Thank you for visiting. This article is the first installment in a series explaining the original texts of Taoism.
This time, I look at the fundamental and most important classic of Taoism (and Daoist thought), the “Tao Te Ching,” and the legendary sage held to be its author, “Laozi.”
For an overview map of Taoism’s original texts as a whole, please see this summary article.
Who Is Laozi — the Mystery-Shrouded Sage
“Laozi” is the most valued figure in Taoism, but his real image is shrouded in deep mystery.
According to the historian Sima Qian’s “Records of the Grand Historian,” Laozi had the real name “Li Er” and is held to have been an official managing the archives of the Zhou dynasty in the Spring and Autumn period. He was almost a contemporary of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, and a legend remains that the young Confucius asked Laozi for teaching.
Most famous is the anecdote of his departure. Laozi, seeing the decline of Zhou, set out to travel west on an ox. When he reached the border checkpoint, the official of the checkpoint, who saw through the man’s greatness, pleaded, “Please, before you go, write down your teaching.” What Laozi then wrote is held to have been the “Tao Te Ching,” consisting of about 5,000 characters. And Laozi vanished after that, his subsequent whereabouts known to no one.
However, in modern research, whether Laozi was a single real person is doubted, and it is also thought that the “Tao Te Ching” was formed over a long time. In any case, the influence this book gave to Chinese thought is immeasurable.
World Mythology for Beginners (illustrated)View on Amazon →
The Origins of Religion: Why We Needed a ‘God’View on Amazon →
The Composition of the “Tao Te Ching”
The “Tao Te Ching” is a short book of a mere 5,000 characters and 81 chapters. In olden times it was also simply called the “Laozi.” The whole divides largely into two parts.
| Part | Chapters | Central theme |
|---|---|---|
| Upper, “the Classic of the Tao” | Ch. 1–37 | What the “Tao,” the root of all things, is |
| Lower, “the Classic of Virtue” | Ch. 38–81 | The way of “virtue,” living according to the Tao |
Taking the two words “Tao” and “virtue,” it is called the “Tao Te Ching.” Short though it is, each phrase is condensed like poetry, with an inexhaustible depth whose interpretation spreads with each reading.
The Oldest “Laozi” That Emerged from the Ground
How the “Tao Te Ching” was handed down has also been greatly rewritten by recent excavation. In the latter half of the 20th century, two important old manuscripts were unearthed in China.
One is the “silk-manuscript Laozi,” written on silk in the early Former Han, which came from the Mawangdui Han tomb in Hunan. Astonishingly, this, opposite to the current version, places “the Classic of Virtue” before “the Classic of the Tao,” showing the possibility that it should originally be called the “Te Tao Ching.” The other is the bamboo-slip Laozi from the Guodian Chu tomb in Hubei, of the mid-Warring States period (around the 4th century BC), the oldest surviving “Laozi.”
These unearthed texts, with a weaker tone of fiercely denying Confucianism than the current version, tell that the text changed with the times. The original text itself backs up the view that the “Tao Te Ching” was not written all at once by a single Laozi, but was refined over a long time.
The Tao — the Unnameable Root of All Things
The center of Laozi’s thought is the “Tao,” which is also the book’s title.
The Tao meant here is not a mere “road” or “morality.” It refers to something fundamental that generates all of this world and runs through all. Existing from before heaven and earth were born, nurturing all things while making no claim for itself, with neither figure nor form — that is the Tao.
The “Tao Te Ching” raises a famous phrase at its opening.
The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.
This means “a Tao that can be explained in words as ‘this is the Tao’ is no longer the true, eternal Tao.” The true root cannot be grasped by words or concepts. The moment one names it, its essence spills away. Laozi preached that the truth of the world lies beyond human words and reasoning.
Non-Action and Naturalness — Accomplishing Without Acting
What is it to live according to the Tao? What shows it is the most famous in Laozi’s thought, “non-action and naturalness.”
“Non-action” is not “idleness that does nothing.” It means casting off humanity’s petty contrivance and scheming, and leaving oneself to the natural course. As river water flows naturally from high to low, without forcibly resisting, leaving things as they are. Then, on the contrary, things go well. Laozi expressed this as “in non-action, there is nothing left undone (seeming to do nothing, yet there is nothing that is not accomplished).”
This was also a fundamental criticism of the way of life that tries to solve everything by force and to govern the world by rules and scheming.
The Use of the Void — the Working of “Nothing”
Laozi also sheds light on the value of “the void (having nothing),” which we tend to overlook. There are three famous parables showing this.
