The Daode Jing: A Guide 019068982X, 9780190689827

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The Daode jing

Guides to Sacred Texts

The Daode jing A Guide L I V IA   KO H N

1

3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress ISBN 978–​0–​19–​068982–​7  (pbk.) ISBN 978–​0–​19–​068981–​0  (hbk.) 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Paperback printed by LSC Communications, United States of America Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America

Contents List of Illustrations Series Introduction: Guides to Sacred Texts

ix xi

Introduction

1 PA RT O N E   T H E   T E X T

1. Times and Authorship The Axial Age The Warring States Confucianism Yin-​Yang Cosmology Laozi The Laozi Legend Divinization

7 7 9 12 15 17 20 22

2. Textual Development Language Texts in Tombs Guodian Mawangdui Heshang Gong Standardization Wang Bi

26 26 29 31 35 37 39 41

3. Key Concepts Dao Cosmic Unfolding Natural Dynamics Self-​Being Virtue Images and Metaphors

45 45 49 53 56 57 60

vi Contents

4. Social Application Nonaction Social Reality Sufficiency Humility and Simplicity Clarity and Stillness Sagehood

67 67 69 72 76 80 84

PA RT T WO   T R A D I T IO NA L E X PA N SIO N S

5. Communities and Politics Primitivism Self-​Cultivation Longevity Techniques Inward Training The Jixia Academy Syncretism and Huang-​Lao Masters of Methods

93 93 96 99 102 105 108 111

6. Devotional Activation Early Recitation The Celestial Masters Chanting for Immortality Highest Clarity The Northern Celestial Masters Integrated Ordination

114 114 116 118 121 125 128

7. Commentary Exegeses The Nature of Commentaries Ideal Rulership Personal Self-​Cultivation Original Nonbeing Western Ascension Mystical Attainment

134 134 136 139 144 148 150

8. Later Developments Twofold Mystery Imperial Attention Song Huizong Internal Alchemy Daode jing Readings

155 155 159 162 164 167

Contents  vii Clarity and Stillness The Qingjing jing

169 171

PA RT T H R E E   M O D E R N R E C E P T IO N

9. China Today Religious Veneration Academic Study Intellectual Engagement Politics and Education Ecology Cognitive Therapy Self-​Help

179 179 182 185 187 189 192 195

10. In the World Eastern Transmission Early Western Reception Seeing Dao Philosophical Adaptation Popular Understanding Multiple Readings

201 201 206 209 212 214 217

11. English Translations Types of Translations Literal Translations Historical Scholarship Philosophical Renditions Poetic Versions Social Relevance Self-​Help Manuals Whimsical Renditions

222 222 224 226 228 231 234 237 239

12. Western Adaptations Daoist Leadership Doing Business Ecology The Tao of . . . Literary Allegories Songs of Dao

243 243 246 249 251 255 257

Index

263

Illustrations 1. Laozi meets Confucius

18

2. The bamboo slips at Guodian

32

3. The dynamic interaction of yin and yang

50

4. Modern sign with ancient saying

64

5. “Dao follows naturalness”

70

6. Laozi as sage

87

7. The Yellow Emperor

107

8. Daoist monks chanting

128

9. A Daoist meditating on the spirits of the five organs

140

10. The landscape of internal alchemy

164

11. Temple complex on Mt. Wudang

181

12. The main Caodai sanctuary

205

13. A feng shui garden

219

14. Witter Bynner’s version

233

15. Peter Firebrace’s Sea Gong 260

Series Introduction: Guides to Sacred Texts What is a sacred text? The Oxford English Dictionary offers a definition of “sacred” as “Set apart for or dedicated to some religious purpose, and hence entitled to veneration or religious respect.” The definition is necessarily vague. What does it mean to be “set apart?” What constitutes a “religious purpose?” How formal is “veneration?” Does minimal “religious respect” qualify? The sphere of meanings surrounding the word “sacred” will depend on the religion involved. For that reason “sacred texts” in this series is a term conceived broadly. All of the texts covered by this series have held special regard—​they have been “set apart”—​in a religion either ancient or modern. Such texts are generally accorded more serious attention than other religious documents. In some cases the texts may be believed to be the words of a deity. In other cases the texts may be part of an atheistic religion. This breadth of application indicates the rationale behind Guides to Sacred Texts. This series offers brief, accessible introductions to sacred texts, written by experts on them. While allowing for the individuality of each text, the series follows a basic format of introducing the text in terms of its dates of composition, traditions of authorship and assessment of those traditions, the extent of the text, and the issues raised by the text. For scripture that continues to be utilized, those issues will likely continue to generate controversy and discussion among adherents to the text. For texts from religions no longer practiced, the issues may well continue to address concerns of the present day, despite the antiquity of the scripture. These volumes are useful for introducing sacred writings from around the world to readers wanting to learn what these sacred texts are.

Introduction The Daode jing or Tao Te Ching is the oldest and most venerated scripture of Daoism and a classic of world philosophy. Often hailed as representing the core of ancient Chinese mysticism, it is in fact a multifaceted work that can, and has been, interpreted in many different ways: a manual of strategy, a political treatise on the recovery of the Golden Age, a guide to underlying principles, and a metalinguistic inquiry into forms of prescriptive discourse. Fundamentally it can be read in different ways: as a document of early Chinese culture or as a scripture of universal significance, cosmologically or practically, as a general statement or an expression of an esoteric teaching. Looked at in terms of Chinese culture, concepts of statesmanship, political principles, military strategy, and royal virtues become essential—​the focus is on understanding the text in the context of contemporaneous works and the social and political situation of the time. Seen as a scripture of universal significance, ideas of personal cultivation, freedom of mind, and the attainment of spontaneity and naturalness take center stage—​the text’s main appeal is its timeless characterization and alleviation of the human condition. Both approaches are equally important and have been proposed by readers and scholars over the centuries; both are also evident in numerous traditional commentaries and the uses of the text throughout Chinese history and particularly the Daoist tradition. Also known in the West as “Taoism”—​using an older mode of transliterating Chinese—​it is famous for its philosophy and health

2 Introduction practices. Its philosophy centers on the concept of “Dao” or “Way,” and presents notions of naturalness and spontaneity, nonaction and going with the flow. Its health practices often take the form of taiji quan and qigong, utilizing deep breathing, slow motion, gentle stretches, and meditation. While both philosophy and health practices constitute major aspects of Daoism, they form only a part of the entire complex, which also includes an organized, communal religion of social and political dimensions, with formal rituals and ordination hierarchies, potent talismans and magical spells, as well as visualizations and ecstatic excursions to the stars. Daoism was not always seen as consisting of these three dimensions. When Western missionaries first encountered it, they followed the dominant Confucian perception and focused entirely on its ancient classics such as the Daode jing, ignoring its cultivation practices and condemning its popular rituals as “heathen.” The texts, on the other hand, they admired and interpreted in a Christian light, trying to find God and Western values in them. This attitude has led to the widespread adoption of the age-​old distinction between daojia, the “Daoist school,” originally a bibliographical classification that goes back to the first century bce, and daojiao or the “Daoist teaching,” a term applied to organized groups in the early middle ages and found in texts from the fifth century onward. In Western terms, the two are called “philosophical” and “religious” Daoism, a cleft that has prevented a proper understanding of the tradition as a whole. Recently, a more appropriate and integrated understanding has come to the fore that sees the ancient “thinkers” as informed and infused by practices, especially meditation and other forms of self-​cultivation, as well as often living in communities that presage later organizations. Today scholars see the Daoist tradition as consisting of three major branches: literati, organized, and self-​cultivation. More specifically, literati Daoists belong to the educated elite and focus on Daoist ideas as found in the ancient texts, applying them to their lives and expanding them to influence the political and social

Introduction  3 situation of their time. Their goal is to align themselves with Dao and enhance universal harmony, legitimizing their ideas on the basis of a deep dedication to the classical texts. They are often writers, compiling interpretations, commentaries, and exegeses, and also integrating Daoist concepts into literature, poetry, and art. Working in different areas of society, in some cases retiring to their landed estates to lead a life of leisure, they derive their self-​ identity from ideas centered on Dao, shaping the tradition as textual commentators, religious patriarchs, and modern intellectuals. The second branch of the religion, what used to be “religious” Daoism, we now call “organized.” Its members similarly appear in various functions and levels of society but their distinguishing mark is that they belong to one or the other communal group that practices organized religion. These groups have priestly hierarchies and monastic orders, and they support formal ordinations, regular rituals, and prayers to the gods. Some are close-​knit fraternities with esoteric practices that actively separate from the rest of society; others form part of ordinary society, often furnishing neighborhood temples that serve to create a spiritual dimension to the life cycle by celebrating weddings, graduations, business ventures, and funerals as well as offering services of healing, protection, and exorcism. These groups have extensive codices of scriptures, hagiographies, and manuals, now collected in the Daoist canon, which in its present form goes back to 1445. Historically, there are traces of early groups, notably centering on the vision of the Daode jing, but as a strong social force they appear only in the second century ce. Since then, they have vacillated between marginal, even rebellious, positions and times of great political influence, overall forming a firm part of mainstream culture since the fifth century. The third group of Daoists focus on personal self-​cultivation, practices known summarily “nurturing life” (yangsheng). From an early time linked with the personal adaptation and intentional activation of virtues and subtle states described by the ancient thinkers, these practices include breathing techniques, physical exercises,

4 Introduction dietary and sexual moderation, as well as—​most importantly—​ forms of meditation described in terms of quiet sitting, concentration, and clarity and stillness. By the second century bce, detailed manuals appear in excavated manuscripts, showing that these techniques also played an important role in traditional Chinese medicine, where they constituted its preventative and health-​ enhancing aspects. Around the same time, stories describe semi-​ divine figures known as immortals (xian), who use these practices to attain more than harmony in life, reaching for high spiritual states of transcendence. Rather than philosophical ideals or communal rites, the main concern of self-​cultivation Daoists is the attainment of physical health, longevity, peace of mind, and mystical oneness with Dao. They tend to stay away from political involvement and complex organizations, working instead with close relationships of master and disciple. While anyone participating in either of these dimensions may call himself a Daoist, the overarching trend for serious devotees is to engage in all three: think of life in terms of the ancient classics and their later and modern interpretations, practice some form of self-​cultivation, and connect to society through communal organizations. The Daode jing as the first and most venerated classic of the tradition accordingly plays an important role in all three. Its format and outlook being on the more “philosophical” side, for most of its history it has invited literati engagement, discussions, commentaries, and interpretations. However, even from the earliest times, its teachings were associated with self-​cultivation and meditation practices, and even before the inception of the Daoist religion in the second century ce, it was venerated and recited as a sacred scripture, believed to contain supernatural powers and to bring blessings and good fortune to its devotees. The text is, therefore, a multifaceted phenomenon, with both a long history and a continuing active presence in the world today.

PART ONE

T HE  T E XT

1 Times and Authorship The Axial Age The Daode jing is one of the great works that shaped human civilization and goes back to a period of pervasive change that the German thinker Karl Jaspers, in The Origin and Goal of History (1953), called the Axial Age, when “man as we know him today came into being.” At this time, in many different cultures new thinkers and religious leaders arose, who for the first time placed great emphasis on the individual as opposed to the community of the clan or tribe, creating abstractions and sophisticated forms of criticism. Examples include the Buddha and Mahavira in India, Zoroaster in Persia, Solon and Socrates in ancient Greece, and Confucius and Laozi in China. This change was due to the increasing impact of literacy, which arose in the wake of the invention of writing. A way of keeping track of increasingly complex economical and political transactions, writing is logophonic, that is, the visible record of spoken words, and as such different from immediate pictorial representations or other forms of record-​keeping, including knotted cords, arranged pebbles, carved ivory bones, or pictographic abstractions. Its first traces go back to about 3500 bce, when the Babylonians and Sumerians in the Near East developed cuneiform ideographs, soon followed by the ancient Egyptians and, about 1500 bce, by the Chinese. The Greek alphabet, more potent due to its ability of shaping words from individual letters and vowels, goes back to about 800 bce. Easier to learn and more flexible in application, it was both more democratic socially and more prone toward

8  Part One: The Text abstraction philosophically than the Chinese character script, a system that, by its very difficulties, limited access and conferred great status. By 600 bce, the time of the Axial Age, the use of writing among major world civilizations had spread widely enough among their upper classes to make a difference in thinking. The most momentous of all human technological inventions, as Walter Ong calls it (2002), writing freed language from context and standardized concepts, and created autonomous discourse, thus opening new levels of awareness in the individual. Completely artificial, it requires the use of cortical areas in the brain more related to visual input and enhanced processing in the prefrontal cortex, thus raising consciousness to a completely new level and opening the path toward the growth of an inner sense of self—​characteristic of philosophies of the time. More specifically, writing allowed backward scanning of recorded thoughts, and increased choice of words, the ability to challenge logic, and the reduction of inconsistencies. It separated the knower from the known, opening the self to introspection and society to abstract concepts, such as justice and morality. For the first time, people became aware of the complexities of their internal motivations and were able to create itemized lists and indexes, gaining a much greater control over the outside world and their inner thinking while being more and more alienated from both. This stands in sharp contrast to orally based thinking, which has several distinct characteristics. Thus, in terms of grammatical organization, it is additive rather than subordinative, using “and” more than “because” or “after,” as well as aggregative rather than analytic, that is, it heavily uses proverbs, sayings, aphorisms, epithets, and parallel constructions. It also tends to be redundant or copious, with repetition and back-​looping. In terms of content, it is close to the human life-​world, homeostatic and present-​ oriented, deeply engaged with immediate issues, as well as focused on concrete events over general patterns. It is overall situational

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  9 rather than abstract, empathetic rather than detached. The Daode jing, as we shall see, while the product of an already literary culture, both in style and content still maintains many characteristics of oral thinking, making it a powerful document in a time of major transition.

The Warring States This transition in China, the time when the Daode jing was first conceived, is marked by the shift from the Spring and Autumn period (770–​481 bce) to the Warring States (480–​221 bce) within the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Besides an increase in literacy, it also signaled major changes in economics, society, and politics. During the Western Zhou (1046–​771 bce), following Shang (ca. 1550–​1046 bce) models, the state had been dominated by a warrior aristocracy whose privileged status was marked by its monopoly of ritually directed violence. Sanctioned killing, as Mark Edward Lewis describes it (1990), in the forms of sacrifice, warfare, and hunting—​ which also served as military exercise and formed part of the king’s seasonal inspection tour—​constituted the central rites of the cults of the ancestors and the state altars, and the performance of these rites set the aristocracy apart from the common people who slaved to keep them housed and fed. This aristocracy, moreover, was organized through a close network of kinship ties that created a systematic group hierarchy, within which each lineage had its own capital, temple, and military force. In the late Spring and Autumn period, iron age technology spread, bringing with it better plowshares, wagon axles, and weapons. This caused an increase in food production and massive population growth, as well as greater mobility and wealth among the upper classes. As a result, the family-​based social structure disintegrated. Lineages split into various branches of unequal status and began to pursue local power, engaging in interlineage conflicts

10  Part One: The Text and interstate wars. Needing more fighters than the family had to offer, the aristocracy added comrades-​in-​arms by means of blood covenants and established increasingly independent states, striving for supremacy or hegemony. To this end, lineage-​based states in the late Spring and Autumn period began to tighten their organization, progressively extending military service to create universal conscription and make every adult male into a soldier. Establishing the integrated squad of five men as the lowest independent tactical unit, they unified the army into a single body. Pervasive military training changed to turn previously autonomous fighting men into standardized, predictable, functionally differentiated members of a coordinated whole, reducing troops to passive objects of manipulation. This in turn affected civil society in the Warring States, creating a brutally repressive system of sanctioned violence by organizing the entire population into units of military service as the primary means of civil control. It brought forth numerous totalitarian and tyrannical regimes that wielded extensive and comprehensive power, making each individual liable for the acts of his or her social unit and brutally punishing transgressions. The Daode jing, therefore, arose in the context of constant warfare, when people essentially devoted all their efforts to never-​ ceasing sacrificial and military activities, farming in the spring and summer and campaigning in the fall and winter. Equipped with new weaponry, such as the crossbow and the iron sword, and supported by mounted cavalry that replaced the war chariots of old, large infantry armies of up to 600,000 men—​ten times the size of Spring and Autumn forces—​fought each other to the death, creating destruction and devastation everywhere. In response to this gruesome situation, a new social group of so-​ called scholar-​knights or officials-​in-​waiting (shi) arose. Literate and intellectually aware, they were often younger or illegitimate sons of warrior lords, who developed visions of creating a more

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  11 stable and better integrated society. Philosophically inclined, they would not look for what is true as opposed to apparent or fake, as Western thinkers did, but instead strove to find ways to order or proper government (zhi) as opposed to disorder or social chaos (luan). Their key concern was thus the proper “way” or “method” (dao) that would lead to the recovery of the harmony and social manageability of an earlier, golden age. Their works tend to be characterized by a strong backward focus and feudalistic vision. Although Western scholars usually characterize them as “philosophers,” they always placed a strong emphasis on the practical dimensions of their teachings, in regard to both social and political impact and the individual’s personal cultivation. In fact, at the core of most ancient Chinese thought are practices of social discipline and the transformation of individuals and communities. The Han historian Sima Tan (d. 110 bce) distinguishes six major philosophical schools of the Warring States, each of which proposed one particular area as being most responsible for the state of social and cosmic disharmony and offered remedies accordingly. Thus, the Confucians (rujia) focused on social etiquette and proper ritual; the Daoists emphasized the natural flow of things. The Mohists (mojia), followers of the philosopher Mozi (470–​391 bce), saw the solution to all problems in social equality, nonviolence, and concern for all; the School of Names or Dialecticians (mingjia) found the key flaw in the inaccurate use of language and the resulting confusion in people’s minds. The Legalists (fajia) thought that a set of strict laws and punishments was necessary to return order to the world; and the Yin-​Yang Cosmologists understood social and personal harmony to depend on the cycles of the seasons, the movements of the stars, and other macrocosmic phenomena. Among these, the Confucians and Yin-​Yang Cosmologists are most relevant for understanding the Daode jing, itself central to the Daoist school.

12  Part One: The Text

Confucianism Confucianism goes back to Master Kong Qiu (551–​479 bce), called Kong Fuzi in Chinese and latinized by the missionaries as Confucius. He was born as the illegitimate son of the ruler of Lu, a minor state in what is today Shandong. Being part of the lesser aristocracy, he received an education in the feudal arts, including archery, charioteering, music, and poetry, and became literate. Serving as a minor functionary in administration, he reflected on the difficulties and divisions of his time, developing a philosophical and ethical system in the hope of guiding the country back to a saner and more personally dedicated way of living. Hoping to find a ruler to put it into practice, he traveled all over the country, visiting many different feudal states, but was not hired. Eventually he went back home and began to teach his ideas to interested disciples, soon establishing a name for himself. The disciples later collected his sayings into a book known as the Lunyu (Analects), which today has twenty chapters, the first nine of which seem to be historically closest to the Master himself. The main concept of early Confucianism as presented in this text—​and variously criticized in the Daode jing—​is the idea of ritual formality or etiquette (li). The graph combines the symbol for “spirit” or “divine” with the image of a basket full of beans; it is a visual representation of offerings and by extension indicates the sense of reverence and awe in the face of the numinous. The term describes the clear inner awareness of social distinctions and personal potentials, the ability to maintain moderation and exhibit an appropriate and respectful response in all kinds of situations. More specifically, li means proper behavior among people of different rank and status as defined in the five key relationships of ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother, as well as friend and friend. Each of these pairs consists of a more senior and more junior partner, even if divided only by

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  13 minutes of birth or organizational membership, defining their respective obligations. The key factor in the system, then, is mutuality (shu). This means that the senior partner always should treat the junior with care and concern, while the junior owes the senior deference and respect. More particularly, this manifests as filial piety or obedience (xiao) toward one’s parents, and loyalty (zhong) toward the ruler or state. People should always think of how they would like to be treated themselves. As the Lunyu has it, “The Master said, Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire” (12.2; 14.15). Another way to activate li is through humaneness (ren), expressed in kindness, benevolence, goodwill, generosity, and compassion. The character shows the word for “person” combined with the numeral “two,” indicating its focus on interpersonal connection. This is closely followed by righteousness or rightness (yi), the sense of familial duty and social obligation that reaches beyond the interpersonal and takes the greater good into account. The character consists of the two words for “I” and “sheep,” suggesting the connection between the self and the flock of humanity. Nobody, not even the ruler of the country, always occupies a senior or junior position. Rather, varying social contexts require different forms of behavior, degrees of formality, and structures of command. Complete mastery, then, guarantees the smooth function of society in all its complexity, a feature that needs to be absorbed rather than enforced. As the Lunyu says: The Master said: Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame. Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with propriety, and they will not only have a sense of shame but also reform themselves. (2.3)

14  Part One: The Text This inner reform is described in Confucianism in terms of the virtue of personal integrity as it manifests in fundamental honesty, trustworthiness, and faith (xin), a word that combines the graphs for “human being” and “speech.” It indicates a sense of personal truth and inner authenticity, the value of being true to one’s unique disposition while maintaining a pervasive connection to the greater social dimension of life. To know when to do what, moreover, requires wisdom (zhi), a term whose graph combines the words for “mouth” and “expression” or “speaking” with “arrow,” indicating the mental direction underlying vocal expression. It signals the deeper understanding of things and profound appreciation of social value and personal abilities. To attain wisdom and find personal integrity within the overarching demands of propriety, Confucians focus strongly on learning, notably training in the arts of the nobility—​poetry, calligraphy, numerology, music, archery, and charioteering—​together with the study of history and important ancient documents. Confucius himself is credited with compiling the Confucian canon, a collection of six ancient works or classics that later became the standard source of knowledge and formal education and include the Shujing (Book of Documents), Shijing (Book of Songs), Yijing (Book of Changes), Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals), Liji (Book of Rites), and one not extant today, the Yuejing (Book of Music). Confucians do not consider learning a burden but a pleasure, an adventure of becoming increasingly aware of oneself and the social intricacies of life. Thus, the Lunyu begins, “The Master said: To learn and practice from time to time what one has learned, is this not indeed delightful?” (1.1). Learning will eventually make one the ideal Confucian, a superior person or gentleman (junzi) who follows his parents and leaders in all respects and honors the social conventions to the best of his ability. He will make the world a better place by radiating harmony and propriety throughout, from family to neighborhood, village, county, state, and into the universe.

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  15

Yin-​Yang Cosmology Yin-​Yang Cosmology, in contrast, does not have a specific founder, but was first formally codified by the thinker Zou Yan (ca. 340–​260 bce) who developed a systematic description of the known universe in terms of the energetic interaction of yin and yang and the so-​called five phases—​stages of energetic rising and falling associated with the five concrete entities of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Even before his time, Chinese cosmology rested on the basic premise that everything in the world consists of one underlying cosmic and vital energy known as qi. Qi is the concrete aspect of Dao, the basic material building block of the universe, the fundamental stuff of nature. Ancient sources associate it with mist, fog, and moving clouds, the quality that nourishes, warms, transforms, and rises. Qi is the life force in all matter including the human body, the ground of all vitality, the ongoing process of life. Since qi is ubiquitous and not limited by constraints of space or time, any energy vibration anywhere resonates fully with all others—​from the most minute realm within a human cell to the most expansive order of galactic vastness. The way in which human beings and natural objects are connected to the world at large, then, happens via qi, through an all-​pervasive energetic unity. There is only one qi that functions on different levels. At the root of creation, it is primordial, prenatal, and perfect—​intangible, invisible, inaudible, dark, and mysterious. In the created world, it is manifest, postnatal, and functional—​constantly moving, perceptible in form, sound, and light. Thus, it can be classified according to categories such as temperature, density, speed and direction of flow, as well as its overall impact on human and natural life. The most fundamental classification of qi-​flow is in terms of movement, up or down, forward or back, rising or falling, and so on. Yin and yang define this process. Originally indicating the sunny and shady sides of a hill, they soon acquired a series of associations:  bright and dark, light and heavy, strong and weak,

16  Part One: The Text above and below, Heaven and Earth, ruler and minister, male and female, and so on. Commonly presented in the well-​known circle with two black and white curved halves, they represent the interlocking of energy patterns in an ongoing process of balancing and ordering, of continuous enfolding and unfolding. Yin-​Yang Cosmology strives to recreate social harmony in three ways, through a universal law, a particular mode of thinking, and a complex technical apparatus. First, the universal law of yin-​yang is that of energy dynamics, the ongoing, unceasing flow of circulation. Qi flows in a constant rhythm: to and fro, forward and back, in and out, rising and falling, giving and receiving. This natural rhythm is present in all things, in our breath and in the beating of our hearts as much as in night and day, summer and winter, and so on. It is predictable, measurable motion, and all things, ideas, and people keep on changing, ever moving along their course. Any effort to stop or reverse it must fail: the law of circulation always prevails. Appreciating this inescapable pattern makes it possible to live flexibly and rule with proper regard to the needs and inherent trends of all beings. The particular yin-​yang mode of thinking is correlative. Also found in other traditional cultures, such as ancient Greece, it is clearly present in the way we acquire language—​building plurals by adding the letter “s” or changing the vowel, for example, foot to feet. In all cases, the organization of language is based on a simple pattern that is correlated and repeated in different concrete cases. Applying this to the understanding of reality, correlative thinking sees similar patterns on various levels, often understanding them as micro-​and macrocosms. Thus, for example, the working of the human body may be applied to politics, so that the heart is the ruler and the other organs are government agencies. Society and the family may similarly be likened to bodily or other natural structures. Typically, people recognize similarities and differences between patterns and understand reality in terms of the interaction

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  17 of different aspects that impact on each other in a parallel manner, thus creating order and social stability. Based on this understanding, Yin-​Yang Cosmology also comes with a complex technical apparatus, including most importantly astronomy, natural observation, and divination. Since the patterns of the celestial bodies (days, seasons, lunar phases, planetary constellations) and of earthly rhythms (landscape features, weather patterns, plant growth, earthquakes) immediately mirror reality on the social and personal levels, their close observation provides an indication of where the flow of energy is headed at any given point in time. By the Han dynasty, Yin-​Yang Cosmology, complete with the five phases, had come to dominate Chinese thinking and culture. It determined the execution of all activities, including the daily uses of food, garments, body movements, and social interactions as well as major rituals and political measures. Medical diagnosis and treatments are still firmly rooted in its system, allowing an in-​depth and pervasive way of classification and manipulation of physical well-​being.

Laozi Within this overall social and philosophical setting, the Daode jing offers a particular vision of reality and guidelines toward increased harmony. The text is closely associated with Laozi, literally the “Old Master.” Being a rather elusive figure, first information regarding his life and work appears in c­hapter  63 of the Shiji (Historical Records) by Sima Qian (154–​80 bce), dated several centuries after his lifetime. It says that he came from a village called Quren in the southern state of Chu, also known by its Shang-​dynasty name Bozhou, today located in the town of Luyi on the border of Anhui and Henan, about 100 miles east of Zhengzhou. He served as a scribe in the archives of the Zhou capital in Luoyang, about

18  Part One: The Text 85 miles west of Zhengzhou. “Laozi cultivated Dao and virtue. He taught that one should efface oneself and be without fame in the world.” Thus he came to meet Confucius (see Fig. 1): Confucius once traveled to Zhou because he wished to ask Laozi about the rites. Laozi said: “The sages you speak about have long withered along with their bones. Also, when a gentleman attains proper timeliness, he rides in a carriage; when his time has not come, he wanders about with the wind. I have heard that a good merchant fills his storehouses but appears to have nothing; a true gentleman is overflowing with virtue but looks as if he was a fool. Give up your prideful airs and your manifold desires, get rid of your stiff deportment and your lascivious thoughts. All these do you no good at all. I have nothing else to tell you.”

Fig. 1.  Laozi meets Confucius. Source: Statue at Laozi’s birthplace in Luyi. Photograph by Helene Minot, 2011. Used by permission.

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  19 Confucius left and later told his disciples, “Birds, I know, can fly; fish, I know, can swim; animals, I know, can run. For the running one can make a net; for the swimming one can make a line; for the flying one can make an arrow. But when it comes to the dragon, I have no means of knowing how it rides the wind and the clouds and ascends into heaven. Today I have seen Laozi who really is very much like a dragon.”

Assuming this meeting to be historical, Laozi was presumably older than Confucius, who was born in 551 bce. Some scholars, such as Chen Guying (2015), accordingly postulate an approximate birth date of 570 bce. His status as senior cultivator of Dao and teacher of Confucius—​whom he possibly met variously, including also at his house in Pei (Jiangsu)—​also appears in several other, slightly earlier documents. These include the Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang), a compilation of Daoist stories and philosophical vignettes dating to about 300 bce, that refers to him by the name Lao Dan; the Lüshi chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü), a political compendium of about 250 bce; and the Liji, the Confucian Book of Rites. In addition, the collection of Confucius’s sayings, the Lunyu, contains several passages that show possible influence from the Daode jing, including positive references to emptiness and frugality, working without exertion or intention, ruling the empire as if it were nothing important, and repaying harm with kindness. In addition, the text also had some influence on the works attributed to the philosopher Mozi, especially with regard to prudent policies and beneficial attitudes of the ruler. Thus, echoing the Daode jing, the Mozi says, “When advice has foresight and sternness, a state can be secure for a long time” (1.1.3), and “The flourishing is difficult to guard” (1.1.5), suggesting that it is best to prevent things from becoming too prosperous or full and avoid conditions of extremes. Along similar lines, the text recommends not to take on too many tasks and not to pursue broad knowledge (1.2.1). In addition, it makes use of similar water metaphors for

20  Part One: The Text Dao and life, noting that “large rivers do not neglect smaller brooks and streams, and are thereby filled, and become great” (1.1.6). While most Chinese scholars, based on this and similar evidence, place the Daode jing early and champion the historicity of Laozi, claiming that he wrote the entire text himself, some see it differently. Thus, D. C. Lau (1982) claims that the story of his meeting with Confucius was apocryphal, unknown before the third century bce. Rather than historical fact, it formed part of the folklore—​ frequently polemical and often fictional—​that surrounded ancient philosophers, in this case, Confucius. D. C. Lau was the first to suggest that the Daode jing itself had nothing to do with a spurious Laozi, but grew over several centuries from remembered sayings and only emerged as a comprehensive document around 250 bce. A. C. Graham (1998), taking the middle ground and representing the position of most Western scholars today, notes that the tale might well indicate that a figure called Laozi was in fact a minor official under the Zhou, well versed in matters of ritual. Rather than having actually met Confucius, however, he was stylized as a hero of the Confucians, showing the humility of the master. Only much later was he claimed as a Daoist thinker and linked to the Daode jing, whose compilation was a gradual accumulation of sayings, starting in the mid-​fourth century.

The Laozi Legend The Shiji further mentions several other figures that may or may not have been Laozi, revealing a fundamental insecurity about his identity even in the first century bce. They include an otherwise unknown thinker called Laolaizi, a figure of extreme longevity venerated by health seekers, and a Grand Historian. The text says, Some sources speak of one Laolaizi who also came from Chu. He wrote a work in fifteen sections, which speaks of the practical uses of the Daoist school. He, too, was a contemporary of Confucius.

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  21 Laozi, it seems, was over 160 years old, or even over two hundred, according to some. This was because he cultivated Dao and nurtured long life. After the death of Confucius, 129  years passed. According to historical records, the Grand Historian of Zhou, a man named Dan, then had an audience with Duke Xian of Qin. He said:  “Originally Qin and Zhou were joined, then, after five hundred years in unity, they separated. Seventy years after this separation, a hegemon will be born here.” Some say that this Dan was in fact Laozi. Others claim he was not. Nobody knows whether this is so or not. Laozi, by most accounts, was mainly a recluse.

According to A. C. Graham (1998), Laozi’s longevity and his link with the Grand Historian were central to the promotion of the Daoist faction at court and the compilation process of the Daode jing. As the western state of Qin conquered all the others in the late third century bce, the various philosophical schools presented their ideas to gain political influence with the up-​and-​coming ruler. Followers of Laozi and his successor, too, entered into the fray, arranging their various inherited sayings into a set text, simply calling it the Laozi. One of their key claims, moreover, was personal longevity or even immortality, a theme close to the heart of the First Emperor, who sent out expeditions to find the Penglai isles of the immortals, employed various alchemists to concoct him an elixir of eternal life, and build the humongous tomb complex known for its Terracotta Warriors—​all to stave off decline and death. Laozi’s followers accordingly claimed not only that he was a contemporary of Confucius, but that he was also identical with Grand Historian Dan who, in 374 bce, supposedly predicted the rise of Qin, making Laozi over two hundred years old. When the emperor wanted to know why he was no longer around in person, the early Daoists said that he emigrated, creating a story that became the root of many later legends. The Shiji records,

22  Part One: The Text After some time Laozi realized that the [Zhou] dynasty was declining and decided to leave. When he reached the western frontier, Yin Xi, the Guardian of the Pass, said: “You want to withdraw forever. Please write down your ideas for me.” Thereupon Laozi wrote a book in two sections dealing with Dao and virtue. It had more than five thousand words. Then he left, and nobody knows what became of him.

This explained why Laozi was no longer there and how the text Laozi came into being. It also set the stage for its two other appellations, Wuqian wen (Text in Five Thousand Words) and Daode jing (Book of the Dao and Its Virtue).

Divinization While they never quite gained the ear of the First Emperor, early Daoists succeeded in attracting the attention of several rulers in the early Han dynasty. Laozi at the time became a highly venerated figure, rising to increasingly divine status, while the Daode jing grew into a semi-​sacred book widely recited and honored among the upper classes. In addition, this growing fame led an up-​and-​ coming family named Li to claim Laozi as their ancestor. Thus the Shiji notes that his surname was Li and concludes its record by listing his descendants: The son of Laozi, by the name of Zong, was a general in Wei and enfeoffed in Duan’gan. Then came Zong’s son Zhu, Zhu’s son Gong, and Gong’s great-​grandson Jia. Jia served under Emperor Wen of the Han [179–​156 bce]. His son Jie was Tutor to Ang, Prince of Jiaoxi. As a result, he moved to Qi [modern Shandong].

The genealogy of the Li clan is historical fact, but its connection to Laozi is spurious. In relating themselves to a hero of old, the Li

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  23 family followed common practice at the time, when many local clans strove for influence at the imperial court. It is also most likely that Laozi’s formal first name Er and his birthplace Bozhou were added at this stage. An honored sage among Han aristocrats, Laozi together with the Daode jing was adopted by three separate groups. First, the political elite, the imperial family and court officials, came to see in him the personification of Dao and worshiped him as a representative of their ideal of political unity alongside the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and the Buddha. This is most cogently expressed in the Laozi ming (Inscription for Laozi), by the official Bian Shao. Dated to 165, it contains a record of the imperial sacrifices to Laozi by Emperor Huan in Bozhou. It presents a summary of the Shiji account, then gives a concrete description of Laozi’s birthplace, and cites the Daode jing as the major expression of his ideas. In addition, the text praises Laozi as the central deity of the cosmos: born from primordial energy, he came down to earth, and eventually ascended back to heaven as an immortal. Second, self-​cultivation practitioners and masters of methods (fangshi) took him as their patriarch and idealized him as an immortal. This led to his first hagiography in the Liexian zhuan (Immortals’ Biographies; first century bce), followed later by the Shenxian zhuan (Biographies of Spirit Immortals) by the would-​be alchemist Ge Hong (283–​343). The former says: Laozi’s family name was Li, his first name Er, and his style Boyang. He was from Chen. He was born under the Shang dynasty and served the Zhou as an administrator. He was very fond of nurturing his vital essence and qi, valuing the art of accumulating and not dispersing them. Eventually he reached the position of archivist. . . . Once Confucius traveled to Zhou [City] to see Laozi. Recognizing him as a sage, he asked him to be his teacher. Later the Zhou dynasty went into decline and Laozi left, riding a black

24  Part One: The Text ox. When he came to the border pass in the Greater Qin state, the guardian of the pass, a man by the name of Yin Xi, received him. He realized that Laozi was a superior being and urged him to record his teachings in writing. As a result, he wrote the Daode jing in two sections.

According to this, Laozi lived not just the two hundred years recorded in the Shiji, but from the Shang all through the seven hundred years of the Zhou before emigrating to the west. The Shenxian zhuan, written a few hundred years later and integrating further legends, enhances his divinity further. Originally part of Dao, here he comes to life in every dynasty, from prehistoric sage rulers to the present. Under the Zhou, when he arises as an archivist and philosopher, he passes through seventy-​two years of pregnancy and emerges from his mother’s armpit, with strange signs on his body, and possessing supernatural wisdom. In the course of this life time, moreover, he becomes a successful practitioner of immortality and ascends to heaven in broad daylight. The third group that adopted Laozi under the Han included members of popular, millenarian cults who identified Laozi as the personification of Dao, a deity who transformed himself through the ages and would save the world yet again to bring about the age of Great Peace (taiping). Called Lord Lao (Laojun) or Yellow Lord Lao (Huanglaojun), this deified Laozi was a personification of cosmic harmony not unlike heaven under the Zhou, yet he was also equipped with tremendous revolutionary power. As a messiah, he could overturn the present and reorganize the world, leading the faithful to a new state of heavenly bliss in this very life on earth. The main document here is the Laozi bianhua jing (Scripture of the Transformations of Laozi), which describes Laozi as the body of Dao and the savior of humanity, mixing mythical motives such his celestial stature, supernatural birth, and divine appearance with core concepts of the Daode jing, such as nonaction and freedom from desires. Unlike in other accounts, Laozi at the end of his life

Chapter 1: Times and Authorship  25 does not vanish but continues to reappear in China under the Qin and Han. For example, “In the second year of Vigorous Harmony [148 ce], following a serious landslide, he appeared in Chengdu [modern Sichuan] near the Gate of the Left Quarter.” Just as the god is present in a concrete and practical dimension, so the text takes on a religious role. To approach Laozi, members must visualize different colors in the body, then learn to “concentrate on the One, and soon will see a yellow glow within.” Also, they should venerate the Daode jing and recite it vigorously. Then the deity will assist them in all troubles.

Further Readings Chen, Guying. 2015. Rediscovering the Roots of Chinese Thought:  Laozi’s Philosophy. Translated by Paul D’Ambrosio. St. Petersburg, FL:  Three Pines Press. Graham, A. C. 1986. Yin-​ Yang and the Nature of Correlative Thinking. Singapore: Institute for East Asian Philosophies. _​_​_​_​_​. 1998. “The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan.” In Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 23–​40. Albany: State University of New York Press. Jaspers, Karl. 1953. The Origin and Goal of History. New Haven, CT:  Yale University Press. Kohn, Livia. 1998. God of the Dao: Lord Lao in History and Myth. University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies. Lau, D.C. 1982 [1959]. Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Lewis, Mark Edward. 1990. Sanctioned Violence in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press. Liu, Xiaogan. 2015. “Did Daoism Have a Founder? Textual Issues in the Laozi.” In Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy, edited by Xiaogan Liu, 25–​45. New York: Springer. Ong, Walter J. 2002 [1982]. Orality and Literacy:  The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Routledge. Wang, Robin R. 2012. Yinyang:  The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2 Textual Development Language The Daode jing is not an analytical philosophical document, it does not record dialogues between thinkers or rulers, nor does it present a systematic outline of doctrines or practices. It is not a revealed scripture or a compendium of ritual chants, nor yet is it an account of mythical times and divine actions. Quite different from most other sacred texts, it consists largely of verses, often in lines of four characters, frequently rhyming, interspersed with a few prose passages. There is no narration, no argumentation, no presentation, no one topic systematically explored. The text does not mention specific people, places, dates, or events, but makes general reference to the situation of the times, as for example, “The people starve because the ruler eats too much tax-​ grain” (ch. 75). Speaking anonymously, it most commonly engages in general statements of wisdom. This wisdom involves three major areas: cosmology and universal patterns (“Heaven endures, earth is long-​lasting”; ch. 7), society and leadership (“The sage embraces oneness and becomes the model for the world”; ch. 22), and personal cultivation (“Compassionate, I can have valor”; ch.67). The Daode jing formulates its teachings in a rather tight and terse language, often using short and powerful aphorisms to make a point. Aphorisms are proverb-​like sayings that tend to reflect common experience while evoking a new perspective on it. They typically have a “target,” a particular attitude or belief they wish to highlight; an “image,” a vision or simile they evoke; and an “attitude,” a value-​orientation they serve to promote. For example, “A

Chapter 2: Textual Development  27 thousand-​mile journey begins with the first step” (ch. 64) targets the idea that things can be done quickly and effortlessly and promotes an attitude of patience and steady progress. In this it matches the English saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” but evokes a different image—​a long journey ahead versus a big construction project. In its heavy use of sayings, as well as the tendency toward short, additive statements, the Daode jing closely matches the basic characteristics of oral thinking. This is further evident in its application of repetition, which comes in two forms: chain repetition that uses the same word at the end of one line and the beginning of the next (ch. 59)  and line repetition which repeats the same word in the same position in each line (ch. 19). It is also manifest in its heavy application of parallelism, using the same grammatical structure over three to five lines, as well as in its vibrant rhymes—​endowing its words with strong rhythm and clear dynamics. For example, ­chapter 81  has:

信言不美 xin yan bu mei true words not beautiful

美言不信 mei yan bu xin beautiful words not true

善者不辯 shan zhe bu bian good person not argue

辯者不善 bian zhe bu shan arguing person not good

知者不博 zhi zhe bu bo wise person not erudite

博者不知 bo zhe bu zhi erudite person not wise

聖人不積 sheng ren bu ji sage man not accumulate

Continued

28  Part One: The Text 既以為人 己愈有 ji yi wei ren ji yu you when use do for people, self more have

既以與人 己愈多 ji yi yu ren ji yu duo when use give to people, self more lots

天之道 利而不害 tian zhi dao li er bu shan heaven’s way benefit yet not harm

聖人之道 為而不爭 sheng ren zhi dao wei er bu zheng sage man’s way do for yet not compete

Both in terms of language in contents, this chapter is fairly typical for much of the text. It has repetition of individual words, lines of four or seven characters, parallel construction, as well as some rhymes—​in archaic Chinese, the words bian and shan in the second line were *bjen and *gjen. Other chapters have as many as three or four lines rhyming, in addition to chain repetition and parallel sentence construction. Another typical feature of the text is that it clusters generic wisdom statements, followed by a separate, single line, often introduced by a word meaning “thus” or “therefore,” which indicates the shift to a more specific or concrete way of behavior. This behavior, moreover, activates all three levels of cosmos, society, and self-​cultivation. The language of the Daode jing with these particular characteristics is very similar to that of the Shijing (Book of Songs), an anthology of songs and poems that go back to 1000–​600 bce. There are some changes in rhyme pattern, which has to do with the evolution of language, and the usage of four-​character lines is somewhat less. However, especially when contrasted with the third-​century poetic anthology Chuci (Songs of Chu), the similarities to the Shijing are striking, placing the sayings of the text circa the very early Warring States period. While it is entirely possible that it was transmitted orally for quite some time, it was certainly recorded by the fourth century and has survived in manuscripts found in tombs.

