Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu, D. C. Lau
Language: English
Pages: 176
ISBN: 014044131X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu, an older contemporary of Confucius (551 - 479 BC), it is now thought that the work was compiled in about the fourth century BC. An anthology of wise sayings, it offers a model by which the individual can live rather than explaining the human place in the universe. The moral code it encourages is based on modesty and self-restraint, and the rewards reaped for such a life are harmony and flow of life.
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things left undone. A man of the highest benevolence acts, but from no ulterior motive. A man of the highest rectitude acts, but from ulterior motive. A man most conversant in the rites acts, but when no one responds rolls up his sleeves and resorts to persuasion by force. 83Hence when the way was lost there was virtue; when virtue was lost there was benevolence; when benevolence was lost there was rectitude; when rectitude was lost there were the rites. 84The rites are the wearing thin of
thinker who carried on the teachings of the school founded by Lao Tzu? This silence seems to go some way in providing evidence to show that Chuang Tzu was not aware either of Lao Tzu or of his school or, at least, not as a prominent school of thought dating from the time of Confucius. Although we can proceed no further with the problem as far as the Chuang tzu is concerned, there is one piece of evidence which is relevant. In chapter 3 of the Mo tzu, Mo Tzu was said to have been moved by the
again, quite different. In the first passage, the sage avoids failure by not doing anything, while in the second the common people are exhorted to avoid failure when on the verge of success by being as careful at the end as at the beginning. In the one case, action is condemned as the cause of failure, because true success lies in not taking any action at all. In the other, it is assumed that success can be achieved through action, provided that one can be careful throughout the duration of the
advo- cated by Lord Shang and ‘the exploitation of the vantage position of the ruler’ advocated by Shen Tao. Some Taoist ideas are also given a Legalist interpretation. HAN SHU. Pan Piao began the Han shu but died before he could complete it. His son Pan Ku carried on and all but finished the work. It covered the history of the Western Han Dynasty to Wang Mang. The bibliographical chapter of the Han shu is of the greatest interest and importance to students of ancient Chinese literature. Most of
the tao was considered the central concept in the thought contained in the Lao tzu. The opening chapter of the Lao tzu begins with an important characterization of the tao: The way that can be spoken of Is not the constant way. (i) In other words, the tao that can be described, cited as authority, and praised is not the immutable way. This point is repeated in chapter XXXII The way is for ever nameless (72), and again in chapter XLI, The way conceals itself in being nameless. (92) There is