of Lao Tzyy: Truth and nature, popularly known as Daw-der-jing |year=1949 |place=Shanghai |publisher= |language=en |translator-link=Cheng Lin}} ''(Based on rectified and rearranged Chinese text, divide into 180 verses/stanzas)'' 
* {{Citation |last=Duyvendak |first=J.J.L. |title=Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way and Its Virtue |year=1954 |publisher=John Murray |author-link=J.J.L. Duyvendak}}
* {{Citation |last=Waley |first=Arthur |title=The Way and Its Power |year=1958 |orig-date=1934 |place=New York |publisher=Grove Press |author-link=Arthur Waley}}
* {{Citation |last=Chan |first=Wing-tsit |title=The Way of Lao Tzu: Tao-te ching |year=1963 |place=Indianapolis |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |author-link=Wing-tsit Chan}}
* {{Citation |last=Schwarz |first=Ernst |title=Laudse: Daudedsching |year=1970 |place=Leipzig |publisher=Reclam |language=de |author-link=Ernst Schwarz (sinologist)}}
* Houang, François and [[Pierre Leyris|Leyris, Pierre]] (1979), ''La Voie et sa vertu: Tao-tê-king'' (in French), Paris: Éditions du Seuil
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching: A New English Version |year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esUrAbMWAa4C |place=New York |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-180739-8 |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Mitchell |translator-first=Stephen |translator-link=Stephen Mitchell (translator)}}.
* {{Citation |last=Henricks |first=Robert G. |title=Lao-tzu: Te-tao ching. A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts |year=1989 |place=New York |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=0-345-34790-0}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching |year=1989 |place=Hong Kong |publisher=Chinese University Press |isbn=9789622014671 |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Lau |translator-first=D. C. |translator-link=D. C. Lau |ref={{harvid|Lau|1989}}}}
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uE7thB_vwQQC |place=New York |publisher=Bantam |isbn=978-0-307-43463-0 |ref={{harvid|Mair|1990}} |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Mair |translator-first=Victor H. |translator-link=Victor H. Mair}}.
* {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao-Te-Ching |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMLE056g6MsC |place=York Beach |publisher=Samuel Weiser |isbn=978-1-60925-441-4 |ref={{harvid|Bryce & al.|1991}} |display-authors=0 |translator-last=Bryce |translator-first=Derek |translator-last2=Wieger |translator-first2=Léon |display-translators=1}}
* Addiss, Stephen and Lombardo, Stanley (1991) ''Tao Te Ching,'' Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company.
* [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] {{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of Way |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hzw6kER9etoC |publisher=Shambhala Press |isbn=978-1611807240 |display-authors=0 |translator-link=Ursula K. Le Guin}}.
* [[David Hinton]], {{Citation |title= Tao Te Ching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pd8REAAAQBAJ |publisher=Counterpoint Press |year=2001 |ISBN=978-1582431826}}.
* Chad Hansen, ''Laozi: Tao Te Ching on The Art of Harmony,'' Duncan Baird Publications, 2009
* [[Red Pine (author)|Red Pine]], {{Citation |title=Lao-tzu's Taoteching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GM-wv1S2D6cC |publisher=Copper Canyon Press |year=2009 |ISBN=978-1556592904}}
* Sinedino, Giorgio (2015), ''Dao De Jing'' (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Unesp

{{Refend}}

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=27em}}
* [[Bogar]]
* [[Ecclesiastes]]
* ''[[Huahujing]]''
* ''[[Huainanzi]]''
* ''[[Huangdi Yinfujing]]''
* ''[[Qingjing Jing]]''
* ''[[Sanhuangjing]]''
* [[Straw dog]]
* ''[[Taiping Jing]]''
* ''[[Xishengjing]]''
* [[Four Books and Five Classics]]
{{colend}}

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
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| pages= 1–29 }}
* {{Citation |last=Komjathy |first=Louis |title=Handbooks for Daoist Practice |date=2008 |type=10 vols. |place=Hong Kong |publisher=Yuen Yuen Institute}}
* {{cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin I. Schwartz |date=1985 |title=The World of Thought in Ancient China |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Harvard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kA0c1hl3CXUC |isbn=978-0-674-96191-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Slingerland |first=Edward |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSReaja3V3IC |title=Effortless Action: Wu-wei As Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Early China |location=Oxford; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195138993 }}
* {{Citation |last1=Van Norden |first1=Bryan W. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |year=2006 |edition=2nd |place=Indianapolis, IN |publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0-87220-780-6 |ref={{Harvid|Van Norden|Ivanhoe|2005}} |last2=Ivanhoe |first2=Philip J. |author-link2=Philip J. Ivanhoe}}
* {{Citation |last1=Watts |first1=Alan |title=Tao: The Watercourse Way |year=1975 |url=https://archive.org/details/taowatercoursewa00watt_0 |place=New York |publisher=Pantheon |isbn=978-0-394-73311-1 |last2=Huang |first2=Chung-liang |author1-link=Alan Watts |url-access=registration}}
* {{Citation |last=Welch |first=Holmes |title=Taoism: The Parting of the Way |year=1965 |place=Boston |publisher=Beacon |isbn=978-0-8070-5973-9 |orig-year=1957}}
* {{cite book |last=Yates |first=Robin D. S. |date=1997 |title=Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huang-Lao, and Yin-Yang in Han China |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |isbn=978-0345365385}}
* {{cite book |first=Youlan |last=Feng |author-mask=[[Feng Youlan]] |date=1948 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZU0YKnpTH0C |title=A Short History of Chinese Philosophy |publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-684-83634-8 }}
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== External links ==
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{{Wikisource|zh|道德經}}
* {{Citation |title=Daodejing |url=https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing |edition=Wang Bi |language=lzh,en |translator-last=Legge |translator-first=James |translator-link=James Legge |via=[[Chinese Text Project]]}}
** {{Citation |title=Laozi |url=https://ctext.org/guodian |edition=Guodian |language=lzh |via=Chinese Text Project}}
** {{Citation |title=Laozi |url=https://ctext.org/mawangdui |edition=Mawangdui |language=lzh |via=Chinese Text Project}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/laozi/tao-te-ching/james-legge|Display Name=Legge translation |noitalics=true }}
* {{librivox book |dtitle=Tao Te Ching |stitle=Tao |author=Laozi }}
* [http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/daodejing.php Legge, Suzuki, and Goddard's translations side-by-side, along with the original text]

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[[Category:Chinese classic texts]]
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