Chapter 2: Textual Development  29

Texts in Tombs Although literacy had spread, written works were not common during the Warring States, and only institutions or people of means—​governments, aristocrats, local rulers—​could afford the luxury of having materials committed to writing, procuring expensive base materials and hiring professional scribes. Written texts, moreover, were regarded with awe, since they could transmit knowledge without personal contact, and were in themselves carriers of power. They could also potentially fall into the wrong hands, and their owners protected them accordingly, either stashing them away safely in a treasury or transmitting them only in conjunction with various reliability tests, pledges of valuables, and serious vows of trust—​not unlike the blood covenants of antiquity, sworn to establish fighting alliances. Aristocrats with an interest in government, health, and personal cultivation thus collected relevant materials. Some searched out already written works and had them transcribed; others invited knowledgeable people to their estate and had them dictate their philosophical sayings and medical recipes to an experienced scribe. This explains why teachings were written down, but it does not explain why they were buried in tombs. To understand this, we have to realize that the ancient Chinese understood death as the separation of two essential spirit aspects or “souls” that form the nucleus of primordial qi and make up the living person: the spirit soul (hun) of celestial origin and the material soul (po) that belongs to the earth. As the embryo forms in the womb, the two souls join together to give it life and consciousness. When the person dies, the souls separate: the hun returns to the heavens in the form of an ancestral spirit; the po returns to earth as the decaying body and its ghost. Both gradually, over five to seven generations, merge back into their original element. But especially during the first several years the deceased spirits remain close to the living, require human-​style

30  Part One: The Text sustenance, and are potentially dangerous. Essentially uninterested in the affairs of the living, both spirit components after death have to be mollified and controlled. With a series of complex rituals and the creation of often artificial lineages, they are enticed to support the living. Corpses are accordingly buried with extensive grave goods—​the real thing in high antiquity, clay images since the Han, paper replicas today. The ancestral spirits receive regular offerings of food, drink, and incense at special altars in the home. In Han understanding—​as also in later Daoist view—​the newly buried person was thus still thought to be present. At this stage, with the two souls just starting to separate, the qi would still be active in the body, and it might be possible that in this new state, removed from the sensory involvements and passions of the world, the person could still undertake the refinement of qi and transformation necessary to enhance life and attain a heavenly state. This is also borne out by various other death practices of traditional China. First, there is the practice of “calling back the soul” (zhaohun) right after death, a formal ritual chanting to entice the soul to desist from its wanderings and come home. Then there is the equipment of the grave as the new home of the dead, formally deeded to the deceased in a legally phrased tomb contract. Then, of course, there is the enormous range of grave goods, both to make the dead comfortable and to bribe otherworldly bureaucrats. And finally there is the option to continue worldly activities from the grave, such as, for example, Moneylender Zuo’s vigorous suing of his clients, documented in sixteen contracts buried with him. The fact that philosophical, cosmological, and medical treatises were buried in tombs of local aristocrats in Warring States and Han China may, therefore, show a strong family dedication to related ideas and practices during life. It may also reflect the close personal connection the tombs’ occupants had to their books, to what degree their identity was linked with them. Beyond that, it might indicate the hope that the deceased, taken from his life’s work, might

Chapter 2: Textual Development  31 continue to pursue self-​cultivation and life-​enhancing methods in his more spiritual state.

Guodian The oldest extant written version of the Daode jing is such a tomb manuscript. It was unearthed in October of 1993, when local archaeologists at Guodian near Jingmen (Hubei) opened a tomb after grave robbers had invaded it several times and water began to come in. They found a single male skeleton in a two-​layered coffin accompanied by bamboo manuscripts as well as two pottery vessels, a lacquer box, a wooden comb, a square bronze mirror, a bronze bowl, several bird-​shaped staff handles, and a lacquer cup that bore the inscription “Teacher of the Eastern Palace.” Since the site was only a few miles north of Ying, the capital of the ancient state of Chu, this led to the speculation that the tomb’s occupant was the tutor of the heir-​apparent, who commonly resided in the Eastern Palace. Because the state of Chu was conquered by the rising Qin in 278 bce and the capital moved at that time, the tomb must have been closed earlier, pointing to Xiong Yuan as the heir-​ apparent in question. The son of Xiong Heng, aka King Qingxiang, became crown prince upon the latter’s ascension in 298 bce, and ruled the kingdom from 262 bce until his death in 238 bce, to be later canonized as King Kaolie. His tutor, then, would have been a member of the lower aristocracy, one of the scholar-​knights who served to instruct and guide rulers. He obviously took his studies of ideal government and best moral attitudes very seriously, since he was buried with a philosophical library, consisting of 804 bamboo slips with roughly 16,000 characters of text, dated by radiocarbon to around 350–​ 300 bce. Bamboo or wood slips were the preferred medium of writing at the time, dried and flattened to create a surface about two inches wide and a foot long. Characters were written in black ink,

32  Part One: The Text and text—​here in characteristic Chu script—​would run from top to bottom and right to left with minimal punctuation. That is to say, there are some markers that show the ends of sentences (short lines) as well as repeated and combined phrases (double lines). In addition, some slips also have marks that look like a black nail, followed by an empty space, possibly indicating a chapter or major section division. Typically covered on both sides, the slips would then be tied together with cords or string to make a readable text. The slips at Guodian were floating in water, in great disarray since their ties had long since disintegrated. Upon close analysis, they were found to present sixteen different texts (trans. Cook 2012), for the most part Confucian-​inspired writings about

Fig. 2.  The bamboo slips at Guodian. Source: www.hubei.gov.cn. Public domain.

Chapter 2: Textual Development  33 personal virtue, social ethics, cosmic patterns, and the best way to succeed in rulership (see Table 1). Besides the Daode jing, except for two—​the Wuxing (The Five Conducts), unearthed in 1973 at Mawangdui, and the Ziyi (Black Robes), a chapter of the Liji—​they were previously unknown. For the most part, they consist of political essays, similar to the Daxue (Great Learning) and Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean), contained in the Liji, and tend to be associated with Kong Ji, better known as Zisi, the grandson of Confucius (ca. 470–​402  bce). The Daode jing appears on seventy-​one slips in three different bundles, containing about two thousand characters and written in three different hands:  A, B, and C.  Consisting of thirty-​nine, eighteen, and fourteen slips respectively, they were clearly distinct in size and shape, ranging from 12.7 to 10.4 inches in length and with either beveled or flat ends. In addition, the holes for binding were placed differently in each bundle, showing that they were different books originally.

Table 1  The Complete List of Guodian Manuscripts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13-​16

Laozi jia, yi, bing Taiyi shengshui Ziyi Lu Mu Gong wen Zisi Qiongda yi shi Wuxing Tang Yu zhi dao Zhongxin zhi dao Cheng zhi Zun deyi Xing zi ming chu Liu de Yucong, yi-​si

Laozi A, B, C Great Oneness Gives Birth to Water Black Robes Lord Mu of Lu Asked Zisi Poverty or Success Is a Matter of Timing The Five Conducts The Way of Tang and Yu The Way of Loyalty and Trustworthiness Bringing Things to Completion Honoring Virtue and Propriety Human Nature Comes via Mandate The Six Virtues Thicket of Sayings, I–​IV

34  Part One: The Text Table 2  Matching Standard Chapters A B C

2, 5, 9, 15, 16, 19, 25, 30, 32, 37, 40, 44, 46, 53, 55, 56, 57, 64, 66 13, 20, 41, 45, 48, 52, 54, 59 17, 18, 31, 35, 64

Together, they contain thirty-​three passages that can be matched with thirty-​one chapters of the Daode jing (see Table 2). Fifteen of these are found only partially, often chapters are interrupted and lines appear in different places, plus there is some variation in characters from the standard edition. In accordance with the overall theme of the find, the Daode jing slips mostly discuss personal ethics, restraint, and moderation, in relation to rulership and the pacification of the state. Especially the materials in A, the longest bundle, present a fairly coherent program that may well have constituted a tutor’s lessons. They are conspicuous in their absence of self-​cultivation advice and lack of metaphysical perspective on Dao and oneness, however, they contain a previously unknown cosmological document called Taiyi shengshui (Great Oneness Gives Birth to Water; trans. Wang 2015). Consisting of fourteen bamboo slips and forming part of Bundle C, it outlines the productive cycle of cosmic energy, beginning with Great Oneness, which brings forth water, from which Heaven and Earth arise. They in turn connect back to Great Oneness in an ongoing creative loop. Once this is established, spirit and light emerge, in due course giving rise to yin and yang, the four seasons, cold and heat, dampness and dryness, to result in the ongoing cycle of the years, providing thus an overall framework for successful government. Scholars disagree as to the position of the Guodian slips in the development of the text. They take four different positions. Some claim that the slips represent selections from the complete text as written by Laozi himself; others see them as portions of a Daode

Chapter 2: Textual Development  35 jing that was still in the process of compilation—​noting especially the absence of ­chapters  67 through 81. Some understand the three bundles to signify the presence of three different texts or collections—​supported by the two versions of ­chapter 64 in bundles A and C—​that were later combined to form the Daode jing; others yet again find it possible that the slips present an early and complete version of the text, which was expanded later.

Mawangdui This expansion would then have happened in the third century, when the text was cited at some length in the Zhuangzi with regard to cosmological and self-​cultivation issues, the Lüshi chunqiu with more politically relevant passages, and the Hanfeizi in the context of ideal rulership and efficacious government. The latter, in particular, contains a commentary on passages from about twenty Daode jing chapters, many also found in the Guodian manuscripts, activating cosmological thinking and fundamental ethics in a practical, political, and social setting (see ch. 7 below). The first complete version of the text appeared shortly thereafter, written in ink on silk and discovered in tomb 3 at Mawangdui near Changsha (Hunan). In the Han dynasty, this region, although increasingly integrated, was still part of the Chu kingdom, and the tombs belonged to local lords, the marquis of Dai, his wife, and his son. Discovered in December 1973, all three tombs consisted of a vertical pit about fifty feet deep, with a wooden burial chamber at the bottom. The burial chamber had a central area to hold three internested, highly ornate coffins plus four surrounding storage areas for burial goods. Undisturbed, the three tombs contained a veritable treasure trove, which included not only food stuffs, garments, and miniature servants and companions, but also the famous Mawangdui banner from tomb 1. A T-​shaped, rectangular

36  Part One: The Text piece of colorfully illustrated silk, it covered the inner coffin and showed the tomb’s inhabitant move toward the celestial realm, presided over by the sun and the moon together with various deities. This tomb held the body of the local ruler’s wife, the marchioness of Dai, a lady of about fifty years of age. Although her tomb was excavated first, she was in fact the last of the three to die—​in 168 bce. Tomb 2 was the last resting place of the marquis himself, a man by the name of Li Cang, who served as chancellor of the Chu kingdom in Changsha. He was installed as marquis in 193 bce and died in 186 bce, his tomb therefore being the oldest. Tomb 3 housed the son, a younger man of about thirty who, like his mother, was buried in 168 bce. It is not clear which of the marquis’s children he was. Some think he was the oldest, Li Xi, who succeeded him as lord; others suspect he was a younger son who pursued a military career, as possibly indicated by the various weapons and other military insignia found in the tomb. His tomb contained a major cache of manuscripts in a rectangular lacquer box with a roof-​shaped lid, 24 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 8 inches high, found in a storage area east of the coffin. Most texts appeared in ink on silk sheets but some were also carved on bamboo or wood. The texts were written in both Han clerical and traditional seal script, the latter—​according to traditional historiography—​being the dominant form of Chinese writing before the script reform under the First Emperor of Qin in 214 bce. The total number of manuscripts found at Mawangdui is thirty, covering forty-​five separate texts (Harper 1998). This means that some pieces of silk or bundles of bamboo slips contained more than one text, which in some cases gives an indication of how certain techniques or ideas were possibly related. Works deal for the most part with five phases cosmology and government policies, including in particular materials associated with the Yellow Emperor. In addition, fifteen texts focus on medicine and longevity techniques, presenting the system of qi-​channels and ways of preserving health.

Chapter 2: Textual Development  37 The Daode jing appears in two versions, known as A and B. Each contains the complete text as transmitted later, but reverses the order of parts. While the standard edition begins with the more cosmological discussion of Dao (chs. 1–​37) and ends with the concrete, social application of De (chs. 38–​81), both Mawangdui texts begin with De (3,041 characters) and end with Dao (2,425 characters), for a total of 5,466 words. The A  version consists of 5,400 characters. Written in seal script, it avoids Bang, the personal name of the first Han ruler, tabooed after his ascension, which dates the text to before 206 bce. The B version is clearly later. Free from dots or markings, it is written in clerical script and avoids the personal names of Emperors Hui and Wen, Ying (r. 194–​188 bce), and Heng (r. 179–​157 bce). Still, neither have clear chapter divisions or punctuation, but show some double lines to indicate repeated words and some nail-​ shaped marks that may have been commas. In addition, the first part of A shows black dots in eighteen places that may have served to emphasize distinctive phrases, while those in the second part often match the beginning of chapters today. Both versions are replete with scribal errors as well as missing, overlapping, eroded, and erased words, necessitating the supplementation of characters from other, both earlier and later editions. However, some major variants to the standard edition are still obvious, such as, for example, using the word “today” instead of “old” in ­chapter 14, “Hold on to the Dao of today [of old] in order to master things today.” Overall, the Mawangdui find of the Daode jing in its complete form dates the redaction of the text to before the Han dynasty, allowing for a clearer understanding of its evolution.

Heshang Gong Emperor Wen (202–​157 bce), under whose reign the Mawangdui tombs were sealed, followed the combination of legal, cosmological,

38  Part One: The Text and Daoist thinking evidenced in the manuscript collection and favored the theories of the Daode jing, interpreted politically as a policy of nonaction or laissez-​faire. In addition, his wife, Empress Dou (d. 135 bce), not only had Daoist advisers but also placed great store in the text and practiced its recitation, for the first time calling it a “classic” or “scripture” (jing). Under her influence, her son, Emperor Jing (r. 156–​141 bce), issued an edict that recommended its regular chanting throughout the empire, raising its status from philosophical or political treatise to sacred text with magical and energy-​enhancing powers. Emperor Jing—​in some sources, his father, Emperor Wen—​ moreover, is famous for yet another event, his legendary encounter with the Daoist recluse Heshang Gong, the Master on the River. The story, as recorded in Ge Hong’s Shenxian zhuan as well as in other sources of the early centuries CE, has that he lived near the Yellow River and spent his time studying the Daode jing, to which he also wrote a commentary. As his fame spread, the emperor wished to consult him about the text. However, Heshang Gong refused the imperial summons. The emperor then personally rode out to pay him a visit. He said, “In all-​under-​Heaven, there is no place that does not belong to the ruler. Among all the people living in the world, there is not one who is not the ruler’s subject. There are four great things in the realm, and the ruler is one of these. You may have Dao, but you are still one of my subjects and cannot subsist independently. Why, then, do you behave with so much arrogance?” All of a sudden, the Master clapped his hands, sat down, then rose straight up into the air, hovering at several dozen feet. After a while, he looked down and said, “Above, I do not reach to the heavens, in the middle I do not become entangled with humanity, and below I do not live on the earth. How can I be considered one of your subjects?”

Chapter 2: Textual Development  39 The emperor finally understood that Heshang Gong was a divine personage. He sank to the ground, bowed his head, and apologized abjectly, describing himself as “ignorant and dumb” and begging the Master to give him a teaching. Heshang Gong promptly came down from his perch and handed the emperor a silk manuscript in two rolls, the Daode jing with his commentary, which he claimed to have written many years earlier and only transmitted to select few. “The emperor kowtowed to express his gratitude. When he looked up again, Heshang Gong had vanished.” A typical revelation legend, this story features the eccentric celestial disguised as a common hermit, who refuses to discuss his ideas and practices with ordinary people. The emperor appears as a humble student of Dao, who receives the sacred truth with the serious intention to change his life accordingly. The fruitful interaction of both then leads to the ruler’s higher attainment, which in turn causes a perfect government of the world. While this story places the Master in the early Han dynasty, the commentary associated with his name, the Heshang Gong zhangju (Chapters and Verses of the Master on the River, DZ 682), has been dated variously. An edition that contained all eighty-​one chapters in the standard order, it was the main version used in the middle ages. However, scholars of the Tang dynasty (618–​907 ce) considered the legend rather fanciful and discredited the work. Modern scholars date it from anywhere between the first century bce to the fifth century ce, ultimately placing it in a Han dynasty context, especially since its metaphysical and ontological conceptions do not deviate significantly from those of contemporaneous authors.

Standardization It is most likely, then, that the Daode jing as we know it was standardized and divided into chapters in the first century bce.

40  Part One: The Text At this time, another legendary figure arose, Yan Zun or Zhuang Zun (ca. 53–​24 bce), also known as Junping, a fortune-​teller in the markets of Chengdu (Sichuan). Especially versed in the divination of the Yijing (Book of Changes), he supposedly also venerated the Daode jing and wrote a commentary to it, the Daode zhigui (Pointers to the Dao and Virtue, DZ 693). Again subject to doubts in terms of dating but usually placed in a Han context, this emphasizes notions of stillness and simplicity, aloofness and withdrawal, seeing sagehood as the ideal realization of true humanity. Since Dao remains beyond being and nonbeing, the sage should remain unattached to either and follow truth, preferably the inner truth of Dao more so than the outer truth of the world. It divides the text into seventy-​two chapters, numerologically defined as representing yin (8)  interwoven perfectly with yang (9). The first part, in contrast to Mawangdui focusing on Dao, has forty chapters (yang = 8 × 5), while the second part, on de, has 32 (yin = 8 × 4). The division into eighty-​one chapters, then, is most likely also based on number speculation, reflecting the square of the major yang number nine. It may well go back to a senior scholar and editor working at the imperial court. As Liu Xin (ca. 50–​23 bce) notes in his Qilue (Seven Treatises), his father Liu Xiang (77–​6 bce) edited the work into two parts and eighty-​one chapters, consisting of thirty-​four plus forty-​seven, closer but not yet quite the same as the standard version which has thirty-​seven plus forty-​four. He also added the first chapter as an intentional introduction to the entire work and wrote a commentary, Shuo Laozi (Explaining Laozi), not extant today but listed in the bibliographical section of the Hanshu (History of the Han), by Ban Gu (32–​92 ce) together with equally lost commentaries by three other figures, called Lin, Fu, and Xu. Ge Hong, writing after this, prefers a more orthodox yang number of thirty-​six plus a yin number of forty-​five, while the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 713–​755 ce) associates each group of nine chapters with a particular theme: 1–​36 with the four seasons;

Chapter 2: Textual Development  41 37–​81 with the five Confucian virtues. Modern scholars acknowledge that, for the most part, chapter divisions reflect natural boundaries of the text as defined in terms of meaning, rhyme, and characteristic endings. That is to say, each chapter typically presents self-​contained ideas, follows one particularly rhyme scheme, and concludes with a summarizing statement, introduced with “therefore” or “thus.” However, in a few instances they disagree with the transmitted pattern, for example, merging ­chapters 5 and 6 as well as 67 and 68 into one and seeing ­chapter 25 as really containing two. In a number of other instances, they would take either the first or last line of a given chapter and affix it to the end or beginning of the previous or following one. While this may throw some light on more intricate readings of the text, it does nothing to distract from the established, standardized version, which goes back to Wang Bi.

Wang Bi Wang Bi (226–​249 ce) was a member of the aristocratic Wang clan, originally from Gaoping in Shanyang (Shandong), that brought forth a number of high officials in the Later Han dynasty (23–​220 ce), including also the renowned poet and literary collector Wang Can (177–​217 ce). The cousin of Wang Bi’s grandfather, he had two sons who got embroiled in a rebellious plot and were executed under the orders of the notorious warlord Cao Cao (155–​220 ce). Being without direct heirs, Wang Can became an honorary member of Wang Bi’s line, making his extensive library collection—​said to contain over ten thousand scrolls—​accessible to the young man. Born in the capital of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), Wang Bi was a precocious child, occasionally described as a youthful genius. He received a top-​notch education in the classics and had an exhaustible thirst for learning, excelling at all different literary skills but especially at disputation, a major intellectual activity among the ruling classes at the time. Known as Pure Talk (qingtan), it involved

42  Part One: The Text discussing passages from the classics in new and creative ways and systematically criticizing the interpretation of others. With his outstanding skills, even as a teenager Wang Bi came to the attention of He Yan (ca. 190–​249), most renowned disputer and head of the imperial department of personnel. A  high-​ranking aristocrat, he held frequent salons at his house, greatly enjoying the intellectual freedom of the time. Both Wang Bi and He Yan lived in a time of great transition. The Later Han dynasty had been plagued by disastrous circumstances—​ a succession of floods, droughts, locust plagues, famines, epidemics, and corrupt government—​for almost a century. As crops failed, people could no longer support themselves and were forced to give up their land and thus lost their livelihood. Local governments attempted to alleviate the situation by distributing food from public granaries, promising tax relief and lifting restrictions on hunting, fishing, and the use of government forests. However, before long the landless became too numerous for public support and there were frequent violent uprisings, not only militarizing the populace but also inspiring various religious and visionary movements. Some of these took Lord Lao, the deified Laozi, as their main god and started Daoism as an organized religion. One of these movements, known as the Way of Great Peace (Taiping dao), in 184 ce, rose in a major rebellion that hastened the demise of the dynasty. By 220 ce, shortly before Wang Bi’s birth, the central government dissolved and local warlords fought for supremacy, eventually leading to the founding of three separate kingdoms that were reunified by the Sima clan, founders of the Jin dynasty, in 265 ce. He Yan as much as Wang Bi’s relatives served in the successor state of Wei, ruled by the descendants of the warlord Cao Cao. However, their position was far from stable, and in 249 ce they were deposed by Sima Yi (179–​251 ce), when he took power in a coup d’état in preparation for his clan’s rise to power. He Yan and his closest associates were executed, while Wang Bi, only twenty-​four

Chapter 2: Textual Development  43 years old at the time and serving without great enthusiasm in a minor government function, succumbed to an infectious disease. Politically unstable, the time was yet one of high intellectual dynamics. The Han dynasty, desperately holding on to power, had massively restricted freedom of expression, and the only way intellectuals could give voice to their thoughts was by writing commentaries to the approved Confucian classics, criticizing with subterfuge and exercising great subtlety. Once this restriction was removed, the elite turned to alternative writings, notably of Daoist background, recovering older versions and simpler readings. This movement came to be known as Dark Learning or Mystery Learning (xuanxue), centering on the three “mysteries,” the Yijing, the Daode jing, and the Zhuangzi. It was characterized by a distance from current political issues, a rejection of scholastic hair-​splitting and intricate subtlety, and a strong tendency toward metaphysical and ontological speculation. Despite his youth, Wang Bi became a leading representative of this thought. Besides his commentary to the Daode jing (DZ 690) and a critical support of He Yan’s edition, he wrote an exegesis of the Yijing and two tracts on the structure of these works, including the Laozi zhilue (The Structure of the Laozi’s Pointers). The latter discusses the number and structure of the chapters, providing a formal explication of the inherent language patterns and overall organization of the work. In due course, his commentary to the Daode jing became the standard edition, also setting the stage for a metaphysical and less practical reading that made it one of the key philosophical documents of traditional China.

Further Readings Allan, Sarah, and Crispin Williams, eds. 2000. The Guodian Laozi. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies. Baxter, William H. 1998. “Situating the Language of the Lao-​tzu: The Probable Date of the Tao-​te-​ching.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ching, edited by Livia

44  Part One: The Text Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 231–​54. Albany: State University of New York Press. Boltz, William G. 1984. “Textual Criticism and the Ma-​wang-​tui Lao-​tzu.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 44:185–​224. Chai, David. 2018. Dao Companion to Neo-​Daoism. New York: Springer. Cook, Scott. 2012. The Bamboo Texts of Guodian:  A Study and Complete Translation. 2 vols. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Harper, Donald. 1998. Early Chinese Medical Manuscripts:  The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts. London: Wellcome Asian Medical Monographs. Henricks, Robert G. 1982. “On the Chapter Divisions in the Lao-​Tzu.” Bulletin of the School for Oriental and African Studies 45:501–​24. Henricks, Robert G. 1989. Te-​Tao ching:  A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-​wang-​tui Texts. New York: Ballantine. Henricks, Robert G. 2000. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching: A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian. New York: Columbia University Press. LaFargue, Michael. 1994. Tao and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching. Albany: State University of New York Press. Wagner, Rudolf. G. 2000. The Craft of a Chinese Commentator: Wang Bi on the Laozi. Albany: State University of New York Press. Wang, Zhongjiang. 2015. Daoism Excavated: Cosmos and Humanity in Early Manuscripts. Translated by Livia Kohn. St. Petersburg, FL: Three Pines Press.

3 Key Concepts Dao The graph for dao appears first in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions as composed of three semantic elements: a foot, a crossroads, and an ornamented eye signifying a head. The matching graph in the oracle bones consists of the character for “walk” plus the word for “long life,” which shows that dao in the early stages was related to choreographed or processional liturgies, a sense still present today in the word dao, “to pray.” In the pre-​philosophical period, dao had four meanings: a way to walk on (path), a way of doing things (art), to provide guidance on a path, and to give instruction on how to do something, that is, say or tell. It thus included the way of going or doing plus the accompanying action and the guidance needed. Under the impact of the early philosophers, beyond signifying both discourse and skilled practice, dao became the word of choice to designate a certain teaching or method, including complexes of skills plus transmission procedures from teacher to student, and discursive doctrines that expressed the personal or social functionality of a particular method. It was then used to describe the faculties, training methods, and social cultures of various closed professions, such as divination, metallurgy, and music. Confucius spoke of “my dao,” meaning a set system of instruction and practice that would lead to a particular sort of mastery. Mozi, in contrast, proposed dao as argument and reason, for which language was essential. There are, thus, as Chad Hansen has argued (1992), many normative daos or specific forms of guidance and discourse, that is, conventional, systematic patterns of behavior and

46  Part One: The Text techniques transmitted from master to disciple. While access to daos as skill mastery is not instinctive and cannot be found in animals, human beings have a natural disposition to behave according to a learned core of dao. The Daode jing is the first work to use the term in a more metaphysical way: The Dao that can be told is not the constant Dao. The name that can be named is not the constant name. The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The named is the mother of the myriad beings. Always remain free from desires, And you can see its wonder. Always cherish desires, And you can only observe its outcome. Both these develop together, but have different names, They are part of the mystery. Mysterious and more mysterious—​ The gate of all wonders. (ch. 1)

With this opening statement, the text claims that, beyond all the various daos of mastery and discourse, there is an essence or source of life, an inherent way of being, a flowing process of existence that underlies all. It is empty and open, inexhaustible, deep and abysmal, mysterious and ubiquitous, all powerful, profound, and the root of all creation, the ancestor of all beings. As the text says, Dao is empty. Use it, and it will never overflow; Abysmal it is—​the ancestor of all beings. Blunting blades, opening knots, Joining light, merging with dust. Profound it is—​like something eternal. I do not know whose child is it. Its appearance precedes the gods. (ch. 4)

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  47 In addition, Dao is beyond all ordinary perception, infinite, vast, eternal, abstruse, formless, boundless, impossible to experience, grasp, describe, analyze, or transmit. Look at it and do not see it: Call it invisible. Listen to it and do not hear it: Call it inaudible. Touch it and do not feel it: Call it subtle. These three cannot be better understood, They merge and become one. Infinite and boundless, it cannot be named. It belongs to where there are no beings. It may be called the shape of no-​shape, It may be called the form of no-​form. Call it vague and obscure. Meet it, yet you cannot see its head, Follow it, yet you cannot see its back. Grasp Dao of old and control existence now. Know the beginnings of old—​ And have a thread to Dao. (ch. 14)

The text also emphasizes its place at the very root of creation, at the center of the cosmos, its constancy or unchanging nature, its role as the mother of all creation. There is a being, in chaos yet complete. It precedes Heaven and Earth. Silent it is, and solitary; Standing alone, it never changes. It moves around, yet never ends. It can be considered the mother of Heaven and Earth. I do not know its name. I call it Dao.

48  Part One: The Text Forced to call it something, I speak of great. Great, it functions everywhere. Functioning everywhere, it is far-​reaching. Far-​reaching, it returns [to the origin]. (ch. 25)

Dao is thus at the beginning of creation, always empty yet never exhausted. While performance daos are indeterminate and vary with place, time, social setting, and the individual, cosmic Dao is a force or pattern pervading all existence, a perpetuum mobile that does not depend on anything. Essentially immanent, it can never become the object of knowing. Part of the realm beyond color, sound, and form before there are things, it is free from distinctions, values, and borders. Not a material substance or even energy, it is a process of circular movement, blending and coalescing forces, so that vitality can gush forth in continuous emergence. Yet it is also part of all existence, pervading and flowing through all life, all nature, all beings. “Dao is the storehouse of all things, the good man’s treasure and the bad man’s refuge” (ch. 62). Benjamin Schwartz (1998) describes Dao as “organic order.” Dao is organic in the sense that it is part of the world and not a transcendent other as in Western religions; it is also order because it can be felt in the rhythms of the world, in the manifestation of organized patterns. Cheng Chung-​ying (2004) explains the dimensions of Dao in terms of language: cosmic Dao is pre-​language, whole, and circular; representational Dao is communicable, partial, and linear. Isabelle Robinet (1996) and Max Kaltenmark (1969) speak of it as both visible and invisible, transcendent and immanent, latent but not beyond, the continuous flow of experience coming into being. One way to think of Dao, apparent also in later religious literature, is as two concentric circles, a smaller one in the center and a larger on the periphery. The dense, smaller circle in the center is Dao at the root of creative change—​tight, concentrated, intense, and ultimately unknowable, ineffable, and beyond human

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  49 perception. The larger circle on the periphery is Dao as it appears in the world, the patterned cycle of life and visible nature, manifest in concrete beings and their dynamic unfolding, a level of Dao people can study and adopt. Great Dao is all pervasive! Found on left and right. The myriad beings depend on it. It gives birth to them, Yet is never stingy. It completes its work, Yet does not claim possession. It clothes and nurtures all beings, Yet does not lord over them: We can call it small. The myriad beings return to it, Never acknowledging it as their master: We can call it great. It never, to the very end, thinks of itself as great. Thus, it can fulfill its greatness. (ch. 34)

Cosmic Unfolding The transition from Dao at the root of creation to its manifestation in life occurs in a dynamic process of cosmic unfolding from unity to multiplicity that took place at the beginning of creation and is still ongoing as a continuous dynamic. As the text says, Dao gives birth to one. One gives birth to two. Two give birth to three. Three give birth to the myriad beings. The myriad beings contain yin and embrace yang

50  Part One: The Text And through the blending of vital energy [qi] They achieve harmony. (ch. 42)

Similarly, the Zhuangzi says, “In the Great Beginning there was nonbeing. There was no being, no name. Out of it oneness arose. Then there was oneness, but there was no form. Beings realize it and come to life. It is called their life-​force” (ch. 12). The Yijing, too, describes the complexity of the world in terms of primordial oneness that divides into yang (undivided line) and yin (divided line), which then intermingle to form different patterns and thereby develop the multifaceted forms of reality (see Fig. 3). The first step from Dao into creation, then, is oneness or the One (yi). Just like Dao it later comes to be venerated as a deity, called the Great One (Taiyi), placed both among the stars and in the human

Fig. 3.  The dynamic interaction of yin and yang. Source: Engraving at Laozi’s birthplace in Luyi. Photography by Helene Minot, 2011. Used by permission.

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  51 body. A transformation of Dao, still primordial but closer to the created world, it represents highest unity, the ultimate ancestor of everything, the formless omnipresent integration of the cosmos. Unifying all things that exist, oneness, as Roger Ames notes (1986), is not a material or visible entity, neither is it a potent creator, a metaphysical reality, a number that initiates all numbers, or a single entity opposite to the many. Rather, signifying unity, uniformity, and nonduality, it is a fundamental quality of Dao, designating togetherness, integration, the sum total of all things. It is the not-​ quite-​something all things have in common that binds the universe together. Adjectives associated with oneness include all-​round, whole, combined, equal, and equivalent as well as together and pervasive or open. This underlying power of oneness is what makes things and people what they are in the greater scheme of the universe. Accordingly, the Daode jing formulates cosmic unfolding in terms of “obtaining” oneness: Heaven obtains oneness and is clear. Earth obtains oneness and is firm. Spirit obtains oneness and is potent. The Valley obtains oneness and is full. All beings obtain oneness and live and grow. (ch. 39)

Close to water as the source of all life, oneness relates to the winter solstice, the point of cosmic renewal in the annual cycle. It matches the underlying nonbeing of the world, the central pole of the cosmos, the hub of the wheel and essential quietude that allows people to let the world move around them without involvement or attachment. The Daode jing encourages a mind of oneness: “Make your spirit and material souls embrace oneness and not be separate” (ch. 10). An attitude free from attachment, obsession, dualism, dogmatism, prejudice, and discrimination, this represents a thorough openness to and for all that exists, later expressed in the

52  Part One: The Text classic religious Daoist saying: “Knowing how to guard the One, the myriad affairs are done!” Another way of expressing the same idea is to follow the natural patterns of the visible universe, described in terms of Heaven and Earth (tiandi), the ultimate representatives of yin and yang and the “two” in the cosmogony of the Daode jing. These two designate the world in its entirety, the way the myriad beings interrelate, the patterns inherent in the cosmos, the ongoing dynamic processes of nature. From the perspective of cosmic unfolding, Heaven emerges from original primordiality of Dao, generated by oneness, while Earth comes next and emerges from Heaven. Their generation is successive and they occupy different spaces, above and below, yet they maintain a close dynamic relationship, continuously exchanging and revolving. The Daode jing compares them to a bellows, an enclosed yet open space that breathes in continuous movement and brings forth qi. It notes that they are “empty, yet never bent; active, yet reaching ever farther” (ch. 5). Entirely beyond human entreaties, they remain impartial and indifferent. “Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they take the myriad beings as mere straw dogs” (ch. 5). At the core of life and quite powerful entities, they are yet subject to the universal law of ebb and flow, yin and yang. A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; A sudden rain does not last for the whole day. Who makes it so? Heaven and Earth. If even Heaven and Earth cannot make them last How much less can human beings? (ch. 23) Heaven and Earth join together And send down sweet dew. Without human directions, It naturally reaches everywhere. (ch. 32)

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  53 Interacting smoothly, they intermingle yin and yang energies in creative harmony, the “three” of the Daode jing, and thereby bring forth the myriad beings (wanwu), all the manifold things and various living creatures that occupy the planet.

Natural Dynamics All these beings are similarly subject to the inherent energy dynamics of yin and yang, beginning and ending, rising and falling, opening and closing, and so on. The never-​ceasing interaction of dynamic opposites, part on the inherently interdependent, complementary structure of all beings, finds expression in conflict and mutual overcoming, as well as enhancement. Echoing the core teachings of the Yin-​Yang Cosmologists, the Daode jing expresses this with the term “reversal” (fan): Heaven’s way, it is not like stretching a bow: Anything high, it brings down; Anything low, it raises up. Anything excessive, it reduces; Anything insufficient, it supplements. (ch. 77) Reversal is the action of Dao; Weakness is its function. All things in the world come from being; Being comes from nonbeing. (ch. 40)

Everything in the world, in other words, follows a natural pattern of inherent balancing and cyclical transformation; all things depend on each other and change with, through, and into one another. They arise and take form by being (you), yet they also rely on the latent, immanent, and invisible power of nonbeing (wu), the dark, germinating, mysterious potency beyond tangible life. So

54  Part One: The Text interwoven are their states that there is no telling which is first and which is second, which gives rise and which is born. Mutual circulation is ubiquitous and omnipotent. Being and nonbeing produce each other; Difficult and easy complete each other; Long and short contrast each other; High and low distinguish each other; Sound and voice harmonize with each other; Front and back follow each other. (ch. 2)

The Daode jing takes this yet one step further and provides guidelines of how best to live with the universal law of circulation, emphasizing that nothing ever stays the same and that it may often be necessary to move in one direction in order to reach another. To contract something, first expand it; To weaken something, first strengthen it; To destroy something, first let it flourish; To get hold of something, first give it away. (ch. 36) To yield is to become whole; To bend is to become straight; To empty is to become full; To let go is to become new; To lessen is to possess; To have plenty is to be perplexed. Thus, the sage embraces oneness And becomes the model for the world. (ch. 22)

Reflecting a particular way of working with the ongoing cycles of the interaction of opposites, this acknowledges that each of the myriad beings has its own inherent nature and unique characteristics, forming the foundation of their distinctions and differences

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  55 while giving expression to their multiplicity. Their mutual relationships, then, are redundant and repetitive, as they realize themselves in a complex process of incessant reproduction and never-​ending transformation. As a result, it is important to think ahead and begin with baby steps. Prepare for what is difficult while it is still easy. Deal with the great while it is still minute. Difficult undertakings in the world Always start by working on the easy. Great undertakings in the world Always start by working on the minute. Therefore, the sage never strives for the great, And for this reason he can complete the great. (ch. 63) Deal with things before they appear; Put things in order before disorder arises. . . . He who takes vigorous action fails; He who grasps things loses them. For this reason, the sage takes no action And therefore does not fail. (ch. 64)

To be able to work with the inherent dynamics and latent nature of things, moreover, it is important to see beyond their face value. Being in a constant process of unfolding, this often are not entirely what they seem. Great completion seems to be incomplete, yet its utility is unimpaired. Great fullness seems to be empty, yet its usefulness in inexhaustible. Great skill seems to be clumsy; Great eloquence seems to stutter; Great straightness seems to be crooked. (ch. 45)

56  Part One: The Text This encourages people to fully appreciate the constant flow of life and never ceasing movement of reversal, to look beyond the obvious and see the deeper dimensions of life. They thereby appreciate the inherent power of unfolding while recognizing the tendency of the world to pigeon-​hole and classify things on the basis of their appearance.

