Tao Te Ching

At a glance

History, context & interpretation

The text and its story

81 short chapters on the Dao (the Way), wu wei (effortless action) and softness overcoming hardness. It opens: 'The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.'

Traditional attribution

Written by Laozi, an archivist who left it with a border guard before vanishing west.

Historical scholarship

Probably a compilation; the oldest copy is on bamboo slips from Guodian (c. 300 BCE).

Context and curiosity

Silk copies found at Mawangdui in 1973 put its two halves in reverse order.

Chronology and transmission

This text belongs to China (Zhou China). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 4th century BCE and original language or script as Classical Chinese. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.

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Sources and further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching

Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.