Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing)
Classic of the Way and Virtue
道德經

By Lao-Tzu (Laozi, Lao Tse, Lan Dan, Li Ehr)
Circa 500 BCE
Old Master, Old Sage, Long-eared Wise Man, Wise Child
The Grand Supreme Elder Lord (Taishang Laojun 太上老君)
The Universally Honored One of Tao and Virtues (Daode Tianzun 道德天尊)

老子

Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching

Research by
Michael P. Garofalo

November 20, 2011

Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California

History of the Tao Te Ching

In ancient China, during the Spring and Autumn Classical Period (700-480 BCE) mystical philosophers had begun formulating the principal doctrines of what is now called Philosophical Taoism (Daojia 道家). Based upon their observations of nature and human behavior they developed an informal school of thought regarding how a wise man should live his life and how to understand the world in which he lives.

By the time of Confucius (551-479 BCE), some of the members of this informal school gathered their favorite sayings, aphorisms, poems, reflections, and ideas into written form. A librarian and archivist in the royal court of Zhou, a Li Er Dan (Lao Tzu, Laozi), is reported to have written or compiled a 5,000 character manuscript around 500 BCE that is now known as the Tao Te Ching. Whether historically "true" or not, it has been commonly accepted for twenty centuries in China that Lao Tzu is the author of the Tao Te Ching.

The oldest manuscripts with versions of the Tao Te Ching, discovered by archeologists in the 20th Century, are the the Guodian Chu text on slips of bamboo (dated at 300 BCE), the Mawangdui text on silk (dated at 168 BCE), and the Mogao Caves text (dated at 270 CE).

Guodian Chu bamboo slips Mawangdui silk

The earliest commentaries on the Tao Te Ching were by Heshang Gong (circa 202-157 BCE), Yan Zun (80 BCE -10 CE), and Wang Bi (226-249 CE). According to Professor Henricks, by 50 CE the method of organizing the Tao Te Ching into 81 chapters was an accepted practice by scribes and commentators.

Early in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), Lao Tzu was already considered a very wise man, and the Tao Te Ching a marvelous and profound work. Over the centuries, many people began to think of Lao Tzu as a great holy man, an Immortal, an avatar, or a divine being . The gradual process of the deification of Lao Tzu proceeded in religious Taoism (Daojiao 道敎) during this period. The Taoist leader, Zhang Daoling, claimed in 142 CE that the divine Lao Tzu had appeared to him and directed him to found the Way of the Celestial Masters, which became the first organized and popular Taoist sect. To this day, Lao Tzu is revered and worshipped as the Grand Pure One (Tàiqīng) of the Three Pure Ones (Shàngqīng (上清)) which are the three highest Taoist deities along with the Jade Emperor. Lao Tzu is equated with Daode Tianzun (道德天尊), "The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues" or "The Universal Lord of the Way and its Virtue"; Taishang Laojun (太上老君), "The Grand Supreme Elder Lord"; or Tàiqīng (太清), the Grand Pure One. As with all highly respected, legendary or deified persons, there are many fascinating and fabulous stories told about the Grand Pure One, Lao Tzu.

The Tao Te Ching was first translated into English in the late 19th Century (e.g., Fredric Balfour 1884, James Legge 1891, etc.). Some English translations of the Tao Te Ching are by scholars who are experts in the Chinese language and/or the Taoist religion, and other interpretations of the text are by educated persons with a deep personal admiration for Taoist ideas. Some translations are rendered in verse and others in poetic form. Some are literal translations by Chinese linguists, while other versions are creative interpolations. Some translations are terse and direct, others are expansive and make much use of poetic license. Most translations are serious and reverential, while a few are zany and bizarre. There are many interesting commentaries in English about the Tao Te Ching; and, some fictional adaptations of Taoist ideas in English literature. The Tao Te Ching is now quite popular with readers all around the world, and has been translated over 200 times into various Western languages. It is wise for a serious student of the Tao Te Ching to read and compare many different translations and commentaries of the Tao Te Ching.

Bibliography and Links
Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi)
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
Reading List, Research List, Recommended Reading, Related Links

Taoism: A Bibliography

Online Versions Index by Translators Chapter Index 1-81