Self-​Being Another way of expressing this is through the key concept of self-​ being (ziran), often also rendered naturalness or spontaneity. Self-​ being is the inherent tendency and spontaneous activity that makes all things what they are, the infinite flux of ever-​becoming nature, through which everything arises and ceases and cannot help but be what it is. Functioning as an attribute of all beings and describing how they are just as they are of themselves, self-​being means commonality but not uniformity, togetherness but not identity. As the Zhuangzi says, “Heaven cannot help but be high; Earth cannot help but be broad; sun and moon cannot help but revolve; the myriad beings cannot help but flourish” (ch. 22). By the same token, the Daode jing has, Heaven is eternal and Earth is everlasting. The reason why they can be eternal and everlasting Is that they do not live for themselves. Therefore, they can be eternal and everlasting. (ch. 7)

This means that in order to be fully functioning, Heaven and Earth and also all beings must live within their self-​nature, which changes over time and may be viewed differently, yet they must function in a way that goes beyond selfish desires or limited purposes, ranging into wider realms, which alone gives them the ability to fulfill themselves and endure. On the other hand, if they ever “exceed their

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  57 positions,” they become self-​centered and this will “not allow them to match each other,” leading to a loss of the ability to go on forever. The term “self-​being” does not occur often in the Daode jing. It notes that “Dao models itself on self-​being” (ch. 25) and that its virtue “is not due to some outside command, but rests in constant self-​being” (ch. 51). The text also states that the sage ruler “can support the self-​being of the myriad beings and never needs to act” (ch. 64), that when he does his work and is successful, the people will say, “We did all this by self-​being” (ch. 17). However, the text further emphasizes different dimensions of self-​being, leading to an entire string of natural or “self ” activities:  transforming, ordering, stabilizing, submitting, balancing, flourishing, righting, completing, acting, producing, and so on. These terms show additional aspects of the spontaneous, natural self-​being of things. Its key point is that all beings originally flow through life smoothly and spontaneously, naturally unfolding and instinctively acting in the world, functioning in perfect harmony with their unique needs and specific life situations. Getting caught up in oppositional thinking and strife for fame, wealth, and position, they lose track of their own inner self-​being and derail from their originally harmonious alignment with oneness; in other words, they lose virtue.

Virtue Virtue (de), then, is the original inherent potency of Dao as it flows through individual beings. The character consists of the radical on the left, which means “to move ahead,” combined on the right with “heart” at the bottom, “eye” in the middle, and a slanted cross at the top, thus indicating personal unfolding in a particular direction. Besides the most common rendition of “virtue,” it is also translated as power, moral force, inherent integrity, virtuosity, excellence, integrity, efficacy, or charisma. The personal capacity

58  Part One: The Text for the proper course of action in Dao, it is, as Roger Ames says (1986), the “arising of the particular in a process vision of existence, the unfolding of a sui generis focus of potency that embraces and determines conditions within the range of particularity.” The word occurs first, without the character for “heart,” on the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty, where it indicated the psychic power or influence of one person over people and nature. Virtue at this point was the quality or psychic energy, especially in the king, that ancestral spirits would perceive, approve, and reward. It could be enhanced and increased by self-​denial or sacrifice, or by doing something selfless on behalf of others. Based on restraint of oneself, it would give rise to power over others, linking self-​control and moral action with authority and charisma. In the bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou, the word was first written with “heart” and seen more as a mental activity and interior force. Still bestowed by divine powers but expanded beyond the royal realm, is was then accessible to everyone and connected to social virtues, such as filial obedience. To garner and enhance it, one should avoid force, practice personal self-​restraint, be humble, generous, and dutiful. In the Warring States, Confucians adopted the concept, placing it even more firmly into the mind of the individual. Enhanced by the practice of specific “virtues,” such as benevolence and righteousness, propriety and wisdom, it would determine the innermost character of a person. If pursued with an ulterior motive, subjected to thoughts of reward and punishment, it might result in negative attitudes, such as egotism and bigotry. If fully developed, on the other hand, it would produce a complementary response in others and the society around them in the form of moral charisma, thus creating overall goodness in the world. “If you desire what is good [with virtue], the people at once will be good,” as David Nivison points out (1996). Virtue was then linked with Dao and came to mean its presence in a particular being, the inherent power that enables it to be alive, intelligent, and connected with others.

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  59 The Daode jing echoes this understanding but makes virtue more cosmic and links it with Dao: “Dao produces the myriad beings, virtue nurtures them, matter gives them form, circumstances complete them” (ch. 51). While Dao is the defining condition and underlying force of the universe, virtue is its particular aspect, its auto-​generative, self-​construed arising in the world. It is the potency of an individual substance, thing, being, or person to be inherently and truly itself, connected intimately to Dao. The Zhuangzi illustrates this in the story about the pigs: Confucius notices piglets nursing at the body of their dead mother. “After a while they gave a start and all ran away and left her. . . . They loved not her body but the thing that moved her body” (ch. 5), that is, her virtue. Virtue here is closely connected to natural self-​being, part of the flow of existence that can be cultivated by moving closer to the flow of Dao but will suffer from the practice of specific, doctrinally defined and formally prescribed “virtues.” As the text has, Only when Dao is lost Does the doctrine of virtue arise. Only when virtue is lost Does the doctrine of benevolence arise. Only when benevolence is lost Does the doctrine of righteousness arise. Only when righteousness is lost Does the doctrine of propriety arise. Propriety is a superficial expression of loyalty and good faith: The beginning of disorder. (ch. 38)

Virtue as the concrete particularization and psychological internalization of Dao is, therefore, the psychophysical state that occurs when living beings match the flow of Dao and behave according to their self-​being. When virtue stands out, bodily form is disregarded; when it fills the heart, Heaven is complete within. As the Zhuangzi notes, “Virtue will be your beauty, Dao will be your home” (ch. 22).

60  Part One: The Text One way to describe this connection of the two is, as Chad Hansen says (1992), to see Dao as a computer program, while virtue is the internal, electrical state of the computer which has been programmed. The human effort at making virtue complete is like the translation of the program into the computer system: it determines how well the computer executes the program, requiring consistent debugging so that the program is translated accurately into patterns of action. Human efforts and practices, as well as life’s hardships and challenges, therefore, are the channels by which Dao is activated as virtue within. This, in turn, spreads from the individual to the world: When one cultivates virtue in one’s person, it becomes genuine. When one cultivates virtue in one’s family, it becomes overflowing. When one cultivates virtue in one’s community, it becomes lasting. When one cultivates virtue in one’s state, it becomes abundant. When one cultivates virtue in the world, it becomes universal. (ch. 54)

Images and Metaphors The Daode jing uses a number of different metaphors to express the nature of Dao, virtue, and self-​being. Most potent among them are water, valley, and the feminine—​all three in ancient China not only key factors of fertility and reproduction, but also understood to be soft, weak, humble, and containing. To begin, water is the life-​giving force per se, making up a large portion of the human body and providing the necessary impetus for crops to grow and life to develop. “Dao in the world is like rivers and streams running into the sea” (ch. 32). From the tiny trickles of rainwater through pools, lakes, and rivers all the way to the ocean, it pervades the earth and connects to the heavens, flowing widely and

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  61 smoothly and bringing goodness and vitality wherever it reaches. Dao is perfectly good, and goodness is like water. Highest goodness is like water. Water is good: It benefits the myriad beings and never competes. It resides in places that people disdain, Thus it is close to Dao. A dwelling in goodness is near the earth; The mind in goodness is an abyss. Words in goodness are trustworthy; Uprightness in goodness is order. Service in goodness is competent; Activities in goodness are timely. Only by not competing Can one be without reproach. (ch. 8)

The soft, weak, and fluid nature of water makes it immensely powerful: “There is nothing softer and weaker than water, and yet there is nothing better for attacking hard and strong things” (ch. 78). Softness, openness, and fluidity succeed where strength and force only create more obstacles. The same holds also true for the mind in Dao, which should be clear and gentle, free and fluid, like an abyss of deep water that can be both swirling and still. As the Zhuangzi has it, the sagely mind is all water—​running, gurgling, springing, whirling, eddying, and so on (ch. 7). The river of life itself, it is Dao as it flows in us and through us, and we merge with it in vastness. Closely related to the image of water is that of the valley, most prominently present in the phrase, “The valley spirit does not die: it is called the subtle and profound female” (ch. 6). The text identifies it as “the root of Heaven and Earth, continuous, always existing.” The valley is thus yet another image for Dao as the core power of the universe that is invisible, latent, and deep. Being like a valley, one can be open and broad (ch. 15), humble and supporting yet

62  Part One: The Text glorious, “proficient in eternal virtue” (ch. 28). Virtue, moreover, is just like a valley—​it appears low, unstable, and empty (ch. 41) while yet containing highest potency. This same image combining humility and softness with immense power is also expressed in the Daode jing’s understanding of femininity—​expressed with various words signifying the female among animals such as pin (chs. 6, 55, 62), written with the word for “cattle,” and ci (chs. 10, 28), with the “bird” radical. Both, as well as also the “mysterious female” and the black ox Laozi rode into emigration, played an important role in Shang sacrificial culture, generally protected to preserve the life stock and killed in limited numbers to keep the herd contained. While protecting the female forms a part of agricultural resource management, the Daode jing also links the image with the dominant culture of the Warring States period, which follows Yin-​Yang thinking and associate action, movement, transformation, and expansion with yang, while linking structure, quietude, stability, and contraction with yin. By extension, yang and thus the male equals valor, courage, hardness, initiative, and the giving of orders, while yin and thus the female finds expression in humility, letting go, softness, submission and obedience. Working within this framework, the Daode jing describes Dao as the “mother of the universe” (ch. 25)  that nurtures all yet remains subtle, submissive, soft, and weak. Dao as mother is where all beings come from and to which they all return, the invisible, deep, dark, and mysterious source of the universe, the all-​embracing and nurturing core at the root of all. The womb of the cosmos that brings forth and supports everything, it is a single, integrated organism. People who attain Dao consequently have total trust in it as their universal mother. There was a beginning of the world Which may be called its mother. He who has found the mother

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  63 Thereby understands her sons [all beings]. Having understood the sons, If he still keeps to the mother, He will be free from danger throughout life. (ch. 52)

Resting in the bosom of Mother Dao, one can allow all changes and transformations—​even death—​to happen naturally. One stays in the mother’s position at the mysterious center, where, as Ellen Marie Chen points out (1974), “things at the same time emerge into the activities of life and return to the quietude of death.” In addition to giving and nurturing, Dao in this vision is feminine in that it manifests as stillness, passivity, darkness, emptiness, and withdrawal. The Daode jing exalts this shadowy, submissive side of the female as a way to overcome and balance the dominant yang mode of the world. At the same time, it never goes beyond the link of femininity with repressive values of chastity, modesty, and meekness—​criticizing the mainstream way of being yet following its fundamental dichotomies. Thus it says, “He who knows the male and keeps to the female becomes the ravine of the world. Being the ravine of the world, he will never depart from constant virtue and recover a state of infancy” (ch. 28). Infancy, then, is yet another image that implies small size and helplessness combined with a high degree of potency, vibrant and invulnerable. In a different dimension, the Daode jing also provides several metaphors and images to express the dynamic interaction and mutual interdependence of things. For one, it points out the natural tendency that big things come from small beginnings, the inherent law of growth visible and predictable in all things, showing it with several examples from nature: A tree as big as a man’s embrace grows from a tiny shoot. A tower of nine stories rises from a heap of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. (ch. 64) (See Fig. 4.)

64  Part One: The Text

Fig. 4.  Modern sign with ancient saying. Source: In temple complex at Laozi’s birthplace in Luyi. Photography by Helene Minot, 2011. Used by permission.

For another, it emphasizes that greatness inevitably reverts back to smallness, that truly great things go beyond ordinary measurements and appear different, faint, or minute: A great square has no corners; great music has faint sound. A great symbol has no form; a great vessel is without bounds (ch. 41)

To which the Guodian version adds: Great innocence is like blame; Great completion is like lack. Great fullness is like an open bowl; Great skill is like clumsiness.

Chapter 3: Key Concepts  65 Great expansion is like contraction; Great straightness is as if bent.

In addition, the text notes that in many respects the latent, open, and empty space, where something is not, its “nonbeing,” is what renders a particular item useful and relevant. Thirty spokes make a wheel, But what is left empty gives it utility. Clay is molded to form a vessel, But what is left empty gives it utility. Doors and windows are cut to make a room, But what is left empty gives it utility. Therefore, having things creates benefit, But leaving parts empty creates utility. (ch. 11)

In other words, the object itself has use only due to the dynamic interaction of solidity and emptiness, of firm structure combined with fluidity. Thinking of practical things in this manner opens the mind to the inherent dynamic of opposites and encourages an appreciation of what is not there, of openness and emptiness, of latency and potentiality. Going beyond immediate practicality, the Daode jing then links inherent nonbeing of the vessel with the way the universe works, comparing Heaven and Earth to a bellows (ch. 5). It further relates it to the best way to govern, noting that subtlety and care provide better results than forceful action, quite in line with its well-​known maxim, “Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish” (ch. 60). It says, Those who desire to take over the world—​ I have never seen them succeed. The world is a sacred vessel: it should not be acted on. Act on it, and you will ruin it; hold on to it, and you will lose it. (ch. 29)

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Further Readings Ames, Roger T. 1986. “Tao and the Nature of Nature.” Environmental Ethics 8:317–​50. Ames, Roger T., and David L. Hall. 2003. Daode jing:  A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine. Barnwell, Scott A. 2013. The Evolution of the Concept of De in Early China. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Sino-​Platonic Papers 235. Boileau, Giles. 2013. “The Sage Unbound: Ritual Metaphors in the Daode jing.” Daoism: Religion, History and Society 5:1–​56. Chen, Ellen Marie. 1974. “Tao as the Great Mother and the Influence of Motherly Love in the Shaping of Chinese Philosophy.” History of Religions 14.1:51–​64. Cheng, Chung-​ying. 2004. “Dimensions of the Dao and Onto-​Ethics in Light of the Daode jing.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 31.2:143–​82. Hansen, Chad. 1992. A Taoist Theory of Chinese Thought. New York: Oxford University Press. Kaltenmark, Max. 1969. Lao-​tzu and Taoism. Stanford:  Stanford University Press. Lau, D. C. 1958. “The Treatment of Opposites in Lao Tzu.” Bulletin of the School for Oriental and African Studies 21:344–​60. Michael, Thomas. 2005. The Pristine Dao:  Metaphysics in Early Daoist Discourse. Albany: State University of New York Press. Moeller, Hans-​Georg. 2006. The Philosophy of the Daode jing. New  York: Columbia University Press. Nivison, David S. 1996. “‘Virtue’ in Bone and Bronze.” In The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy, by David S. Nivison, edited by Bryan W. van Norden, 17–​30. La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishing. Robinet, Isabelle. 1996. Lao zi et le Tao. Paris: Bayard Editions. Schwartz, Benjamin. 1998. “The Thought of the Daode jing.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 189–​210. Albany: State University of New York Press. Yan, Hektor K. T. 2009. “A Paradox of Virtue: The Daode jing on Virtue and Moral Philosophy.” Philosophy East and West 59.2:173–​87.

4 Social Application Nonaction Nonaction (wuwei) is a key quality of Dao itself: “Dao rests constantly in nonaction, and there is nothing that is not done” (ch. 37). Also described as natural action, detached responsiveness, perpetual creativity, or perfect congruence, this is not inaction. Rather, Dao nourishes, sustains, and fulfills, essentially and invariably action-​in-​itself, able to support the myriad beings without owning or manipulating them. It gives birth to them, but does not own them; It acts on them, but does not make them dependent; It grows them, but it does not master them. (ch. 51)

Applied to humanity, nonaction is a way of doing without pushing, acting without impacting, free from artifice and not willful, constantly in spontaneous response, always allowing things to transform of themselves. The realization of perfect self-​ being or spontaneity in practical living, it is a way of doing things out of personal harmony, so that, in the words of Edward Slingerland (2003), “actions flow freely from one’s spontaneous inclinations without the need for extended deliberation or inner struggle.” An inherently active letting-​be of everything in the world, it is overall and unobtrusive, effortless yet responsive, opening to the spontaneous mutual adjustment among the many elements and forces. As the text says,

68  Part One: The Text Act without action, Deal without affairs, Taste without flavors. Take big things and make them small. Many easy things inevitably grow to be difficult. Thus, the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, And to the end is without difficulties. (ch. 63)

Nonaction means doing nothing in the sense of leaving life, the universe, and everything free to make its complex coordinations, to do the work they need to do. Not at all the same as indifference or relaxation, it is a form of action that does not force but works by yielding, taking the most appropriate action under any given set of circumstances. The opposite of mastery, control, and conquest, it is a way of letting go of limiting concerns, imposed plans, and outside values in favor of moving along with a strong inner sense of where life is headed. A concrete example, as pointed out by Liu Xiaogan (1998) would be a farmer in the process of modernization—​he moves along with the times and makes best use of available methods as his means permit, avoiding all forceful actions that go against the natural flow. To reach this mode of action, it is best to keep life and mind simple, to get away from complex calculations and dichotomous evaluations. He who acts for learning increases daily. He who acts for Dao diminishes daily. Diminishing and again diminishing, He attains nonaction. Acting in nonaction, There is nothing that is not done. (ch. 48)

It involves a certain level of paradox: one cannot intentionally act without intention, nor can one go with Heaven’s flow unless one is

Chapter 4: Social Application  69 already internally connected to it. This is resolved by understanding nonaction as the quality of action rather than as a state of mind—​as one is free from intention yet connected to heaven, action comes to flow naturally. Thus, nonaction allows people to remain at the edge of chaos where they can function at the highest dynamic activity while still maintaining structure and integrity—​neither in total randomness nor in a frozen realm, neither frantic nor stoic, neither too yang nor too yin. Resting in the calm center of all life, the pivot of Dao, people in nonaction serve as nature’s conduit, preserving balance in tension and allowing new dimensions to emerge, revert, and again emerge (Liu 1999). The prime conduit in the Daode jing is the sage ruler, the central figure of government who rests in nonaction, while his subjects, the myriad beings, are supposed to behave according to their self-​ being. Nonaction, then, means that the ruler does not make use of his sovereign position to do anything or interfere with the life and work of the people. Serving in an attitude of reign but not rule, rather than setting up laws, limitations, and taboos, the sage ruler should “rest in affairs without action and practice the teaching without words” (ch. 2). Matching the patterns of natural development, carefully observing the world and closely aware of the interchange of opposites and the principle of reversal, just by being as he is, the sage ruler channels the energies of Heaven and Earth and allows everything in the world to unfold perfectly (see Fig. 5) (Smith 1990).

Social Reality This stands in stark contrast to—​and is meant as a remedy for—​the social reality of the time, which was characterized by violence and suffering on a massive scale. While the Daode jing does not mention specific people, times, or places, it makes reference to the state

70  Part One: The Text

Fig. 5.  “Dao follows naturalness.” Source: Plaque on Laojunshan near Luoyang. Photograph by the author, 2014.

of the world in a number of passages. For example, it acknowledges the close connection between war and famine: The use of force usually brings revenge. Wherever armies are stationed, briers and thorns grow. Great wars are always followed by famines. (ch. 30)

It also describes the luxuries of aristocratic lifestyle, based on the exploitation of the populace: The courts are exceedingly splendid, While the fields are exceedingly weedy

Chapter 4: Social Application  71 And the granaries are exceedingly empty. Elegant clothes are worn, Sharp weapons are carried. Food and drink are enjoyed beyond limit, Wealth and treasures accumulated in excess. (ch. 53)

In contrast, the people are suffering and disillusioned to the point where they do not care anymore whether they live or die, facing starvation and constant oppression. The people are not afraid of death. Why, then, threaten them with death? . . . The people starve Because the ruler eats too much tax-​grain. Therefore, they starve. They are difficult to rule Because the ruler does too many things. Therefore, they are difficult to rule. The people take death lightly Because the ruler strives for life too vigorously. Therefore, they take death lightly. (ch. 74)

The structure of the suppression, moreover, has to do with the opposite of nonaction, that is, strong interfering measures, expressed here in terms of increasingly burdensome laws, taboos, intrigues, and violent assaults. Not only do “violent people not die a natural death” (ch. 42), but The more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world, The poorer the people will be. The more sharp weapons the people have, The more troubled the state will be. The more cunning and craftiness individuals possess, The more vicious things will appear.

72  Part One: The Text The more laws and orders are issued, The more thieves and robbers there will be. (ch. 57)

Another aspect of this trend toward decline from a state of harmony in Dao is the development of conscious, intentional virtues—​ as opposed to the pure virtue or inner potency of Dao. Therefore, when Great Dao was lost, There were benevolence and righteousness. When the six relationships were no longer in harmony, There were filial piety and parental caring. When states and clans fell into disorder, There were loyalty and serving ministers. (ch. 18)

The same sentiment is also expressed in c­ hapter 38, where the loss of Dao precipitates the arising of the idea of virtue, and the loss of virtue leads to the arising of benevolence, followed in due course by righteousness, propriety, and loyalty—​all formal attitudes and outward oriented tendencies that create alienation from Dao. Another passage accordingly advises the abandonment of explicitly Confucian values such as sageliness, wisdom, benevolence, and righteousness (ch. 19). The Guodian C version replaces these with knowledge and discrimination, skill and profit, ingenuity and deception as the key culprits, indicating a similar base position but with less Confucian content.

Sufficiency The root of the problem, including even the establishment of formal virtues, moreover, lies in having strong desires. Thus, the very first chapter notes, “Constantly free from desires, one can observe the mystery; constantly having desires, one can [merely] observe

Chapter 4: Social Application  73 the manifestations.” Not only that, desires and greed precipitate disasters, misfortune, and misery (Roth 1991). When Dao prevails in the world, Galloping horses are turned back to fertilize the fields. When Dao does not prevail in the world, War horses thrive in the suburbs. There is no calamity greater Than not knowing when it is enough. There is no disaster greater Than having desires for gain. He who knows when it is enough Always rests in sufficiency. (ch. 46) Intense attachments cause great waste. Heavy hoarding leads to great loss. Knowing when it is enough, One is free from shame. Knowing when to stop, One is free from danger. Thus one can live long. (ch. 44)

The active countermeasure is to know when to stop (zhizhi), know when it is enough (zhizu), be free from desires (wuyu), and practice moderation (se)—​all terms that express the fundamental idea of sufficiency, the mental attitude at the root of the behavioral mode of nonaction. Sufficiency is a sense of there being enough, the innate feeling how material objects, money, goods, and even relationships move through life in a current, constantly coming and going yet always providing just the right amount. Echoing numerous modern studies that have shown how income contributes to subjective well-​ being but, once people have basic security through food and shelter,

74  Part One: The Text soon becomes a burden, and how the active pursuit of wealth is toxic to happiness, the Daode jing emphasizes that for Dao, life, and society to flourish it essential that people get over the urge to accumulate and overcome the mindset of scarcity. Sufficiency thus is not a quantity or an amount, a gauge of wealth in relation to poverty or abundance, but an experience, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough. It is also a key way to rule successfully and accumulate virtue. To rule the people and serve heaven, Nothing is better than moderation. Being moderate, One can quickly recover [one’s original state]. Quickly recovering, One can heavily accumulate virtue. Accumulating virtue, One can overcome everything. Overcoming everything, There are no more limits. No more limits, One is fit to rule the state. (ch. 59; also ch. 65)

By being frugal and moderate and resting in sufficiency, the sage therefore accumulates so much virtue or inherent potency of Dao that he becomes like Dao or heaven itself, reaching a state where no one knows his limits. This, in turn, is a central qualification for successful rulership, which duly manifests in spreading sufficiency among the populace, creating an ethical and harmonious society (Ching 1997). As the text notes, Do not exalt the worthy, And the people will not compete. Do not value rare goods, And the people will not steal.

Chapter 4: Social Application  75 Do not display desirable objects, And the people’s hearts will not be troubled. (ch. 3)

In other words, people under the guidance of the sage ruler cherish their uniqueness and fulfill their particular destiny in relation to Dao and Heaven. Relaxed and at ease, yielding and withdrawing, they can be at peace within and do good in society, consuming what they need while always knowing what is right for them and never desiring more. The Zhuangzi illustrates this attitude in Yan Hui’s answer to Confucius’s question, “Why don’t you get a job?” I don’t want a job. I  have eight acres of fields outside the city wall, enough for vegetables and grain. I also have an acre and a half of farmland nearby, which gives me enough silk and hemp. Strumming my zither is enough to give me pleasure, studying Dao with you is enough to make me happy. I don’t want a job. (ch. 28)

By embracing sufficiency and finding the optimal relationship to all things, one can realize freedom from desires as a key quality of Dao itself, expressed as the natural flow that is always present, always abundant, always supporting. Being “like rivers and streams running into the sea,” Dao always knows when to stop and is never in any danger (ch. 32). Overflowing and enriching, it has no desires for itself. Great Dao—​overflowing! Can be left and right! The myriad beings rely on it to be born. It never turns them away. Its merit, so perfect—​ Yet claims no fame for its existence. It clothes and nurtures the myriad beings—​ Yet claims no position as their chief.

76  Part One: The Text Always free from desires—​ Call it small! The myriad beings return to it, Yet never make it their chief—​ Call it great! To its very end it does not think itself great. Thus, it can perfect its greatness. (ch. 34)

This quality of never claiming fame, remaining in the background, and resting in sufficiency forms the foundation of nonaction as it is activated both in Dao and the sage. He who takes action fails. He who grasps things loses them. Therefore, The sage rests in nonaction and does not fail. He is free from grasping and does not lose. . . . The sage desires to be free from all desires And does not value goods that are hard to get. He learns to be unlearned And recovers what the masses pass by. Always supporting the self-​being of the myriad beings, He never dares to act. (ch. 64)

Humility and Simplicity The personal integrity and inherent goodness of the sage that allow him to rest in sufficiency and practice nonaction are further expressed in terms of simplicity, frugality, humility, and caring. Thus, the text admonishes to “manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires” (ch. 19). In addition, it insists that people should discard “the extreme, the extravagant, and

Chapter 4: Social Application  77 the excessive” (ch. 29), placing inner peace above outer possessions, and promotes the “three treasures”: I have three treasures. Guard and keep them well: The first is caring. The second is frugality. The third is never daring to be ahead in the world. Caring, one can be courageous; Frugal, one can be generous. Never daring to be ahead in the world, One can be a leader. (ch. 67)

While thriftiness or frugality (jian) is yet another expression of sufficiency, caring or fundamental kindness (ci) is the quality parents show toward their children (ch. 18) and thus a dimension of humility. Humility involves an accurate assessment of one’s own character and abilities, admitting limitations without downplaying oneself and relishing the ability to just be. Like simplicity, humility means being open-​minded to new ideas and advice, tentative of one’s own beliefs, and free from self-​focus or self-​preoccupation. Placing oneself properly in the greater scheme of things, it is a way of going beyond selfishness and acting with empathy in the world. Caring, moreover, like Dao bestows goodness all around and supports the development of altruism, the willingness to act in consideration of the interests of others, without the need of ulterior motives. Caring as much as sufficiency involves a way of looking at the world where one regards oneself as a person among others and finds identity as part of a larger whole, seeing others as fellow travelers instead of as strangers or potential threats. This attitude, according to the Daode jing, reflects the inherent generosity and openness of Dao and as such is entirely natural and inborn in the human character.

78  Part One: The Text The third treasure, “not daring to be ahead in the world,” is yet another expression of humility, of forming part of a larger whole. It means being like “the great rivers and seas, kings of all mountain streams because they stay below them” (ch. 66), embracing a low and withdrawn position, a stance of noncompetition (buzheng) even in the face of social inequality and authoritarian hierarchies. By doing so, one can attain a higher level of expression and realization. Therefore, the sage embraces oneness And becomes the model for all under heaven. Not presenting himself, He is radiant. Not thinking himself right, He is famous. Not pushing himself forward, He is meritorious. Not pitying himself, He is eminent. He never competes—​ None under heaven can compete with him! (ch. 22), One who is good at directing others Places himself below them. This is called the virtue of noncompeting. This is called the strength to direct others. This is called matching Heaven, The highest principle of old. (ch. 68)

Always free from all “desire to display one’s excellence” (ch. 77), this humility marks an attitude of personal withdrawal, of being useful to the group and true to oneself without boast or brag, ambition or competition, yet full of caution, reserve, and softness.

Chapter 4: Social Application  79 Cautious like crossing a frozen stream in winter; Circumspect like one fearing danger from all sides; Reserved like one visiting; Supple like ice about to melt; Sincere like uncarved wood. (ch. 15)

Closely related to humility, the virtue of simplicity is being like uncarved wood (pu), a way of recovering a more primitive level of contentment, resting in stillness while minimizing personal interest, and working through intuition rather than intellect, senses rather than judgments. As the Daode jing says. Simplicity which has no name, Is free from desires. Being free from desires, One can be still. And the world will naturally be stable. (ch. 37)

Another essential quality of Dao—​“constant and nameless, simple and minute” (ch. 32), this manifests in an overall attitude of naturalness, self-​being, and inner openness. He who knows glory but keeps to humility Becomes the valley of the world. Being the valley of the world, He rests in constant virtue and finds sufficiency. He returns to the state of uncarved wood. (ch. 28)

Like uncarved wood, the ideal person is indeterminate and unassuming, manifesting “blandness” (dan), yet another quality of Dao (ch. 35). Blandness, as described by François Jullien (2004), is like simplicity in that it represents an optimal, discreet equilibrium where all qualities coexist simultaneously, a state of neutrality, of

80  Part One: The Text latency, of existential openness, where one is not fixed within the confines of a particular definition. From here, the sage renews himself constantly, like Heaven embracing the whole of reality and conforming to all its diverse patterns. Having access to the undifferentiated foundation of all, he can live in original innocence, in true naiveté, free from intention, able to simultaneously encompass contradictory qualities, adapting to the changes and realizing mastery of all his abilities. Fully himself yet also fully at one with all beings, he makes the joys and sufferings of others his own, with no self-​identity apart from the world. There is no limit to his ability to respond to diverse and changing circumstances. As the sage realizes this state of blandness and detached openness, then, his very existence has a transforming effect on the people around him, his lack of desires and caring stimulating simplicity in all beings. Therefore, the sage says: I rest in nonaction, And the people naturally transform. I cherish stillness, And the people are naturally upright. I remain detached from affairs, And the people are naturally rich. I am free from desires, And the people are naturally simple. (ch. 57)

Clarity and Stillness Another way the Daode jing expresses this quality or underlying mental attitude is in terms of clarity and stillness, essential for keeping the world on track (ch. 45). Stillness (jing), also rendered quietude or tranquility, is the quality of clear water in its most

Chapter 4: Social Application  81 aligned, even state—​transposed into the human realm as “uprightness” (zheng), the best and most proper way of being. The Zhuangzi describes it as “the body like dried wood and the mind like dead ashes” (ch. 2). The word, moreover, forms part of the general Chinese term for meditation, “quiet sitting” (jingzuo), used in Confucian texts for calm reflection in a formal kneeling posture. It also occurs in the technical Daoist term for meditation hut, “quiet chamber” or “oratory” (jingshi), a sparsely furnished structure that later gave rise to the Japanese tea house. Stillness further comes with a deep inner solidity, described as “stability” (ding). In the Daode jing connoting the state that results from freedom from desires (ch. 37), the term is later used to translate the Buddhist term for highly focused mental absorption, samādhi. This stability in turn gives rise to a soft radiance (guang) or luminous clarity (qing), leading also to a state of “lucidity” (ming), a term also rendered “understanding,” “illumination,” “brightness,” or even “enlightenment.” A form of mentation free from preconceptions and assumptions, this describes an inner radiance of spirit that transcends all dualities, even if the person who possesses it may appear outwardly dull (ch. 20). In other words, stillness creates a sense of inner peace and openness, a freedom from emotions and evaluations, success and failure, and any sort of strife. It is a state of inner wholeness where one flows along with Dao and just is—​without distracting memories or exciting expectations, free from urges, pushes, or endeavors. Yet, to maintain it one must be completely beyond any form of desire or strife: looking for anything outside is an indication that inner restlessness and desires are not gone completely. To reach this—​and by extension realize sufficiency, humility, simplicity, and blandness—​one has to calm the mind and attain an inner level of restfulness, “still the muddy water so it gradually becomes clear” (ch. 15), allowing the eddies of thought to settle, cleansing discriminating knowledge while aligning with qi. To do

82  Part One: The Text so, the first step is to realize the strong dependency of the mind on the senses and their potentially overpowering impact. The five colors make the eyes go blind. The five notes make the ears go deaf. The five flavors make the palate go numb. Galloping on horseback and hunting make the mind go mad. Goods hard to get make behavior tense. (ch. 12)

To prevent or avoid this harmful tendency, it is best to reduce to a minimum or entirely eliminate sensory perception, most commonly achieved through a form of concentration or deep meditation, a resting or sitting in stillness. The Daode jing makes several references to practices that encourage such sensory withdrawal. Block your openings, shut your doors, Blunt your sharpness, untangle your knots. Blend your brightness, merge with your dust. This is called merging with the mystery. (ch. 56; also ch. 52)

The openings and doors here may refer to the concrete windows and doors of the house, indicating that one should withdraw from society and spend time in seclusion. More likely, however, given the following lines, they connote the sense apertures and express instructions to withdraw the senses in a meditative state. The next two items, “blunt sharpness” and “untangle knots,” may well connect to intellectual activity, providing an admonition to let go of divisive thinking and “release discrimination,” a valid reading of the phrase “untangle knots” (jiefen). “Blending brightness,” then, can indicate a reduction of outward intention, of the desire to shine forth and be famous in the world, while “merging with dust” is the encouragement to focus more on the physical realities of life, be closer to the intuition, the inner sense of rightness than follow what senses, intellect, and public opinion dictate. This also echoes

Chapter 4: Social Application  83 with a line in ­chapter 12, “Stick with the belly, not with the eyes” (Roth 1999) “Merging with the mystery” (xuantong), finally, suggests that this process may lead to oneness with Dao on a deep, meditative, spiritual level, especially since “mystery” as a term for Dao appears in the first chapter, which speaks of “mysterious and more mysterious.” It closely echoes the phrase “merge with the Great Thoroughfare” (tong yu datong) in the Zhuangzi, the ultimate result of a meditation practice known as “sitting in oblivion” (zuowang), a systematic release of conscious divisions, sensory impulses, and all manner of discrimination and distinction. This merging, then, cannot be approached through dualistic categories or ordinary sensory activities, but requires the development of a mind that matches the nature of Dao as invisible, inaudible, and intangible. Another passage links merging with Dao with the attainment not only of stillness but also of emptiness, that is, sensory withdrawal and intellectual unity. Here, the meditative state gives rise to clarity in the form of a deeper level of insight, seeing how all beings arise and perish, come from Dao and return to it. The return to Dao, to original life (ming) by fulfilling one’s destiny, represents stillness on yet another level, a powerful state of constancy and inner rootedness. This, in turn opens to lucidity or enlightenment, which provides the impetus to be humble, forgiving, and caring, embracing all beings just like Dao, being one with all and continuing to exist in the cosmic flow. As the text has, Complete emptiness is the ultimate limit; Maintaining stillness is the central practice. The myriad beings arise side by side, And I see thereby their return. Heaven makes things in great numbers, And each returns to its root. Return to the root is stillness—​ This is called recovering original life.

84  Part One: The Text To recover original life is called constancy. To know constancy is called enlightenment. Not knowing constancy is to be confused. Being confused, you fall into error and end in disaster. Know constancy and forgive; Forgive and be altruistic. Be altruistic and embrace all; Embrace all and be like heaven. Be like Heaven and merge with Dao. Merged with Dao, you will last long. You may die but will never perish. (ch. 16)

While a long way from the ecstatic immortality of later Daoist seekers, this passage expresses the mental state of mystical oneness also activated in the later religion, a unitive consciousness attained by merging with Dao. It also connects it to an inner sense of constancy and the key virtues necessary to realize sagehood.

Sagehood Sagehood in the Daode jing is not a quality of social standing. Sages are not necessarily aristocrats or specially trained agents, but individuals who embody Dao and best serve their communities. As the Daode jing has it, “The best person is like water; water is good in that it benefits all beings and never competes” (ch. 8). Like water, which is invisible and only takes form through its container, the sage is imbued with altruism, humility, flexibility, transparency, honesty, and gentle persistence, living in fulfillment of the virtues of noncompetition, kindness, faithfulness, order, timeliness, and competence (ch. 8). Like Heaven and Earth, which are eternal and everlasting because they do not have any strong self-​interest, The sage places himself last, But is always first.

Chapter 4: Social Application  85 He puts himself away, But always remains. Is this not so Because he has no personal interests? This is the reason why His personal interests are fulfilled. (ch. 7)

Sagehood means that one never engages in self-​justification or struts in the limelight, remaining consistently without pride, possessiveness, and personal acclaim. The sage embraces oneness. He is the model of the world. Not presenting himself, he is radiant. Not thinking himself right, he is famous. Not pushing himself forward, he is meritorious. Not pitying himself, he is eminent. Because he does not compete in the world The world cannot compete with him. (ch. 22).

The sage may act in the world, but “withdraws as soon as the work is done” (ch. 9), “managing affairs without action and spreading relevant teachings without words” (ch. 2). In other words, recognizing the underlying spiritual dimension of reality and respecting all beings for what they are, he lives simply and humbly and consistently rejects the trappings of rank and status. He can do so because of his ability to recognize and rectify incorrect perceptions and false appearances, by avoiding any attempt to perceive things in ordinary terms. The sage does not move but nevertheless knows. He does not look but nevertheless sees clearly. He does not act but nevertheless accomplishes. (ch. 47)

86  Part One: The Text The stillness, humility, and passivity of the sage guarantee him a more reliable, Dao-​oriented picture of the world than ordinary perception and conventional knowledge. He uses intuition and inference, immediate impressions and direct perception rather than sensory, emotional, desire-​oriented urges or intellectual, discriminatory evaluations to know; he remains in fact in a state of “unknowing.” This in turn allows him to appreciate things at greater depth, to see connections and underlying links, to perceive patterns hidden beyond appearances. Bright Dao appears to be dark. Advancing Dao appears to retreat. Level Dao appears to be uneven. Great virtue looks hollow. Great clarity looks shameful. Expansive virtue looks insufficient. Solid virtue looks unsteady. True substance looks changeable. (ch. 41)

The sage, therefore, pierces through the outward appearances of things and perceives all the way to the depth of the mystery, which provides him with the relevant wisdom, insight, and expertise for his role in the world. He has a clear mission that echoes the flow of Dao and benefits all, while remaining free from personal desires and never taking interfering action (see Fig. 6). Without exerting force or control, he inspires people to do their best, closely matching nature and the continuously changing circumstances of life (shi), a term also rendered “particular configuration,” “tendency,” or “propensity.” Circumstances change continuously in an inherently dynamic process; life is a fluid configuration, a field of flux. By the same token, sagehood is a set of experientially located and responsive relational skills-​in-​process, and the sage works with efficacy rather than for effect, blending energies as he serves as facilitator, communicator, and team builder.

Chapter 4: Social Application  87

Fig. 6.  Laozi as sage. Source: Jinlian xiangzhuan (DZ 174). Public domain. Note: DZ stands for “Daoist Canon,” the repository of Daoist works printed in 1445. The numbering follows the annotated catalog by Kristofer M. Schipper and Franciscus Verellen, eds., The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).

Exerting only a minimal influence on the lives of the people and employing soft tactics, such as persuasion, empowerment, modeling, collaboration, and service—​and never resorting to force or violence—​he encourages all to follow their natural inclinations, fulfill their inherent natures or self-​being, and accumulate virtue of their own. Demonstrating creativity and flexibility, he promotes harmony with nature and others, living a life of service rather than government.

88  Part One: The Text At one with Dao, he is unobtrusive, inactive, and independent, free from all possessions or attachments and without a formal teaching or program of action. As the text says, The sage in all affairs rests in nonaction, And practices the teaching of no words. The myriad beings are active through him—​ He does not turn away from them. They live through him—​ He does not take possession of them. The sage acts in the world, but does not depend on it, His task accomplished, he does not stay with it. And because he does not stay, it remains. (ch. 2) (Boileau 2013)

The sage in unity with Dao exerts transformative power in whatever position he may find himself. Because he can be anywhere and anything, matching the natural forces of Heaven and Earth, “the sage is whole” (ch. 22), and his accomplishments are thorough and lasting, with a deep and permanent effect on the society around him. Part of these effects is that he imposes some Dao qualities such as emptiness, noncompetition, unknowing, and freedom from desires on the people: In governing, the sage Keeps their hearts empty and fills their bellies, Weakens their ambitions and strengthens their bones. He always causes the people to be unknowing and free from desires, So that the crafty ones will not dare to impose. By acting in nonaction, he keeps all things in order. (ch. 3)

Completely in tune with his surroundings and open to all developments without judgment and evaluation, the sage treads carefully while remaining “leisurely and indifferent” (ch. 26).

