Dàodé jing

The Dào Dé Jīng (Chino: ₡ pronunciation (?·i)Wade-Giles: Tao Te ChingAlso called Tao Te King), whose authorship is attributed to Lao-Tse (‘Old Master’), is a classic Chinese text.

Its name comes from the words with which each of its two parts begin: 道 dào 'the path', the first of Chapter 1, and 德 dé 'virtue', or 'power' ', the first from Chapter 38, with the addition 經 jīng, 'classic book'. According to tradition, it was written around the 6th century B.C. C. by the sage Laozi, a court archivist of the Zhou dynasty, by whose name the text is known in China. The true authorship and date of composition or compilation of the book is still under debate.

This text is one of the foundations of philosophical Taoism and had a strong influence on other schools, such as Legalism and Neo-Confucianism. It has an important role in Chinese religion, related not only to religious Taoism, but also to Buddhism, which when first introduced to China was interpreted using heavily Taoist words and concepts.

In China, the philosophy of nature and the vision of the world are impregnated with Taoist thought and thus many artists, painters, calligraphers and even gardeners have used this book as a source of inspiration. Its influence has spread beyond the Far East as well, aided by the many different translations of the text into Western languages.

The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the immutable name.
Non-existence is the beginning of heaven and earth.
Existence is the mother of everything there is.

Laozi in Dào Dé Jīng

The text

The text of this book has a long and complex history. On the one hand, there are the transmitted versions and commentaries, which go back two thousand years; on the other hand, the ancient manuscripts on bamboo, silk and paper that archaeologists have discovered in the last century.

Title

The title of the book has several possible translations.

• ₡dào literally means ‘the way’, or any of its synonyms. This term, used by all Chinese philosophers (including Confucius, Mencio, Mozi and the legalists), has a special meaning in the context of taoism, in which it implies the essential and unnamed process of the universe.
• و (dé) means basically ‘virtud’, in the sense of ‘individual quality’, ‘inner strength’ or ‘intelligence’. In Chinese, the word “virtud” has the same connotations as the word “virtud” in Spanish: it can mean both a moral quality and an inherent capacity (“the virtue of healing”).
• . (jīng) means ‘writing’, ‘book’, or ‘classic book’.

Thus, Daodejing 道德經 can be translated as 'The Book of the Path and Virtue', 'The Book of the Path and Power', 'The Classic of the Path and Virtues', etc..

Internal structure

The Daodejing handed down by tradition is a short text, about 5000 Chinese characters, divided into 81 short chapters or sections (章). There are indications that the division into chapters is a later addition (to facilitate glossing or memorization). It has two parts, The Daojing (chapters 1-37) and the Dejing (chapters 38-81), which probably came together in the edition of the text bequeathed by tradition in reverse order of a possible original Dedaojing (see Mawangdui texts).

It is written in a laconic style, with very few grammatical particles, favoring variety and even contradiction between interpretations. The ideas that he exposes are singular, and are expressed in a poetic tone. The classical Chinese in which the book is written is difficult to understand even for educated modern Chinese speakers. Also, many of the words used in the text are intentionally vague and ambiguous. The lack of punctuation in Classical Chinese further complicates the task, as there is no conclusive way to determine where one sentence ends and the next begins. Moving a point back or forward a few words, or inserting a comma, can profoundly alter the meaning of many passages.

History

The existence of Laozi is mentioned in scrolls dating back to 400 B.C. C., but no details of his life were recorded at the same time. The Chinese historian Sima Qian wrote a purported biography around 100 BCE. C., indicating that her birth name had been Li Er. Studies on the language and rhyme scheme of the work point to a time of composition after the Shi Jing or "Book of Songs", but before the writing of Zhuangzi, that is, sometime between the end of the fourth century to. C. and the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. C..

