About Lao Tzu's Tao Te ChingTao Te Ching
is the main source of inspiration for the students of Taoism. All the topics of the later are borrowed from it. The book itself centers around the principles of wu-wei (nondoing), wu (emptiness), and fu (return). It explains what is Tao and
what should the disciple do in order to accomplish the task of emulating its course. This task is the very core of Taoist philosophy of life. Tao Te Ching
is traditionally assigned to Lao Tzu, but there are also passages of the book which claim the Taoist masterpiece was never the work of a single author but of a large collective of philosophers sharing the same views about life, world and sageness.
In its present form, Tao Te Ching comprises 2 sections: - The Book about Tao - chapters 1-37
- The Book of Te - chapters 38-81),
and uses around 5,000 Chinese characters.
The first page of Chinese version
of Tao Te Ching |
Each chapter is made of a short essay on the different facets of Taoist view on life, or lists of complementary features of things and beings, or even aphorisms.Its main features are the laconism and the use of paradoxes. There are many English translations of the book, more or less focused on the Taoist aproach. Since the translation of the Chinese
characters is very difficult, the versions may be different from each other. This is why is advisable, when studying the Taoist concepts of the book, to consult and compare several versions.
As we already mentioned the philosophy of Tao Te Ching centers on tao, wu and wu-wei. The Taoist adept must follow the Tao, and in order to do this he/she must
empty his ego. He should practice the wu-wei (nondoing) which is the main goal of Taoist discipline. At least one facet of Tao Te Ching's Taoism could be summarize in the words of
Ssu'ma Ch'ian - the author of the Historical Records - when he said about Lao Tzu that he practiced Tao and Te, and preaches the retreat from the world.
-> Lao Tzu quotes - A few abstracts from Tao Te Ching approaching the basics of Taoist philosophy may be found here.-> Electronic version of the book may be found here (James Legge translation).-> Several comments on Tao Te Ching - click here.-> More teachings about Tao Te Ching - its basic concepts and wisdom explained - provide our email course Lao Tzu and Tao Te Ching Revealed
. Click here to learn more. |