Chapter 4: Social Application  89 Good traveling leaves not track nor trace. Good speaking has not flaw nor bent. Good reckoning uses not counters nor devices. A door well shut needs no bolts, and yet cannot be opened. A knot well tied needs no extra rope, yet cannot be undone. Therefore the sage Is always there to help the people: he rejects no person. Is always there to help all beings: he rejects no creature. Thus it is said: He is at-​one with universal light. For him, good people are the teachers of the bad; The bad are their work material. He neither values the teachers Nor passionately loves the material. Knowing that, however wise, A person may be greatly deluded. Such is his essential mystery. (ch. 27)

This essential mystery also manifests in the ability to see goodness in everything and everyone. Thus he can say of himself: The good, I treat with goodness; The bad, I treat with equal goodness. Thus, my virtue is full of goodness. The honest, I treat with honesty; The dishonest, I treat with equal honesty. Thus, my virtue is full of honesty. (ch. 49)

Sagehood here means a fundamental release of moral judgment, an elementary refusal to evaluate anything in terms of good, bad, or virtuous, to treat anyone or anything differently on the basis of common social standards. The sage realizes a level of goodness, honesty, and virtue that goes beyond ordinary morality, resting at

90  Part One: The Text the root of cosmic functioning. In other words, what ordinary society evaluates as being good and bad or honest and dishonest is no different in the sage’s perspective. Like Dao, he treats all equally, enhancing his virtue as inner potency as pure cosmic flow. As his attitude influences the people around him and inspires them to follow in his footsteps, his moral goodness in everyday life contributes to the greater goodness of the universe. The sage, himself beyond moral standards in his merging with Dao and oneness with Heaven and Earth, becomes a strong pillar of goodness in the world.

Further Readings Boileau, Giles. 2013. “The Sage Unbound: Ritual Metaphors in the Daode jing.” Daoism: Religion, History and Society 5:1–​56. Ching, Julia. 1997. Mysticism and Kingship in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jullien, François. 2004. In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics. New York: Zone Books. Liu, Xiaogan. 1998. “Naturalness (Tzu-​jan), the Core Value in Taoism:  Its Ancient Meaning and Its Significance Today.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 211–​28. Albany: State University of New York Press. Liu, Xiaogan. 1999. “An Inquiry into the Core Value of Laozi’s Philosophy.” In Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi, edited by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip J. Ivanhoe, 211–​38. Albany: State University of New York Press. Roth, Harold D. 1991. “Psychology and Self-​Cultivation in Early Taoistic Thought.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 51.2:599–​650. Roth, Harold D. 1999. “The Laozi in the Context of Early Daoist Mystical Praxis.” In Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi, edited by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip J. Ivanhoe, 59–​96. Albany: State University of New York Press. Slingerland, Edward. 2003. Effortless Action: Wu-​wei as a Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Ancient China. New York: Oxford University Press. Smith, Kidder, ed. 1990. Sagehood and Systematization of Thought in the Late Warring States and Early Han. Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College.

PART T WO

T R ADI T IONA L E X PA NSIONS

5 Communities and Politics Primitivism The Daode jing describes the ideal community as follows: Let there be a small country with few people—​ They might have plenty of utensils, Yet nobody would use them, They would be concerned with death and never travel far. They might have boats and carriages, Yet nobody would ride in them; They might have shields and spears, Yet nobody would line up with them. The people there would again knot cords to communicate, They would sweeten their meals, adorn their robes, Enjoy their homes, and take pleasure in their customs. Two neighboring villages of this kind might be visible to each other, They might even hear each others’ dogs and roosters, Yet the people in would grow old And never go back and forth. (ch. 80)

The idea here is to have people live in small communities where all members are either relatives or friends. They collect their food and plant their gardens, growing all they need. Eschewing technology, they revert to homemade utensils, locally producing all necessities. They may have technology and weaponry, but never use them; they may know about the outside world, but never interact with it.

94  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Resting peacefully at home, relishing their tasks and their community, they enjoy their life and pay more attention to living than to rising to high rank, possessing great wealth, or governing a state. Leadership in these communities ideally is almost invisible, democratic rather than autocratic, laissez-​faire rather than coercive, service-​oriented rather than domineering, and charismatic rather than bureaucratic. The Daode jing spells this out in a description of four different types of rulers: The highest—​you don’t even know they’re there. The next—​you love and praise them. The next—​you fear them. The lowest—​you despise them. (ch. 17)

One interpretation of this passage reads it to be a generic discussion of different modes of rulership, while another connects it with the various philosophical schools, representing Daoist, Confucian, Legalist, and tyrannical forms of government during the Warring States. Yet another sees it as referring to stages in human history, reading “highest” to mean “highest antiquity” and moving down from there to the time of writing, when tyranny was the order of the day. This understanding, as described by Livia Kohn (2017), evokes the golden age of Daoism, which matches Chinese reality in the Stone Age, more specifically in the early Neolithic or Mesolithic, around 9000–​5000  bce. People in the Chinese heartland at the time, while maintaining many aspects of Paleolithic or hunter-​gatherer lifestyle, were no longer itinerant but lived in year-​round settlements, as evidenced by remnants of dwellings, storage pits, and burials. Pre-​agricultural, they practiced elementary cultivation in addition to hunting and gathering. Villages were about 5 to 20 acres in size and housed around a hundred people. They were not close, but surrounded by uncultivated land—​only 2 acres being occupied in every 30 square miles—​closely matching the ideal community of the Daode jing.

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  95 The dominant social organization, moreover, in the Mesolithic was the clan-​based band, that is, groups of fifty to one hundred people. Fundamentally egalitarian, their leadership was consensual and highly fluid; it focused on the well-​being of the entire group. Leaders would receive deference and make decisions, yet remain in the background, so that “the people say they did it all themselves,” as the Daode jing has it (ch. 17). Without force or coercion, they had authority, that is, recognized and accepted capabilities, to which followers responded with willing obedience, and thereby sustained the smooth operation of society. One known attempt at using this model as a realistic solution to a social and political problem and create an egalitarian Stone-​Age-​ style community during the Warring States period was undertaken by the Agriculturists or School of Tillers (nongjia), a group of primitivist proto-​Daoists who adopted the Divine Farmer (Shennong), the mythical sage ruler credited with the beginnings of agriculture, as their hero. As A. C. Graham outlines (1990), around 315 bce, under the leadership of Chen Xiang, they established a withdrawn utopian community in the state of Teng. Consisting largely of farmers and craftsmen, it was self-​administered and free from stratification, producing just enough food, clothing, and shelter while eschewing all contact with the outside world. As outlined in the Zhuangzi, these primitivists or anarchists hated all government and idealized the time at the brink of agriculture and long before the arrival of iron-​age technology. They believed that when there were fewer people, no communications, no governments, and no infantry-​fought wars, life was simple, easy, and good. Their vision is not quite the same as that of the Daode jing, which still advises ways of working with the present rather than rejecting it altogether, but it is built on the same fundamental ideas of simplicity, nonaction, and small, controlled social units. In addition to living in self-​sustained communities, conforming to Dao here means that the inherent tendencies of everything, including people, animals, and natural objects, form a set ontological

96  Part Two: Traditional Expansions reality that needs to be uncovered and preserved but not cultivated or transformed, and certainly not altered or manipulated by techniques or instruments. The primitivists accordingly reject the hallmarks of advanced civilization (boats, carriages, armor) and all forms of craftsmanship. “If we must use curve and plumb line, compass and square to make something right, that means cutting away its inner nature; if we must use cords and knots, glue and lacquer to make something firm, this means violating its natural virtue” (Zhuangzi 8). “Horses and oxen have four feet—​this is what I mean by the heavenly [natural]. Putting a halter on the horse’s head, piercing the ox’s nose—​this is what I mean by the human [artifice]” (Zhuangzi 17). Claiming that works of art derange the senses and generate unnatural desires and that any advance in sophistication and laws only creates more trouble, the primitivists pursue a radical version of simplicity, elevating the ideal of uncarved wood. This also involves a rejection of knowledge and critical awareness, as achieved in the legendary age of He Xu:  “People stayed home but did not know what they were doing, walked around but did not know where they were going. Their mouths crammed with food, they were merry; drumming on their bellies, they had a good time” (Zhuangzi 9). In addition, they proposed a rather radical program of purging their world by obliterating all artifice and silencing those who promote it: destroy implements, kill sages, blind artists, deafen musicians, cripple artisans, imprison craftsmen, and gag intellectuals (Zhuangzi 10; Sarkassian 2010).

Self-​Cultivation Eschewing such radical extirpation of culture and artistry in the outside world, another group of Daode jing followers turned their focus inward. Practitioners of self-​cultivation, they pursued simplicity and harmony with Dao within, locating Dao within their body and mind.

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  97 The manifestation of expansive virtue Comes from Dao alone. Dao is vague and eluding. Eluding! Vague! Inside are images. Vague! Eluding! Inside are beings. Deep! Obscure! Inside is essence. This essence is absolutely perfect. Inside is truth! From antiquity to today, Its name was never lost. Through it We can see the beginning of all things. (ch. 21)

Self-​cultivation seekers read this passage physiologically, focusing on vital essence (jing) as their key concept. Essence is a form of vital energy (qi), marking its more tangible and visible manifestation as it transits from one determinate form to another. A classic example is man’s semen that carries life from father to child; another is the essence that the body takes from food during its assimilation. Neither yin nor yang, essence is the raw fuel that drives the pulsating rhythm of the body’s cellular reproduction, one of the main sources of a person’s charisma, sexual attraction, and sense of wholeness. Perfect essence brings people close to Dao and leads to abundant virtue, long life, physical vigor, and immunity. As the text has, He who has virtue in abundance is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him, Fierce beasts will not attack him. Birds of prey will not strike him. His bones are weak,

98  Part Two: Traditional Expansions His muscles tender, But his grasp is firm. He does not yet know The union of male and female, But his member is aroused: His essence is at its height. He may cry all day without becoming hoarse: His harmony is perfect. (ch. 55)

Here virtue connects to qi and essence, at its highest level manifest as intense vitality, sexual and otherwise, and signifies complete immunity to wild beasts and invulnerability in the face of natural elements. The Zhuangzi, too, describes ideal humans, the so-​called perfected (zhenren) as being able to “climb high places without getting scared, dive into water without getting soaked, and pass through fire without getting hot” (ch. 6). In fact, it describes them as spirit people, having fully realized the most subtle form of qi and thus come close to being like Dao itself. The perfected are like spirits. Though the great swamps blaze, they cannot burn them; though the great rivers freeze, they cannot chill them; though swift lightning splits the hills and howling gales shake the sea, they cannot frighten them. People like this ride the clouds and mist, straddle the sun and the moon, and freely wander beyond the four seas. Life and death have no effect on them, how much less the rules of gain and loss? (ch. 2; Watson 1968, 46)

The Zhuangzi also speaks of a “spirit man” (shenren), living on Mount Gushe, He has “skin like ice or snow, and is gentle and shy like a young girl. He does not eat the five grains but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the four seas” (ch. 1). Like later immortals and early hermits, this figure lives in the wilderness,

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  99 fasts by living on pure qi or eats raw food, maintains a closely connection to nature while yet going beyond it in his physical reality and faculties.

Longevity Techniques The practices at the core of the self-​cultivation agenda are summarily known as techniques of “nourishing life” (yangsheng) or “nourishing inner nature” (yangxing), resulting in “longevity” (shou), “long life” (changsheng), or “no death” (busi). Mentioned sporadically in philosophical works and first documented in the medical manuscripts at Mawangdui, they involve a number of methods for disease prevention and health enhancement, such as moderation, diet, exercise, sexual regimens, self-​massages, and breathing. These practices, moreover, typically work by being soft and gentle, increasing flexibility and suppleness rather than muscle strength and forceful stamina. This links to the Daode jing: At birth, humans are soft and supple. At death, they are stiff and rigid. All beings, even grasses and trees, At birth are supple and pliant. At death, they are withered and hard. Thus, stiff and rigid are companions of death, Weak and soft are companions of life. A strong army will not win, A strong tree will break. The strong and great are always inferior, The weak and soft are always superior. (ch. 76)

A key feature of traditional Chinese martial arts, healing exercises, other bodily techniques such as qigong, longevity techniques

100  Part Two: Traditional Expansions encourage not only an attitude of gentle flow but also a fundamental way of working with the body, of realizing physical perfection as part of reaching closer to Dao. Another major characteristic is their emphasis on balance and the avoidance of all extremes, both physical and psychological. As the Daode jing describes it, Who tiptoes does not stand tall. Who cross-​steps does not walk. Who displays himself is not enlightened. Who asserts himself is not prominent. Who boasts of himself is not meritorious. Who praises himself does not live long. In relation to Dao, These are like excess food and extraneous action. All beings hate that, And those who have Dao turn away from them. (ch. 24)

All these various actions have a negative impact on the body, be they simple ways of movement or more complex dimensions of interacting in society. As people function in an excessive, immoderate, unbalanced manner, they breathe with undue energy and come to shorten their life expectancy, moving further and further away from Dao. The goal of longevity techniques, then, is to reverse this tendency and bring people back into perfect harmony. Self-​ cultivation practitioners, like the followers of utopian communities, tended to withdraw from society. Hermits and mountain recluses, they followed the Daode jing injunction to “close the mouth and shut the doors, and to the end of life there will be peace without toil” (ch. 56). Through elimination of desires, an extremely simple lifestyle, and physical longevity practices, they strove for complete merging with the mystery. Typically lesser aristocrats who refused official positions and left society behind, they appear in the Zhuangzi as retirees who focus on long life through the practice of various breathing and physical exercises, as “scholars of rivers and

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  101 seas” who are “unhurried idlers” with the main goal of nonaction, and as mountain recluses “who condemned the world,” “sullen and critical, indignation their whole concern” (ch. 15). Some, therefore, retired to their landed estates, favoring privacy over public service; they despaired of the greed and avarice of society and protected their inner nature against outside demands. Others removed themselves from society because it forced them into moral compromise, but might come back to serve if and when the time was right. Yet others left for the mountains, where wild animals and indigenous tribes roamed, seeking to follow simpler, even animal ways of life. Thus, for example, Shan Bao “lived among the cliffs, drank only water, and didn’t go after gain like other people. He went along like that for seventy years and still had the complexion of a young child” (Zhuangzi 19). By the same token, the long-​lived Pengzu assembled a group of followers who would “huff and puff, exhale and inhale, blow out the old and draw in the new, do the bear-​hang and the bird-​stretch, and were interested only in long life” (Zhuangzi 15). Laozi, too, appears in this role variously in the Zhuangzi. Named Lao Dan, he is the teacher of a group of various prominently featured disciples. As much as other masters featured in the text, he appears superior and aloof, inscrutable and mysterious, while his disciples ask questions, get reprimanded for their shortcomings, then receive instructions. The instruction methods, moreover, are often cryptic and aphoristic, quite like the text of the Daode jing itself. Masters never explain theories or teach techniques but tell stories to distract their listeners’ attention, then use operative imagination to transport them to a different dimension of thinking and thereby effect a change in their mode of consciousness. Rhetorical questions, proverbs, catch phrases, and non sequiturs are common. Disciples as much as readers relax, allowing their intention to melt away, then transform their awareness and open to new ways of thinking and physical being toward greater closeness to Dao.

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Inward Training One lineage of such masters and disciples, dated to the fourth century, is associated with a short document contained in the Guanzi (Works of Master Guan), a Han-​dynasty collection of various materials. Known as the Neiye (Inward Training; trans. Roth 1999), this consists of twenty-​six sections in 1,622 characters, that is, is about one third the length of the Daode jing. Like the latter, it is written in semi-​verse and echoes its description of Dao as formless and soundless and of the ideal state of a return to clarity and simplicity, expanding in particular on one Daode jing passage that speaks of meditation and internal energy work. Supporting your souls and embracing oneness, Can you never leave them? Concentrating your qi and achieving highest weakness, Can you be like an infant? Cleansing and purifying your mysterious mirror, Can you be tireless? Loving the people and governing the state, Can you be without knowledge? As the gates of heaven open and close, Can you act as the female? Understanding and penetrating all in the four directions, Can you be without knowledge? (ch. 10)

The practice indicated here seems to be a form of breath control or working with qi combined with the concentration on a single object (embracing oneness) and the holding on to internal psychological forces (spirit and material souls). It serves to purify the mind (mysterious mirror) and encourages a position of unknowing as well as of femininity in relation to the world. Echoing this Daode jing passage, the Neiye asks similar questions—​“Can you concentrate? Can you cease? Can you not

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  103 seek it in others yet attain it within yourself?” (Neiye 21)—​it also provides more concrete instructions, encouraging practitioners to refine their qi through moderation and withdrawal from sensory stimulation, breath control, and sitting in meditation. It thus begins by noting how qi is at the core of all life: creating the five grains on earth and coagulating into the stars in the sky. Bright and dark, vast and lofty, it is like Dao: “It cannot be halted by force, yet can be secured by virtue. It cannot be summoned by speech, yet can be welcomed by intention” (ch. 2), the gentle conscious force that guides it through the body. Emphasizing the general need for moderation—​“in eating, it is best not to fill up; in thinking, it is best not to overdo” (Neiye 20)—​ the text demands that one let go of all desires and emotions: “Cast off all sorrow, happiness, joy, anger, desire, and profit-​seeking” (ch. 3). Variously outlining the powers of Dao and the importance of cultivating the mind and stilling all thoughts (chs. 5–​ 8), it insists that one must “hold on oneness and never lose it” (ch. 9), align the body, that is, “sit up straight in meditative posture,” and become still and tranquil within (chs. 11–​13). More specifically, practitioners work on regulating the breath:  “By concentrating your qi [breath] as if wondrous, the myriad things will be contained within you” (ch. 21). This has both mental and physical effects: If people can be aligned and still, Their skin will be ample and smooth, Their ears and eyes will be clear, Their muscles will be supple, and their bones strong. They will then be able to hold up the Great Circle [of the heavens] And tread firmly over the Great Square [of the earth]. (Neiye 16)

Eventually adepts attain the fourfold alignment of body, limbs, breath, and mind, an overall state of stillness and stability, internal

104  Part Two: Traditional Expansions virtue, and energetic balance known as “upright qi,” and find a single-​minded focus that leads to a “cultivated,” “stable,” “excellent,” or “well-​ordered” mind. This, in turn, allows qi to flow even more harmoniously through the body and Dao to pervade one’s life, leading to a state of serenity and repose that resembles the clarity and stillness proposed in the Daode jing (ch. 45). Adepts move through life in harmony with all, untouched by danger and harm, their bodies unimpaired. At peace in themselves and in alignment with the world, they reach a level of physical health that keeps them fit and active well into old age. As the Neiye says, When you open your mind and let go of it, When you relax your qi and expand it, When your body is calm and unmoving, And you can maintain oneness and discard the myriad disturbances—​ Then you will see profit and not be enticed by it, You will see harm and not be frightened by it. Relaxed and unwound, yet acutely sensitive, In solitude, you delight in your own person. This is called “revolving the qi”: Your thoughts and deeds seem heavenly. (ch. 24)

The adepts of the Neiye are like the perfected of the Zhuangzi in their calm repose and cosmic dimension; they are like the sage of the Daode jing in their deep, nonacting quietude and their alignment with the natural transformations. And also like these ideal figures, they bring about social change: With a well-​ordered mind within you, Well-​ordered words issue forth from your mouth, And well-​ordered tasks are imposed upon others. Then the world will be well ordered. (Neiye 10)

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  105

The Jixia Academy Yet another group that developed the Daode jing in the fourth century consisted of academics and political advisers supported by Warring States rulers. To increase administrative efficiency and enhance their power, they variously established learned academies, where scholars and advisers could convene to discuss ideas, examine models, and create new visions of government. Many local lords at the time desired to achieve supremacy in their area, hoping to elevate their status from duke to king, and from there reach for hegemony, a military and economic superiority that would allow them to control other states and influence larger territories. Academies were a tool in this process, providing legitimation, efficient administration, and potent strategies for success. The earliest academy was supposedly founded by Marquess Wen of Wei (r. 445–​396 bce) and in the texts is praised as related to his success in awing and subduing neighboring states. However, it is little known. Much better documented is the Jixia Academy, described by Richard Harnett (2011), which was named after its location near the southern gate of Linzi, the capital of the state of Qi (Shandong). A dukedom under the Jiang family, it was taken over by the Tian clan in the early fourth century. Tian Wu, who ruled as Duke Huan of Qi (r. 374–​357 bce), successfully expanded the state’s power by attracting worthy ministers and competent officials. His successor, Tian Yinqi, elevated its status and came to rule as King Wei of Qi (r. 357–​320 bce). Not only linking his clan to the Yellow Emperor as original ancestor, he also put great effort into attracting even more wise counsel, including Chunyu Kun, a quick-​witted thinker and master of eloquence, whom he appointed prime minister and chief negotiator with other states. Under his guidance, the king sponsored the Jixia Academy. In the early stages convening about eighty masters, all holding the government rank of high official (shidaifu), the

106  Part Two: Traditional Expansions institution soon grew to several hundred, if not close to a thousand resident thinkers and policy-​makers. Its heyday was under King Xuan of Qi (r. 319–​301 bce); it dissolved in 284 bce, when the Qi capital was conquered by the state of Yan, its scholars fleeing to serve various other states. Its most famous participant was Mencius (Mengzi, 372–​289 bce), the second major thinker of Confucianism. Like Confucius, he came from eastern China and was both a government official and a professional teacher and thinker who spent many years traveling to local rulers to offer his advice. He inherited Confucius’s thought through the lineage of the latter’s grandson Zisi—​whose works dominate the finds at Guodian—​and followed him in an effort to find ways of restoring the idealized golden age of the mythical sage rulers. Mencius’s focus was new in that he located the key to social harmony less in rites and etiquette than in the human mind, which he declared to be originally good. During his tenure at the Academy, which he left in 310 bce, he taught well over a hundred personal disciples and debated variously with other leading thinkers, such as Song Xing and Tian Pian. Another famous Jixia thinker is Zou Yan, who systematized the energetic interaction of yin and yang and codified the cosmological correspondence system of the five phases. He was a member of the local Zou clan, which also brought forth Zou Ji (d. 345 bce), chief minister and senior counselor at the Qi court. As the Shiji says, Zou Yan saw that the rulers were becoming ever more dissolute and incapable of valuing virtue.  .  .  .  So he examined the phenomena of the increase and decrease of yin and yang, and wrote essays totaling more than 100,000 words about their strange permutations and about the cycles of the great sages from the beginning of time. His sayings were vast and far-​reaching, and not in accord with the accepted beliefs of the classics. . . . The scholars all studied his arts. (ch. 74)

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  107 While both Confucians and cosmologists had famous thinkers at the Academy, King Wei himself favored the thought associated with Laozi and was particularly interested in finding ways of training state officials and devising rulership guidelines that integrated Daode jing values, such as nonaction, stillness, self-​being, and the like. A number of relevant texts accordingly go back to the institution, including the Neiye and other parts of the Guanzi, as well as the works of Shen Dao (ca. 350–​275 bce) which have survived in fragments (trans. Harris 2016). In addition, scholars believe that the four Mawangdui manuscripts associated with the Yellow Emperor—​the ultimate ancestor of the Qi ruling house (see Fig. 7)—​and collectively known as the Huangdi sijing are the result of Jixia discussions (trans. Peerenboom 1991; Yates 1997). Known as Jingfa (The Constancy of Laws, nine chs.), Shida jing (The Ten Great Classics, fifteen chs.), Cheng (Aphorisms, one ch.),

Fig. 7.  The Yellow Emperor. Source: Statue in Taipei. Photograph by the author, 2007.

108  Part Two: Traditional Expansions and Daoyuan (Dao the Fundamental, one ch.), they form the documentary backbone of the Huang-​Lao school, which integrates Yellow Emperor politics with Daode jing values.

Syncretism and Huang-​Lao The Huang-​Lao school presents a highly sophisticated political philosophy that translates Daode jing insights into government practices. As Wei-​ming Tu notes (1979), it can be described as a form of legalized Daoism. Fully flourishing under the Han, its early traces appear in the so-​called syncretist chapters of the Zhuangzi, which mention various thinkers classically associated with the Jixia Academy. Integrating elements of Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism, as well as Yijing divination and Yin-​Yang Cosmology, their teachings placed virtue before Dao, practical application before cosmological speculation. Huang-​Lao thinkers claimed that Dao was essentially undifferentiated, indeterminate, and ineffable, functioning as an autonomous, unchangeable, and fundamentally generative potency. Manifest in Heaven and Earth and their various natural dimensions, it yet has a clearly discernible inherent structure, making it visible and measurable in specific phenomena and repetitive patterns. These include the two forces (yin-​yang), the four seasons, the six directions (four cardinals plus up and down), as well as the natural law of things, their predictable rhythm of birth, growth, decline, and death. The more people learn of these universal laws and adjust to cosmic patterns, the school claims, the more ordered social life can be and the more fulfilled everyone is. In contrast to the Daode jing, not only is Dao here not mysterious and ineffable, but learning is not a bad thing, nor are instruments for measuring and techniques of alignment. Laws, moreover, in contrast to Legalism, which defines them as created by human beings and institutions, are thought to be inherent in the natural world, so that social structure

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  109 and cultural progress form just one more expression of cosmic and natural expansion. This vision is also represented in the traditional myth of the Yellow Emperor, seen as the harbinger of culture and social order as well as the first to engage in war. Within this framework, syncretist thinkers and representatives of Huang-​Lao had several key concerns. One of them was the more precise understanding of the cosmogonic process, the continuous emergence of creatures from primeval oneness. Thus, various manuscripts as discussed by Wang Zhongjiang (2015) outline the unfolding of the world from nothingness, Dao, Great Oneness, or cosmic qi through the interchange of yin and yang and various other stages to the multiplicity of existing beings. “All beings came to contain spirit, so each had its own inherent tendencies, their inner nature,” as the Zhuangzi notes (ch. 12). Another primary aspect of the school was a strong focus on community life and the formulation of detailed rules and regulations, allowing “the Dao of Heaven to illuminate human affairs” and thus creating a system concerned mainly with society and government. Within Huang-​Lao, moreover, the five phases as formulated by Zou Yan came to form a tangible and workable model for the more amorphous holographic universe of the Daode jing. Using the doctrine of “impulse and response” (ganying), which means that nothing ever happens without an impact on or a connection to everything else, thinkers began to interrelate all manner of things not only through causes but also synchronously, that is, they saw events not just as following each other in the same place at different times but also as occurring in different places at the same time. Various natural processes, such as planetary movements or earthly disasters, accordingly were thought to have matching events in human society and in people’s bodies—​in turn able to impact the greater cosmic patterns through the correspondence system. The ruler in this context stands at the apex of the human and natural world, representing the hub of cosmic oneness and emulating the emptiness of Dao by essentially resting in nonaction. The Daode

110  Part Two: Traditional Expansions jing statement, “If lords and kings can hold on to this, the myriad beings will self-​transform,” (ch. 37), becomes a political program. As the Shida jing says of the ruler, “Forms constantly determine themselves: for this reason I am more at rest. Affairs constantly take care of themselves: for this reason I am in nonaction” (ch. 15). To make this widely applicable, Huang-​Lao thinkers, moreover, adopted the Legalist concept of law into their Daoist philosophy of rulership, expanding the Daode jing vision of the continuity of nature and humanity to activate an essential isomorphism among social and natural structures. As law (fa), moreover, appeared in orderly, regular, and predictable rhythms (li), it became applicable them to society and political administration, the governing process imitating natural patterns. The ruler at the center of the pyramid had the ability to look deeply into natural and social structures, a feature visually depicted in images of the Yellow Emperor with four faces, showing his ability to see in all directions at once. The ruler’s penetrating insight determined what needed to be done and when; his main task was one of balancing not only by following the natural flow but also by redirecting it through bureaucratic procedure. In addition to the four manuscripts associated with the Yellow Emperor, this view also appears in the Huainanzi (Writings of the Master of Huainan; trans. Major et al. 2010), a compilation in twenty chapters sponsored around 145 bce by the imperial lord Liu An, the Prince of Huainan. The work comprises treatises on the workings of Dao, the realities of the skies, the earth, and the seasons, as well as discussions of state craft, military strategy, and human affairs. It contains origin myths of Dao, discussions of impulse and response, discourses on the importance of astronomy, guidelines and instructions on correct rulership, and seasonal instructions. For example, on the appropriate activities for the summer, it suggests: Summer occupies the south; its corresponding stems are bing and ding. It manifests the fullness of the phase fire and its matching

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  111 sound is the musical note zhi, while its pitch pipe is the Median Regulator. Its number is seven, its flavor is bitter, its smell is burnt. Its sacrifices are made to the stove god, and from the sacrificial animal, the lungs are offered first. Crickets and tree-​frogs sing on the hillsides, and earthworms emerge. The large melons ripen, while bitter herbs flourish. The ruler wears red clothes and mounts a carriage drawn by black-​ mane reddish horses, flying a red banner. (ch. 5)

Events in nature as determined by the seasons and marked by the growth cycle of plants and animals, therefore, are the core standard for cosmological measurements as well as for human behavior and political standards. The syncretistic evolution of Daode jing thought as well as the Huang-​Lao school pervasively see social structure and political order in close connection to cosmic patterns, finding in them the microcosmic expression of a universal system that can be clearly discerned, systematically described, codified in rules, and enacted in political practice.

Masters of Methods Besides the traditional philosophers and political advisers, moreover, this cosmological system also required the involvement of a group of practitioners or technicians, described traditionally as masters of methods (fangshi). Typically members of the lower aristocracy, they engaged in the active measuring and determination of the movements and patterns of qi, specializing in the sciences of their day, including astrology, alchemy, dream interpretation, divination, military strategy, fortune-​telling, exorcism, rain-​making as well as the medical arts of longevity techniques, healing exercises, herbs, acupuncture, and massages. Often associated with local rulers and also prominent at the imperial court, they earned biographies in the official histories that tell of their arts and

112  Part Two: Traditional Expansions lifestyle (trans. DeWoskin 1983). Some recited or interpreted the Daode jing, while others engaged in prophetic and cosmological interpretations of various classics, materials today collected under the rubric of “apocrypha” (chenwei). In terms of practices, these masters of methods experimented with various diets and longevity techniques, engaged in meditations and ecstatic trances, and came to be known as shamanic figures among the people. They healed diseases, exorcised demons, prayed for rain, communicated with the gods, conjured up the dead, aided the transition of souls to the otherworld, and generally helped people with charms and spells to gain protection and good fortune. Their very name indicates the emphasis they placed on skills and techniques, predicting fortunes and performing astrological divinations, analyzing weather patterns, conjuring up spirits, advising on military strategy, and providing magical weaponry. Rulers surrounded themselves with such men, who were often specialized in particular techniques. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han (156–​87 bce) employed Li Shaojun to establish contact with the immortals and help him prevent old age, Shaoweng to summon the spirits of the dead, and Luan Da to extend his life with alchemy and grant him control over ghosts. In addition, the masters were known for their development of technical instruments such as the diviner’s compass, the invention of new media such as paper, the codification of alchemical and technical methods, and the increased application of meditative and internal forms of cultivation, also in context of the Daode jing.

Further Readings Chen, L. K., and Hiu Chuk Winnie Sung. 2015. “The Doctrines and Transformation of the Huang-​Lao Tradition.” In Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy, edited by Xiaogan Liu, 241–​64. New York: Springer. DeWoskin, Kenneth J. 1983. Doctors, Diviners, and Magicians of Ancient China. New York: Columbia University Press.

Chapter 5: Communities and Politics  113 Graham, A. C. 1990. “The Nung-​chia ‘School of the Tillers’ and the Origins of Peasant Utopianism in China.” In Studies in Chinese Philosophy and Philosophical Literature, edited by A.  C. Graham, 67–​124. Albany:  State University of New York Press. Harnett, Richard A. 2011. Jixia Academy and the Birth of Higher Learning: A Comparison of Fourth-​Century bc Chinese Education. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Harris, Eirik Lang. 2016. The Shenzi Fragments: A Philosophical Analysis and Translation. New York: Columbia University Press. Kohn, Livia. 2017. Pristine Affluence: Daoist Roots in the Stone Age. St. Petersburg, FL: Three Pines Press. Major, John S., Sarah A. Queen, Andrew S. Meyer, and Harold D. Roth. 2010. The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. New York: Columbia University Press. Michael, Thomas. 2015. In the Shadows of the Dao: Laozi, the Sage, and the Daodejing. Albany: State University of New York Press. Peerenboom, R. P. 1991. Law and Morality in Ancient China:  The Silk Manuscripts of Huang-​Lao. Albany: State University of New York Press. Roth, Harold D. 1999. Original Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism. New York: Columbia University Press. Sarkassian, Hagop. 2010. “The Darker Side of Daoist Primitivism.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 37.2:312–​29. Tu, Wei-​Ming. 1979. “The Thought of Huang-​Lao: A Reflection on the Lao Tzu and Huang Ti Texts in the Silk Manuscripts of Ma-​wang-​tui.” Journal of Asian Studies 39.1:95–​110. Wang, Zhongjiang. 2015. Daoism Excavated: Cosmos and Humanity in Early Manuscripts. Translated by Livia Kohn. St. Petersburg, FL: Three Pines Press. Yates, Robin D. S. 1997. Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huang-​Lao, and Yin-​Yang in Han China. New York: Ballentine Books.

6 Devotional Activation Early Recitation Textual recitation is a form of chanting, the steady repetition of a sound, word, phrase, spell, prayer, or sacred text in close connection to the breath to induce a state of calm and absorption. Engaging the conscious mind especially when prayers or texts are used, this encourages deep breathing and evokes the relaxation response through its rhythmic and often monotone pattern. Continued over longer periods of time, it creates a hum in the brain that allows the sound to pervade consciousness, thereby creating a state of deep unified oneness to the exclusion of all else. Chanting as a method of devotional activation is best known from the Indian tradition, where is appears most commonly as mantras—​sounds, syllables (like om), short phrases, or spells. The Daoist tradition, too, makes use of these, especially after the introduction of Buddhism, but its preferred form focuses on longer materials, notably sacred scriptures, emphasizing sound as much as meaning. The Daode jing is the most important, most popular, and oldest object of Daoist chanting. In this role, it appears first under the Han dynasty. It was common at the time for people to recite important texts or classics, mainly as a method of learning them by heart, since the culture had only limited access to written materials, and the literacy rate was quite low. Some texts, however, were seen as deeply inspirational and recited also as an expression of devotion and inspiration for self-​cultivation. A text commonly recited in this manner at the time was the Xiaojing (Classic

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  115 of Filial Piety). Short and easy to memorize, it inspired people to honor their parents and show respect and deference to them. In the same way, the Daode jing, especially under Emperor Jing and his mother, Empress Dou, in the first century bce, rose to prominence as a sacred text. Chanted in steady rhythm and with frequent repetitions, its words and sounds would induce a state of calm and absorption while also bringing its concepts and ideas deeper into the subconscious mind. In addition to its favorable position at court, the Daode jing at the time was also popular among masters of methods and local officials. Members of both groups greatly venerated the text and taught it to the people in their communities, causing a gradual maturation of its ideas in the popular mind. Thus Yan Zun (ca. 53–​24 bce), a fortune-​teller using the Yijing, gave lectures on the Daode jing at night. He also wrote a commentary to the text, which has survived in the Daoist canon (DZ 693). Similarly, the immortal Anqi Sheng taught the text to local officials, who spread it among their colleagues and families. Soon recitation became part of the established culture. Philosophers of the Later Han, such as Xiang Xiu (ca. 130–​200), recited the Daode jing continuously to gain personal calm and intellectual inspiration. Several well-​situated men even took it as a guide to distributing their fortunes among the poor. In addition, the text was chosen as a major sacred scripture by the growing popular Daoist cults, graduating from the work of a saintly philosopher to being understood as the revealed emanation of pure Dao. Its title changed accordingly, adding an epithet: Taishang xuanyuan Daode jing, the “Highest Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue Originating in Mystery Prime.” In addition, the meditative effects of chanting and the deep insights of its words were eclipsed by its overall magical efficacy, attributing to the text powers of bringing good fortune, exorcising demons, and healing diseases.

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The Celestial Masters The first major organized Daoist school, too, adopted the text in this fashion. The Celestial Masters were founded in 142 ce by Zhang Daoling after he received a revelation from Lord Lao the divinized Laozi on a mountain in what is today Sichuan. Guided by their leaders, the so-​called libationers, they recited the text to gain magical powers from the holiness of its pure words, using the Daode jing in a strongly ritual way. In addition, they also used the text as the basis for ethical guidelines or precepts. They appear first in a commentary to the Daode jing known as the Xiang’er zhu, ascribed to Zhang Lu (ca. 215), the grandson of the founder, which survives in a manuscript found at Dunhuang as well as through citations in later texts. It contains two sets of precepts: a group of nine admonitions that encourage positive attitudes based on philosophical concepts of the text; and a set of twenty-​seven prohibitions that present a mixture of general rules, behavioral regulations, and temporal taboos. They are important not only because they formulate what the Celestial Masters expected of their ideal followers, but also because they have been adopted by later lineages and are still actively practiced today. The nine admonitions take technical terms from the Daode jing and make them into guidelines for Daoist behavior: 1. Practice nonaction; 2. practice being soft and weak; 3. practice guarding the female and never move first. These are the highest three practices. 4. Practice being nameless; 5.  practice resting in clarity and stillness; 6. practice doing only good. These are the medium three practices. 7. Practice having no desires; 8.  practice knowing when to stop; 9. practice yielding and withdrawing. These are the lowest three practices.

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  117 For the Celestial Masters, the practice of these rules, as that of other sets of precepts, was closely related to physiological cultivation. The commentary accordingly reads the Daode jing in its own way, using it to give voice to the Daoists’ central concern with vitality and immortality as well as placing great emphasis on rebirth, continuous renewal, and the completion of the natural cycles. To this end, it changes certain terms, reading “kingly” (wang) as “vital” (sheng), and “stand on tiptoe” (duan) as “breathe shallow” (chuan), then connects these features with eternal life. As a result, resting in clarity and stillness involves particular breathing practices, ways of ingesting qi that help recirculating and reverting energy to its root in Dao. Along similar lines, nonaction was an admonition for concrete behavior, intending that people should act without artifice and in a way that was not contrived or willful. It involved a quiet mind, a calming of the passions, and a sense of moving along with Dao. The twenty-​seven precepts are formulated as prohibitions and divide into three groups of nine each, classified as lower, medium, and higher. The lower precepts guide people to behave with obedience toward the religious leaders and with reticence toward fellow members. They warn followers not to strive for positions beyond their status and to abstain from sacrifices for the dead and popular deities, that is, the ghosts of dead humans rather than the pure, unborn deities of Dao. The rules also prohibit the commitment of evil deeds, engagement in warfare, the accumulation of riches, and self-​ praise as a great sage. They closely reflect similar guidelines in other codices of the group. The medium rules prevent followers from studying outside scriptures, pursuing fame and gain, giving rein to sensory pleasures, engaging in frivolous activities, and lacking in devotion and respect for Dao and religious leaders. Members should yield to the needs of others and always stay within the organization. The highest set of nine precepts, finally, represents a guide toward active service for Dao—​adherents on this level are ordered never to forget the divine

118  Part Two: Traditional Expansions law and keep strictly within its boundaries. They must not push things forward or reveal esoteric teachings to outsiders. As advanced practitioners and leading members of the community, they must abstain from killing and eating the flesh of animals, strictly avoiding any harm or diminution of qi—​their own and that of others. In addition, they should always be aware of the cosmic constellations, to pay attention to the currently dominant qi and never harm it. This temporal taboo in conjunction with the other rules aims to raise the practitioners’ awareness to the role of the Daoist group within mainstream Chinese society and the greater universe. The rewards are accordingly: those who obey the highest rules become immortals, all others will extend their years and live in happiness.

Chanting for Immortality Other early Daoist groups similarly venerated and recited the Daode jing, linking it to the divinized Laozi. One surviving example goes back to a local cult in Sichuan of the second century. It has left behind a manuscript that describes the transformations of Lord Lao together with instructions to his followers. Thus, the Laozi bianhua jing (Scripture on the Transformations of Laozi; see Kohn 1998) has him say, Day and night, you must remember me, And I will not suddenly let you go. Waking and dreaming you must think of me, And I will appear to prove your faith. . . . Be upright and guard your self, And I will know you as one of the good. I have given you a text. If you wish to know me, Recite the “Five Thousand Words” ten thousand times,

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  119 Then you can see my head and know my form, Come softly to be one with me!

