道德经: An Introduction

The Dao De Jing (道德经) is an ancient Chinese text, about 5000 characters in length and divided into 81 chapters. As with many ancient “wisdom” books, we know very little about its authorship or origin. According to legend, the author of the Dao De Jing is Lao Zi (老子), who lived from 570 to 490 B.C.E. and worked as Keeper of the Royal Archives for the King of Zhou (周).

The name Lao Zi, or “old master,”suggests the legendary nature of the author and his story. The period of Lao Zi’s life falls in the middle of what historians refer to as the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. For 300 years after the collapse of the Zhou dynasty in 722 B.C.E., China existed in a state of constant upheaval, as the four kingdoms of Chu (楚), Jin (金), Qi (齐), and Qin (秦) fought each other for supremacy and the weaker kingdoms, including Zhou, suffered repeated invasions at the hands of their more powerful neighbors. As legend has it, Lao Zi became disillusioned with the state of affairs in Zhou and with the King himself. Fleeing to the west, he came to the Hangu Pass (函谷关), where the gatekeeper Yin Xi (尹喜) recognized him and persuaded him to stop there long enough to dictate the core of his beliefs before continuing on his journey. Lao Zi’s story mirrors aspects of the story of Confucius (孔夫子), who lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. and who left his native kingdom of Lu (鲁) out of disillusion with its ruler. There is even a story that Confucius visited Lao Zi in the city of Luoyang (洛阳) while he was working there as archivist.

Although historians don’t believe that a single individual wrote or dictated the Dao De Jing, the ideas that inform it and the language of its 81 chapters took shape and were circulating in both oral and written form across China during the centuries preceding 300 B.C.E., the estimated date of the oldest existing manuscript.

Historical Background to the Dao De Jing

Many historians date the end of the Spring and Autumn Period at 403 B.C.E., when three rival families from the state of Jin, which had lately risen to pre-eminence, arranged with the nearby King of Zhou to divide Jin into three smaller states. For the next two hundred years—the Warring States Period--the leaders of seven states—Chu, Han (汉), Qi, Qin, Wu (吴), Yan (燕) and Zhao (赵)—vied for supremacy, until 221 B.C., when Qin Yinzheng (秦嬴政) subdued the last of his rivals and proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi (始皇帝), or first emperor of China. Although his reign lasted for only twenty years and ended more than two thousand years ago, Qin Yinzheng is still regarded as China’s first emperor. In fact, the word “China” derives from the word Qin. His most visible legacy is the seven thousand terracotta warriors that he commissioned to guard his tomb, and who have become one of China’s most famous tourist attractions. However, most historians would say that the establishment of a central government and the unification of the Chinese writing system and system of measurements are Shi Huangdi’s true legacy.

The oldest surviving manuscript of the Dao De Jing can be dated to the middle of the Warring States Period. Unless and until archaeologists unearth written versions of the Dao De Jing dating back to the period of its legendary beginnings, the process by which it evolved to its present form will remain a mystery. But about one thing historians agree: the Dao De Jing was born and grew to the form in which we know it during a period of ceaseless turmoil.

The Meaning of the Dao De Jing

Like many of the world’s great wisdom books, the Dao De Jing has the capacity to mean what a variety of readers, each with their own perspective, want it to mean. Frequently mentioned with the Bible, the Qu’ran, and the Torah, it is popularly viewed as a religious text. As a religion the beginnings of Daoism in China can be traced back thousands of years, or long before the alleged authorship of the Dao De Jing. But Daoism as the set of beliefs appearing in the Dao De Jing is less a religion than a philosophy, and in that context it is better viewed as the core text of the philosophy of Daoism, as the Analects is viewed as the core text of Confucianism.

Both the title and the organization of the Dao De Jing tell us something about its overall meaning. Chapters 1 through 37 are the Dao section of the book. Dao (道) is most often translated as “path” or “way.”Chapters 38 through 81 are the De section of the book, de (德) being most often translated as “virtue.”(The word jing (经) is often translated “scripture,” but it more properly refers to any special book.)

Not of This World

Next to the Dao itself, the most important document in the Daoist canon is the Zhuangzi (庄子), named after the Warring States philosopher, “Master Zhuang,” to whom it is attributed. Zhuangzi lived from 369 to 286 B.C. E., two centuries after Lao Zi. In the writings attributed to him, Zhuangzi stresses the unknowability of things. In one of his best known stories Zhuangzi reports that one night he dreamed he was a butterfly. But when he woke up and looked around him he wondered how he could decide whether he was the philosopher Zhuangzi who had just dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was the philosopher Zhuangzi.

Westerners attracted by the idea of the mysterious East who hear the story of Zhuangzi and the butterfly may approach the Dao De Jing looking for more of the same otherworldliness. They may also find in the story of Lao Zi’s flight from Zhou the theme of disengagement from the world.

