Work · East Asian Philosophy
Daodejing
81 short chapters, attributed to Laozi and compiled over generations (earliest manuscripts c. 300 BCE): the unnameable Dao and non-interference.
Introduction
A short text of about five thousand Chinese characters in two parts, one on the Dao (“way”) and one on de (“virtue” or “power”), in rhythmic, often rhymed lines. Its received form goes back to the commentary of Wang Bi in the third century CE. Older manuscripts have changed the picture: the silk texts from Mawangdui (buried 168 BCE) put the de part first, and the bamboo slips from Guodian contain only part of the material. Key ideas are wu wei (acting without forcing), the value of emptiness and softness, and a ruler who governs with as little intervention as possible. It is one of the most frequently translated books in the world.
Read the full text
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- Chinese Text Project
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- Gallica (French)
Free full text, often an older edition or translation
Connections
Taken up in
- Zhuangzic. 290 BCE · Zhuangzi
- Han Feizic. 235 BCE · Han Feizi
- Commentary on the Laozic. 245 · Wang Bi
Criticized in
- Tracing the Way (Yuan Dao)c. 805 · Han Yu
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