Whether day or night, whether standing, sitting, walking, or lying down, practitioners are to remain aware of Dao by thinking of Lord Lao and chanting his scripture over and over again. This will place them into close alignment with Dao and guarantee the support and assistance of the deity. Just like the Celestial Masters, so followers of this group connect to Dao through the text and become good people who behave morally upright. In addition, if they chant it ten thousand times, they gain direct access to the divine and attain a superior level of oneness, getting closer to immortality. Over time, the practice of reciting the Daode jing spread further and was adopted by other kinds of practitioners, including alchemists, who found it quite efficacious. Ge Hong, however, the would-​be alchemist of the early fourth century, finds it insufficient. As he says in his Baopuzi (Book of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity, DZ 1185; trans. Ware 1966). The Daode jing may actually come from Lao Dan but it is only a general discussion and a rough outline of immortality. Its contents in no way allow a complete exposition of the matter that could be employed as support for our pursuit. Merely to recite this scripture without securing the essential process would be to undergo useless toil. How much worse in the case of texts inferior to the Daode jing! (8.4b–​5a)

The fact that he explicitly condemns the practice shows just how widespread it had already become, how different schools and lineages used it toward their own goals and how other, maybe newly revealed, scriptures entered the fray, claiming great supernatural powers. By the fifth century, chanting the Daode jing had become a key practice of immortality. As such it appears in the expanded story

120  Part Two: Traditional Expansions of Laozi’s transmission of the Daode jing to Yin Xi during his emigration to the west. As outlined in Yin Xi’s hagiography, the Wenshi neizhuan (Esoteric Biography of the Master at the Beginning of the Scripture), after transmitting the Daode jing Laozi gets ready to continue his journey, and Yin Xi requests permission to accompany him. However, the sage says, In order to follow me, you first have to attain Dao fully. But your many impurities are not eradicated yet, so how can you follow me on my distant wanderings? For the present, recite the “Text in Two Sections” ten thousand times. Then your Dao will be complete and you can follow me on my distant wanderings.

Yin Xi follows these instructions and chanted the Daode jing continuously—​about ten times a day for three years—​to reach the magic number of ten thousand. As a result, as the hagiography says, he “gained eternal life and the state of no death,” finding “inner sincerity in his essence and cosmic communion in his meditation so that he could pervade the mystery.” Other Daoists, too, practiced this—​and to the present day recitation of the Daode jing forms an important part of monastic training and personal cultivation. Those who reached the magic number and gained the full effect of the practice, moreover, rose up and ecstatically joined the immortals. Early evidence appears in Tao Hongjing’s (456–​536) Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected, DZ 1016) of approximately the year 500. According to this, a certain Old Master taught Daoist techniques to three members of the Zhou family, the father and two sons. His prime method was chanting the Daode jing. The father and older brother managed to be consistent and reached ten thousand repetitions, being rewarded by ascension to the heavens. The younger brother, however, only reached 9,733 times and did not attain immortality. Another effect of Daode jing recitation linked to immortality was the acquisition of magical powers and immunity to harm.

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  121 A classical example appears in the medieval expansion of Laozi’s western emigration. As described in the Laozi huahu jing (Scripture of Laozi’s Conversion of the Barbarians), Laozi reunites with Yin Xi in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, giving him the sign of a man selling a black sheep at a local market—​the original location of the Black Sheep Palace (Qingyang gong), to the present day a major sanctuary of the religion. From here, the two sages wander westward, crossing over the Himalayas and eventually reaching India. On the way, they convert the local people, seen as “barbarians” by the Chinese, to Daoism. In India, moreover, this conversion results in the rise of Buddhism, after its first arrival in early medieval China is understood as a western form of Daoism. This conversion process, however, is not smooth and simple but meets with massive resistance, leading the two Daoists into numerous perils, reminiscent of the quest of the hero in Western mythology. At one point, a local ruler of a Central Asian kingdom captures them and decides to burn them alive. The Daode jing, it turns out, comes to the rescue. The barbarians burned the two sages for over forty days. Then they ran out of wood, and the fire went out. Laozi and Yin Xi remained unharmed. They sat calmly on the glowing embers and recited the Daode jing as before.

Highest Clarity The second major school of medieval Daoism is known as Highest Clarity (Shangqing). Named after a superior heaven at the top of a cluster of divine realms formed by pure Dao in the beginning of creation, the school began in the 360s, when a group of aristocrats of the Xu family, who lived near Mount Mao southeast of modern Nanjing, hired a spirit-​medium named Yang Xi to communicate with their ancestors and find out their fate in the otherworld. The

122  Part Two: Traditional Expansions medium connected not only to the deceased Xus who were fine, but various other spirit figures, including underworld rulers, divine officers of the dead, spirit masters of moral rules, and denizens of nearby mountain grottoes, as well as some leaders of the Celestial Masters, notably the former libationer Lady Wei Huacun (251–​334). Together they provided the medium with a detailed description of the organization and population of the otherworld, and especially of the top heaven of Highest Clarity. They also revealed specific methods of soul travels or ecstatic excursions, visualizations, and alchemical concoctions, gave thorough instructions on how to transmit the texts and their methods, and provided prophecies about the golden age to come. The Xus, in cooperation with a few other aristocratic families in the neighborhood, followed divine instructions and developed a meditation practice to establish contact with the denizens of the otherworld with the overall goal to become like them and ascend to the heavens, where they would receive ranks, positions, and emoluments denied to them on earth. Like earlier hermits, alchemists, and masters of methods, they hoped to attain immortality but the focus of their practice shifted away from organic compounds, physical transformation, and chanting to meditative ways of attaining a rank among the perfected. Immortality practice thus came to focus on the direct interaction with divinities through focused meditations, visualizations, and ecstatic excursions. It also ultimately became a bureaucratic act, culminating in the transfer of one’s file from the administration of death on Mount Fengdu to that of life in the Southern Palace. The divinities of Highest Clarity resided most prominently in the upper heavens and the stars. However, they were also understood to have a residence in the human body. Based on Han cosmology and Chinese medicine, it was traditionally seen as a network of storage areas and energy channels, forming a microcosmic replica of nature and the cosmos. Now it became a veritable storehouse of divine agencies, palaces, and figures, patterned in many ways on

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  123 the constellations in the stars. For example, the head was now called Mount Kunlun while the center of the body became the Yellow Court (huangting). Laozi, as representative of Dao, became the central deity residing there, occupying a wondrous palace of great splendor. As already Ge Hong’s Baopuzi says, His residence is a high tower of gold, where the rooms are lined with jade and the steps are of silver. His clothing is of multicolored cloudy vapors, and his hat is tiered, and he holds a pointed sword. He is furthermore attended by 120 yellow divine lads. To his left are twelve blue dragons, to his right are thirty-​six white tigers. Before him go twenty-​four vermilion birds, and to his rear follow seventy-​two dark warriors. His vanguard consists of twelve heavenly beasts; his rearguard, of thirty-​six evil-​dispellers. Above him hover thunder and lightning with flash and brilliance. (ch. 15)

The deity here not only resides is a spectacular palace of gold and gems but also surrounded by an entourage of divine attendants and numinous beasts, all numbered in groups of twelve. The animals mentioned are originally starry constellations, showing the god occupies a central position of great power. The vermilion bird and the “dark warrior,” depicted as a combination of a turtle and a snake, are the symbolic animals of the south and north respectively. The heavenly beast, an ox-​like creature covered with bristles, and the evil-​dispeller, a one-​horned furry deer with a long tail, moreover, are baleful constellations associated with demonic powers. Their service to Laozi in such great numbers documents his power even over all inauspicious forces and enhances the description of the splendor in which he resides at the center of the universe. Laozi as the visible god of Dao not only represents its extraordinary nature and supernatural stature, but also the central position it occupies in the creation and continued existence of all. Attaining a true vision of this central force leads to long life, power, and omniscience.

124  Part Two: Traditional Expansions In Highest Clarity, Laozi appears further under the name Yellow Lord Lao and resides in the center of head, in a cavity called Niwan Palace, also known as the upper elixir field (dantian) and the internal match of the cosmic pillar of Mount Kunlun. His palace here is central among the so-​called Nine Palaces in the head, the third as one enters from the mid-​point between the eyebrows, reaching first the Hall of Light (mingtang) and second the Cavern Chamber (dongfang), where other powerful but slightly lesser deities reside. Access to him, moreover, is through the Daode jing, whose recitation opens the heavenly doors. As the Ciyi wulao baojing (Precious Scripture of the Five Old Ones of the Female One, DZ 1313) says, Recite the scripture three times, then close your eyes and hold your breath. Visualize the palace of the Hall of Light with its pink terraces and green chambers on the left, yellow towers and purple gateways on the right. Next, visualize the palace of the Cavern Chamber, a golden room with purple coverings. On the left see Lord Wuying, on the right Lord Baiyuan, both dressed in flowery purple caps, dragon skirts, and phoenix robes. Now, in the central palace, see the Yellow Lord Lao. He looks like a newborn baby and is dressed in a flowery robe with yellow embroidery. The three gods sit next to each other, facing outward. Once you see them in your head, call out their names to establish communication. (26a)

Only after the scripture has been recited can the deity be fully visualized. Closing his eyes, the adept moves gradually inward, seeing several beautiful palaces with magnificent buildings and comes face to face with the gods. Moving from the periphery to the center, he first spies the two attendants Wuying and Baiyuan, lords who preside over the liver and lungs within the body, centers that administer key functions of life. Then he sees the Yellow Lord Lao in the middle, looking fresh like a newborn baby yet dressed

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  125 in a flowery celestial robe. The god here represents Dao in its two aspects as the creative power of the universe that is always new and as the ruling force of the universe that presides over life and death with imperial splendor.

The Northern Celestial Masters While Highest Clarity continued to grow in the south, soon developing a more ritually oriented branch that later evolved into the school of Numinous Treasure (Lingbao), northern China was under the rule of a Central Asian dynasty known as the Toba-​Wei. Making use of Chinese statecraft, the foreign rulers engaged religious organizations to assist in administering the country, leading to the establishment of state religions. The Celestial Masters reformed at the time and, in the early fifth century, formed the so-​ called Daoist theocracy under Kou Qianzhi (365–​448), leading to the establishment of the first Daoist monasteries. In the process, their doctrine changed to include Confucian virtues and social rituals as well as Buddhist ideas of precepts, monks’ behavior, and veneration of deities. With the northern Celestial Masters, in other words, Daoism has reached the status of mature organized religion. Venerating Laozi as the central deity, they also paid great respect to the Daode jing, activating it in ritualized meditation. According to a fifth-​century preface to the text, the Daode zhenjing xujue (Introductory Explanations to the Perfect Scripture of Dao and Its Virtue; Kohn 1998), which has also survived among Dunhuang manuscripts, Laozi provided detailed instructions on how to properly venerate his scripture. To begin, adepts should set up the proper space, known as a quite chamber or oratory (jingshi). Originally a place of repentance and self-​reflection used by Han-​ dynasty bureaucrats and Celestial Masters libationers, the oratory is also the forerunner of the Japanese teahouse. A  small, single-​ room structure, it was located either a special section of the house

126  Part Two: Traditional Expansions or temple or a separate hut in the gardens. About thirty square feet in size, it must contain no more than four things: an incense burner, an incense lamp, a prayer bench or cushion, and a brush or writing knife plus paper or bamboo slips. Before entering, practitioners had to wash their hands, comb their hair, and put on a clean robe and cap. They entered with the right foot first while holding a ritual audience tablet with both hands. Kneeling on the prayer bench or cushion, they would straighten their robes and bow three times each to the ten directions. Next, they would click their teeth and swallow their saliva to activate the connection to the divine, close their eyes, and calm their breathing to enter a state of deep concentration. From here, they would visualize various guardian deities, burn incense, and recite a prayer for protection, then move on to the practice proper. To conclude, they would offer another prayer, formally send off the gods, and withdraw. When preparing to chant the Daode jing, practitioners visualized Lord Lao and his major assistants, Yin Xi and Heshang Gong, and offered a silent prayer, calling upon him as lord of the Niwan Palace to enter the sacred space. The prayer goes, Mysterious and again mysterious, the origin of Dao, Above, virtue incorporates chaos and the prime. Heaven’s truth is wondrous, yet how far, alas! Coming closer, now there is the Great Lord of Niwan. In my room, the seven jewels come together, Doors and windows open of themselves. Utter in my purity, I strive for deeper truth, Riding on bright light, I ascend the purple sky. Sun and moon shine to my right and left, I go to the immortals, find eternal life. All my seven ancestors arise, are reborn in the heavens, The world, how true, is the gate to virtue and to Dao.

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  127 This invokes the deity to approach, causing the room to undergo mysterious changes and establishing a link of light to the higher spheres. Riding on a beam of light, practitioners would float up and away into the purple empyrean, where they established themselves among the stars, like Lord Lao himself connected to the sun and moon and resting in eternal life, taking along a slew of deceased family members. Only then should the Daode jing be recited. As the Xuejue says, Complete the prayer, then click your teeth and swallow your saliva thirty-​six times. Visualize the green dragon to your left, the white tiger to your right, the red bird in front of you, and the dark warrior at your back. Your feet stand between the eight trigrams, the divine turtle and the thirty-​six masters bow to you. In front, you see the seventeen stars, while your five inner organs give forth the five energies and a network-​pattern streams across your body. On three sides, you are joined by an attendant, each having a retinue of a thousand carriages and ten thousand horsemen. Eight thousand jade maidens and jade lads of Heaven and Earth stand guard for you. Then repeat the prayer, this time aloud, and begin to recite the five thousand words of the scripture. Conclude by clicking your teeth three times and swallowing the saliva. (sect. 5)

Firmly in the cosmic center by seeing themselves surrounded by the constellations forming the majestic animals of the four directions and solidly standing on the eight trigrams of the Yijing, adepts have become one with Dao at the center of creation. All bow to them as they stand among the stars, their body a pure constellation of light and energy patterns. Not only supported by attendants, they are at the center of a major procession, joined by thousands of followers and servants. Now they can recite the Daode jing in its truest environment and to its greatest effect.

128  Part Two: Traditional Expansions

Fig. 8.  Daoist monks chanting. Source: Evening services at Baxian’an in Xi’an. Photograph by Helene Minot, 2011. Used by permission.

In this ritualized chanting practice, practitioners therefore place themselves in the center of the universe, closely linked with Lord Lao and increasingly identical with Dao. Adepts become both the embodied and celestial Dao by concentrating on the deity and placing themselves into the starry sky. Firmly established in the highest celestial position, they attain immortality together with their ancestors, using the Daode jing as both means and object in their union with Dao.

Integrated Ordination After Kou Qianzhi’s death in 448, the Toba-​Wei handed the administration of the country to the Buddhists, and Daoists had to leave the capital. Used to living in monastic conditions, they retired to

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  129 the mountains southwest of Chang’an, where a descendant of Yin Xi had established a religious base at his family’s estate, which he claimed was the location of the original transmission of the Daode jing. Known as Louguan, literally the Tower Observatory, honoring Yin Xi’s astronomical observations that helped him spot the emigrating Laozi, this became the first formal Daoist monastery and gave all later institutions their name (guan). Focused strongly on the veneration of Laozi and the recitation of the Daode jing, the group continued to follow the rules of the Celestial Masters while reorganizing their community through a tighter hierarchy and more elaborate rituals. Their creed centered on the transmission of formal registers, that is, lists of the names of gods that would protect initiates, and the healing of diseases through exorcisms and talismans. In the south at the same time, in addition to a different branch of the Celestial Masters, there were three major Daoist schools. One was Highest Clarity with its elaborate descriptions of heavens and gods, its detailed instructions on how to travel to them ecstatically, and its focus on individual practice and the attainment of immortality. Its practice was most sophisticated and its texts were the most literary; it was considered the highest among the schools. Next came Numinous Treasure, a more popular and ritually oriented school that adopted many aspects of Buddhist practice, precepts, thought, and terminology. Third was the school of the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang), whose teaching focused on the creation of social harmony through the writing of talismans and their worship in formal rituals. Its members also engaged in visionary forms of divination, trying to determine the best way to a harmonious society along the lines of the Great Peace ideal. In the early sixth century, all the various schools of both north and south, as part of an overall move toward reunification of the empire and the creation of a unifying orthodoxy, integrated their teachings into a systematic and hierarchical whole, generically called integrated Daoism. They were all ranked and their texts

130  Part Two: Traditional Expansions associated with a particular “Cavern” containing sacred scriptures plus a “Supplement” of technical and hagiographic materials. A fourth supplement was added to house the Celestial Masters at the foundation of the entire system. The gods of the Three Caverns, moreover, were joined together into one group known as the Pure Ones (Sanqing) or the Daoist trinity. Named after the three major heavens of the schools, they had the Heavenly Worthy of Primordial Beginning (representing Highest Clarity) at the center, the Lord of the Dao (Numinous Treasure) to his left, and Lord Lao (adopted from both the Three Sovereigns and Celestial Masters schools) to his right. The three deities further matched the Three Treasures of the religion, a concept adopted from Buddhism, that is, buddha (enlightenment), dharma (teaching), and sangha (community of followers). In Daoism, they are Dao, scriptures, and teachers. The gods represent the Three Treasures in the sense that the Heavenly Worthy is the creative power at the root of all existence, the Lord of the Dao is the revealer of scriptures and presenter of revelations, and Lord Lao is the practical teacher who provides instructions in various techniques and communicates most closely with humanity. Daoist priests were ranked according to this new hierarchy. As described by Charles Benn (2000), the first level involved the transmission of registers and a formal initiation of lay practitioners under the auspices of the southern Celestial Masters. From here, it moved into a more complex ordination hierarchy in this order:  Daode jing followers (northern Celestial Masters), Three Sovereigns, Numinous Treasure, and Highest Clarity. Each school was given a position in the system, its scriptures and practices designating a particular rank. As a Daoist attained each rank, he would receive the respective school’s scriptures, vow to observe its precepts, learn its rituals and meditations, and obtain a title matching his rank. To move from one level to the next, practitioners would undergo ordination, a formal ceremony that involved the transmission of a set of sacred scriptures together with precepts and ritual

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  131 methods. These three, and the sacred teachings they represented, were further protected and empowered by talismans that served as passports to the otherworld, registers that contained the names of relevant protective deities, ordinances that held orders to be obeyed by the spirits, and contracts that documented the practitioner’s standing in the divine cosmos. Daode jing followers, then, represented the second level, succeeding the basic initiation of the southern Celestial Masters and completing their training to attain the rank of Preceptors of Lofty Mystery. The ritual involved the bestowal of a variety of exegetical, devotional, and technical materials linked with the text. They were: (1) major early commentaries on the Daode jing, such as the physiological interpretation by Heshang Gong and the Xiang’er zhu of the Celestial Masters; (2) technical interpretations of the text, such as the Laozi neijie (Inner Explication of the Daode jing) and the Laozi jiejie (Sectional Explanations of the Daode jing), which both survive only in citations; (3) philosophical and mystical exegeses of specifically Louguan provenance, such as the Xisheng jing (Scripture of Western Ascension), which contains Laozi’s oral instructions to Yin Xi, and the Miaozhen jing (Scripture of Wondrous Perfection), a philosophical work on proper Daoist behavior in self-​cultivation and public service; (4) practical manuals on Daode jing meditation and ritual, such as the Laozi zhongjing (Central Scripture of Laozi) on the looks and functions of the body gods; and the Wuqian wen chaoyi (Protocols for Audience Rites of the Daode jing), a technical manual on ritual practice that is lost today; (5) formal hagiographies of Laozi and Yin Xi, such as the Gaoshang Laozi neizhuan (Highest Essential Biography of Laozi) and the Wenshi neizhuan, which describe Laozi’s progress on earth and the first formalized transmission of the Daode jing.

132  Part Two: Traditional Expansions In addition, they also received a set of ten precepts that include the five classic prohibitions against killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and intoxication adopted from Buddhism plus five more positive resolutions. As outlined in the Shijie jing (Scripture of the Ten Precepts, DZ 459), they are: 6. I will maintain harmony with my ancestors and family and never disregard my kin. 7. When I see someone do good, I will support him with joy and delight. 8. When I see someone unfortunate, I will support him with dignity to recover good fortune. 9. When someone comes to do me harm, I  will not harbor thoughts of revenge. 10. As long as all beings have not attained the Dao, I will not expect to do so myself. (1ab)

Vowing to follow these rules to the letter, completely surrender to Dao, and dedicate themselves fully to the religion, adepts would chant the following vow: Honoring the precepts without a moment’s relapse, For generations we create nothing but good karma. With concentration we are mindful of the Great Vehicle, And soon embody the perfection of the Dao. (Fengdao kejie 6.10a–​11a).

Next, they would take refuge in the gods of the ten directions and pledge lavish gifts of gold, silk, and precious objects to the master and the institution. Only then did they receive the various insignia of their new status, such as religious names as well as the titles, vestments, and headdresses appropriate for their new rank, including a kerchief, long robe, cape, shoes, and staff. To show their new affiliation, they tied their hair into a topknot, unlike Buddhists

Chapter 6: Devotional Activation  133 who shaved theirs. Also unlike in Buddhism, where nuns had to observe many more rules than monks and were given a lower status, women in Daoism were treated equally and underwent the same ceremonies. Ever since the Middle Ages, therefore, the Daode jing has occupied a central position in the Daoist religion and its various devotional, meditative, and priestly activities. Not only the key scripture of the so-​called Daode jing followers who occupy the second level of the hierarchy, the text has continued to play an important role, through its devotional activation pervading religious Daoism, inspiring believers, and guiding adepts to higher levels.

Further Readings Benn, Charles. 2000. “Daoist Ordination and Zhai Rituals.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 309–​38. Leiden: Brill. Bokenkamp, Stephen R. 1997. Early Daoist Scriptures. With a contribution by Peter Nickerson. Berkeley: University of California Press. Boltz, William G. 1982. “The Religious and Philosophical Significance of the ‘Hsiang-​erh Lao-​tzu’ in the Light of the Ma-​wang-​tui Silk Manuscripts.” Bulletin of the School for Oriental and African Studies 45:95–​117. Kleeman, Terry F. 2016. Celestial Masters: History and Ritual in Early Daoist Communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Yenching Institute. Kohn, Livia. 1997. “Yin Xi:  The Master at the Beginning of the Scripture.” Journal of Chinese Religions 25:83–​139. Kohn, Livia. 1998. “The Tao-​te-​ching in Ritual.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 143–​61. Albany: State University of New York Press. Kohn, Livia. 2003. “Medieval Daoist Ordination:  Origins, Structure, and Practices.” Acta Orientalia 56:379–​98. Kohn, Livia. 2004. Cosmos and Community: The Ethical Dimension of Daoism. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press. Robinet, Isabelle. 1993. Taoist Meditation:  The Mao-​shan Tradition of Great Purity. Translated by Norman Girardot and Julian Pas. Albany:  State University of New York Press. Ware, James R. 1966. Alchemy, Medicine and Religion in the China of ad 320. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

7 Commentary Exegeses The Nature of Commentaries Why would someone write a commentary? Why refer back to another work, however classic, and not express one’s personal ideas? The obvious answer is that the commentator is deeply impressed with the original but finds it hard to understand and wishes to clarify it both for himself and his audience. Alternatively he may believe that the original has something to contribute to his particular time and thinking, lending greater authority to his own perspective and opening a venue of the historical flow of ideas. By the same token, in politically repressed cultures, such as the Later Han dynasty, intellectuals may hide behind the classics, expressing their potentially subversive ideas by commenting on a highly respected, officially sanctioned work. In either case, the original text forms the basis of an interactive play between commentator and reader, the former serving as the active producer of specific combinations of ideas and interpretations of phrases. He thus becomes the creator of a specific level of meaning that is personal, new, and transformative. Commentaries are one way in which human beings formulate and create their world. Actively working with a text, both commentator and reader link past and present, thought and application, forming links within an ongoing interpretative network and perpetuating its continuous fabrication. Commentaries, in other words, are a form of dialogue, a relational play between the original and the interpreter, involving a recreation, a remaking that casts the classic in a new framework

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  135 while yet trying to assure that nothing of its original richness is lost. The process in turn modifies the culture: new interpretations create specific groups of readers and forever evolving schools of readings. In the case of the Daode jing, Western readers must overcome distances of cultural background while Chinese must struggle with the thought habits of a distant historical period. Commentaries accordingly strive to make the work accessible in their own context and time, developing a sense of contemporality and placing its ideas in a particular historical, intellectual, and spiritual context. This Daode jing is especially prone to this process since it consists to such a large extent of aphorisms, often with cryptic wording, contradictory ideas, and abrupt non sequiturs that literally cry out for explanation and interpretation. The Chinese, tending to see the text as an intentionally created, integrated document, have developed its shortcomings to their advantage by seeing in them a higher depth of sense, a mystery to unravel. Obscure expressions become metaphors for things unknown that can be solved in innumerable creative ways. The Daode jing by its very nature can never be definite, its obvious surface meaning forever insufficient, its words always the starting points of an inquiry for sense and deeper understanding. It is thus not surprising that the text was the subject of about seven hundred commentaries in China, beginning in the third century bce and still continuing today, when voices from other countries have joined the chorus. They divide into three major types. The earliest and most syncretistic are political readings that relate the text’s concepts to ideal forms of rulership and practical advice for those in government. Second, the most concrete are spiritual interpretations that link it with specific methods of self-​cultivation and meditation. Third, the most pervasive are philosophical exegeses that either strive to clarify its thought or revise its ideas to match the context of a particular school. The three earliest and most influential commentaries match this division.

136  Part Two: Traditional Expansions

Ideal Rulership The earliest commentary to the Daode jing, a partial version between the two early manuscript editions, goes back to the Legalist thinker Han Feizi (d. 233 bce). A member of the ruling aristocracy of the state of Han, he was born with a stutter and not good at disputation, a major art at the time, but made up for it in his writing. Having studied under the Confucian philosopher Xunzi (d. 238 bce) together with the future Qin chancellor Li Si (280–​208 bce) and learned from various syncretist thinkers such as Shen Dao, he was well aware of the pitfalls of Warring States politic and variously remonstrated with the Han king. He advised him to be more conscientious in caring for his subjects, employ those best qualified as administrators, and create a clearly structured and well enforced judicial system. “However,” as his biography in the Shiji notes, “the king employed the corrupt and treacherous and put them in high positions over and above the wise. He regarded intellectuals as a disturbance to his law and thought that knights violated the prohibition of the state by using arms.” In other words, he behaved like any other tyrant at the time, ignoring the well-​meant advice of his ministers. Han Feizi eventually left and presented his writings to the king of Qin, the future First Emperor, imploring him not to attack his homeland in his quest for unification. However, before he could achieve his goal, he became embroiled in court intrigues and was forced to commit suicide by drinking poison. In the event, Qin conquered the state of Han together with all the others and the ruler was killed, fulfilling the fate Han Feizi had predicted. Following Xunzi in his understanding of human nature as originally evil and without virtue, he did not share the Confucian conviction that education and a shame-​based moral system could remedy this situation. Instead, he followed the Legalist doctrine and proposed the installation of a strict system of well-​enforced laws that pragmatically used people’s self-​interest to create political

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  137 and social order. Although he did not spare Han’s homeland, his writings inspired the future First Emperor, who put them to good use and built a tightly regulated, integrated state. Relegated to a lower position in the following dynasty, Han Feizi’s political theory yet continued to influence Chinese history, laying the foundation of the law-​based Confucian state. Han Feizi’s writings have survived in a thirty-​chapter book of the same name. Two chapters contain his commentary to the Daode jing, “Jielao” (Explaining Lao[zi], ch. 20) and “Yulao” (Illustrating Lao[zi], ch. 21). Both cite selected passages from the Daode jing not in the order of the transmitted text and mostly from the section on “virtue,” that is, the practical application of Daoist cosmology, then proceed to provide an interpretation (see Table 3). As Sarah Queen has shown (2012), both chapters focus on the core value of ideal rulership, however, there is a distinct difference between them. “Jielao” is theoretical and philosophical, focusing on issues of virtue and the development of Confucian values such as benevolence, righteousness, and propriety within the ruler. While it follows the Daode jing in condemning the destructive desire for material wealth and power rampant during the Warring States, it also proposes a Legalist agenda in its emphasis on systematic laws, well applied rewards and punishments, as well as a clear distinction between names and reality. The chapter further integrates these two views with the Confucian vision of moral governance, emphasizing the good care the ruler—​free from personal desires—​needs to take of his country, acting as if he were “cooking a small fish” (ch. 60). Going beyond the vague emphasis on weakness and freedom from desires, Han Feizi specifies the right mental attitude essential

Table 3  Daode jing Chapters Used in the Hanfeizi Jielao Yulao

1, 14, 38, 46, 50, 53, 54, 58, 59, 60, 67 26, 27, 33, 36, 41, 46, 47, 52, 63, 64, 71

138  Part Two: Traditional Expansions for successful rulership. Thus, the rather vague passage, “When the government is nondiscriminating and dull, the people are content and generous” (ch. 58), is read very specifically: “If the ruler feels concerned in his mind, his motives of conduct will be straight. If his motives are straight, his thinking process will be careful. If his thinking is careful, he will work according to proper principles [laws]. If he works with principles, he meets no obstacles and lives as desired by Heaven.” In addition, Han Feizi notes that the effect of right thinking and internal cultivation spreads from the individual through his family to state and country, matching the vision of the “Great Learning” chapter of the Confucian Liji or Book of Rites. “Yulao,” in contrast, is much more concrete and pragmatic. After citing a Daode jing passage, often abbreviated, the chapter tells specific stories to illustrate the key points. Going back to the Spring and Autumn as well as the early Warring States periods, tales typically describe how rulers ignored the advice of their learned counsel and not only lost their state but often also came to an ignominious death. For example, it illustrates the passage, “Deal with things before they appear; put things in order before disorder arises” (ch. 64) as follows: When the Prince of Jin lived in exile, he once passed through the state of Zheng. Its ruler treated him rudely. The ruler’s adviser, Shu Zhan, remonstrated, saying, “He is a worthy prince. May Your Highness treat him with great courtesy and thus place him under obligation.” The ruler did not listen, so Shu Zhan tried a different track. “If Your Highness does not wish to treat him well, better put him to death to prevent future calamities.” Still, the ruler did not listen. After the Prince of Jin was rehabilitated, he raised an army and sent it against Zheng, conquering eight of its cities.

Much of the commentary, then, presents ways of how best to avoid such situations and not lose positional advantage in the complex

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  139 political sphere at the time, using the Daode jing as a jumping-​off point for the overarching argument that the prosperity of the state and success of the ruler depend on the proper state of mind, a good sense of care, and the willingness to listen to learned ministers.

Personal Self-​Cultivation As noted earlier, Heshang Gong, the Master on the River, was a Daoist sage under King Wen of the Han who, according to legend, put the emperor in his place through a demonstration of superior magical powers. The commentary associated with him is known as the Heshang Gong zhangju (Chapters and Verses of the Master on the River; DZ 682; trans. Erkes 1958). Providing the main edition of the Daode jing through the early Middle Ages, its authenticity—​ as much as the historicity of the Master—​was doubted in the early Tang, leading to the dominance of Wang Bi’s version. Still, it has remained an essential Daoist reading. Its key feature is the link between personal self-​cultivation and political governance, with a strong emphasis on the modification and application of the cosmic energy of qi, the material aspect of Dao. As Alan Chan points out (1991), it sees the creation of political order as structurally isomorphic with the cultivation of personal longevity, so that politics and philosophy, magic and morality, are closely interconnected. Heshang Gong accordingly reads the passage, “One may know the world without going out of doors and see the way of heaven without looking through the windows” (ch. 47). The Dao of Heaven is the same as the Dao of humanity. Heaven and humanity pervade each other, essence and energy continue each other. When the ruler of humanity rests in clarity and stillness, the qi of Heaven will naturally be upright. When the ruler of humanity is full of desires, the qi of Heaven will be troubled and turbid. Thus all good and bad fortune, profit and harm, issue from one’s own self. (3.9a)

140  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Going even beyond this parallelism and close connection, for Heshang Gong the country really is the same as the self and the preservation of one also means the continuity of the other. To the passage, “He who possesses the mother of the state will last long” (ch. 59), he says, The country is the self. Dao is its mother. When one can preserve Dao within the self, keeping the essence and energy from being labored and the five spirits from suffering hardship, one can live forever. (3.19b)

The “five spirits” represent the qi of the five inner organs, a particular manifestation of cosmic qi that pervades all but manifests differently in different people (see Fig. 9). The contrast of having desires and being free from them (ch. 1), thus plays out on an energetic level.

Fig. 9.  A Daoist meditating on the spirits of the five organs. Source: Dadong zhenjing (DZ 6). Public domain.

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  141 Within heaven there is yet another heaven. The vital qi received at birth can be rich or poor in quality. One who attains harmonious and fruitful qi will become a wise man or a sage. One who attains confused and turbid qi will become greedy and licentious. (1.2a)

Qi appears most concentrated in the body divinities or spirits (shen) as they reside in the five organs. Preserving qi by focusing on their presence accordingly leads to sagehood, clarity of mind, long life, and even immortality. Heshang Gong outlines this in his interpretation of the passage “The valley spirit does not die” (ch. 6): “Valley” means “nourish.” If one can nourish the spirits, one does not die. The “spirits” are those of the five organs. The spirit soul in the liver, the material soul in the lungs, the spirit in the heart, the intention in the spleen, and the essence in the kidneys. If the five organs are exhausted or harmed, the five spirits will leave and one dies.

The next line, “It is called the mysterious female,” he reinterprets to read “the mysterious and the female,” then connects the two to the cultivation of breath and diet. This means that the Dao of no-​death lies in the mysterious and the female. The mysterious is heaven; in the human body, it is the nose. The female is earth; in the human body, it is the mouth. Heaven feeds people with the five breaths which enter the organs through the nose and settle in the heart. The five breaths are pure and subtle; they cause people to have sentience and spirituality, intelligence and perception, sound and voice, as well as the five kinds of inner nature. They are represented in the spirit soul, which is male and leaves and enters the human body through the nose in order to interact with heaven. Therefore, the nose is the mysterious.

142  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Earth feeds people with the five tastes, which enter the organs through the mouth and settle in the stomach. The five tastes are turbid and heavy; they cause people to have body and skeleton, bones and flesh, blood and pulses, and the six kinds of emotional passions. They are represented in the material soul, which is female and leaves and enters the human body through the mouth in order to interact with earth. Therefore, the mouth is the female. (1.5a)

This position links Heshang Gong’s work to the masters of methods and their various longevity techniques, diets, herbs, exercises, breath control, and meditation, making him a forerunner of organized Daoist practice. This also appears in his reading of the passage “Supporting your material souls and embracing oneness, can you never leave them?” (ch. 10). He notes: “Supporting your material souls” really refers to the “spirit and material souls.” People sustain the two kinds of souls and thereby obtain life. They should love and nurture them, realizing that joy and hatred cause the spirit soul to vanish while haste and alarm make the material soul leave. The spirit soul resides in the liver, the material soul in the lungs. Indulging in wine and sweet delicacies harms the liver and lungs. Instead, people should keep the spirit soul at rest so that their will can be set on Dao, and they will be free from trouble. They should maintain the material soul in a state of peace so that they attain long life and can extend their years. The second part means that if one can embrace oneness and cause it never to leave the body, one will live forever. Oneness is the first product of Dao and virtue, the essential energy of Great Harmony. Therefore, it is called oneness. It pervades everything in the world.

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  143 Interpreting the next lines of the chapter, Heshang Gong echoes the instructions of the Neiye and insists that one should “concentrate firmly on essence and breath without letting it be disturbed,” “purify the mind and make it clean and pure, allowing it to rest in mysterious union so that perception can know everything.” Reaching this state, one will be “free from lasciviousness and wrong-​doing,” thereby eminently qualified to “govern the country and nurture the people,” providing peace throughout the land. The person he addresses predominantly, just like in the Daode jing, is the sage ruler, the prime subject of self-​cultivation and its ethical consequences. The sage must be free from desires, boastfulness, dishonesty, and all excesses, his very body and mind reflecting the social order. Governing the country is fundamentally no different from nourishing and preserving one’s personal qi; nonaction here becomes a form of personal cultivation, a process of transformation above that diminishes desires among the people below (chs. 3, 37, 57). All forms of intervention only lead to trouble and exhaust precious resources (ch. 60). Heshang Gong accordingly rejects heavy taxation (ch. 75), reliance on harsh laws and stiff punishments (ch. 74), and above all war (chs. 30, 31, 68). Confucian policies with their emphasis on benevolence and proper conduct to him are imposing arbitrary distinctions and artificial standards, ritual and propriety leading only to hypocrisy (ch. 38). This is not anarchy, however. Order comes from the pervasive impact of the finely cultivated personality and cosmic connection of the ruler, as in Huang Lao thought occupying the position of oneness and providing appropriate leadership and timely mediation. On occasion, if confronted with powerful desires, he must take concrete steps and even forceful measures, yet always acting as part of Dao and with the overarching goal of complete harmony.

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Original Nonbeing Wang Bi (226–​249 ce), as described above, was a boy genius thinker, living at a time when the restrictions of the Later Han had fallen away and intellectuals engaged freely in Pure Talk, considering the metaphysical principles underlying the world. A typical representative of the new strand of Mystery Learning, he wrote various commentaries, including one on the Daode jing (trans. Lin 1977; Rump and Chan 1979). Unlike Heshang Gong, his interpretation is strongly philosophical and he elevated the understanding of the text on three levels: ontology, semiotics, and ethics. In terms of ontology, his main new contribution is the concept of original nonbeing (benwu). While nonbeing and the notion of “non” appear variously in the Daode jing, they tend to be descriptive of more cosmological concepts such as oneness or applications of alignment with Dao in practical living, such as in nonaction. Wang Bi changes this to elevate nonbeing to an ontological level, describing it as a formless and nameless potency at the root of all creation, from which concrete reality or “forms” as well as conscious conceptions and terms or “names” evolved. Commenting on the phrase “mysterious and again mysterious” (ch. 1), he says, All being originates from nonbeing. Therefore, the time before there were forms and names is the beginning of the myriad beings. When forms and names are there, [Dao] raises them, educates them, adjusts them, and causes their end. It serves as their mother. The text states that Dao produces and completes beings on the basis of the formless and the nameless. They are produced and completed but do not know how or why. Indeed, it is mysterious and again mysterious.

Similarly, he interprets the “valley spirit” as the “non-​valley in the middle of the valley, without form or shadow, without reversal or

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  145 deviation, lowly and unmoving, deeply still and never declining,” seeing abstract philosophical concepts where Heshang Gong read cultivation practice. For Wang Bi, nonbeing is like Dao: infinite, ineffable, empty, and incalculable. However, he also describes in more detail, giving it a distinct role in the world. He thus establishes a definite relationship between the underlying ground and experiential existence, between Dao and reality. Strongly working in binary opposites, he speaks of nonbeing and being (wuyou), root and branches (benmo), oneness and multiplicity (yizhong), as well as of principle and reality (lishi), forms and names (xingming). Ontologically, this plays out as a sequential unfolding from nonbeing into being, from the root of all in a state of all-​embracing oneness to the various branches manifest in wide-​ranging multiplicity, from underlying principle, the inherent patterning of all existence, into the emergence of reality, that is, the substantial, physical presence of the myriad beings or “forms.” This process is without intention or purpose, yet comes to serve all beings perfectly. As he notes when commenting on the phrase, “Heaven and Earth are not benevolent” (ch. 5), Heaven and Earth do not produce grass for the benefit of cattle, but cattle still eat the grass. They do not produce dogs for the benefit of men, but people still eat the dogs. Since they do not interfere with the myriad beings, they all fit into their unique use, and none is left unprovided for.

In terms of semiotics, the theory of language, moreover, he describes physical forms as leading to the arising of names, that is, language and terminology as the means of classification and intellectual analysis. Wang Bi notes, All names arise from forms; never has a form arisen from a name. Therefore, if there is this name, there must be this form, and if

146  Part Two: Traditional Expansions there is this form, there must be its separation from all other forms. If “benevolence” cannot be called “sagehood” or “intelligence” be called “benevolence,” each must have its own actuality. (Laozi zhilue; Wagner 2000)

In addition, the concept of names also carries an ethical dimension in that a “name” refers to fame and reputation, which means that true reputation can only come from something more real, such as sincerity, simplicity, and authenticity, and must not be the reason for creating certain mental patterns or behaviors. People, especially those involved in government, accordingly should not be swayed by promises of high rank or praise in the performance of their tasks. If the virtues of honesty and simplicity are not made prominent but the splendors of reputation and conduct are instead publicized and exalted, one will cultivate what exalts him in the hope of high praise and cultivate what leads forward in the expectation of material advantage. The more splendid the praise, the more he will thrust sincerity away; the greater the material advantage, the more contentious he will become. Heartfelt feelings one should have for one’s kin will lose their authenticity. Obedience will no longer be grounded in sincerity; kindness will no longer rest in actuality (Laozi zhilue). This, in turn, carries over into ethics, the third area of Wang Bi’s interpretation. Here he focuses on the concept of return to counteract the human tendency to desire high rank, wealth, and prestige. Return for Wang Bi signifies the reduction of multiplicity to oneness, the recovery of unity from duality. In his commentary to the Daode jing, he follows the quietistic tendency expressed in the original text and accepts the attainment of complete simplicity through withdrawing from social involvement and calming the mind. Commenting on the passage, “Return to life means constancy” (ch. 16), he says,

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  147 In emptiness and stillness, one observes the return of all beings. All beings come from emptiness, all movement comes from stillness. Therefore, although beings move together, they ultimately return to emptiness and stillness. . . . Returning to their origin means rest. This is called stillness. Stillness means recovering one’s original life. . . . This means to achieve permanence. This is called constancy.