- The wheel: thirty spokes gather at the central hub to make a wheel, but what is useful is the “empty hole” at the center through which the axle passes
- The vessel: clay is kneaded to make a vessel, but what can hold things is the “empty space” inside
- The room: walls and doors are made into a room, but what can be lived in is the “empty space” inside
That is, the visible “having” part is useful only because of the working of the invisible “not-having” part. Laozi preaches, “That ‘having’ brings benefit is because ‘nothing’ is working.” It is a deep insight that makes us, prone to having our eyes taken by useful things alone, aware of the importance of the “nothing,” “blank space,” and “stillness” that support behind them.
Laozi’s Famous Teachings
The “Tao Te Ching” has many gems of words that resonate even today. Let me introduce the representative ones.
The Highest Good Is Like Water
The highest good is like water.
It means the highest good (the ideal way of life) is like water. Water gives blessing to all things, yet never contends, and itself goes to the low place that everyone dislikes. This humble and flexible figure of water, “placing itself low and not contending,” Laozi preached, is the way of life closest to the Tao.
The Soft Overcomes the Hard
Laozi repeatedly preaches that the soft and weak overcome the hard and strong (the soft overcomes the hard). A hard tree breaks in a strong wind, but a supple willow bends in the wind and does not break. Teeth, being hard, fall out, but the tongue, being soft, remains to the last. It is the wisdom of paradox, that true strength lies within suppleness and softness.
Knowing Contentment
One who knows contentment is rich.
It is a teaching that however much wealth one has, if one does not know satisfaction, one is poor; and one who knows satisfaction with little is the truly rich. It warns against limitless desire and preaches the importance of being content with what one has now.
The Small State with Few People
The society Laozi made his ideal is the “small state with few people.” The state is small, the people are few, and people live simply and contentedly — without their hearts disturbed by the convenience of civilization or competition with neighboring states, quietly ending their lives in the land of their birth. Laozi depicted such a simple community without contrivance as his ideal.
When the Great Tao Is Abandoned, There Is Benevolence and Righteousness
Laozi sharply relativizes even the morals Confucianism values, such as “benevolence and righteousness.”
When the great Tao is abandoned, there is benevolence and righteousness.
This is a trenchant paradox: “In the days when people lived quite naturally according to the Tao, there was no need to expressly preach ‘benevolence and righteousness.’ That benevolence and righteousness are loudly preached is, on the contrary, proof that the original Tao has been lost.” Likewise, Laozi preaches that “filial piety” being praised as a virtue is because family harmony was disturbed, and “loyal subjects” being praised is because the state was in disorder. This fundamental doubt about loudly raising morals became a great difference from Confucianism.
One Who Knows Does Not Speak
One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know.
One who truly knows the Tao does not speak lightly. One who wants to talk endlessly does not in fact understand. It is a phrase preaching a deep restraint about words, resonating with the opening “the Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.” It is still widely quoted as words warning against eloquence and showing off knowledge.
Note that many of the proverbs we use in daily life — such as “a journey of a thousand leagues begins beneath one’s feet,” “great talents mature late,” and “heaven’s net is vast; though its mesh is coarse, it lets nothing slip” — in fact also derive from this “Tao Te Ching.”
Laozi and Confucianism — the Two Great Currents of Chinese Thought
Laozi’s thought is often contrasted with the Confucianism of Confucius, preached at almost the same time. The two became the two great currents of later Chinese thought.
| Confucianism (Confucius) | Daoist school (Laozi) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ideal | An ordered society by benevolence, righteousness, and ritual | Non-action, naturalness, a way of life as one is |
| What it values | Study, morals, social duty | Simplicity, nature, the freedom of the individual’s inner self |
| Analogy | The “ascending” path that orders society | The “relaxing” path that lets go of force |
Interestingly, it is often said that the people of China did not set these two in opposition, but used them according to the occasion. As in “Confucianism when going out into the world to work (= strive), Lao-Zhuang when frustrated and tired (= relax),” the two became the two wheels of the Chinese spirit. Further, Laozi’s thought gave an immeasurable influence on later Zen (its fusion with Buddhism) and on East Asian arts such as ink painting, gardens, and poetry.
To Learn More
Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.
A Complete History of Philosophy and ReligionView on Amazon →
An Illustrated Introduction to the World’s 5 Great MythologiesView on Amazon →
Conclusion
In this article, I explained in detail Taoism’s fundamental classic the “Tao Te Ching” and Laozi’s thought. How was it?
What the mysterious sage Laozi preached was the thought of the “Tao,” the root of all things beyond words, and “non-action and naturalness,” casting off contrivance and living according to it. Words like “the highest good is like water,” “the soft overcomes the hard,” and “knowing contentment” quietly resonate even in the hearts of moderns tired of competition.
In the next Article 2, I will explain the free and humorous thought of the other master of the Daoist school alongside Laozi, “Zhuangzi.”
I hope you’ll read the next article too.
📚 Series: The Original Texts of Taoism (2/5)
