Tao-te Ching | Definition, Summary, & Facts - Encyclopedia Britannica

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• UW Tacoma Digital Commons - The Tao Te Ching [Laozi] /Lao-tzu Metaphysics (What is existence?)
• The Guardian - The Tao Te Ching by Laozi: ancient wisdom for modern times
• Association for Asian Studies - Still Relevant after 2500 Years: The Art of War and Tao Te Ching
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Laozi

Tao-te Ching Chinese literature Ask Anything Homework Help Also known as: “Daodejing”, “Laozi” Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

Tao-te Ching, classic of Chinese philosophical literature. The name was first used during the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). It had previously been called Laozi in the belief that it was written by Laozi, identified by the historian Sima Qian as a 6th-century-bce curator of the imperial Chinese archives. Laozi, however, is better known as the reputed founder of Daoism, a way of life (the Chinese word dao, or tao, means “way”) that, among many competing “Ways,” alone became known as the Dao school, or Daoism. The long tradition that Laozi was the author of the Tao-te Ching was so badly shaken in the 19th century that some scholars even questioned the historical existence of the sage. The classic itself, moreover, contains no references to other writings, persons, events, or places that might provide a clue for dating the composition. Scholarly opinions consequently range between the 8th and the 3rd century bce.

The Tao-te Ching presented a way of life intended to restore harmony and tranquillity to a kingdom racked by widespread disorders. It was critical of the unbridled wantonness of self-seeking rulers and was disdainful of social activism based on the type of abstract moralism and mechanical propriety characteristic of Confucian ethics. The Dao of the Tao-te Ching has received a wide variety of interpretations because of its elusiveness and mystical overtones, and it has been a basic concept in both philosophy and religion. In essence, it consists of “nonaction” (wuwei), understood as no unnatural action rather than complete passivity. It implies spontaneity, noninterference, letting things take their natural course: “Do nothing and everything is done.” Chaos ceases, quarrels end, and self-righteous feuding disappears because the Dao is allowed to flow unchallenged and unchallenging. Everything that is comes from the inexhaustible, effortless, invisible, and inaudible Way, which existed before heaven and earth. By instilling in the populace the principle of Dao, the ruler precludes all cause for complaint and presides over a kingdom of great tranquillity.

Chinese [Wade-Giles romanization]: “Classic of the Way of Power” (Show more) Pinyin romanization: Daodejing (Show more) See all related content

The popularity of the Tao-te Ching is reflected in the vast number of commentaries that have been written: over 350 have been preserved in Chinese and about 250 in Japanese. Since 1900 more than 40 translations have appeared in English.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.