Utmost reduction—​complete return and utter stillness—​are at the same time the greatest integration and the most perfect recovery of life, of movement and activity. The law of yin and yang applies here in that any tendency taken to its extreme reverts automatically to its opposite. By being completely still and unified with oneness, one attains the entirety of life and reaches the whole range of multiplicity. As Wang Bi has it, the sage, in the Daode jing described as “going along without acting” (ch. 29), is utterly merged with original nonbeing. The sage penetrates the perfection of natural self-​being. He permeates the inner essence of the myriad beings. Therefore he goes along with them without acting; he is in harmony with them without imposing on them. He removes their errors and eliminates their delusions. Hence their minds are not confused and beings fully realize their inner natures.

Able to perfectly serve the world, join all beings, and bring about a more integrated and harmonious society, the sage, moreover, is like nonbeing in that he is without form or name, “governing by being hidden and vague” (ch. 58). A ruler who is good at governing has neither form nor name, neither systems nor standards that could be pointed out. His government is hidden and vague, yet will bring about perfect order.

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Western Ascension A more spiritual form of perfect order is the focus of a yet different development of the Daode jing, less of a commentary than an expansion, in a fifth-​century text known as the Xisheng jing (Scripture of Western Ascension, DZ 726; trans. Kohn 2007). First mentioned in connection with the story of Laozi’s conversion of the barbarians, the text goes back to the Northern Celestial Masters at Louguan. Set at the transmission of the Daode jing to Yin Xi, it and claims to contain Laozi’s oral explanations of Daoist doctrinal intricacies, both in style and content closely echoing the Daode jing. The Xisheng jing is the first Daoist philosophical text written from an organized religious background and advocating practical ways to salvation. It is unique in that it arose at a time when communal Daoism had first successfully developed major organized religious structures, serving as the ruling doctrine and activated in state administration. The work differs from earlier commentaries in that it is primarily and intentionally a religious text, which yet integrates the ancient philosophy of the Daode jing into its fundamental belief in immortality and ascension into heaven. More than that, it shows a pervading Buddhist influence, another characteristic of organized communal Daoism from the Middle Ages onward. In content, the text consists of thirty-​nine sections, which can be divided into five cycles of progressive teaching: Dao Knowledge, Dao Practice, Cosmization, the Sage, and the Return. They describe in a rather abstract way how practitioners are to overcome deliberate, classificatory thinking and become one with the Dao in no-​ mind, no-​body, and no-​intention. After first outlining Yin Xi’s practice, the text begins by expostulating on the fundamental problem of speaking about the ineffable. Next it explains how Dao is immanent in the world and outlines a way of accessing it. Third, a more concrete explanation of theory and practice of Dao is given, with reference to the practice of meditation, largely in terms of reaching emptiness and nonbeing,

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  149 peace and tranquility. The fourth cycle deals with the life of the sage, a true person of Dao yet active in the world as teacher, helper, ruler. The final goal, however, goes beyond even that and is the complete return to Dao, the joining of body, mind, and self with cosmic flow. The text ends with a recovery of the beginning, describing Laozi’s ascension and his key advice to Yin Xi: “When all impurities are gone, the myriad affairs are done.” While the core concern of the Xisheng jing is the realization of transcendence, it closely matches the Daode jing in its focus on, and understanding of, Dao. Dao is central to the text, which identifies it as the spontaneous power of creation. It says repeatedly, in an almost formulaic manner, that “Dao is self-​being” (1.8, 5.14, 6.1, 11.1), the root of all existence, the origin of life (6.1), of Heaven and Earth (15.3). Yet it is also the foundation of humanity and the individual’s constituents—​self, words, and mind or, in terms of Chinese Buddhism, of body, speech, and mind. Beyond describing this basic identity, the text also notes several characteristics of Dao, using expressions that go back to the Daode jing. It is “empty and latent” (20.1); “deep, subtle, and wonderful” (1.17); “an abyss of emptiness and nonbeing” (2.1); “without shape or end; vague and obscure, it is not and yet it is” (5.1); “vast and open; there is nothing not structured or surrounded by it” (13.12); invisible, inaudible, and subtle (20.12; Daode jing 14); obscure and empty, weak and soft, full of potential and inherent power. Going beyond this, however, in the Xisheng jing, Dao also has a distinct purpose in the universe. Its transformations, the only thing human beings can perceive, are “pointers to impermanence. Dao wishes you to return to its truth” (5.19). No longer merely a subtle and latent force of creation, Dao gains a willful and soteriological dimension. All living beings contain Dao (34.1) and are its active manifestations (12.1). More than that, Dao is responsible even for such traditional Confucian values as “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and good faith” (10.7). The Xisheng jing claims that these are relevant and make sense only when substantiated by Dao. The

150  Part Two: Traditional Expansions workings of Dao in the world are such that it wills people toward salvation. Only a minute effort toward nonaction is needed on the human side to ensure full support of Dao (3.6). “If human beings are empty, latent, and free from action, they may not desire Dao, yet Dao naturally returns to them” (36.10), expressing itself also in cultural phenomena and social virtues. The Xisheng jing further presents the mystical meaning of Dao by resorting to various images and metaphors. Some of its comparisons and symbols are well known in the literature and frequently go back to the Daode jing: Dao as mother of the universe, the universe as a bellows, Dao as water, and so on. However, the text also goes beyond this and applies well-​known images in a different way. For example, it likens the processes of the human mind to a bellows and describes the state of the infant as greedy and pleasure-​oriented rather than as full of vital qi. In yet other places, the Xisheng jing presents new images, some of which are inspired by Buddhism. An example is the metaphor of the natural world, especially of plants, for the structure not only of karma but also of universal origination. The image of Dao is without shape or end; vague and obscure it is not and yet it is. It can be compared to the seed of a tree. Before it sprouts one cannot see branches, leaves, or roots. All flourishing depends on an underlying solid ground, just as the stem and the leaves grow from the roots of the tree. (5.1–​5.2)

Mystical Attainment Again echoing the Daode jing, the text sees the mental disposition toward desires and a limited identity created through the socially defined personal body or self (shēn) as the key factors that separate people from Dao. However, it also relates its teachings closely to the physical body or form (xing), contrasted with spirit, on the one

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  151 hand, and with the personal body, on the other. It has to be honored yet not indulged. As the text has: [Ordinary people] only know how to nourish their personal body; they do not realize that this will injure their physical bodies. (6.20) . . . The untrue Dao teaches you to nourish the physical body; the true Dao teaches you to nourish the spirit. (7.4) . . . The discriminating mind arises through yearning for some state of the physical body. (7.9)

The discriminating mind (xin) indicates the emotional and intellectual aspect of the human psyche, the mental activities arising from desires, the way limited ordinary people think and feel. Ears and eyes, sound and color keep one always in a state of tension. The joys of nose and mouth, fragrances and tastes are only sources of dissatisfaction. The personal body is the root of all distress; it experiences pain and irritation, heat and cold. (7.8)

In contrast, spirit (shen) represents the cosmic force of the Dao, its light and radiance, the realized cosmic mind of the ideal human:  “Spirit can make the body fly; it can move mountains” (7.6). Consequently, it furthers mystical realization, while the mind obstructs it. “What gives me life is the spirit, what kills me is the mind” (17.2). Once spirit is realized within, there is no more mind in the strict sense. The individual has no more perception of a personal self nor of the world in terms of human feelings and limited intellectual categories. “The sage always makes emptiness his self and nonbeing his mind. These two are called the self of no-​self and the mind of no-​mind” (24.10). To transition into a life of spirit, practitioners are admonished to practice detached yet critical observation, while sitting in stillness, embracing cosmic oneness, and realizing nonaction on a religious, spiritual level.

152  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Observe the past; look at the present: who could ever keep his body whole? Even I have white hair, growing weaker as I ripen in years. Thus I cast off the ordinary, reject and leave the common world, embrace the primordial source and maintain oneness, go beyond all and attain spirit immortality. As long as you cannot maintain it, just sit still with the pulsation and the senses. Once you have attained a state of immobility, your spirit and inner numinous quality will be at peace. Then you decrease desires and all affairs perfect themselves. Once established in nonaction, you will know how to keep your will strongly set. (7.10–​17)

Fully realizing this, the practitioner becomes a sage and immortal, an accomplished mystic of the religion. Closely matching the Daode jing (ch. 50), the Xisheng jing describes him as living in complete harmony with Dao and full of powers beyond the limits of natural human faculties. It says, Therefore, the sage cherishes the subtle and wonderful, embraces roughness and simplicity, and never dares to act deliberately or in any way interfere or contend with the world. There may be wild beasts, but they will not attack him; there may be wasps and scorpions, worms and snakes, but they will not bite him; there may be soldiers and weapons, but they will not injure him. Because he has accumulated virtue and pervades the mystery, none in the world can do him any harm. (27.4–​6)

From this position, then, the sage “acts in nonaction” in everything he does (13.5) while remaining completely independent of all. “The sage does not rely on the world, he does not rely on demons and spirits, nor does he rely on the myriad beings. Rather, he always makes emptiness his self and nonbeing his mind” (24.9). He does not interfere with the course of things (27.4) and keeps his distance from involvement in affairs, leaving the natural flow of life to unfold

Chapter 7: Commentary Exegeses  153 as it comes. This also makes him uniquely qualified to serve as ruler. Spreading his virtue to the common people, they will increase and prosper (34.4; 34.7). Raising the level of goodness among them (6.27), he brings about peace and good fortune. He can do all this, because he himself is empty of all desires, conceptions, and actions, free from self and ego, having “died but not perished” (Daode jing 33). As the Xisheng jing puts it, If the ruler is to govern his country, he should first die to his country. When he dies to it, but does not perish, then his country will prosper greatly. The people will not dare to disperse, but will grow in number. (24.2–​4)

Dying to himself and his country, the sage ruler eradicates all conventional thoughts and ideas regarding self, life, and rulership. Superior in skill and virtue, he goes beyond all ordinary activities in everything he does, dealing with life in a better way than anyone else. One with Dao, he exercises its powers to the greatest benefit of all.

Further Readings Chan, Alan K. L. 1991. Two Visions of the Way: A Study of the Wang Pi and the Ho-​shang-​kung Commentaries on the Laozi. Albany: State University of New York Press. Chan, Alan K. L. 1998. “A Tale of Two Commentaries: Ho-​shang-​kung and Wang Pi on the Lao-​tzu.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 89–​118. Albany:  State University of New York Press. Erkes, Eduard. 1958. Ho-​ Shang-​ Kung’s Commentary of Lao Tse. Ascona:  Artibus Asiae. Kohn, Livia. 2007. Daoist Mystical Philosophy:  The Scripture of Western Ascension. Magdalena, NM: Three Pines Press. Lin, Paul J. 1977. A Translation of Lao-​tzu’s Tao-​te-​ching and Wang Pi’s Commentary. Ann Arbor:  University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies.

154  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Queen, Sarah A. 2012. “Han Feizi and the Old Master:  A Comprehensive Analysis and Translation.” In Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei, edited by Paul Goldin, 197–​256. New York: Springer. Rump, Ariane, and Wing-​tsit Chan. 1979. Commentary on the Lao-​tzu by Wang Pi. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Wagner, Rudolf. G. 2000. The Craft of a Chinese Commentator: Wang Bi on the Laozi. Albany: State University of New York Press.

8 Later Developments Twofold Mystery In the wake of the Louguan school and under the impact of the growing integration of teachings, the early Tang school of Twofold Mystery (chongxuan) became prominent among the elite in the seventh century ce. It opened a new level of understanding and religious inspiration of the Daode jing, serving as a theoretical framework for integrating complex Daoist teachings into one systematic intellectual frame. Its thinkers were court Daoists, often abbots of major institutions, who represented the religion in politics and engaged in official debates with Buddhists to prove the supremacy of their teaching. Two figures stand out particularly: Cheng Xuanying and Li Rong. As described by Friederike Assandri (2009), Cheng Xuanying spent his early years as a recluse in coastal Jiangsu, eventually gaining a reputation as a proficient Daoist scholar. In 631 ce, Emperor Taizong (r. 626–​649) invited him to the capital of Chang’an, where he remained for twenty years and rose to prominence at the Temple of Western Florescence (Xihua Guan). In 647, the emperor engaged him to serve in the prestigious project of translating the Daode jing into Sanskrit. Some years later, Cheng apparently fell into disgrace and retired to his home in Jiangsu. He wrote commentaries to the Zhuangzi, the Yijing (lost), and Numinous Treasure scripture Duren jing (Scripture of Salvation, DZ 1), as well as to the Daode jing. The latter is known as the Kaiti xujue yishu (Supplementary Commentary and Topical Introduction to the Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue; trans. Robinet 1977)  and has survived as a

156  Part Two: Traditional Expansions manuscript at Dunhuang, the Buddhist cave center closed against Muslim invaders in the early eleventh century. Li Rong, aka Renzhenzi, came from Sichuan and became a Daoist monk in his early years, originally training in his home state, then moving to the capital. Around 650, he is noted for frequent exchanges with literati officials, notably through poetry, and as a contestant in the Buddho-​Daoist debates. An affiliate of the Temple of Eastern Brightness (Dongming Guan), he was summoned to court variously between 658 and 663, offering explications of Daoist teachings. His two main surviving works are commentaries to the Daode jing (DZ 722) and the Xisheng jing. Both see the text strongly in terms of Twofold Mystery, whose very name goes back to the phrase “mysterious and more mysterious” in Daode jing 1. As Cheng Xuanying explains it, Mysterious means deep and profound. It is also an expression for being without obstructions. The two minds of being and nonbeing, the two visions of outcome and subtlety all spring from Dao alone. They arise together, but have different names, but despite their different names they belong to Dao. Thus, it is called deep and profound. The mysterious nature of depth and profundity is realized in the return of principle to no obstruction. Being neither obstructed by being nor obstructed by nonbeing—​this is what we mean by mysterious.

In other words, the core program is the meditative transformation of the mind to a state of original Dao beyond all differentiation, including those of being and nonbeing. To explain this process, Twofold Mystery thinkers adapted the two-​truths theory from the Buddhist Mādhyamika (Middle Way) school as formulated by the monk Jizang (549–​623) in his Erdi zhang (On the Two Levels of Truth) and Sanlun xuanyi (Mysterious Meaning of the Three Treatises).

Chapter 8: Later Developments  157 The theory describes a basic dichotomy of two levels of truth:  worldly and absolute, being and nonbeing. Moving from one to the other, practitioners attain ultimate mystery state in three stages. First they move from seeing reality or being as existent to understanding that it is ultimately emptiness or nonbeing. Then they realize that nonbeing, too, is a way of conceptualizing the world and move into the realm of nonobstruction and nonduality by affirming both being and nonbeing as states of mind. Third, they find, in the words of Jizang, that “both duality and nonduality are worldly truth, whereas neither duality nor nonduality is the highest truth. . . . This is the Middle Way without duality.” The structure of the two levels of truth as applied to the three stages leads logically to the analytical method of the “Four Propositions,” technically known as the tetralemma (siju), the hallmark of Mādhyamika and Twofold Mystery. They are: “affirmation of being; affirmation of nonbeing; affirmation of both being and nonbeing; negation of both being and nonbeing. Twofold Mystery simplifies this to a certain degree and sees the attainment of Dao as occurring in two major steps, described as comprehensive oblivion (jianwang). That is to say, meditators proceed from the ordinary worldly assumption that everything exists to the enlightened vision that all is empty. This is the first stage of mystery, decreasing, and oblivion. It means overcoming the ordinary mind in favor of the spirit, death in favor of immortal life. As Li Rong says, commenting on, “Human beings come into life and go out to death” (ch. 50), Thus, what brings forth the ego is the spirit, what kills the ego is the mind. The mind is the place of death [in the body]. If one can make the mind like dead ashes and stop thinking, then one does not construct being and nonbeing and there is no place of death.

Once the mind is overcome and emptiness is attained, however, the tendency is to develop attachment to the notion of emptiness,

158  Part Two: Traditional Expansions creating yet another established way of looking at the world, a new mental state that is yet also merely a created illusion. It is therefore necessary to proceed further and go beyond emptiness. In a second step, practitioners, therefore, have to discard even nonbeing in order to realize that all and everything is both being and nonbeing at the same time. This in turn leads to the insight that things ultimately neither exist nor not exist. As Cheng Xuanying notes, Adepts must first discard all desires, then proceed to discard the level of no-​desires. Only then can they truly accomplish twofold discarding of the two sides and wondrously merge with the Dao of Middle Oneness. Beings and ego looked upon in equalized fashion, mental states and wisdom both forgotten—​ when someone makes such a state his principle of government, then everything will be well ordered. (ch. 3).

Concepts of being, moreover, are identified as mental projections (jing), that is, illusory imaginations that are projected outward and create an apparent reality of “being,” leading to mental agitation. The state of nonbeing, then, is described as wisdom (zhi), a level of serenity that activates pure consciousness and manifests in stillness. Becoming oblivious of both means the reorganization of ordinary consciousness to absolute consciousness and again from absolute consciousness to no consciousness, an indeterminate, radiant state that signifies the mind of the sage. As Cheng says, commenting on the ideal government of the sage ruler (ch. 3), On the outside the sage has no mental projections that would be desirable. On the inside he has no mind that could do any desiring. Mind and mental projections both obliterated; mind becomes no-​mind. Where there were mental projections and illusions before, there is now only the emptiness of mind. Yet even though the mind is no-​mind, it shines forth in numinous radiance.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  159 Once this is attained, moreover, one can again be active in the world, the sage ruling it perfectly and simply, “like cooking a small fish” (ch. 60). Cheng explains, Once the practice is complete, one rises again from serenity to movement. Thus going along with all living creatures, one moves without distorting serenity. For this reason, there is no harm or evil done. Within and without, one continues to practice. In fruitful interchange, one returns to oneself. (ch. 60)

Complete harmony within, in a state of no-​mind and deep peace, then is the prerequisite of successful rulership, a notion that was activated throughout the country in the following century.

Imperial Attention While the Daode jing received considerable imperial attention, with eight emperors having composed or commissioned a commentary, it rose to prominence especially under the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 713–​756), whose reign marks the heyday of Daoist influence and splendor in Chinese history. Like all Tang rulers considering himself a direct descendant of the Li clan of Laozi and deeply devoted to Dao, he was particularly blessed by the miraculous appearance of several divine talismans, seen as direct messages from Dao. They included a half-​moon-​shaped piece of jade that showed a picture of a musician immortal as well as a metal fish, three feet long and of purple and blue-​green coloring, that made a spectacular sound when struck. In addition, several wondrous charms appeared, buried in a stone container with a golden box and inscribed with red characters in an obscure ancient script. Encouraged by these signs of divine approval, the emperor reorganized court liturgy, state administration, and imperial

160  Part Two: Traditional Expansions ancestor worship along Daoist lines. He sponsored collections of Daoist thought and supported the creation of Daoist rites, songs, and dances. For example, he encouraged a new liturgical choreography called the “Dance of the Purple Culmen” as part of official ceremonies, thus changing the nature of court ritual toward a more Daoist mode. He greatly honored ancient Daoist masters, installing them in official temples and giving them flowery titles, such as Hunyuan huangdi (Sovereign Emperor of Chaos Prime) for Laozi and Nanhua Zhenren (Perfected of Southern Florescence) for Zhuangzi. Following in the footsteps of earlier rulers and to expand Daoist administrative control over the country, Xuanzong decreed not only to have one major temple established in every prefecture but also to set up smaller religious institutions in all districts. The role of these worship centers, which held a statue of Lord Lao side by side with one of the emperor and also contained a complete copy of a Daoist canon, was less to spread religion than to create a sanctified imperial network—​which extended as far as Central Asia, Vietnam, and Korea. Their priests, as much as all clergy, came under intense government scrutiny. Ordinations had to be formally permitted by the state, the Daode jing featuring centrally on the fundamental levels. All recluses, moreover, had to carry official ordination certificates—​as travel permits and for exemption from tax and labor—​and, for the first time, official legal codes governed priestly behavior and punished both violations of civil law and infractions of religious precepts. Expanding this system further, Xuanzong had the two main temples honoring the Li family ancestors of the dynasty in the capitals Chang’an and Luoyang converted into Daoist temples. Extensive and grandiose in their layout and architecture, they not only provided facilities for ancestor worship but also served as academies for training in Daoist classics and ritual. Next, he elevated all ordained Daoists to imperial family members, causing the renaming of Daoist monasteries from “temple” (guan) to

Chapter 8: Later Developments  161 “palace” (gong). In addition, he sponsored several imperial princesses to undergo ordination as Daoist priestesses in elaborate ceremonies, dedicating their imperial lives to Dao while offering staggering amounts of silk, gold, and valuables to the religion (see Benn 1991). The Daode jing played a key role in this transformation. In 731, the emperor decreed that all officials should keep a copy of the text at home and, elevating it to the status of “perfect scripture” (zhenjing), placed it on the list of materials required in the civil service examinations. In 741, he expanded this policy by founding a “College of Daoist Studies” in each prefecture and set up a new system of Daoist-​based government examinations. As a result, the religion flourished, membership increased greatly, and institutions numbered in the thousands. Xuanzong’s commentary to the text has survived in the Daoist canon (DZ 677). Containing a number of technical glosses, it rephrases key notions and focuses on the ideal attitude of government agents, encouraging them to remain in close connection to constant Dao and thereby maintain a high level of behavioral rightness (ch. 40). While fine words and outward respect are commendable, he notes, it is more important to abide in Dao (ch. 62) and pursue oneness with it. Commenting on “If I had no personal body, what worries would I have?” (ch. 13), he says, If we understand that all the phenomenal changes in Heaven and Earth are not the true substance, and through this if we separate ourselves from the personal body, abandon wisdom, realize that our body is not the true body, and identify with great Dao, what kind of worries can there be?

He thus reads the text, in close connection to his role as chief executor of the state, as an inspirational guide to proper behavior and attitude in the world, always reducing ego-​centered urges while enhancing self-​being and flowing along with Dao.

162  Part Two: Traditional Expansions

Song Huizong Another, similarly Daoist-​inspired leader was Emperor Huizong (r. 1101–​1125), the last ruler of the Northern Song and a great supporter of Daoism. He sponsored and collected Daoist art and himself engaged both in Daoist painting and the exegesis of Daoist scriptures, notably the Daode jing, which was highly venerated by the Song rulers in general. Huizong also organized Daoist rites for state protection and good fortune, and inspired many Daoists to come forward and present their views and texts. In 1114, based on a slew of newly revealed texts, he initiated the compilation of a Daoist canon, which replaced the collection of 1023, today extant partially in the encyclopedia Yunji qiqian (Seven Tablets in a Cloudy Satchel; DZ 1032). He also sponsored the writing of a major history of Daoism and an encyclopedic work describing Daoist institutions, and was responsible for the restoration and development of a number of important Daoist sites. Unfortunately his reign ended tragically with the invasion of his capital by Central Asian forces, and his Daoist collections were mostly lost. Unlike Xuanzong, who saw himself as a superior mortal, strongly blessed by Dao, Huizong believed himself to be divine, the living representative of the heavenly sphere of Divine Empyrean (Shenxiao), also the name of a new Daoist school at the time. It began in 1112, when the imperial adviser and Daoist Lin Lingsu (1076–​ 1120) transmitted a special revelation to the emperor, identifying him as the Great Emperor of Long Life (Changsheng dadi), the elder son of the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang). A harbinger of a new age in the world, he would bring salvation to humanity and create peace on earth, especially by sponsoring elaborate court rituals run by Daoists of the Divine Empyrean school that employed talismans, diagrams, sacred lamps, seals, and pennants. Doing so, they would invoke the thunder deities, senior administrators of the otherworld, as well as other perfected and immortals, closely connected to them through the emperor as living god.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  163 In addition to promoting Daoist practices and art in many ways (see Ebrey 2000), Huizong also engaged in the composition of Daoist texts. He wrote various liturgical hymns as well as commentaries to several scriptures, including the Daode jing, the Liezi, and the Xisheng jing. His commentary to the Daode jing (DZ 680), closely related to his work on the Xisheng jing, was completed in 1118 and engraved in stone. Right from the beginning, the emperor takes up the Buddhist distinction between phenomena (the world of concrete reality) and principle (the world of the numinous) and associates it with being and nonbeing as outlined in the text. For him, being is “eternal being” and gains a transcendent quality as existence-​as-​such, while nonbeing is “eternal nonbeing,” the totality of creative Dao power. Beyond that, Huizong focuses centrally on the realization of oneness and perfect virtue within:  “That from which all the myriad beings arise is called Dao. Dao as it resides within me is called virtue. Both Dao and virtue are innate possessions of every human being.” While they may be darkened and lost, they can be recovered through the development of Dao qualities latent within every human being, notably of compassion and the cultivation of body and mind, as well as the realization of the formless and nameless spiritual center. The truth of the Dao, he says, is complete serenity and limpidity, a state of stillness and clarity necessary for a return to life. It is fully realized in a deep meditative trance, where “the body is like rotten wood, the mind like dead ashes” (citing the Zhuangzi). The deathlike state of unknowing and deep immersion contains at the same time the highest possible potency for an eternal return. This is the power that makes everything come to life, this is Dao. One may understand it in an instant, yet to realize it one has to practice gradually and over a long period of time. The Daode jing and Xisheng jing provide essential maps outlining the process of attainment of Dao, guidebooks to the cultivation of high spiritual qualities and the central power of life.

164  Part Two: Traditional Expansions

Internal Alchemy A similar understanding also prevails in the dominant form of Daoist practice at this time, known as internal alchemy (neidan) (Skar and Pregadio 2000; Kohn and Wang 2009). A complex system of techniques, it integrates meditative longevity techniques, operative alchemy, philosophical concepts, and the symbolism of the Yijing. Its goal is the attainment of immortality as a form of ecstatic otherworld existence through a series of energetic mutations within the body, transforming it into a spiritual entity known as the immortal embryo (see Fig. 10). The practice begins with longevity techniques to make the body strong and stable, followed by the practice of concentration to still

Fig. 10.  The landscape of internal alchemy. Source: Rubbing of Neijing tu stele at Baiyunguan, Beijing. Photograph by the author, 2005.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  165 the mind. Then one starts by focusing on essence, the tangible form of qi in the body that appears as sexual energy—​semen in men and menstrual blood in women—​residing in the Ocean of Qi in the lower elixir field in men, and in the Cavern of Qi in the chest area in women. From here, if left to its natural devices, this qi transmutes into essence on a regular basis, eventually leading to a discharge and loss of vitality. Thus, the aim of the first stage of internal alchemy is to restore essence back to its original form as qi and prevent its future disintegration. To do this, one must avoid the downward movement of essence. For men this means that they should get aroused, then mentally concentrate on making the semen flow upward and along spine into the head: “reverting the semen to nourish the brain.” Once a man has reached proficiency in the practice, texts say that he has “subdued the white tiger.” Men then proceed to circulate the reverted energy (parallel to reverted cinnabar in operative alchemy) along the central energy meridians in the torso, forming a cycle known as the “microcosmic orbit” (xiao zhoutian). Eventually the qi coagulates into a divine pearl of dew in the abdominal elixir field. In women, the first stage begins with daily breast massages, a change in diet to lighter foods, and a series of meditations in which the red menstrual blood is visualized rising upward and transforming into clear-​ colored qi. Eventually menstruation ceases, an effect called “decapitating the red dragon.” This serves to stabilize the qi, which nurtures the pearl of dew, present in women from birth, however, dissipating with every menstrual cycle if left untended. Stage two sees the development of the pearl of dew with the help of increasingly transmuted forms of energy, described with different names and metaphors, including: yang = heart = fire = trigram Li = pure lead = dragon = red bird yin = kidneys = water = trigram Kan = pure mercury = tiger =white tiger

166  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Moving through various subtle stages, adepts learn to mix these energies productively in the abdomen while also revolving them through the entire body in the macrocosmic orbit. Gradually these energies reach a high level of celestial and spiritual clarity and form the “golden flower” (jinhua), the first trace of the immortal embryo in the lower elixir field. The process is complex and time-​ consuming, and must be timed in exact correspondence with the cosmic patterns of yin and yang. Once the embryo is present, adepts switch their practice to employ a method called “embryo respiration” (taixi) to nourish it for ten months. This is an inner form of breathing, combined with the meditative circulation of qi, which allows the embryo to grow and makes the adept increasingly independent of outer nourishment and air. Unlike the first phase, which was easier for men, the process at this stage is easier for women because they are naturally endowed with the faculty to grow an embryo. After ten months, the embryo is complete. Adepts then proceed to the third stage. The as yet semi-​material body of the embryo is now transformed into the pure spirit body of the immortals, a body of pure, higher-​level yang, of superior-​ quality cosmic life, not of life as opposed to death or yang as opposed to yin. To attain its full realization the embryo has to undergo several phases. First it is nourished to completion and begins to have an independent existence. Then it is carefully nurtured for three more years to grow further and learn to move about on its own. At this level it joins the adept and as one they exit the body along the spine and through the top of head, a point known as the Heavenly Pass (tianguan). Next, the adept through the immortal child learns to blend his existence with emptiness and dissolve into Dao. This part is ideally accomplished in nine years of meditation. Finally, the adept becomes an immortal spirit of pure Yang and he merges completely with Dao.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  167

Daode jing Readings Leading practitioners of internal alchemy were also top-​notch Daoists and highly learned adepts with a strong background in the Daoist classics who frequently used Daode jing terms and ideas to elucidate their practice and variously wrote commentaries to the text. Thus, as Isabelle Robinet outlines (1998), the Daoist leader Bai Yuchan (1194–​1227?), an heir to the Divine Empyrean legacy, was among the first to use internal alchemy to enhance the new Daoist ritual system and attract the support of literati adepts. Between 1215 and 1225, he worked in various local centers and began to teach Daoist practice, both cultivation and ritual, to lay leaders. After he received a revelation from the Heavenly Worthy of Universal Transformation (Puhua Tianzun), a key deity in the Department of Thunder, in Fuzhou in 1218, Bai declared himself a Divine Empyrean master and initiated nine gentry disciples, who set up branch retreats for these teachings and aided him in major rituals. His work was continued over two generations of disciples, who codified his teachings in the golden elixir (jindan) alchemical tradition and his liturgical system as part of the thunder rites (leifa). Bai Yuchan was also the author of several works, today contained both in the Daoist canon and in various Song collections. They include an interpretation of the Daode jing in terms of internal alchemy, which survives in citations (e.g., DZ 724) and is a prime example of how Daoists read the text in the light of the transformation from a physical into a spiritual being through cyclical phases of transformations. To begin, he identifies Dao as the heart of the cosmos, the soul of the world, the gate of Heaven and Earth. Next, he sees all opposites, yin and yang, male and female, white and black, in relation to key alchemical categories, notably inner nature and destiny (xingming), that is, one’s original psychological make-​up and the

168  Part Two: Traditional Expansions physical body and life one is ordered to have by Heaven (ch. 28). He relates metaphors of simplicity and no-​mind—​such as the infant (ch. 55), unknowing (ch. 65), and freedom from disease (ch. 71)—​ to concepts of no-​thinking or no-​mind, even interpreting the reference to “people who grow old and die” (ch. 80) as a mental state, the total absence of conscious thought. His entire work is interspersed with invocations of instances when, according to the schedule prescribed for alchemical refinement, one should purify and sublimate one or the other form of energy in order to attain Dao: moving from body to mind, destiny to inner nature, spirit to Dao. Throughout reading the Daode jing as referring to internal-​psychological rather than external-​social realities, he finds progressive asceticism notably in the context of the progression of cultivation from self through family and village to state and empire (ch. 54). He relates notions of action in nonaction, affairs of no-​affairs, and taste without tasting (ch. 63) to the alchemical understanding of mind, inner nature, and spirit. He also links expressions such as “act without imposition,” “be withdrawing,” “never desire to display excellence” (ch. 77) with the rigors of internal cultivation. But he also refers back to Twofold Mystery:  one must, in turn, forget self, mind, inner nature, and spirit to attain complete oneness with Dao. Along similar lines, Liu Weiyong’s commentary of the year 1299 begins with diagrams that illustrate the Daode jing in cosmological and practical terms. To him, the “valley spirit” (ch. 6) designates the place where the spirits of the inner organs are located while the “thirty spokes of the wheel” (ch. 11) correspond to the secret numbers of the organs (DZ 723, 1.1b). By the same token, some commentators read the line “support your souls and embrace oneness” (ch. 10) as an admonition to purify essence and qi with the techniques of internal alchemy, generally understanding their methods as the equivalent of virtue, the direct outflow and application of Dao.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  169 The widest variety of readings appears on the phrase, “the mysterious and the female” (ch. 6). Liu Weiyong understands it to refer to the left and right kidneys. Niu Miaochuan, also of the thirteenth century, sees it not only as an allusion to the practice of embryo respiration, but also as a reference to “original oneness,” here the point in the kidneys, from which the alchemical work begins (DZ 724). Yang Zhiren, writing in 1287, moreover, reads it to indicate lead and mercury as well as, in terms of the Yijing, the trigrams Li and Kan that stand for fire and water and signify the two fundamental cosmic energies on different levels of the alchemical work. He says, When one practices the exercise, Kan and Li increase and diminish throughout the body, the wind and the clouds rise and disperse through the seven orifices. The true energy spreads, no longer warm or cold; pure yang circulates, no longer of life or death. This is the effect of the mysterious and the female. (DZ 724)

Clarity and Stillness Internal alchemy is also the major cultivation method of the school that has dominated Daoism in mainland China since the thirteenth century. Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) was founded by Wang Chongyang (1112–​1170), a member of the local gentry in northwest China (Shaanxi) who served as an official in the military administration, then left his office to become an eccentric hermit. After a revelation experience, during which he met two immortals and received various secret techniques, he intensified his asceticism and attained higher spiritual states, also applying the methods of internal alchemy. In 1167, he burned his hut while dancing around it, then moved to Shandong in eastern China, where he preached his visions and began to win followers.

170  Part Two: Traditional Expansions Wang’s work was continued by seven disciples, six men and one woman, known collectively as the Seven Perfected (qizhen; see Wong 1990). After observing the standard three-​year mourning period for their master, they went to spread his teaching in different parts of north China, each founding various communities that developed into separate lineages (pai). The most prominent among them was Qiu Chuji (1148–​1227), the leader of the Dragon Gate (Longmen) lineage. In 1222, Genghis Khan appointed him as the leader of all religions of China, giving him and his school executive powers over all institutions and exempting his followers from taxes and labor. This, in one stroke, united all Daoist lineages under one central administration, a feature that has continued to the present day. Besides practicing internal alchemy, Quanzhen Daoists also deeply venerated the Daode jing, paying particular attention to its notion of clarity and stillness, which they saw as the key to self-​ transformation and applied to both body and mind. Thus, Ma Yu, another of the Seven Perfected, points out in the Danyang zhenren yulu (Recorded Sayings of the Perfected Danyang, DZ 1057), Keep the mind clear and the qi still. When the mind is clear, nothing can disturb it; when the qi is still, nasty desires no longer bother. If you desire to nourish the qi and keep the spirit intact, do away with all kinds of attachments and develop clarity and stillness within and without. Able to rest in clarity and stillness for a long time, your essence gets concentrated, your spirit condenses, and your qi stabilizes. If you do not leak essence [semen] for three years, an elixir will form in your lower elixir field. After nine years, it will form in the upper elixir field.

To reach this level, it is also important to abstain from alcohol and meat. “Wine is a liquid that confuses inner nature; meat is a thing that stops one’s destined life. Best not consume them.” But even this is not as bad as having sex, because “sex is worse than wolves and tigers: it destroys good behavior and harms one’s record of good

Chapter 8: Later Developments  171 deeds; depleting essence and destroying spirit, thus causing death” (DZ 1057). More specifically, practitioners should engage in both outer and inner daily practices, cultivating a stable body and a quiet mind. Thus, outer cultivation consisted of a discipline to shape the adept’s behavior toward others. It involved precepts against bragging about one’s own virtues, being jealous of worthy and capable people, finding fault with their shortcomings, gossiping about their activities, and arguing about their preferences. Social in intent, these rules closely relate to Confucian moral values and echo medieval Daoist community rules. Internal cultivation, laying the foundation for the practice of internal alchemy, was an enhanced ethical training, described as a constant state of clarity and stillness. This, in turn, meant intentional detachment for all desires, the realization that all worldly attachments are unreal, and a strong focus on Dao. As the mind becomes clearer, his desires lessen and eventually vanish. Inner nature is stable and destined life is settled, providing the basis from which the elixir can arise, leading the adept to immortality.

The Qingjing jing The process is further outlined in a short and rather terse, even formulaic work that echoes key Daode jing notions and is entitled Qingjing xinjing (Heart Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, DZ 1169). Emerging in the wake of Twofold Mystery, probably around the eighth century, it is phrased in short mantra-​like verses of four-​ character lines and emphasizes the need to eliminate ordinary perception in favor of the perfect wisdom of Dao. It begins by describing the nature of the Dao as divided into yin and yang, turbid and clear, still and moving, then goes on to stress the importance of the mind in the creation of desires and worldly entanglements. The practice of observation is recommended to counteract this, that is, the observation of body, mind, and others, leading to the

172  Part Two: Traditional Expansions realization that none really exist. As practitioners attain the observation of emptiness, they grow more deeply into clarity and stillness, moving toward oneness with Dao. A slightly shorter and even more rhythmic version of the ninth century appears in the Qingjing jing (DZ 620; trans. Komjathy 2008; Wong 1992). It rose to great prominence in the Song, when it was read allegorically and in alchemical terms, to eventually become a central scripture of Complete Perfection. Not only used for inspiration, it was also activated in ritual, chanted and recited on a regular basis. Even to the present day, all Daoist monastics recite it every day in their morning and evening services (https://​ www.youtube.com/​watch?v=pQtAvcbCJFg). The text begins with a generic description of Dao, echoing its key characteristics in the Daode jing: Great Dao is formless: It brings forth and raises Heaven and Earth. Great Dao is without feelings: It regulates the sun and the moon. Great Dao is nameless: It raises and nourishes the myriad beings. I do not know its name—​ I call it Dao.

Next, it defines clarity and stillness as characteristics of Dao, which can be both clear and still, as well as of Heaven and Earth, which are either—​Heaven being clear, while Earth is still—​to point out the ongoing flux and interchanging nature of all qualities: “Clarity is the source of turbidity; movement is the root of stillness.” From here, it begins its focus on the human mind, emphasizing that The human spirit is fond of clarity, But the mind disturbs it. The human mind is fond of stillness, But desires meddle with it.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  173 The obvious solution is to “get rid of desires for good, so the mind can be calm; cleanse the mind, so that spirit can be clear.” Recovering original, heavenly nature, one reaches closer to Dao. In a deep meditative, restful state of clarity and stillness, moreover, “the six desires [generated by the senses] won’t arise and the three poisons [impurities of body, speech, and mind] are destroyed.” In terms of actual practice, once all base desires are eliminated, the text outlines four levels of observation that result in something very close to the comprehensive oblivion of Twofold Mystery. Observe the mind by introspection And see there is no mind. Observe the body from without And see there is no body. Observe others by glancing afar And see there are no beings. Once you have realized these three, You observe emptiness! Use emptiness to observe emptiness And see there is no emptiness. When even emptiness is no more, There is no more nonbeing either. Without even the existence of nonbeing, There is only serenity, Profound and everlasting.

This, in turn, allows practitioners to flow freely along with reality, become fully who they were meant to be in Dao, attain a high level of permanence, and reach out toward celestial dimensions. In true stillness, go along with beings; In true permanence, realize inner nature. Forever going along, forever still—​ This is permanent clarity, lasting stillness.