There is an academic debate about the authorship of the current version of the Dào Dé Jing. Sections in their present form have been found on stone-engraved tablets from around 300 BCE. C. The discovery in 1973 of the silk scrolls called the Mawangdui Texts (after the village in which they were found), comprising "Text A", with more gaps and presumably written before "Text B", which has been dated to around 200 BCE. C., reveals that the most common versions of the received text are essentially the same as those known in antiquity, which limits the period during which the writings could have been changed or augmented with new contributions. In 1993 the oldest known version of the text, shorter and written on bamboo strips, dated to 300 BC, was found. C. This find recovered 14 previously unknown verses, called the Guodian Texts because they were discovered in the city of Guodian, Hubei province. Many recent translations include these texts, and the book's verses are often rearranged to incorporate the new find.

Interpretation and main concepts

The passages are ambiguous, touching on topics ranging from political advice for rulers to practical wisdom for ordinary people. Since the variety of possible interpretations is virtually unlimited, not only for different people but even for the same person at different times, the most sensible thing for readers is not to try to establish objectivity or superiority in their concepts. The central principles and concepts are:

• The Tao encompasses the principles of infinite things. It has no form or sound; it is uncorporate, eternal and permanent. This principle cannot be explained by words.

"The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced "the 10000 beings" (all things and existing beings)". (Chapter 42)

• The Dào Dé Jīng also emphasizes the values "feminine" (Yin), such as the quality of water, fluidity and softness (instead of the solidity and roughness of the mountain), the choice of the dark and mysterious side of things, and control over things without governing them.
• The concept of “return”, not in the sense of return to the past, but rather as “contraction”, “reduction” and even “retreated” and “retrospection” on itself. This concept is illustrated by the text of chapter 48: learning consists of increasing one's own heritage day by day; Tao's practice consists of subtracting day by day.
• The Nothing (Wuji) is the substance of the Tao and Being is its function. To achieve the Tao domain it is necessary first to reconcile with immobility, not to deal with worldly things, to put aside intellect, knowledge, desires, selfishness and egocentrism; to get rid of preconceived ideas and to return to authentic mental breadth.
• For taoism it is central to the search for void, also common to Buddhism and, to some extent, to confucianism.
• Other central ideas include:
  • The use of force only attracts strength.
  • Richness does not feed the spirit.
  • The desire to possess without a blind limit to the human being and makes him a greedy and violent monster.
  • Concern alone for itself, and importance are vain and self-destructive.
  • Victory in war is not glorious. It should not be celebrated, but be cause of grief, because it arises from devastation.
  • The more empetically you try something, the greater the resistance you create; the more you act in harmony with the universe, the more you will achieve and with less effort.
  • The true sage attaches little importance to his own wisdom, for the more he knows the more he realizes the limitedness of his knowledge.
  • When we lose the fundamental values, we replace them with increasingly lower values that we claim to be true.
  • The glorification of wealth, power and beauty attract crime, envy and shame.
  • The qualities of flexibility and softness are usually superior to those of stiffness and strength.
  • The contrast of opposites (the difference between male and female, light and darkness, strong and weak, etc.) is what allows us to understand and appreciate the universe.
  • The change between opposites (Yin-Yang) allows the natural fluidity of the universe. The stagnation in one form only attracts disharmony and devastation.

Analysis of the work

In its 81 chapters, through various aphorisms of poetic aesthetics, the author defines practical wisdom, gives advice to rulers, and even seems to delve into the alchemical mysteries that confer immortality. Therefore we see how the work can be framed in genres as diverse as philosophical literature (for some metaphysics), didactic-wisdom or even alchemical/recipe.

From its conceptual aspect, the Dao De Jing is the starting point and one of the pillars on which the Taoist movement is based, understood in its philosophical and mystical aspect. The work will revolve around the concept of the Dao (道), a reason that, as we see in Confucianism, is not exclusive to Taoism. Why it is now when he gives his name to an entire movement is a consequence of his new dimension, a reason to which we will return later. The full meaning will be given by the fact that it complements Confucianism: Taoism will offer refuge to those who have not been able to succeed in the system derived from the teachings of Master Kong.