Certainly a reader who approaches the Dao De Jing looking for the theme of otherworldliness or disengagement from the world can find passages to support that view. Consider chapter 40, the shortest of the Dao De Jing’s 81 chapters:

The Way moves by going backward;
The Way works by yielding;
The ten thousand things are born from having;
Having is born from nothing.

Chapter 47 expresses a similar theme:

Don’t go through the door to know the world;
Don’t look through the window to know the way of heaven;
The farther you go, the less you know.
Therefore the wise man knows without going,
Names without seeing,
Achieves without doing.

Finally we have chapter 11:

Thirty spokes come together in a hub;
In emptiness the cart is useful;
Clay is fired and vessels made;
In emptiness the pot is useful;
Windows and doors are carved out;
In emptiness the room is useful;
Therefore having is beneficial, not having is useful.

The phrase wu wei (无为) or “not doing” appears a total of 12 times in the Dao De Jing, and the phrase bu yu (不欲) or wu yu (无欲) meaning “not desiring,” appears 9 times. Throughout the text of the Dao De Jing there runs a theme of renunciation, renunciation of action and of attachment to the world. But it is only one of many themes.

The Dao and Confucianism

Just as the book Zhuangzi succeeded the Dao De Jing and emphasized certain aspects of Daoism, a school of thinkers known as the Legalists succeeded Confucius. The writings of the Legalists changed Confucius’s concern for ren (仁) “humanity,” yi (义) “justice” and li (礼) “propriety” into a strict system of rewards and punishments that they urged rulers to mete out to their people in order to control them. William Theodore de Bary translates a passage from the the writings of Han Feizi (韩非子), a leader of the Legalist school, as follows: “Rewards should be rich and certain so that the people will be attracted by them; punishments should be severe and definite so that the people will fear them; and laws should be uniform and steadfast so that the people will be familiar with them. Consequently, the sovereign should show no wavering in bestowing rewards and grant no pardon in administering punishments.”

Although Zhuangzi and the Legalists took Daoism and Confucianism in sharply different directions, we can find an anti-Confucian strain even in the original Dao De Jing. Consider these lines from chapter 38:

When the Way (道) is lost, virtue (德) comes in behind;
When virtue (德) is lost, humanity (仁) comes in;
When humanity (仁) is lost, we are left with righteousness (义);
When righteousness (义) is lost, we are left with propriety (礼). P
ropriety (礼) is a show of loyalty and truth, but the source of disorder.

Here dao and de are placed above the Confucian qualities of ren, yi, and li. Moreover, Lao Zi here characterizes propriety, or li, an important concept to Confucius, as bao (薄), a word that suggests both weakness and a veneer or false appearance.

A Treatise on Good Government

Lao Zi refers to the sheng ren (圣人) or “wise man” a total of 31 times throughout the Dao De Jing. Many of the chapters begin with a philosophical statement and then declare, “Therefore the wise man…,” followed by practical advice on what the wise man should do. Despite its otherworldly and anti-Confucian themes, perhaps the best way to understand the Dao De Jing as a whole is as a book of advice for leaders, on how they should conduct themselves and how they should lead or rule others.

First and foremost, the sheng ren or wise man must keep his own selfish desires in check. Consider these lines from chapter 7:

Thus the wise man hold himself back, yet finds himself in the front,
Denies himself, yet survives.
Isn’t it because he lacks self-interest that he achieves his goals?

Chapter 9 preaches the same restraint:

Filling to the brim is not as good as stopping.
Sharpen the sword, and no one can preserve its edge.
Fill the hall with gold and jewels, and no one can guard them.
Set store by riches, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done; this is the way of heaven.

Likewise these lines from chapter 33:

To know others is clever; to know the self is wise.
To conquer others takes force; to conquer the self takes strength.

Finally these lines from chapter 44:

He who hoards will surely suffer loss;
Who knows contentment, suffers no shame;
Who knows when to stop, encounters no peril.

According to the Dao De Jing it is equally important for the leader to foster restraint in the people he leads. Here is chapter 3:

Not exalting the gifted prevents quarreling;
Not collecting treasures prevents stealing;
Not displaying desirable things prevents confusion.
The wise man therefore rules by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies,
By weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
If the people lack knowledge and desire, the clever will not interfere.
If nothing is done, then all will be in order.

Here the sheng ren or wise man is the ruler who by exercising restraint in himself fosters it in others.

By contrast, chapter 53 presents the image of a lavish court in a desolate country:

Though the court is swept clean,
The fields are full of weeds and the granaries are empty.
Men wear gorgeous clothes, but carry sharp swords,
And gorge themselves on food and drink.
This is thievery, not the Way.

The same idea appears in chapter 75:

Why do the people starve?
Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes….
Why do the people rebel?
Because the rulers interfere too much….
Why do the people take death so lightly?
Because they so avidly seek life.

Written in a China torn by ambitious princes seeking their own aggrandizement through the ruin of others, the Dao De Jing understandably idealizes the ruler who exercises self-restraint and restraint in ruling others. Sadly, the history of China during the time when Lao Zi is alleged to have lived does not suggest that he would have found such a ruler.