174  Part Two: Traditional Expansions In clarity and stillness, gradually enter perfect Dao. Perfect Dao entered: this is realization.

Then, however, the text adds a Zen-​like note that “although we speak of ‘realized,’ actually there is nothing to attain,” to quickly revert back to Daode jing images and concepts, distinguishing different levels of sageliness and virtue. The highest gentleman does not fight; The lesser gentleman loves to fight. Highest virtue is free from virtue; Lesser virtue clings to virtue.

From here, it reverses direction and outlines the negative effects of desires, described as “clinging and attachments,” which create disturbances in the mind and upset the spirit, leading to increased stress, called “searching and coveting,” which in turn gives rise to more “passions and afflictions.” The more they trouble body and mind, the more one gets involved in the vicissitudes of life: Then one falls into turbidity and shame, Ups and downs, life and death. Forever immersed in the sea of misery, Eternally lost to the true Dao.

On the contrary, once more reaffirming its fundamental message, the Qingjing jing asserts: Dao of true permanence naturally Comes to those who understand. Those who understand Dao realization Forever rest in clarity and stillness.

Chapter 8: Later Developments  175

Further Readings Assandri, Friederike. 2009. Beyond the Daode jing: Twofold Mystery in Tang Daoism. Magdalena, NM: Three Pines Press. Benn, Charles D. 1987. “Religious Aspects of Emperor Hsüan-​tsung’s Taoist Ideology.” In Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society, edited by David W. Chappell, 127–​45. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Benn, Charles D. 1991. The Cavern Mystery Transmission: A Taoist Ordination Rite of ad 711. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Ebrey, Patricia. 2000. “Taoism and Art at the Court of Song Huizong.” In Daoism and the Arts of China, edited by Stephen Little and Shawn Eichman, 95–​111. Berkeley: University of California Press. Kohn, Livia, and Robin R. Wang, eds. 2009. Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality. Magdalena, NM: Three Pines Press. Komjathy, Louis. 2008. Handbooks for Daoist Practice. Hong Kong: Yuen Yuen Institute. Komjathy, Louis. 2014. Way of Complete Perfection:  A Quanzhen Daoist Anthology. Albany: State University of New York Press. Robinet, Isabelle. 1977. Les commentaires du Tao to king jusqu’au VIIe siècle. Paris: Mémoirs de l’Institute des Hautes Etudes Chinoises 5. Robinet, Isabelle. 1998. “Later Commentaries:  Textual Polysemy and Syncretistic Interpretations.” In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 119–​42. Albany:  State University of New York Press. Skar, Lowell, and Fabrizio Pregadio. 2000. “Inner Alchemy (Neidan).” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 464–​97. Leiden: Brill. Wong, Eva. 1990. Seven Taoist Masters. Boston: Shambhala. Wong, Eva. 1992. Cultivating Stillness: A Taoist Manual for Transforming Body and Mind. Boston: Shambhala.

PART THREE

MODE R N R E C E P T ION

9 China Today Religious Veneration After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, all religions had to organize themselves under state law. Daoists, dominantly of the Complete Perfection school with headquarters at the White Cloud Temple (Baiyun guan) in Beijing, in 1957 accordingly formed the Chinese Daoist Association with branches in all provinces to serve as a forum for interaction with the state. Interrupted in its work during the Cultural Revolution (1966–​1976), when all religious activity was outlawed and the clergy had to return to the laity, it has since established branches in each district and province, founded several Daoist academies for advanced monastics, arranged for formal ordinations, sponsored major rituals, and developed international networks. Its recent leaders, Ren Farong (b. 1936) and Li Guangfu (b. 1955), have expanded its scope and moved toward a wider international outreach. To become a Daoist in China today, the adept first finds a master and, after some basic training and with family approval, is officially adopted into his or her lineage. This involves an initiation ceremony with the transmission of sacred texts—​including the Daode jing with its major commentaries—​a vow to continue the tradition, and the bestowal of a religious name. Both Complete Perfection and Celestial Masters follow this system, members of the former typically joining a monastery while the latter have families and work within their communities. Either way, they tend to specialize in certain kinds of texts, rituals, or practices, or they may decide to

180  Part Three: Modern Reception continue studying, move on to learn from other teachers, and become holders of multiple lineages. Going beyond this to an advanced level, some monastic adepts train at a major Daoist academy. The first was established in 1995 at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing as a seminary for monks, followed in 2010 by second center on Mount Qingcheng in Sichuan. Since 2005, nuns have been able to train at the foot of Hengshan, the sacred mountain of the south near Changsha in Hunan. The course lasts two years, with classes of fifty to one hundred students that are selected upon examination from local temples. The curriculum includes Chinese culture, foreign languages, temple administration, Marxism-​Leninism, as well as Daoist history, ritual, music, literature, thought, cultivation, and so on, requiring an in-​depth knowledge also of the Daode jing. Graduates undergo advanced ordination, live in temples full-​time, and often become organizational leaders. All Daoist temples venerate the Three Pure Ones, among whom Lord Lao, the deified Laozi, ranks third and serves as the closest communicator with humanity. Many have recently erected large-​ scale statues of the god, presiding over the countryside in gold-​ plated splendor. They also typically show stone steles with passages from the scriptures, including the Daode jing, and in their daily services chant its redaction in the Qingjing jing. The most important Daoist temples are on mountains. The five sacred mountains of traditional China all have Daoist institutions, their various peaks including large-​scale temples at the bottom as well as numerous hermitages and monasteries perched on mountain tops and built into cliffs. In addition, there are several important mountains that are specifically Daoist. They are Mount Longhu, the headquarters of the Celestial Masters in Shanxi; the Zhongnan mountains southwest of Xi’an, with Louguan, where Laozi allegedly transmitted the Daode jing and which still shows the full text inscribed in stone and features in a historical movie on “Laozi’s Emigration” (see YouTube for relevant videos); Mount

Chapter 9: China Today  181 Qingcheng northwest of Chengdu, Sichuan, where Lord Lao revealed his teachings to Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master; Mount Mao near Nanjing, the location of the Highest Clarity revelations; Mount Lao near Qingdao in Shandong, where the Complete Perfection school developed; and Mount Wudang in Hubei, the state-​sponsored sanctuary of the Perfect Warrior (Zhenwu) and main Daoist martial arts academy (see Fig. 11). In terms of inner city temples, the most prominent are the White Cloud Temples in Beijing and Shanghai, closely followed by the Black Sheep Temple in Chengdu (Sichuan), where Laozi met Yin Xi before they emigrated to the west and which still houses the fifteenth-​century woodblocks of the Daoist canon, and the Palace of Great Clarity (Taiqing gong) in Luyi, Laozi’s alleged birthplace, now restored in great splendor. Supported by the local government and an increasingly prosperous tourism industry, these temples are

Fig. 11.  Temple complex on Mt. Wudang. Source: Zixiao Gong (Palace of the Purple Clouds). Photograph by the author, 2007.

182  Part Three: Modern Reception dedicated to community service, not only celebrating the major life transitions of birth, marriage, retirement, and death but also providing rites of purification, exorcism, healing, and blessing as well as the production of talismans and charms. Amulets often feature an image of Lord Lao and may well contain a saying from the Daode jing. All Daoist institutions celebrate regular morning and evening services, in which recitation of the Qingjing jing plays a major part. In addition, they also encourage regular recitation of the Daode jing as a form of personal cultivation, creating an inner alignment with key teachings of the religion and the energies of Dao. Both taught in public classes, as those held on Saturday afternoons at Chengdu’s Black Sheep Temple, and privately from master to disciple, the process is to chant the whole text daily, either in one sitting or divided into two, then proceed to copy it by hand, and eventually memorize it by heart. As by Ian Johnson notes, after experiencing such a chanting session, “The world outside felt far away, and the text felt present in our bodies” (2017, 204).

Academic Study Academic study of the Daode jing occurs in several different venues, the first being religious organizations, such as temples, cultural societies, and institutes sponsored by the Chinese Daoist Association. In addition, there are universities with various affiliated institutes, Academies of Social Sciences, and scholarly research organizations. They all hold meetings and conferences and engage in cooperative projects, working together and exchanging ideas, generally following state directives as issued by the Bureau of Religious Affairs, which in turn bows to the Department of Propaganda and the Cultural Planning Committee. While some scholars are Daoist believers, most pursue religious studies for the sake of academic knowledge, while yet others belong to political organizations propagating atheism.

Chapter 9: China Today  183 The oldest academic institution with a core focus on the Daode jing is the religion department of Sichuan University, established in 1980 under the leadership of Qing Xitai (b. 1928), author of numerous standard works on Daoist history and thought. The department encourages Daoist studies in all dimensions. A  formal master’s degree in religion was established in 1983, and a doctorate in 1991. Also since 1982, it has published a journal, Zongjiao xue yanjiu (Religious Studies). In 2009, Qing Xitai further established a specialized Laozi Institute, greatly enhancing the study of the Daode jing in history and today, among intellectuals as well as practitioners, within Han Chinese culture and in relation to minorities. Supported by the national Ministry of Education and various provincial institutions, the Laozi Institute has received international funding for over thirty major research projects and published large numbers of books and articles, some of which received awards for outstanding research. Along similar lines, Peking University has a long tradition of religious studies, as represented by Hu Shi (1891–​1962), Liang Shuming (1893–​1988), Tang Yongtong (1893–​1964), Xiong Shili (1885–​1968), and others. The school teaches aspects of Daoism in the philosophy, history, and Chinese Departments as well as in the Center for Religious Studies, established in 1989, and since 1995 the department of religion. Its goal is the study of religion in a scientific and objective manner, employing a critical approach to both its historical development and organizational and doctrinal structures, and paying special attention to its interaction with various aspects of culture. The Daode jing features centrally in its Center for Daoist Studies, established in 2012 under the leadership of Chen Guying (b. 1935), now headed by Wang Bo (b. 1969) and home to many excellent scholars and an increasing number of PhD students. These two centers for the academic study of Daoism and the training of young scholars are the most prominent among many similar institutions throughout China. Another important scholarly venue is the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS),

184  Part Three: Modern Reception again found in many different locations. Established in 1977 by separating research units on philosophy and society from the overarching Academy of Sciences, it is China’s most comprehensive social research organization, the top think tank in Asia closely affiliated with the central government. It consists of over ninety research centers and is in charge of 105 national academic communities, staffed by over 3,200 resident scholars. Several among its thirty-​ five research institutes, including those on philosophy, history, and world religions, focus strongly on Daoism and study the Daode jing. Its capital expression, the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences (BASS), goes back to 1978. Staffed by 250 academics, it consists of fourteen research institutes plus various offices and editorial departments. Its goal is to promote superior research in close affiliation to both the government and the needs of the community, to create work that is both theoretically sound and practically relevant. As regards the Daode jing, it houses renowned scholars such as Zhu Yueli, Chen Xia, Zhang Guangbao, and others. Its sister organization, the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, was established in Chengdu in 1978 and developed a major religious studies division in 1993, with research focusing on Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist cultures. It is home to the great scholar of Chinese mythology Yuan Ke (1916–​2001) and the epigraphy specialist and art historian Hu Wenhe (b. 1950). In addition, there are the philosopher Huang Haide (b. 1953) and the cultural historian Li Gang (b. 1953), who coedited the first Daoist dictionary in mainland China. Moving beyond settled institutions, a major research force in Daode jing studies, as noted by Chen Xia in personal communication, is the Laozi Daoist Culture Research Society, a voluntary nonprofit organization. Bringing together academics, clergy, and lay enthusiasts, it is recognized on the national level and present all over the country, connecting to various civil and religious groups. Encouraging a wide range of approaches and opinions, its central goal is the creation of a new Daoism that brings Daode jing concepts

Chapter 9: China Today  185 into the modern world and contributes to a harmonious development of the world. It sponsors numerous seminars, conferences, and workshops, and represents an important force in the continued expansion of Daode jing ideas. Another similar organization is the Huaxia Laozi Studies Research Association, sponsor of major international symposia that aim to elucidate and promote a modern Daoist lifestyle as based on academic studies of the text and efforts to communicate its message to the greater populace, combining academic efforts with social developments.

Intellectual Engagement These modern developments are the direct heir of a vivid engagement with the Daode jing among Chinese intellectuals since the early twentieth century. For example, the renowned thinker Hu Shi linked Daoist ideas of cosmic unfolding to Darwinian evolution, while the political philosophers Guo Moruo (1892–​1978) and Hou Wailu (1903–​1992) argued that its fundamental outlook, particularly as expressed in its notion of qi and the flow of yin and yang, was essentially materialist and could thus be understood as a Chinese precursor of Marxism. Thus, they saw passages like, “Attain complete emptiness, maintain steadfast stillness” (ch. 16), usually thought to refer to practices of self-​cultivation, as reflections of an early materialist outlook that focused on the here and now as opposed to some far-​off deity. In contrast, idealist thinkers such as Li Taifeng (1987–​1972) and Guan Feng (1919–​2005) did not see sufficient evidence for materialism but understood the Daode jing to reflect an ancient form of objective idealism that divides the world dualistically into visible reality and a formless, underlying ground. In his Laozi tong (Penetrating the Laozi) of 1984, Guan Feng accordingly argues against seeing Dao as the underlying material mechanism of the

186  Part Three: Modern Reception cosmos and reads it more along the lines of ancient Greek nous. Similarly, Feng Youlan (1895–​1990) understands it as the origin of the myriad phenomena, the core of all transformations, an imperceptible transcendent quality that is neither this nor that, but the powerful source of both presence (you) and absence (wu). Chen Guying concurs and, in his commentaries and discussions of the Daode jing, not only relates it to Western thinkers such as Nietzsche but also insists on its deep ontology, describing Dao as a metaphysical reality that cannot be named yet serves as a regulating principle and standard for human behavior. In a yet different vein, the Daoist philosopher Ren Jiyu (1916–​ 2009) read the text in connection to the Marxist thinker Friedrich Engels (1820–​1895) and his view that close observation has to serve as the material base of all theories. In contrast to this, Ren proposes that Daode jing passages, such as “Know the world without going out of doors” (ch. 47), indicate a preference for theory and speculation over direct, scientific observation. He then evaluates this as a deficiency, noting that it was a mistake to break away from the investigation of separate material things and forms of energy in favor of trying to understand the world as such. The literary scholar, novelist, and popular lecturer in the West, Qian Zhongshu (1910–​1998), educated in Oxford and Paris, in his 1980s collection of vignettes and personal musings called Limited Views or Guanzhui bian (Tube and Awl Chapters) has nineteen entries on the Daode jing. Unlike other thinkers, he begins with the very first line of the work, “The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao,” and focuses on issues of language and semiotics, thereby opening the text to a deep metaphysical probing without neglecting textual details. Adducing numerous Western thinkers from Plato through Spinoza and Hobbes to Hegel and Nietzsche as well as major literary figures such as Dante and Goethe, he argues along the lines of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–​1913) that language is different from speech and consists of the signifier (word, symbol,

Chapter 9: China Today  187 sign) and the signified (thought, idea, object) in an arbitrary yet logically structured relationship. Naming and signification form an essential aspect of world-​building, a world that in essence rests on a supreme underlying truth: the ineffable, formless Dao, leading to a situation where “who knows does not speak; who speaks does not know” (ch. 56). Ultimately insufficient to express this truth yet necessary for its transmission, language with all its intricacies and inadequacies is a core issue not only for writers but also for thinkers and humanity at large. For the Daode jing, this means that it matches other mystical works in their frequent recourse to negatives, oxymorons, and paradoxes, their constant effort to get rid of words with words, constructing and deconstructing visions and concepts.

Politics and Education Moving into a more practical, socially relevant dimension of interpretation, various Chinese intellectuals today see the Daode jing as a powerful resource toward restructuring country and society. For one, they link it with the governmental outlook of the great renewer of Chinese society, Deng Xiaoping (1904–​1997) who instigated the four modernizations in 1978 that set China on the path to unprecendented economic growth. Both the chief leader and the ancient text make it a priority to “love the people,” benefiting them selflessly and with deep humility. They similarly oppose war and internal strife, preferring an attitude of noncompetition and peaceful coexistence with the overarching goal of creating a stable and united society. Never going against the laws of nature, they strive to not violate the will of the people and to let them develop in their own way, favoring the principles of self-​being and nonaction. Similar comparisons are also made between Daode jing thought and the political philosophy of President Hu Jintao (b. 1942) and his prime minster Wen Jiabao (b. 1942), who ruled China from

188  Part Three: Modern Reception 2002 to 2013. Their vision of building a harmonious society is expressed most potently in the system of the “Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces.” Closely echoing the key notions of integrity, humility, sufficiency, and moral uprightness in the Daode jing, they are Love the country; do it no harm. Serve the people; never betray them. Follow science; discard ignorance. Be diligent, not indolent. Be united, help each other; make no gains at others’ expense. Be honest and trustworthy; do not sacrifice ethics for profit. Be disciplined and law-​abiding, not chaotic and lawless. Live plainly, work hard; do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

Wen Jiabao further expanded this to include an effort to “focus on solving issues regarding the vital interests of the people, maintain social stability, and strive to build a socialist harmonious society.” The key concept of harmony (hexie), widely bandied about in Chinese politics even today, in this understanding reflects the Daode jing notion of smooth flow, the realization of Dao in the applied virtue of everyday life under the inspired guidance of a sagely leader. Matching this, a 2017 translation published by Zhang Sanyu, director of the Laozi Daoism Institute in the Zhongnan mountains, reads it to apply in modern life and politics. Aiming to aid the world toward peaceful unity, in this reading, the text offers ways of returning to simpler and more natural ways of thinking while elevating culture to a new level of prosperity and happiness. It provides practical guidance and applicable methods to transform modern life and values toward calmer, more peaceful, and happier dimensions. Another modern Chinese application of the text is with regard to the educational system. Rather than continuing the rote-​ learning, examination-​oriented system currently in place, Daode jing promoters point out that, if educators follow the text’s methods,

Chapter 9: China Today  189 children will unfold their inherent, congenital wisdom and cultivate inspirational and creative thinking, thus contributing to the creation of a better life and more harmonious society. Just as “good governance is like water,” so good guidance for youngsters should be smooth and easy, using teaching materials and teaching methods that remain simple and straightforward, allowing the children to grow at their own rate and fulfilling their unique potentials. In addition, the Daode jing can be used in education not only for its content, but also through its very words. Some educators have found that the systematic, repeated recitation of the text helps children concentrate better, reduce anxiety, eliminate bad habits, improve social awareness, and generally lay a good foundation for life. In adults, too, regular chanting the Daode jing, helped online with relaxing music, birdsong, and pictures of flowers,1 can lower blood pressure and improve metabolic function, releasing panic reactions and helping people attain their optimal weight.

Ecology In another popular context, the Daode jing today is often streamlined to offer a practical philosophy of ecological living. Central here are its key values self-​being and nonaction, especially since the former, ziran, is the modern word for “nature.” Ancient Daoist texts have no specific word that matches the modern concept of “nature,” but use tian or dao to refer to the natural processes of life. Tian, sky or heaven, is the generic term for all beings; it signifies the origin and foundation of the world, and indicates its natural, spontaneous workings. People should follow tian, identify and accord with it, and place themselves in its center, but they can also be at odds to or alienated from it. Dao in ecological literature is somewhat more abstract, denoting the process of living and growing as well as all the constituents and conditions of life, often described with the metaphor of water, which

190  Part Three: Modern Reception matches its original meaning of “way” or “channel” and shows its placidity, fluidity, regularity, and rhythm. Multicentric and supportive of all, Dao provides an ethos that supports the expression of each beings’ integrity, deferring to all relevant environmental conditions while establishing efficacious and fruitful integration. Both terms thus are essentially dynamic in outlook and, while including the natural world of mountains and rivers, plants and animals, do not centrally focus on physicality. What modern people think of as “nature” in traditional China was the opposite of culture, wilderness as delimited from cultivated land. It was uncouth and dangerous, murky and threatening, where wild animals roamed and hobgoblins lurked. A  sphere best to be avoided, it was there for people to use, and China has undergone environmental despoiling for millennia, as ancient works document. Thus, the Mencius deplores the stripping of trees from Ox Mountain, the Huainanzi tells the story of Kuafu, whose never-​ending thirst caused the rivers to run dry, and the Zhuangzi bemoans the degree to which, under the rule of the so-​called sage rulers of antiquity, the air was polluted, the light of sun and moon was fractured, the hills were stripped of trees, the streams were sluggish, and the seasons were upset. “Not a living thing was allowed to rest in the true form of its inner nature and destiny” (ch. 14). While physical nature was thus exploited, the idea of ziran encouraged individual beings’ spontaneous self-​fulfillment and “naturalness,” their optimal way of realizing their inherent natures within the setting of changing circumstances. The link between the two, physical nature and naturalness, goes back to medieval poets who connected roaming through uncultivated land with the Daoist ideals of free and easy wandering and flowing spontaneity. To find respite from their earthly plight, they immersed themselves in the countryside, and in their works praise physical nature as the gateway to transcending all limitations, as a key means of becoming one with Dao.

Chapter 9: China Today  191 In their wake, modern Chinese ecologists see nature and naturalness in close connection as the unceasing movement of things, manifest in the continued ordering and disintegration (entropy) of life, the organic chemical transformations in living matter, and the homeostatic processes of the healthy body. Most pertinently, they see in Daoism an archaic wisdom that understands life as universally interconnected or interbeing, values diversity as a fundamental condition for flourishing, and insists on the essential compatibility of all life forms as well as the need for humans to treat other species with respect. For them, Daoism represents the appreciation of nature not as a teleological realization of a fixed trajectory but as a continuous waymaking that supports life in all its forms. To heal the world and treat the many environmental problems that ail China today, ecologists take recourse to classic Daoist values such as tolerance, integrity, and respect. They also encourage the application of nonprocesses (wu) to eliminate the urge toward exploitation and control. These include nondesire or the achievement of sufficiency, nonknowledge, a relaxed, unprincipled, and even anarchic knowing, and most importantly noninterference. This does not mean inaction or letting things go wild, but perpetual creativity where nothing is not done, the development and maintenance of steadfast congruence. Each being should follow its own accord and connect to others and the natural world without imposing on them, living in a nonconfrontational way, making changes gently, slowly, and consciously in alignment with all and without dramatic effects. In concrete terms, this means respecting natural features and using resources sparingly, using renewable energy whenever possible. It also means building houses that blend into the natural setting, designing gardens that enhance and highlight natural forms, training animals with gentleness rather than with force to enhance their natural powers.

192  Part Three: Modern Reception

Cognitive Therapy The same emphasis on gentleness is also apparent in another modern application of Daode jing in China:  its use in cognitive therapy, notably in cases of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Classical cognitive therapy acknowledges the interrelatedness of cognition, affect, and behavior: how people understand and perceive events influences their responses on the level of emotion and action. Cognitive therapy seeks to help the patient overcome difficulties by identifying and changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses. It works by modifying beliefs, identifying distorted thinking, relating to others in new ways, and changing behaviors. The goal is a greater sense of inner authenticity reached through the appreciation of how thoughts and perceptions color emotions and lead to certain kinds of behavior that may be unhelpful and dysfunctional yet can be replaced by more appropriate and life-​enhancing attitudes. A recent Chinese modification of cognitive therapy activates a Daode jing approach to life and personality development. Developed by Zhang Yalin and Yang Desen of the Mental Health Institute at Hunan Medical University in Changsha, it also appears in the United States under the name Taoist Cognitive Psychotherapy (TCP). Working in three stages of treatment, it utilizes four pairs of principles from the Daode jing as its central mode of cognitive modification. They are: 1. Orientation and Assessment—​developing a therapeutic relationship, introducing the overall principles, pinpointing specific patient problems, and planning the treatment. 2. Doctrine Instruction and Application—​teaching key Daoist principles as based on the Daode jing and facilitating their adaptation to specific problems and concerns.

Chapter 9: China Today  193 3. Internalization and Reinforcement—​summarizing the treatment process, enhancing specific principles, and discussing future application. The process takes about twelve individual therapy sessions of forty-​five to fifty minutes each that occur once or twice a week. That is to say, the whole course takes about two or three months, which is quite short for psychotherapy. Randomized clinical trials in China have shown the effectiveness of the method, not only for generalized anxiety disorder but also for panic attacks and obsessive-​compulsive behavior patterns. Four sets of principles from the Daode jing form the core of the treatment, the “Doctrine Instruction” in Step 2. They are: Benefit without harm to yourself or others (ch. 81). Do your best without competing with others (ch. 81). Moderate desire and limit selfishness (ch. 19). Know when it is enough and learn to be content (ch. 44). Know harmony and be modest (chs. 55, 68). The soft can overcome the tough (ch. 36). Be clear and still and rest in nonaction (chs. 45, 48). Let nature take its course (ch. 25).

Only half of these are actual citations from the Daode jing, including one with a minor modification. Three are composites, taking two characters each either from different lines in the same or different chapters. The last principle does not occur in the Daode jing in this form at all—​although, of course, both individual expressions and the sentiment are present in the text.

194  Part Three: Modern Reception All eight statements are taken out of context and ignore the fact that the subject of the action in question is not at all the same or that the grammatical mode may be different. Thus, for example, ­chapter 81 reads, “benefiting without harm is something characteristic of Heaven, while acting without competition is a feature of the sage.” By the same token, “know when it is enough” from ­chapter 44 is a contraction of “Who knows when it is enough suffers no disgrace; who knows when to stop is free from danger,” in the original linked to enhanced longevity. Not only are the basic textual passages changed to fit the psychotherapeutic context, but their meaning and implication are modified substantially, personalized and applied to ordinary life. Often spiritual statements about the way of Heaven and the sage become a way of self-​enhancement in a Western psychological mode. This also holds true for statements that emphasize the importance of harmony, modesty, humility, and softness (chs. 36, 41, 43, 55, 78). In the original placed in the context of warfare and political battles, they here relate to core conflicts within the patient—​either external, with other people, in the workplace, and in terms of social or cultural demands, or internal, manifest in pride, shame, self-​criticism, perfectionism, and the urge to control. The key notion of “constancy” accordingly no longer refers to being eternal as a quality of Dao, but indicates the internal steadiness of one’s perception of life. It leads, in turn, not to enlightenment or spiritual perfection but to a deeper understanding of one’s own personal role in the larger scheme of things. Still, therapists recommend that patients choose a self-​cultivation practice to undertake regularly, be it meditation or another restful practice such as qigong, taiji quan, yoga, calligraphy, prayer, and the like—​ something that calms the mind and allows a wider perspective of life. The goal, as in the Daode jing, is to rest in one’s own nature and flow along with the world in a state of nonaction, here understood as “not meddling or interfering with things, letting oneself and the world be: letting oneself be who and what one is, and is on one’s way

Chapter 9: China Today  195 to becoming; letting others be who and what they are, and are on their way to becoming; and letting the world be what it is, and what it is on it’s way to becoming” (Craig 2007).

Self-​Help Achieving this state of harmony with self and world without outside intervention is the goal of various self-​help methods based on the Daode jing. They appear variously online, as for example in the cartoon that retells Laozi’s life while explaining the key concepts of the text in narrative format (see YouTube for relevant videos). Another online resource are the lectures on “The Wisdom and Application of the Daode jing” (see YouTube for relevant videos), by the Venerable Konghai. Originally named Guo Yongjin, he was born in 1955 in rural Taiwan and felt inspired by Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, at an early age. After studying world religions, psychology, and philosophy at the university and completing his military service, he became a doctor of Chinese traditional medicine in 1985. While practicing medicine, he moved on to Buddhist training, studying variously in Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. The massive Taiwan earthquake of 1999 pushed him to a new level of enlightenment and, in 2000, he began to teach full-​time, soon reaching a high level of popularity throughout the Chinese-​speaking  world. His teaching links the worldview of the Daode jing with Buddhist concepts of emptiness and practices of meditation. Reading the text chapter by chapter with his followers, he describes Dao as the divine underlying power of all, equal to Buddhist emptiness, Confucian Nonultimate, Christian God, and Muslim Allah. The root source of all life, Dao supports everyone and everything, making all beings—​ and especially all people—​part of one whole, of one great universal family. Realizing this fundamental oneness, and also the continuity of life and death, people can develop true compassion and live in

196  Part Three: Modern Reception harmony. They can also connect to inherent wisdom and inner virtue, the pure mind and consciousness at the root of their being, their basic power of intuition and soul potency. Doing so, they overcome knowledge and critical evaluations, as well as religious dogmas and superstitions. In practical terms, this means to “make spirit and material souls embrace oneness and not be separate” (ch. 10), here interpreted to let go of all thoughts of past and future—​regrets, sins, and inherited karmic patterns as well as the fantasy world of an unreal dreamland—​and bring body and mind/​heart together in the here and now. All thoughts beyond the present lead to nothing but pain and misery, essentially meaningless to living fully and happily. As one is in the present, moreover, one “contains yin and embraces yang” (ch. 42), fully realizing that the mind is part of cosmic emptiness or Dao while the body is part of the material world—​joined together to form the individual. To reach this level, the main practice is one of “cleansing and purifying the mysterious mirror” (ch. 10), here related to the classical Zen understanding of the mind as a clear mirror on which no dust should accumulate. The Venerable Konghai distinguishes three different types of mirrors. The most common is bent, concave or convex, twisted and dusty, reflecting the mind’s own patterns as determined by bad habits of the ego and negative tendencies, such as arrogance, hatred, and greed. People whose mind is like this always think themselves right and are unable to appreciate another point of view. Their lives are determined by personal desires and mired in conflict; they lack wisdom and compassion. The next mirror, less common and achieved through Buddhist study, is partially clear, allowing an opening toward reality and a more open-​minded approach to living; here knowledge is acquired and wisdom awakes. The top level, finally, is the completely clear and bright mirror, a mind that is free from ego-​driven desires and reflects reality accurately—​resting, in Daode jing terms, in a state of perpetual “clarity and stillness.”

Chapter 9: China Today  197 The way to reach this highest level is less one of meditation, still a suspect practice in China, that one of cognitive restructuring, the reorganization of thinking away from egotistical inclinations and toward a more cosmic, universal perspective of Dao. The effect of the practice is a great increase in peace of mind and an overarching improvement in the quality of living. Similar projections, but with a more of a business focus, are also central to the Daode jing reading by Zeng Shijiang (b. 1934), a certified accountant and historian who serves as director of Yuchai Group. Much of his work focuses on making successful economic and social practices of important historical figures, their “wisdom for life,” relevant to the present day, including a prime minister of the Zhou dynasty, a leading Tang general, the Ming eunuch Zheng He, and the Qing emperor Kangxi. In addition, he also uses two classics to extol traditional values for the modern age: the Yijing and the Daode jing. Regarding the latter, he has two books, Laozi de rensheng zhihui (The Living Wisdom of Laozi) and Daode jing de aomi (The Mystery of the Daode jing). The first, also available as popular lectures in video format (see YouTube for relevant videos), interprets the Dao on three levels, as visible and tangible, diffuse and obscure, and ineffable. Applying its wisdom to practical and business life, Zeng recommends flowing smoothly along like water, cultivating the values of being soft and weak, and exercising a form of leadership that provides subtle guidance while encouraging individual skills and initiative. The Mystery, second, acknowledges the mysterious nature of the text and emphasizes the degree of disagreement it has engendered over the millennia. It then insists that Laozi and his thought are both “dead and not dead,” meaning that they originated many centuries ago and are no longer with us in concrete, physical form. However, they are both still alive in spirit, stimulating new ways of thinking that yet recover age-​old wisdom. “Even if the age of Laozi is long gone, thousands of years past, his thought and its spirit, that

198  Part Three: Modern Reception is, the Dao he wanted to convey, is still alive.” Borderless and beyond the limitations of any specific culture, this reading presents the key to the full realization of Laozi’s true words. From here, Zeng focuses on key concepts of Dao, virtue, and naturalness, applying them to the individual person and his or her physical performance in society. Nonaction, on the other hand, he sees as a more psychological or mental attitude, engendered through the attainment of no desires, unknowing, and intuitive wisdom. Adopting a position of weakness, fluidity, and simplicity by thinking outside the box and applying the dynamics of opposites, one can overcome the strong and rigid, the difficult and even the apparently insurmountable. To him, studying the Daode jing can help people today break through various blind spots in their thinking and open them to the practice of superior wisdom in life, becoming empowered and invincible. For more detailed practical advice on specific day-​to-​day situations and issues in the phenomenal world, then, Zeng suggests consulting the Yijing, another work about which he has written extensively. Forming a complementary pair with the Daode jing in yin-​yang fashion, to him it offers concrete directives where the Daode jing provides an overarching cosmological framework, outlining the “Way of Heaven” and the key principles to follow in life. Zeng places strong emphasis on the restoration of Chinese cultural traditions in the modern world and their activation in the actions of each individual. Represented closely by the Daode jing, they offer guidelines in the pursuit of material satisfaction and prosperity as well as peace of mind and social stability. This, moreover, will have a lasting effect on the planet, the Daode jing focus on the “harmony between humanity and nature” creating a strong ecological awareness that will save the earth in its time of crisis. While many claim that the twenty-​first century is the century of science and technology and others call it the digital century, Zeng insists that it is most importantly an era of environmental protection. People need to adopt a more universal perspective and come to see

Chapter 9: China Today  199 themselves as guests on earth, learning to cherish its resources and love its environment.

Notes 1. See, for example, https://​www.youtube.com/​watch?v=xqeqq1HqepA; https://w ​ ww.youtube.com/w ​ atch?v=5DxtfbBpl1M&list=PLZ7xNjCPLJ3ORkmQl_​ pI3B3V4LdyCqgMW; https://​www.youtube.com/​watch?v=dj-​4q6Y_​c6w& index=2&list=PLF6E5F4EA6F460383

Further Readings Chang, Doris F. 2012. Chinese Taoist Cognitive Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Treatment Manual. New York: New School of Social Research. Chen, Guying. 2015. Rediscovering the Roots of Chinese Thought:  Laozi’s Philosophy. Translated by Paul D’Ambrosio. St. Petersburg, FL:  Three Pines Press. Craig, Eric. 2007. Tao Psychotherapy:  Introduction a New Approach to Humanistic Practice. London: Taylor & Francis. Csikszentmihalyi, Mark. 2015. “Thematic Analyses of the Laozi.” In Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy, edited by Xiaogan Liu, 47–​ 70. New York: Springer. Ding, Huang. 2000. “The Study of Daoism in China Today.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 765–​91. Leiden: Brill. Herrou, Adeline. 2013. A World of Their Own: Monastics and Their Community in Contemporary China. St. Petersburg, FL: Three Pines Press. Johnson, Ian. 2017. The Souls of China:  The Return of Religion after Mao. New York: Pantheon Books. Liu, Xiaogan. 2001. “Nonaction and the Environment Today: A Conceptual and Applied Study of Laozi’s Philosophy.” In Daoism and Ecology:  Ways within a Cosmic Landscape, edited by Norman Girardot, James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, 315–​40. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Center for the Study of World Religions. Lu, Xichen. 2011. “Ancient Daoist Philosophy and Authentic Living.” In Living Authentically: Daoist Contributions to Modern Psychology, edited by Livia Kohn, 25–​38. Dunedin, FL: Three Pines Press. Miller, James. 2017. China’s Green Religion:  Daoism and the Quest for a Sustainable Future. New York: Columbia University Press. Wang, Robin R. 2009. “To Become a Female Daoist Master:  Kundao in Training.” In Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality,

200  Part Three: Modern Reception edited by Livia Kohn and Robin R. Wang, 165–​80. Magdalena, NM: Three Pines Press. Zhang, Longxi. 1999. “Qian Zhongshu on Philosophical and Mystical Paradoxes in the Laozi.” In Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi, edited by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip J. Ivanhoe, 97–​126. Albany: State University of New York Press.

10 In the World Eastern Transmission The three East Asian countries with the most Daoist influence are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. All three had a close relationship with the Chinese imperial court: Vietnam was part of the Chinese empire for over a thousand years, having been conquered under the Han; Korea served as a vassal state by sending regular tributes and emissaries from the early middle ages onward; and Japan adopted large segments of Chinese political organization and culture, especially in the Heian era, which matches the late Tang in China. All three, moreover, made classical Chinese their official language, modified and slowly replaced as independent alphabets were created—​hiragana in Japan in the 800s, hangul in Korea in the 1400s, and the Western alphabet in Vietnam under French occupation in the nineteenth century. As a result of these close ties, the Daode jing was transmitted early and has formed an important part of the countries’ cultures to the present day. Its sayings are well known, its thought has influenced political and economic thinking, and its concepts pervade the cultures—​as much as the traditional cosmology of yin-​yang and the five phases. Similarly the stories of the Zhuangzi and tales of immortals have inspired the people’s imagination, and there are famous hermits and magical masters in all three countries. In addition, they have developed their own brands of mountain asceticism and each claims to be the original location of the paradise mountains of Penglai. There are various places of this name, especially in

202  Part Three: Modern Reception Japan, some even with temples dedicated to the Chinese admiral who was supposed to discover them for the First Emperor. More specifically, as Jae-​Seo Jung outlines (2000), the Daode jing was transmitted to Korea during the Three Kingdom period, when the country was divided into Koguryō in the north, Paekjae in the southwest, and Shilla in the southeast. Data from the Koguryō kingdom (37 bce–​668 ce), predating the formal transmission of Chinese Daoism in the seventh century, suggest the existence of a form of Daoist culture. For example, Tao Hongjing’s Zhenglei bencao (Critical Classfied Pharmacopoeia) in the section on “Gold-​Based Drugs” records that Koguryō had a technique for using gold for medicine, which some scholars take to imply that they were using techniques of laboratory alchemy. Similarly, immortals riding cranes or holding bowls of medicine appear on grave murals around the sixth century, implying that immortality ideas, transmitted along with Daoist thought, were already prevalent. In addition, the Samguk yusa (Tales of the Three Kingdoms, ch. 3) records that Celestial Masters Daoism with its veneration of the Daode jing was popular in Koguryō at the beginning of the seventh century. Daoism was more formally transmitted under the Tang dynasty. In 624, the Tang Emperor Gaozu (r. 618–​626) sent two Daoist priests to present a statue of the central creator deity Heavenly Worthy of Primordial Beginning, provide instruction in Daoist practices, and give lectures on the Daode jing. In 643, the last Koguryō king, who followed the enthusiastic recommendation of the powerful official Yon Gaesomun, applied to the Tang for a renewed transmission of Daoism. In response, the Samguk sagi (Records of the Three Kingdoms) records that the Tang Emperor Taizong sent eight Daoist priests and a gift of the Daode jing. This implies that Daoism was imported for political purposes, yet also impacted Korean thought. The text has been a mainstay of Korean education ever since.

