Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu

The Tao Te Ching (or Daodejing, Tao-te ching, etc. pronounced, more or less, Dow Deh Jing) is a philosophical work that originated in Asia many centuries ago. It is one of the most translated works in world literature, probably second only to the Bible. The name itself can be translated as "The Book of The Way" or perhaps "The Book of the Virtuous Way". Tao can be translated as "way" like a procedure or a path, Te can be translated as "Virtue" or "Character", and Ching basically translates as "Book".

The Tao Te Ching is of somewhat mysterious origin, but it's creation is often attributed to a man called Lao Tsu, who may or may not have actually existed. Various reports have him living somewhere between the 2nd and 6th century BC. He is also known by many other names, Laozi, Lao Zi, or Lao Tse are some (a young Chinese tourist in Chicago once pronounced it distressingly close to "lousy", but this author usually chooses the pronunciation that is closer to "Loud Sue".)

The name Lao Zi is an honorific title. Lao is often translated as "venerable" or "old." Zi can translate literally as "child" or "offspring", but it was also a term for a rank of nobleman equivalent to viscount, as well as a term of respect attached to the names of revered scholars. Thus, "Lao Zi" can be translated as "the old master”, or perhaps more elegantly, “the old boy.” Lao Tsu is believed by some to have been a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BCE), and by others to be a teacher of Confucius.

Sadly, the exact circumstances surrounding the origin of the Tao Te Ching have been lost to the centuries, but one popular account goes something like this:

Lao Tsu was the keeper of the archives (what we might today think of as 'the wise man') in one of the many kingdoms that are now part of China. When he saw that the kingdom was in decline, he decided to leave. Apon reaching the border, the official in charge of the border pass stopped him asking something to the effect of "if you go, how will we know the way to follow?" And so, before leaving, Lao Tsu wrote out the 5000 words of the Tao Te Ching for posterity.

Some accounts of the story have Lao Tsu traveling to India upon his departure and becoming known as Buddha but, like the rest of the story, there is no actual evidence in existence to spport this.

Despite being impossible to translate into english definitively, the Tao Te Ching examines many of the same ideas as Western Philosophers. For instance…

(Particular translators are indicated where applicable)

Ontology

Ch 1 • There are ways but the Way is uncharted; There are names but not nature in words. Nameless indeed is the source of creation But things have a mother and she has a name. -Blackney

Note:Another alternative translation of this same passage is as follows...

• The Tao that can be told is not the Eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. -Mitchell

Ch 2 ...Being and non-being create (or balance, or produce) each other...

Ch 51 The Tao gives birth to all things....

Epistemology

Ch 18 ...knowledge and wisdom are born along with hypocrisy.... -Merel

Ch 47 ...The more you know, the less you understand. Thus, the wise man knows without traveling, sees without looking, and achieves without actions.

Ch 48 In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of Tao, every day something is dropped. -Mitchell

Ch 65 The ancient Masters didn’t try to educate the people, but kindly taught them to not know. When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide. When they know that they don’t know, people can find their own way. -Mitchell

The Self

Ch13 Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. -Mitchell

Ch 33 He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others has physical strength. He who conquers himself is strong. -Chan

Philosophy

Ch 14 ...Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of all wisdom. -Mitchell