In Lao Zi’s view, wu wei was also a valid principle of kingship, especially if we think of it less as “not interfering” rather than “not doing.” Chapter 69 reads:

Soldiers say: I dare not play the host but rather the guest.
I dare not advance an inch but rather withdraw a foot.
This is called marching without appearing to advance,
Rolling up a sleeve without showing an arm,
Capturing without attacking, being armed without weapons.

The same principle holds for the state as for the individual. In chapter 57 Lao Zi writes:

The more taboos and prohibitions, the poorer the people will be…
The more laws, the more robbers and thieves will arise.
Therefore the wise man says:
I do nothing, and the people are transformed;
I love peace, and the people are upright;
I do not meddle, and the people prosper.

And in chapter 61:

If a great country gives way to a smaller country,
It will conquer the smaller country.
If a small country gives way to a great country,
It will subdue the great country.
Therefore those who would conquer must yield.

In this context wu wei does not mean inactivity, but rather restrained activity which inevitably achieves its goal.

Chapter 80, near the end of the Dao De Jing, presents a vision of the kingdom that the ideal ruler has the power to bring about:

A small country has fewer people.
Though they have machines for hundreds of men, they are not needed.
The people take death seriously and do not wander.
Though they have boats and carriages, they do not use them.
Though they have armor and weapons, they do not display them….
Sweet is their food; beautiful their clothing;
Happy their ways; safe their homes.
Though neighboring states overlook each other,
Hear chickens crow and dogs bark in the others’ yards,
They leave each other in peace while they grow old.

The Text of This Edition

For many centuries the standard version of the Dao De Jing was the version that the late Han (汉) dynasty scholar Wang Bi (王弼) included in his Commentary on Lao-Zi, written near the end of his short life.

In 226 C.E. Wang Bi was born into the distinguished Wang clan in the same city of Luoyang where Lao Zi had supposedly worked as an archivist for the king of Zhou. Coming as it did during the dissolution of the Han dynasty, the period in which Wang Bi wrote was one of turmoil and civil war, and several of Wang Bi’s kinsmen died or were executed during the various plots and purges that occurred as the dynasty crumbled. One reason that Wang Bi’s commentary on the writings of Lao Zi may have rung true for so many generations of later readers is that he wrote it during a period of China’s history similar to the period when Lao Zi allegedly wrote the Dao De Jing.

In 1973 archaeologists found a Han dynasty tomb of the second century B.C.E. near the southern village of Ma Wang Dui (马王堆) in Hunan (湖南) Province. The tomb contained more than fifty manuscripts written on silk and bamboo, including two copies of the Dao De Jing. The chief differences between Wang Bi’s version and the versions found at Ma Wang Dui is that the Ma Wang Dui versions contain no chapter divisions but many more grammatical particles than Wang Bi’s version. These particles make the Ma Wang Dui versions much clearer in meaning, and this edition retains many of them.

Finally, in 1993 archaeologists discovered the first 67 chapters of the Dao De Jing written on bamboo strips in the eastern village of Guodian (郭店) in Hubei (湖北) Province. Although the Guodian version does not include the full text, archaeologists believe it dates back to 300 B.C.E., near the end of the Warring States Period, and so represents the oldest version of the Dao De Jing in existence.

A comparison of the Wang Bi, Ma Wang Dui, and Guodian versions reveals how important oral transmission was to the spread of the Dao De Jing. Of course, most individual lines and many whole chapters are identical between one version and the next. As students know, Chinese has an enormous number of homonyms, and many of the differences between one version of a chapter of the Dao De Jing and another version show the replacement of one word by a homonym or near-homonym. In some instances scholars have demonstrated that one word in one version makes much more sense than its homonym in another version, and have suggested that a scribe may have misheard something in the oral rendition that he was transcribing. When two words in two different versions seem to make equal sense, this edition normally includes the word that has survived into modern Chinese closest in form and meaning to its form and meaning in Lao Zi’s time.

Although the Wang Bi, Ma Wang Dui, and Guodian texts are all written in traditional characters, this edition uses the simplified equivalents of those characters whenever they exist. As the bibliography shows, many translators and commentators on the Dao De Jing transliterate the name of the book, its author, and the words of the text using Wade-Giles and other systems. This edition uses pinyin exclusively.

Bibliography:

Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall, A Philosophical Translation: Dao De Jing, Ballantine Books, Random House, New York, 2003

Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Vintage Books, Random House, New York, 1972

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition, translated by Jonathan Star, Penguin, New York, 2001

Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching, translated by John C. H. Wu, Shambhala Dragon Editions, Boston and London, 1989

Lao-Tzu, Te-Tao Ching: A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts, translated with an introduction and commentary by Robert G. Henricks, Ballantine Books, New York, 1989

Herrlee C. Creel, Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Mao Tse-Tung, University of Chicago Press, 1953

Fung Yu-Lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1976