Tao Te Ching

Chapter 1 Preface
"Tao Te Ching" is a classic work in traditional Chinese culture. Scholars of all dynasties have regarded it as a compulsory course and studied it.Historically, there have been thousands of annotations to the book "Tao Te Ching". However, due to the different dynasties, living backgrounds and ideas of the annotators, these annotations can be described as "the benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise sees wisdom".The Huang-Lao school cited its meaning and called it "the art of the emperor facing the south"; health experts called it the theory of "settling one's life and life"; "There is no consensus on what to do, and modern scholars position it as a philosophical work that "discusses philosophy".

How to locate, how to read, and how to understand "Tao Te Ching"?Readers also need to combine current events with their own circumstances to make the true meaning for their own use.

1. To read his book, first understand his person

The original name of "Tao Te Ching" is "Lao Tzu", which stands side by side with "Zhuang Zi".As for Lao Tzu and Li Er, it has been quite controversial since ancient times.Sima Qian wrote in "Historical Records Biography of Lao Tzu and Han Fei":

Lao Tzu, a native of Qurenli, Li Township, Chuku County, surnamed Li, named Er, styled Dan, was also the history of Zhou Shou's Tibetan room.

Confucius is suitable for the Zhou Dynasty, and he will ask Laozi about the rites.Lao Tzu said: "What you say, his body and bones are already rotten, and only his words are in his ears. And a gentleman drives when he gets the time, and walks exhausted if he doesn't get the time. I have heard that good merchants hide deep Xu, the gentleman is full of virtue, but his appearance is like a fool. To get rid of his arrogance, lust, attitude and lust are all of no benefit to his body. So I tell you, if it is true." Confucius went, said to his disciples: "Bird , I know it can fly; fish, I know it can swim; beast, I know it can walk. The one who walks can be a dragon, the one who swims can be a dragon, and the one who flies can be a scorpion. As for the dragon, I don’t know. God. When I see Lao Tzu today, he looks like a dragon!"

Lao Tzu cultivates morality, and his learning is to keep himself anonymous.After living in Zhou for a long time, seeing Zhou's decline, he left.At the end, Guan Ling Yinxi said: "The son will hide himself and force me to write a book." So Laozi wrote the first and second parts of the book, saying more than five thousand words about moral meaning, and he didn't know where it would end.

It can be seen from this that Lao Tzu was born in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was at the same time as Confucius but older than Confucius. He once served as the history guard of the Zhou Dynasty and lived in the Zhou Dynasty for a long time.Therefore, the political, economic, cultural and many other aspects of social life in the Spring and Autumn Period must be closely related to Lao Tzu's thoughts and "Tao Te Ching", and have a direct impact on it.

2. To understand its meaning, first observe its pulse

"Tao Te Ching" has a total of 81 chapters, most of which are rhymes, and is divided into two parts: "Tao Jing" and "De Jing".Although the traditional order is "Tao Jing" before "De Jing", the "Lao Tzu" silk script unearthed during the excavation of the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha in 1973 has "De Jing" first, which may be the order of the ancient editions.

"Tao Te Ching" is [-] words, not long but incisive, with far-reaching meaning and extensive thoughts. It can be roughly divided into six directions: discussing Taoism, governing the country, self-cultivation, reviewing the times, keeping in good health, and discussing soldiers.

Although the content of the text in the book is erratic and contradictory, the thought of the whole book is unified and consistent, using simple dialectical thinking to construct Lao Tzu's unique ideological and theoretical system that spans time and space.

3. Stay true to its roots and learn from others’ strengths

The most important thing in studying the Tao Te Ching is to respect the original text.The original text of this book follows the current version issued by Zhonghua Book Company. Each chapter begins with the original text, followed by two sections of "Notes" and "Analysis". An easy-to-understand interpretation.In addition, this book also includes He Shanggong's commentary on the "Tao Te Ching", hoping that the insights of this master of the Huang-Lao School can help readers better understand the main purpose of the "Tao Te Ching".

Studying the "Tao Te Ching" also needs to learn from the strengths of other schools.There are many scholars who have elaborately annotated this book in history, such as Wang Bi in the Jin Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and even Gao Heng and Chen Guying in modern times. Readers can use the explanations of these scholars to assist their reading.If you find difficult problems on this basis, you don't have to be superstitious about the sages, as long as you analyze carefully and have reasons and evidence, you can explain them separately.

Finally, I hope that readers can "center on the heart" and "integrate knowledge and action" when studying this book.

(End of this chapter)