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The Tao Te Ching (道德經, Pinyin: Dào Dé Jing, thus sometimes rendered in recent works as Dao De Jing; archaic pre- Wade-Giles rendering: Tao Teh Ching; roughly translated as The Book of the Way and its Virtue (see dedicated chapter below on translating the title) is an ancient Chinese scripture originally named the Laozi. The work is traditionally said to have been penned about 600 BC by the famous sage called Lao Zi (WG: Lao Tzu, "Old Master"), who is said to have been a record-keeper of the Emperor's Court of the Chou Dynasty; but authenticity, dates and authorship are still debated.
This short and obscure book is one of the most influential on Chinese philosophy and religion, especially through Taoism, but also through Buddhism, because this Indian religion shared many Taoist words and concepts before developing into Chinese Buddhism. (Indeed, upon first encountering it, Chinese scholars regarded Buddhism as merely a foreign equivalent of Taoism.) Many Chinese artists, such as poets, painters, calligraphs and even gardeners have used this book as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside the Far East and, for now, it is probably the most translated Chinese book.
In the form we have it now, the Tao Te Ching is separated into two sections (Dao and De) and in 81 chapters. Each chapter is rather short, using few characters to express in a poetic way ideas that are not always clear. Some chapters could have three or more readings, from individual wisdom to advices aimed at a king, through medical recipies.
The rendering of the title in EnglishThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil is inconsistent. Very old translations used Tao Teh Ching. Wade-Giles became the predominant transliteration scheme for rendering Chinese words in English in the late 19th century, and is still popular in TaiwanFor the political entity commonly known as "Taiwan," see Republic of China. The island of Taiwan ( Traditional: , Simplified: , Pinyin: Taiwn, Wade-Giles: T'ai-wan, Taiwanese: Tai-oan) is located off the coast of China in the Pacific Ocean. It is also kno. Based on further research, the People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China PRC comprises most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. Since its founding in 1949, it has been led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population has promulgated the more accurate pinyin transliteration scheme, which leads to Dao De Jing in English. As English editions of the book first became well known in the English-speaking world before the development of pinyin, the Wade-Giles transliteration of the title has stuck, and current English editions of the book almost always title it Tao Te Ching. See also Daoism-Taoism romanization issue for further discussion.
1 The Tao that can be spoken of...
- The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;
- The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
- It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
- The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures,
- each after its kind.
- (Tr. A. Waley)
These are the first words of the text in its present form. As stated here, it is not possible to explain with words what is the Tao, as developed by the author of the book. However, we can point at some characteristics of it. Tao is the core topic of the book, surrounded by related themes like De ("virtue", or "power"), emptiness, return, detachment and wu-wei ("non-action"). The Tao can be seen as a what is before and beyond all distinctions between different forms or essences of things. Everything comes from Tao and returns to Tao. Nameless and obscure source of everything, Tao "is like an empty vessel / That yet may be drawn from / Without ever needing to be filled." (Chapter IV, tr. A. Waley)
Even if Lao Zi said "My words are very easy to understand [...] yet no one under heaven understands them" (ch. 70), we will try in this article to introduce some of the main lines and concerns that are to be commonly found in this book.