The Taoist movement, which will be generated later, will be based on two fundamental principles: the first of them, as we have mentioned above, will be the Dao: although this had always been present in the mind of ancient Chinese, it is now when stands as supreme principle of all reality, hence the name given to the movement. In the Dao De Jing, this principle cannot be expressed (Chap. 1), it has no name (Chap. 32, 41), it is invisible, inaudible, intangible (Chap. 14), immutable and the origin of multiplicity (Chap.. twenty-one). It precedes Heaven and Earth, it is silent, unlimited, and endowed with a continuous cyclical movement (Chap. 25): primeval (Chap. 42), the ancestor of all Beings (Chap. 4). At this point, an interesting parallelism can be observed with the notion of the Greek Arkhé -arjé-, the supreme unifying principle of phenomena and which is at the base of all the transformations of things: constituent principle together with the physis of the two main concepts used by the presocratics in their metaphysical speculations. For Laozi, the Dao is a void (Chap. 11), a non-being (wu, 无) from which what is (you 有) emerges.

The way of heaven is to know how to overcome without fighting,

answer without talking, attract without calling,

and act without stirring. (Chapter 73)

The second element, intrinsically linked to the first, is DE, virtue, the power of the Dao, therefore its complement. The Dao is immutable, but in reality there is change, all beings interact (Chap.16), it is the concept of return. Such a circumstance is possible because externally it acts through the DE, its principle of movement. The Confucian virtues of humanity or equity are treated as false (Chap. 18), they only appear when we move away from the Dao (Chap. 38): both are "straw dogs" (Chap. 5): the end of Taoism is the know how to act Here is born one of the key concepts of the dao: wu wei. The wise think they know how to act, but the Taoist defines himself by not acting (Chap. 2), the wuwei (无为).

Wuwei is understood not as an impassiveness before events but as a submission to them: since movement exists, since all beings are transformed (Chap. 37), the option of the sage passes through observation and contemplation; acting connaturally to beings (a non-acting) to adapt without suffering damage.

The cult man, without action, does. (Chapter 47)

As defined by Antonio Medrano, it is the purest form of activity, totally selfless that is carried out in accordance with the pulse of the Dao. From here seems to come off the apparently useless of a government (Chap. 10). However, the underlying idea is that it must exist since the people tend to move away from the Dao (Chap. 53), but it must not be perceived. The governed have come to affirm that events arise naturally: that they are what they are by themselves. And that is the very essence of wuwei: when it is not forced (Ch. 29, 30), things straighten themselves: this is ZIRAN (自然) (Ch. 17).

Practicing non-action, and so nothing remains unrestricted. (Cap.3)

The people without mandate (forced) is equanimous by itself (Chap. 32), this is the Subtle Evidence: flexibility and delicacy overcome rigidity and hardness (Chap. 36). It is the government of non-action: prohibitions, instruments of profit, revolts... lead to a departure from the path (Chap.39, 57, 74, 75).

For this reason, the Cult Man says: I, “no-action”, and the people themselves are transformed. (Chapter 57)

The wise man, if he aspires to the Dao, must achieve the spontaneity that ZIRAN offers; reaching a state in which his own person is reserved (Chap. 7, 66), is therefore acting without expecting reward (Chap. 77): PROFOUND VIRTUE (Chap. 10); it annuls itself (Ch. 22). HEAVENLY CONCORD; the culmination (Chap. 68).

The one who aspires does not erect,

The one who tranches does not walk, the one shown does not shine, the one who credits himself is not clarified, the one who becomes angry for himself lacks merit,

He who is stubborn does not grow. (Cap.24)

Laozi defines the wise as shrewd, alert, respectable, contemptible, simple, broad... (Chap. 15). Despite the difficulties, he will reach his goal without any difficulty (Chap. 63). He will not turn to power, he will not show off, he will drive away all arrogance, he will not require anything beyond the consequences (Ch. 30, 72). Through the concept of wuwei, he never fails (Ch. 64). The nobleman hates the militia since in victory there is no beauty: the killing of his fellow man implies the crying of afflictions (Chap. 31, 69) On his way he must observe simplicity, embrace simplicity, lose selfishness and reduce desire (Chap. 19) even if you wish not to wish (Chap. 64). The latter becomes more important in later passages:

There is no greater offence than the power of desire,

There is no greater calamity than knowing the satiety,

There is no greater vice than ambition. (Chapter 46)

A simile seems to emerge here from one of the two famous maxims inscribed in the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi: NOTHING TOO MUCH:

The one who knows what's enough is rich. (Chapter 33)

Where we find wisdom references for good governance, we can infer references for one's own personal life. The cultivation of the body is another of the fundamental aspects of the Dao De Jing: Personal care is intended to prolong life, the absence of disease (Chap. 71), immortality: a fundamental ingredient of later religious Taoism; By the way, it is not exclusive to this religion but to all layers of Chinese society from Antiquity to the present day (Sirvin, 1995, chap. VI, p. 319). In the text, however, there does not seem to be a clear opinion on the matter, since on the one hand it seems an intrinsic characteristic of the sage (Chap. 3, 50) and on the other it seems to criticize any attempt to prolong life (Chap. 55).

These may be synthetically the features that define the Dao De Jing, the starting point of one of the most powerful movements in the Chinese collective since its origin, capable of even surviving the terrible Cultural Revolution of 1960. The legacy through of premises and doctrines of the text of Lao Zi, plus its later commentators and compilers, are not limited solely to those who will be called Taoists but rather permeates the soul of the Chinese people in the same way that oil penetrates stones; just like water based on its weakness it becomes strong.

The water benefits everything without competing, occupying the places the crowd despises. (Chapter 8)

“Under Heaven” nothing exceeds water in flexibility and weakness, But attacking the rigid hardness nothing like her can beat. (Chapter 78)

Spanish edition

• Tao Te Ching: Tao's books. Direct and bilingual Chinese translation by Iñaki Preciado Idoeta. It includes the Guodian, Mawangdui and late versions. Revised, modified and expanded edition. Madrid: Editorial Trotta. 2006 (4th edition 2018). ISBN 978-84-8164-835-5.
• Tao Te Ching. Translation of the original Chinese by Gabriel García-Noblejas Sánchez-Cendal. Editorial Alliance. 2017. ISBN 978-84-9104-800-8.
• Book of course and virtue. Ed. and tr. direct from the Chinese Anne-Hélène Suárez Girard. Prologue: François Jullien. Madrid: Siruela Editions. 1998 (5th edition 2015). ISBN 978-84-7844-427-4.
• Tao Te Ching. The Book of Tao and Virtue. Direct translation of classic Chinese by Alejandro Bárcenas. Charleston: Anamnesis Editorial. 2014. ISBN 9781500909437.
• Tao Te King. Richard Wilhelm Edition. Barcelona: Editorial Sirio. 2009. ISBN 978-84-7808-625-2.
• The book of the Tao. Direct Chinese translation by Iñaki Preciado Idoeta, National Award for Best Translation 1979. Madrid: Alfaguara. 1978, 1996 [1st edition, 9th impression]. ISBN 978-84-204-5302-6.
• Tao Te Ching. Lima, Ignacio Prado Pastor Editor, 1972; second edition Barcelona, Editorial Azul, 1999. Direct translation of Chinese to Spanish by Onorio Ferrero. 1972 (2nd edition 1999).
• Tao Te Ching. Translated by Carmelo Elorduy. First direct version of Chinese to Spanish. Barcelona: Orbis. 1985 (2nd edition). ISBN 978-84-7530-461-8.