Chapter 10: In the World  203 As concerns Japan, recent archaeological evidence, unearthed at the site of the Fujiwara palace, erected in 694, shows that Daoism was present at the time. As Shin’ichiro Masuo describes it (2000), wooden tablets at the time contain the first line of the Daode jing, “The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao,” but it remains unclear whether this is part of a complete copy of the text or just one line, cited from oral or other sources. It was not from any official use of the text, since the lists of texts necessary for official study under the Chinese legal system introduced in the seventh century did not contain it. Nevertheless, the text was widely known among Japanese intellectuals. For example, the Kaifōsō (Verses on Bosom Feelings) and other poetic works contain any number of allusions and partial citations from the text, using the Heshang Gong edition, with its emphasis on longevity techniques and political techniques, which was the dominant version in Japan. The text also became a key document in Ise Shintō, documented first in a twelfth-​century text known as the Shintō gobusho (Book on Shintō in Five Sections). Here, for the first time, Shintō gods (kami) are distinguished according to function, including those who created Heaven and Earth, those who represent certain places, and those closer or more distant to human beings. The text includes numerous citations from proto-​Daoist works, including the Yijing, texts on yin-​yang, and Han-​dynasty apocrypha, showing that its worldview depended to a large degree on Chinese concepts. Moreover, the first chapter cites the Daode jing and some of its commentaries. Another area of Daoist impact on Japanese religion is Shugendō, the system of mountain asceticism practiced by Yamabushi in a quest to acquire supernatural powers and learn to divine good and bad fortune. Much of what they do goes back to Daoist sources; they make use of the Daode jing in various ways, frequently utilize ritual formulas found already among the Celestial Masters and in Ge Hong’s Baopuzi, and—​not unlike the masters of methods—​concoct

204  Part Three: Modern Reception and sell medicines, often called “cinnabars.” Their talismans integrate the Daoist-​based formulas and their ritual movements follow the ancient Daoist “Pace of Yu” (yubu). While Shugendō thus integrates many Daoist elements from a variety of backgrounds, the exact nature of the transmission is not clear. As likely as not Daoism entered Japanese mountain worship not via organized lineages of patriarchs but rather through the activities of individual practitioners, emigrés and exiles from the mainland who brought their creeds and techniques with them. One rather tentative example is the case of a Japanese practitioner of the early eighth century who set himself up on Mount Togakushi in modern Nagano, erected a statue of Lord Lao, and recited the Daode jing. Condemned by the court for some sort of improper conduct, he was exiled to the far-​off Isles of Eight Fathoms (Hazhō dō), south of modern Tokyo. His successors, though, continued Daoist-​inspired practice, including Daode jing recitation, to the present day. In Vietnam, too, the Daode jing (Đạo Đức Kinh) has a long history and various forms of Daoism are practiced within the country. During the period of Chinese rulership (111 bce–​938 ce), local nobles and members of the elite, under the close supervision of Chinese governors, were systematically trained in Chinese culture, philosophy, and politics. This not only included a heavy dose of Confucianism and Chinese literature but also a regular diet of the Daode jing and its major commentaries, notably by Heshang Gong. In the twentieth century, moreover, the text came to play a role in a new religion called Caodai. Founded in 1921 by Ngo Minh Chien after a revelation from the creator god Caodai—​the High Tower and heart of the universe, this integrates major world religions through the notion of the core deity’s original dispensation to the Buddha, Laozi, Confucius, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, and finally Ngo. In practice, it combines the virtues and social consciousness of Confucianism, the precepts and vegetarianism of Buddhism, and the rituals and talismans of Daoism, with an organization

Chapter 10: In the World  205 patterned on the Catholic church and guided by a central leader known as “pope.” Caodai has undergone a varied fate and is still active today, especially in the south (see Fig. 12). The most famous Buddhist leader of Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh, too, makes use of the Daode jing. For example, in his work On Habit and Mindfulness, he refers to c­ hapter 49 and its emphasis on treating everyone with equal goodness, be they good or bad themselves, thus leading to a state of personal virtue that is full of goodness. In addition, there are numerous translations of the text into Vietnamese, as for example the one by Nhan Tu Nguyen Van Tho (http://​nhantu.net/​TonGiao/​DaoDucKinh/​DaoDucKinh.htm), as well as videos on YouTube and other popular venues. They tend to present it in a current context, often emphasizing concepts of social harmony and filial piety, body cultivation and meditative awareness, ethical behavior and gender relations. The notion of sageliness

Fig. 12.  The main Caodai sanctuary. Source: Temple in South Vietnam. Photograph by the author, 2007.

206  Part Three: Modern Reception typically connects with ideals of perfect happiness while the optimal lifestyle relates to the natural flow of water. Virtues such as humility, sufficiency, and integrity play a key role.

Early Western Reception Much later than spreading through East Asia, the Daode jing first appeared on the horizon of Western cultures in the sixteenth century. While there was contact between the continents throughout history along the Silk Road, the first Westerner to arrive by sea was the Portuguese explorer Jorge Alvares in 1513. After the Portuguese founded their colony of Macao in 1557, the Jesuits established a center there and began training in Chinese language and culture, their efforts pioneered by Michele Ruggieri (1543–​1607) and Matteo Ricci (1552–​1610). As they strove to bring Christianity to the Chinese, they came in contact with indigenous religions but tended to see them through the eyes of the educated classes, who were stout Confucians with a deep respect for the Daode jing but widespread contempt for Daoism, Buddhism, and popular religion. This shaped the dominant Western perception that saw Daode jing concepts as compatible with Western ideas of transcendence and inner peace while condemning the religion as idolatrous superstition. The work of the early missionaries resulted in the first translation of the Daode jing into a Western language: the Latin rendition by François Noël (1651–​1729), which was published in the early 1700s. It allowed certain thinkers such as Voltaire (1694–​1778), Jean-​ Jacques Rousseau (1712–​ 1778), and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–​1716) to take its thought into account—​Voltaire focusing on Chinese values of tolerance, nature, and social harmony; Rousseau seeing the simple, ignorant quasi-​savage who remains free from the restraints of culture and the military; and Leibniz finding principles of universal harmony and a pure manifestation

Chapter 10: In the World  207 of the perennial philosophy. Both saw its thought as a prime example of an organistic, countercultural tradition, establishing a pattern that has lasted to the present day. Other major thinkers also took the text into account. For example, the leading German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–​ 1804) understood its highest principle to be nothingness and therefore classified it as a form of nihilism, seeing its core value as a state of perpetual stillness or endemic passivity. As a result, he found Daoism monstrous and Chinese thought generally not worth considering as real philosophy. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1730–​1831), who established an evolutionary scheme of world philosophy, placing Western thought at the pinnacle, found Daoism as much as all Eastern thought lacking in development, stagnant, and backward-​looking. To him, Chinese philosophy was highly abstract, with no fundamental understanding of order, no objective metaphysical content, no systematic classification of reality, and no clear concept of how to move from abstract oneness to the multiplicity of concrete existence. The Daode jing, in particular, he found centered on nothingness and expressing a form of nihilism, with no ideas of subjectivity and freedom, key concepts in his thought. This trend continued in Max Weber (1864–​1920), who found China dominated by passive adjustment to the world without a radical sense of transcendence, thus lacking the impetus toward progress and self-​improvement found in the Protestant ethic. Christian missionaries and scholars, on the other hand, began to see more divine concepts in the text. Thus, the Jesuit translators of a new Latin version presented to the British Royal Society in 1788 proclaimed their intent to show that “the mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of the incarnate God were anciently known to the Chinese nation.” J. P.  Abel-​ Rémusat (1788–​ 1832), the first chair of Chinese Studies at the Collège de France, who likened Laozi to Plato and his thought to Gnosticism, in his Memoire sur la vie et les ouvrages de Lao-​tseu, claimed that the Hebrew consonants signifying Yahweh

208  Part Three: Modern Reception (Y W E) were represented in ­chapter 14, which speaks of Dao being invisible, inaudible, and subtle. Translating a set of passages on the cosmic potency of Dao (chs. 1, 14, 24, 41, 42), he further insisted that it was like the Greek logos and conveyed “the triple sense of supreme being, reason, and word,” being both first cause and creator, primordial reason, and the spirit that rules the body. In 1841, his student Stanislas Julien (1797–​1873) published the first French translation and asserted that Dao was devoid of action, thought, judgment, and intelligence, and thus not the same as God. Based on scholarly studies, his interpretation also integrated Chinese commentaries, and he was the first Westerner to strive for an authentic understanding. In his wake, the missionary John Chalmers (1825–​1899) created the first English rendition in 1868, uniquely at the time treating the text as a serious contribution to metaphysics and serving as the inspiration for Tennyson’s poem, “The Ancient Sage.” This was closely followed in 1870 by the first German version, translated by the state official and poet Viktor von Strauss (1809–​1899), who saw it dominantly as a theosophical work, representing esoteric wisdom. In a similar way, Frederic Henry Balfour (1846–​1909) in a book on Daoist texts (1881) spoke of the sublime doctrines of the Daode jing in contrast to the superstitious folly of the religion. The Protestant minister and Scotsman James Legge (1815–​1897), the first Chinese studies professor at Oxford University, published his rendition in 1891 as part of a comprehensive Chinese texts translation project (see Girardot 2002). While avoiding attempts to impose Christian theology actively onto the text, he still considered Laozi wrong about many things Christianity had right and condemned the Daoist religion as fantastic and superstitious. In his wake, the linguist and historian Edward Harper Parker (1849–​1926) likened the ideas of the Daode jing to the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius, while the transcendentalist Samuel Johnson (1822–​1882) in a book on Oriental religions (1877) found in it a universal spirituality independent of creed and sectarian

Chapter 10: In the World  209 allegiance. Along the same lines, the British China scholar, translator, and museum curator Lionel Giles (1875–​1958) in 1906 saw in the Daode jing a great system of a transcendent ethical philosophy. The German education professor and historian Adolf Reichwein (1898–​1944), who died in resistance to the Nazis, in reaction to the 1910 translation by Richard Wilhelm (1873–​1930) claimed that Laozi was a great luminary whose ideas could fill the moral and spiritual vacuum created by the industrialization and alienation of the nineteenth century. He also asserted that the Daode jing had become a bridge between East and West for his generation. His fellow countryman Paul Carus (1852–​1919), who emigrated to the United States for political reasons and later served as the managing editor of Open Court Publishing in Illinois, was instrumental in introducing Eastern religions to America. He found in the Daode jing a vision of cosmic order at the core of all religions and an expression of the ideal of a universal brotherhood that could unify and heal the world.

Seeing Dao In the twentieth century, the Daode jing was received no longer as Christian revelation in an alien form or a misguided oriental attempt at wisdom but in its own right. Nevertheless, religious and philosophical questions remained important, and comparison with Christianity, even when not explicit, were still influential in interpreting the text. One religious question many interpreters asked was whether or not Dao had qualities that could be associated with Western concepts of supreme deity. Despite the admonition of the first lines of the text—​that Dao cannot be defined or understood—​scholars speculated frequently about the nature of Dao: Is Dao a mystical absolute, a form of supreme being, the creator of the world, or something else?

210  Part Three: Modern Reception As Julia Hardy describes it (1998), some insisted that Dao was something entirely different from the Christian God. For example, the French China scholar Marcel Granet (1884–​1940), professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, in his influential La pensée chinoise (1934), said, “Chinese wisdom has no need of the idea of God.” In Chinese thought, he insisted, “there is no creator. Nothing was created in the world, and the world was not created . . . Dao was never conceived as a transcendent reality, but is the impersonal principle of all sanctity.” Henri Maspero (1883–​1945), professor at the Collège du France, saw the Daode jing as a mystical text, focusing on a unitive experience with Dao, which he understood as the absolute. As he notes in Taoism and Chinese Religion (1937), the Daode jing contained veiled references to techniques for producing ecstatic states, matching methods found in other cultures. Not unlike modern perennialists, he assumed that all experiences of cosmic oneness were essentially the same because there is only one absolute. Maspero’s student, Max Kaltenmark (1910–​ 2002), professor at the École Pratique, took this one step further. In his Laozi and Daoism (1969), he described Dao as “a superior reality that transcends the perceptible and imperceptible modalities of being.” Regarding Dao as creator and first cause of the universe, as a potency or mysterious being that caused all creatures to be born, he insisted on the importance of mystical encounters to realize its presence within the individual. Other interpreters strongly disagreed with the notion of Dao as an absolute being and the role of mysticism in the text. In an essay entitled “What is Daoism?” (1956) Herrlee Creel (1905–​1994), professor of Chinese at the University of Chicago, criticized Maspero’s statements about the identity of all mystical experience, asserting how different Western mysticism is with its special relationship between humanity and the divine. In contrast, Dao was less transcendent and more immanent, a power inherent in everything, even material objects. Creel says,

Chapter 10: In the World  211 Let others be awed by the lofty remoteness of absolute knowledge, and spend their lives in pursuit of it like quixotic knights seeking the Grail; the Daoist does not believe it. Let others honor the universe by endowing it with human qualities, calling it “infinite mind” or “absolute reason.” The Daoist, with an apparent simplicity that is wholly deceptive, with the approach to the ridiculous that always characterizes the sublime, calls it the Great Clod. (1970, 36)

Where Creel was primarily concerned with criticizing those who distort Dao by likening it to familiar understandings of deity, the Dartmouth College professor Wing-​tsit Chan (1901–​1994) objected to critics who claimed that Dao was irrational, mystical nonsense. In the introduction to his excellent translation, contained in his A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), he writes that Dao “is mysterious only in the sense of subtlety and depth, not in the sense of irrationality,” yet it is more than the order of nature, as nonbeing bringing all being into existence and supporting its continued operation. Nonbeing, moreover, in contrast to Kant’s understanding, is not nothingness but a latent potency underlying all. It is beyond sensory perception but none less real for that; essentially formless and nameless, to be able to talk about it, Laozi speaks of Dao. Another line of interpreting Dao is as a more practical guideline, as the “way of life,” referring back to the literal meaning of the word dao. The first to use it in this manner was Arthur Waley (1889–​1966), a civil servant who devoted most of his life to writing and translating. His The Way and its Power (1934), which became vastly popular, marked the beginning of a widespread Western understanding of the Daode jing as a lifestyle manual. Waley saw the text as part of the Axial Age transition from a more communal sacrifice-​based religion to a recognition of individual moral autonomy, not unlike Indian yoga emphasizing particularly qualities of humility, weakness, stillness, intuition, and freedom from

212  Part Three: Modern Reception desires. Mysticism to him was not the prime goal but part of the path to self-​cultivation.

Philosophical Adaptation As translators struggled with the notion of Dao and its relevance in contemporary life, and various literary figures—​including influential poets and novelists such as Paul Claudel (1868–​1955), Hermann Hesse (1877–​1962), Franz Kafka (1883–​1924), Bertolt Brecht (1898–​1956), and Robert Lowry (1919–​1994)—​began to adapt it, and philosophers developed it into new levels of complexity, contributing to the Western reception of the Daode jing in their own unique ways. Among them the most important is the German thinker Martin Heidegger (1889–​1976), both a graduate and professor of the University of Freiburg. Not only familiar with Daoism but deeply appreciating its vision and concepts, he worked on a German translation of the Daode jing in cooperation with Paul Shih-​yi Hsiao and was familiar with the Zhuangzi in the German rendition of selected stories by the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber (1878–​1965) who felt that the Daoist approach to life and thought had much to offer modern man, alienated by science and technology and badly in need of a new dialogue with nature and a more affective rather than analytical language (see Parkes 1987). These features also play a role in Heidegger, whose thought centers on the nature and manifestation of Being (Sein) in beings (Seiendes). Being is the Simple or the Selfsame, very much like Dao the origin of oneness and nonbeing—​the unspoken of language, the spontaneous in human beings. It assembles in the world, in space and time, as Dasein, literally “being there,” the basic everydayness of life. Being needs this being there (Da-​) to be truly itself, continuously changing and “growing,” always coming into presence. Heidegger describes this process of coming into Being with the word Ereignis, literally “event.” Ereignis represents another aspect

Chapter 10: In the World  213 of Dao in that it occurs spontaneously, as the natural unfolding in the coming together of Being, things, and thoughts, without the need for anything external. Devoid of content, it is pure function; ahistorical, it is without destiny; ever shifting, it is constantly new. While Ereignis singularizes itself in particular things in the larger context of the world, it cannot be mastered or transcended:  it is what it is. Being in-​between, Ereignis signifies an openness to which man belongs, an empty space that is fundamental as well as innerworldly and most ordinary, like a forest clearing. In this space, human beings as part of the ongoing process of event-​ing form part of Being and are intrinsically open to it, that is, continuously take part in Dao. However, due to increasing mechanization and technology—​what the Daode jing describes in terms of cultural complexity, sensory overload, and an increase in desires—​they have been become fragmented and pathless. As a result, the Simple—​the underlying Dao—​instead of serving as a source of inspiration and connection, appears monotonous and wearisome. To remedy this, people should return to their inherent “self-​belonging”—​what the Daode jing calls self-​being—​and live simply and modestly. Thereby they find Gelassenheit, literally “letting be in so-​ness,” a mental attitude of calmness, composure, and patience not unlike nonaction that leaves one in the total presence of things, disengaged and free from attachment, content to stay with what is. Again echoing the Daode jing, Heidegger expresses his thought in a new form of language that is more poetic, more dynamic, and more primordial, and thus can break through established restrictions and overcome the separation of subject and object, evoking feelings and memories, and thus opening to the realm of Being by thinking and experiencing in new ways. His language employs poetry and mythical images, uses arguments and ideas, works with paradoxes and neologisms, and encourages its reader to go beyond and forget it, in a “silence about silence” or by listening to the “sound of silence.” Just like the Daode jing works with paradoxes

214  Part Three: Modern Reception and metaphors, moving terms from one grammatical level to another, Heidegger creates verbs from nouns to express the dynamic of Being’s presencing—​Die Sprache spricht (speech speaks); das Nichts nichtet (nothingness nothings)—​and uses words in their more literal, direct sense—​ for example, Aus-​einander-​setzung (con-​front-​ation)—​freeing them from their traditional conceptual and referential baggage and thereby opening minds and perception to more subtle, more inherently natural ways.

Popular Understanding All this culminates in a pervasive Western understanding of Daode jing concepts as guides to an alternative way of living, a remedy for what ails Western civilization, an antidote to rational, analytical, technical thinking, and an aid toward social harmony and integration. The popular adaption of the text, therefore, tends to center on four distinct areas:  the Western tendency toward action and progress; the importance of reducing stress; the reversal of some common cultural norms and ethical values; and concerns for the environment and social harmony. Balancing the Western push for never-​ending progress and increased consumption, the need to always have more, always get new things, and always acquire bigger objects, is the core value of sufficiency, the essential idea of “knowing when it is enough.” This means that there is a level of material wealth and internal satisfaction that requires one to go along with the present and let go of advancement and progress. Having reached this point, an increase in consumption, a rise in position, or a multiplication of wealth will add nothing further to one’s community connections or internal well-​being. On the contrary, it will create complications and various kinds of difficulties that are entirely unnecessary and make one feel worse, not better. This latter concept in the Daode jing is expressed as the

Chapter 10: In the World  215 “continuous alternation of yin and yang.” Understanding the world as moving in an ongoing flow of rise and fall, and increase and decline, people can make wise decisions. Too much growth will result in reduction; a period of calmness and apparent stagnation is the beginning of a new surge of energy. There cannot always be only growth; rather, nature requires moves in all directions—​up and down, rise and decline, come and go. The preferred attitude to take, then, is nonaction, understood in the popular mind as doing little, not interfering with things but allowing the flow of nature to move at its own speed and in its own way. This can be applied to relationships, parenting, careers, businesses, and much more. In parenting, for example, it is wise to allow children to make their own discoveries, develop their dominant talents, and grow at their own rate. There is no point in pushing them to do things they are ill equipped for or are not ready to tackle. Businesses, too, have a dynamic of their own, matching the tendencies of the market and moving along with the needs of the populace. There is little one can do if the circumstances are simply not right. On the other hand, the Daode jing asserts that “by doing nothing, there is nothing that is not done.” This means that, instead of being constantly active and on the move, trying to control and manage everything, one steps back and lets things unfold naturally. Matching one’s activities to the dominant patterns of the time, all will work out to the best—​and with a great deal more pleasure and less stress. A  reduction in personal tension is also the target of another famous Daode jing saying: “A thousand-​mile journey starts with the first step.” This guides people to be patient and make small efforts toward big goals. Rather than trying to do everything at once, one should move in small steps, keeping a clearly defined but limited goal purposefully in mind. Thus, for example, in writing a long paper or a book, one sets a goal to complete three or four pages on one specific aspect at one time, then moves on to the next.

216  Part Three: Modern Reception Along similar lines, in education one allows children to develop at their own rate, encouraging the inner guidance that nature offers and utilizing their inborn tendencies for their own instruction. Pioneered by Maria Montessori (1870–​1952), it focuses on honoring the child’s inner light and allowing him or her to act, think, and will for himself (McFarland 2008). A newer version of this also appears in Johannes Gasser’s re-​sourcive form of pedagogy (2011), applying the Daode jing principles of nonaction and energy flow to education. In practice, it encompasses courtesy and encouragement replacing any form of harsh interaction or managed relationships. Rather than commanding or prohibiting, the educator whispers to create a subtle influence within his charges. Constantly reconnecting to the vital source, he or she develops a beneficial spiral of mutual conduciveness. To enhance this fundamental conduciveness, the Daode jing further encourages certain key values that tend to be the opposite of those dominant in Western societies. For example, it extols “weakness and softness,” indicating that strength often does not prevail but creates more problems than it solves. Cultivating a value of gentleness and kindness, a laid-​back relaxation, or an inner sense of fluidity will often be more satisfying and create better success, both with people and with situations, than exhibiting strength and using force—​a philosophy that is put into concrete practice in the soft martial arts, such as taiji quan. A similar concept with a slightly different twist is expressed in the text’s emphasis on recognizing the value of emptiness, of what is not there: “Thirty spokes make a wheel, but it is the empty center that makes it work.” This, as other sayings that speak of the bowl and the bellows, whose empty inner space makes them useful, indicate that one should look beyond the obvious and realize the value of what is not there. This goes for people as much as for spaces, utensils, and business dealings. The person who is quiet and restful often has more to offer than the party lion; a room can be so much

Chapter 10: In the World  217 more inviting if it is not filled to overflowing; a swimming pool or a tennis court are only effective if they are essentially empty. Another value in the Daode jing that moves toward personal and social harmony, expressed as truthfulness, reliability, or authenticity. It says: “True words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not true,” emphasizing that one should always be honest and clear in what one says and not be taken in by the marvelous claims of some orators. Another Chinese proverb that expresses a similar idea is: “Dogs are not good if they are good at barking.” In other words, look to the inner quality of the person, not to his or her outward expression, and make sure you yourself express sincerity in word and deed. The person in the Daode jing who exemplifies these attitudes and activates them in society, finally, is the sage, ideally the ruler, but now understood as any individual who follows the principles of the text. Such a person, moreover, will not remain in a vacuum but his or her good values will have a lasting impact on society, creating a sense of stability and harmony wherever he or she goes. This impact is never on a grand scale and does not involve political parties or elections. Rather, it begins with the transformation of small communities or social units that develop a model of simple living and show the importance of applying nonaction and using resources responsibly, encouraging environmental awareness and ecological thinking.

Multiple Readings There are various reasons why the text has such a great appeal and finds these multiple applications. For one, it is simple in its statements yet cryptic enough so that it remains open to multiple layers of interpretation and can provide whatever the reader requires. It abounds with a multiplicity of intentions. The Daode

218  Part Three: Modern Reception jing can, and has been, read as a religious, political, military, or naturalistic treatise, dealing with psychology, the natural world, or society. Even if one decides on a particular reading, contradictions abound: while there is an obvious relation of Dao to the absolute of mystics in general, it is not clear whether it is immanent or transcendent; while there may be a naturalistic philosophy in the text that could be linked with modern science, it yet shows a high concern for government policy and advice on human activity. Another reason for the text’s appeal is the tendency of its paradoxes and sayings to catch the reader’s attention, while it seems to promote a simpler, less involved lifestyle and thus alleviates anxieties. It strongly rejects all value judgments, yet exhibits clear preferences for one aspect of the various opposite pairs, such as softness over hardness, femininity over masculinity, and so on. As a result, Dao is often understood to balance Western tendencies toward uncontrolled growth, environmental exploitation, corporate greed, and political corruption. Small is beautiful, and happiness is found in a simple life, supported by self-​cultivation, notably through Daoist longevity techniques: exercises, meditations, diets, and feng shui (see Fig. 13). Yet another factor is the pervasive absence of historical, geographical, personal, and even mythological data, which sets the text free from obvious cultural or theological messages. This makes the Daode jing a universal text that goes beyond specific ideologies, historical contexts, or spiritual agendas. At the same time, it is esoteric and obscure enough to engage with the more mysterious, mystical side of readers, opening a deep profundity that each individual can fill as needed. In addition, the Daode jing being an Eastern text, it is subject to the mystification of all things oriental, a projection of Western fantasies into its very words. These fantasies, moreover, are closely connected to Western colonialism, whether political, military, or intellectual, and commonly described with the catchword “orientalism” as defined by Edward Said in a book of this title (1979).

Chapter 10: In the World  219

Fig. 13.  A feng shui garden. Source: Temple garden in Taipei. Photograph by the author, 2006.

Typically, early orientalist accounts saw anything Eastern as irrational, undeveloped, dangerous, exotic, sexualized, and so forth. Although widely recognized as inaccurate today, various legacies continue to frame discussions and perceptions of Eastern culture and thus also impact the Daode jing. As a result, the Daode jing is increasingly translated in popularized versions, often by writers who do not know Chinese. These new “renditions” tend to have less and less to do with the original and are interpreted to fit the Western mind. The text is rephrased so that it conforms to dominant cultural assumptions and desires, making it easier to match modern expectations. As Solala Towler says: [Daoism] goes back thousands of years, to a time before organized religion, before ideologies overcame philosophy. It goes back

220  Part Three: Modern Reception to a time when humankind was not disconnected from the natural world, when humans learned from both the animal and the vegetable kingdom. . . . True Daoism is not an ideology or a New Age movement, it is a living philosophy. It is a way of thinking, a way of looking at life, a way of being; being with change rather than against it. It is a way of utilizing the natural energy of our bodies and minds in a healthy and graceful way. (1996, vii)

The ideas of the Daode jing in the Western mind, therefore, have become a way of thinking that transcends culture, reflecting a universal wellspring of wisdom accessible and applicable in each and every culture and society. They are linked with various practices such as Chinese medicine, feng shui, Yijing divination, taiji quan, and qigong that come from the longevity tradition and enhance its greater mystique and enhanced marketing potential. Made accessible both in words and through practices, the text ceases to be foreign or alien yet retains its Chinese mystique and continues to present a cultural and intellectual paradox, forever open to new and creative readings and renditions.

Further Readings Chan, Wing-​tsit. 1963. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton:  Princeton University Press. Clarke, J. J. 2000. The Dao of the West:  Western Transformation of Daoist Thought. New York: Routledge. Creel, Herlee. 1970. What is Taoism? Chicago: Chicago University Press. Gasser, Johannes. 2011. “Re-​sourcive Pedagogy: Teaching and Education as Vital Energy Flow.” In Living Authentically: Daoist Contributions to Modern Psychology, edited by Livia Kohn, 234–​54. Dunedin, FL: Three Pines Press. Girardot, Norman J. 2002. The Victorian Translation of China: James Legge’s Oriental Pilgrimage. Berkeley: University of California Press. Granet, Marcel. 1950 [1934]. La pensée chinoise. Paris: Albin. Hardy, Julia. 1998. “Influential Western Interpretations of the Daode jing.” In Laozi and the Daode jing, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 165–​ 88. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Chapter 10: In the World  221 Jung, Jae-​Seo. 2000. “Daoism in Korea.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 792–​820. Leiden: Brill. Kui, Wong Kowk. 2011. “Hegel’s Criticism of Laozi and Its Implications.” Philosophy East and West 61.1:56–​79. Maspero, Henri. 1981 [1937]. Taoism and Chinese Religion. Translated by Frank Kierman. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. McFarland, Jim. 2008. “Lao Tzu, Montessori, and the Watercourse Way of Peace.” Montessori Life 1/​2008:12–​13. Masuo, Shin’ichiro. 2000. “Daoism in Japan.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 821–​42. Leiden: Brill. Parkes, Graham, ed. 1987. Heidegger and Asian Thought. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Towler, Solala. 1996. A Gathering of Cranes:  Bringing the Tao to the West. Eugene: Abode of the Eternal Tao. Waley, Arthur. 1934. The Way and Its Power: A Study of the Tao Te Ching and Its Place in Chinese Thought. London: Allen and Unwin.

11 English Translations Types of Translations Traditionally translation meant the appropriation of content of an original source without any particular concern for its style or linguistic idiosyncrasies. This led to the exploitation of the original for the purposes of enriching the linguistic and aesthetic dimensions of one’s own culture, leaving the original far behind. Only in the eighteenth century did translators come to respect the foreign nature of the original text, but it was not until more recently that they actually gained the courage to embrace the alien quality and attempt to do it full justice. Nowadays, translators divide into two major camps. Following Octavio Paz, the first group believes that it is essentially impossible to find precise equivalents and that translation is always transformation. In this view, it is more important to do justice to the totality of the source language rather than its specific parts and details. Translation here always involves interpretation, reworking, reformulating, and reasserting the original. At the other end of the spectrum are those represented most radically by Vladimir Nabokov. They insist that the only possible translation is strictly literal, all else being mere imitation and parody. They strive to stick as closely as possible to the original, working toward a word-​for-​word rendition in the hope to capture the feelings of the text as it presents itself in the original language. The Daode jing has received close to two hundred translations into English, which differ widely. This is partly because of the various editions of the text, the standard version by Wang Bi plus

Chapter 11: English Translations  223 some earlier commentary works, such as the one associated with Heshang Gong, and the different manuscripts that were unearthed more recently. It has also to do with the isolating grammar of classical Chinese in general, which allows words to function as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and more, does not specify singular or plural, active or passive voice, and has no unambiguous marker for tenses. It is exacerbated by the terse, aphoristic, and poetic nature of the Daode jing in particular, which often leaves out pronouns and grammatical particles. This means that many sentences in the text can be construed in a number of different ways. Also, phrases may rely on background knowledge or cultural patterns that readers at the time could fill in but later Chinese and modern Western readers cannot, requiring explanations and commentaries that filter into the translation itself. In addition, the text goes back to a period when different dialects were integrated into the newly forming empire and the written language was not yet standardized. As a result, homophones, that is, different characters with the same sound, were sometimes substituted for each other, creating potential confusion. Scholars accordingly find that the text was corrupted in some way and emend it, altering or inserting characters that seem most appropriate but do not actually occur in the original. In addition, often key words had a wide range of meaning—​dao meaning both “way” and “to speak”—​creating ambiguities and uncertainties that cannot be carried over into English and require the translator to make a more or less informed decision. Each translation thus reflects its author’s preferences and concerns; how he or she understands the text plays strongly into how it is being translated. There is an important difference, however, between clarifying expansions of historical scholars based on long years of studying language, culture, and thought, and rephrasings by non-​scholars—​ poets, self-​help gurus, and social advocates—​who do not know the original language but base their work on previous renditions. They may well add lines and change words following their own

224  Part Three: Modern Reception subjective, intuitive feeling for a truth they see in the text. But this truth remains theirs, however much it may echo the original and resonate with modern readers.

Literal Translations The most literal English translation of the Daode jing is by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo (1993). Stephen Addiss was born in New  York City in 1935 and graduated from Harvard with a BA in music composition, after which he took classes in experimental composition with John Cage. After touring throughout the world performing international music, he pursued a doctorate in Asian art history at the University of Michigan, then taught at the University of Kansas and later in Richmond. He wrote numerous books and has been active in painting, pottery, calligraphy, and poetry. The numerous ink paintings and stylized Chinese characters in the Daode jing translation are in his hand. Stanley Lombardo was born in New Orleans in 1943. Studying Greek and Latin at Loyala, Tulane, and the University of Texas, he served as professor of classics at the University of Kansas. A practicing Zen Buddhist, he and his wife were founding members of the Kansas City Zen Center. The translation, which has an endorsing preface by Burton Watson (1925–​2017), the undisputed master of excellence in classical Chinese translation, renders the standard version by Wang Bi. It improves on earlier renditions in four areas. First, it limits itself to pure translation as opposed to explanation, doing nothing to alleviate the inherent terseness and often enigmatic nature of the text and making every effort to let it speak for itself. Second, it strives to recreate the monosyllabic and open grammatical nature of the original by intentionally working with terse diction and staccato rhythm, favoring Anglo-​ Saxon monosyllables over longer and more erudite English words of Latin origin.

Chapter 11: English Translations  225 Third, it completely avoids gender-​ specific pronouns, again matching the original Chinese. While previous translators tend to refer to the sage as “he,” with good historical justification, the Daode jing also often praises feminine qualities and there is no telling how much it might have appealed—​and should still appeal—​to women. Fourth and finally, the translation gives a little taste of the original in every chapter, providing Chinese characters and a transliteration of one line. Often it recovers the root meaning of specific words rather than take them in their developed, often metaphorical meaning. An example is shun, which means “order,” but literally shows the graphs for “river” and “head.” Addiss and Lombardo thus opt to render the word “headwaters,” which may not be as immediately obvious but carries a stronger visual component than the abstract term. The very first line of the book, therefore, reads tightly:  “Dao called Dao is not Dao.” The phrasing is adept and conveys the terseness and potency of the original diction. In most places, this works well. However, on occasion, it gets more complicated. For example, ­chapter 63 has a phrase that literally reads, “Plan difficult in its easy, do big in its minute.” Addiss and Lombardo render this, “Map difficult through easy, approach great through narrow.” It makes a certain amount of sense, however, a few extra words might clarify the intent. Thus Wing-​tsit Chan, in his A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), has: “Prepare for the difficult while it is still easy; deal with the big while it is still small.” Still, it is obvious how interpretation creeps into translation, and the text no longer stands by itself. Conversely, in some places, Addiss and Lombardo add more than necessary. For instance, in ­chapter 64 they render a phrase, “Create before it exists; lead before it goes astray.” Here they depart from the literal meaning of the terms and also from the syntax. More closely, this passage would be, “Act on it while not yet present, order it while not yet chaotic.” Using the word “create” stretches the normal meaning of wei, which forms part of the classic compound

226  Part Three: Modern Reception wuwei, and opens the line to various interpretations quite possibly not intended originally. The basic idea is something like, “Act before there is a problem,” which is really quite different from creating something from nothing.

Historical Scholarship Another kind of translation, exemplified in the works by Wing-​tsit Chan (1963), Richard Wilhelm (1921), and Victor Mair (1998), as well as the manuscript versions translated by Robert Henricks (1989; 2000), works to elucidate the historical context and social reality of the original. Here the rendition remains close to the text but also uses pronouns and prepositions to clarify certain phrases or statements. It uses footnotes to amplify and explain the text and hopes to give an accurate reading of the text within its own cultural framework. The most radical among these is by Michael LaFargue, who served as professor of Asian Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. As he points out in the introduction to his annotated translation, The Tao of the Tao Te Ching (1992), his work is the result of over eighteen years of in-​depth study and analysis of the text. He wishes to read it predominantly as a mirror of its own time rather than making it meaningful for us today in a philosophical, poetic, or self-​help application—​all these being reasons that approach the work from outside, distorting its original intent. To this end, rather than pursuing an authoritative truth in the text that might be good for all times, he endeavors to reconstruct what it meant to its initial author(s) and audience, working through historical scholarship and careful hermeneutics. He begins by placing the text into its social and cultural framework, pointing out that it grew as a collection of sayings by scholar-​ knights, whom he characterizes as alienated idealists. They were educated members of the lower aristocracy who strove to conceive

Chapter 11: English Translations  227 of a new foundation for Chinese culture and politics, ideally recovering the social harmony and golden age of the past. A good social organization, moreover, as described in the Daode jing, depends on an enlightened ruler, whose key qualities are voluntary respect, especially for his advisers, and close cooperation with all branches of the administration and the populace. In this context, the character of the ruler is of utmost importance, which is why the text places a strong emphasis on self-​cultivation and key values are often contrary to leading cultural tenets. The Daode jing accordingly warns against violence and brute force. “Violent and fierce people,” it says, “do not die a natural death” (ch. 42), and adds, “he who is brave in daring will be killed” (ch. 72). It also notes that “great wars are followed by great famines” (ch. 30) and that “fine weapons are instruments of evil” (ch. 31), clearly condemning the dominant martial culture of the time. At the same time, however, war was so much part of life that the text notes how “the people are not afraid of death” (ch. 74), either being killed in battle or starving, “because the ruler eats too much tax-​ grain” (ch. 75). Then, however, it also gives suggestions on how the ruler can best succeed in military action—​proposing an attitude of noncompetition and withdrawal (ch. 68), followed by strategic advice. For example, it insists that “a good general achieves his purpose and stops” (ch. 30) and that “a skillful leader of troops is not oppressive with his military strength” (ch. 68). It encourages “surprise tactics” (ch. 57) along the lines of Sunzi’s Art of War and recommends a more “defensive” position, it being better to “retreat a foot” (ch. 69) than lose the field. It becomes evident from these passages that the Daode jing is dominantly addressed to a ruler and provides advice for his ministers, outlining key ideals as well as offering credentials for good government. Its various statements, often phased as proverbs, adages, and polemic aphorisms, moreover, according to Michael LaFargue, cover seven distinct topics:  the cultivation of unconventional

228  Part Three: Modern Reception goodness or excellence that is not outstanding, the enhancement of longevity through stillness and contentment, specific methods of self-​cultivation, and concerns with knowledge and teaching, as well as principles of approachable rulership, recommendations for a soft style of governing, and opposition to disquieting improvements or radical cultural advances. Having isolated these particular areas, LaFargue proceeds to identify specific chapters in the Daode jing that deal with them and rearranges the entire text into a completely new version. Thus, for example, the second area on “Stillness and Contentment” comprises what commonly are ­chapters 13, 44, 46, 12, 30, and 26, while section six on “The Soft Way” includes ­chapters 74, 31, 69, 30, 60, 63, 64, 36, 76, and 78. The entire book begins with c­ hapter 24, “He who stands on tiptoe is not steady; he who strides forward does not go,” admonishing the ruler to refrain from overreaching himself, closely followed by “to hold and fill to overflowing is as good as to stop in time” (ch. 9). Chapters that are commonly regarded as cosmological (chs. 1, 14, 21, 25, 39, 42) are here subsumed under the third group on “Self-​Cultivation,” requiring a rereading of these passages in a more personal, practical manner and taking away the strong focus on Dao as a universal force, in the standard edition—​ arguably after the Han manuscripts—​emphasized by being placed prominently in the beginning of the book. While quite possibly more historically accurate as well as informative and challenging, this rendition revolutionizes several millennia of Daode jing interpretation.

Philosophical Renditions In contrast, more philosophical renditions, such as by Arthur Waley (1934), Lin Yutang (1942), and D. C. Lau (1959) center more on general questions of theoretical and comparative understanding. A  recent example, the Philosophical Translation by Roger Ames

Chapter 11: English Translations  229 and David Hall (2003), thus focuses on the reinterpretation of core concepts in the light of modern Western thought, notably process philosophy and pragmatism, as represented by Alfred North Whitehead, Ludwig Wittgenstein, William James, and John Dewey. Roger T. Ames was born in Toronto in 1947. After training in Chinese Studies at the University of British Columbia and London University, he joined the philosophy department of the University of Hawaii in 1990, then also served as the director of the Center for Chinese Studies, the codirector of the East-​West Center’s Asian Studies Development Program, and as the editor of Philosophy East and West and China Review International. He retired in 2015 and now lives in Beijing, where he continues to study and teach Chinese philosophy. His collaborator on many Chinese philosophy projects, David L. Hall (1937–​2001), was professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso and a specialist particularly in pragmatism and new European thought. Created with the goal to enhance the understanding and international appreciation of Chinese philosophy as a resource for a changing world culture, their Daode jing translation, which also integrates the manuscript versions, comes with an extensive commentary as well as a historical and philosophical introduction. The authors see the core focus of the work as prescribing a regimen of self-​cultivation that enables the person to optimize experience in the world, making this life in its immanence significant. Ames and Hall find the overall outlook of the text to be more cosmological than metaphysical or ontological, and its world more aesthetically than logically ordered. To them, ancient Daoist thinkers tended to generalize principles from human experience rather than classifying it according to theoretical models. Applying contextual and process thinking, Daoists would step back from universal characteristics to see the uniqueness of the particular, examine everything in its concrete, specific detail, and see a pleasing order in the relation of the one to the many. Daoists thus pursued a norm-​less, nontheoretical characterization of the modalities of human and

230  Part Three: Modern Reception other experience, encourage mirroring rather than controlling. To do so, they applied a language of difference and deference rather than of domination, of function and process rather than substance. To make this level of language and thinking real in their translation, Ames and Hall accordingly reject many traditional translations of key terms. Thus, they translate dao as “way-​making,” seeing it as a radically nondualist concept that expresses the movement between the one and the many, the singular and multiple, without ever ceasing, obstructing, or preferring one side. Dao here is creativity itself, while its thinking represents a form of nonreductive naturalism. Oneness is an open, ever-​continuing process and not, as in ancient Greek thought, the name for a single ordered universe, “a closed system, defined in terms of abstract, universal, necessary, and unchanging natural and moral laws.” Rather, it is the sum total of all things, the ongoing origination of all beings. These beings, moreover, are in themselves processes and events, happenings that involve both transformation and integrity. Virtue (de) in this context is redefined as “the Daoist conception of particularity.” It, too, is essentially an ongoing event, an “arising or presencing,” the “transforming content and disposition of an existent entity:  an autogenerative, self-​construed arising.” Through it, the Daode jing describes the particular as it unfolds through an inherent potency that embraces and determines specific conditions in the larger flow of life. Both together, then, appear as “field and focus”; Dao is the defining condition—​the context or environment—​for a particular, given de. The entire system is a webwork of inter-​subjectivity or inter-​being: “With each individuation, the whole is included; in each self, all other selves are included; in each particular, the whole is contained.” In addition, Ames and Hall understand self-​being or spontaneity (ziran) as signifying the intrinsic uniqueness of each individual entity, activated in pervasive responsiveness to all others. Nonbeing to them is not absence but latency, a phase in the ongoing process

Chapter 11: English Translations  231 of unfolding. They further replace the common term “nonaction” with “noncoercive action” in order to highlight its receptive and responsive character. They do not speak of “freedon from desire” but of “the achievement of deferential desire.” And they rephrase “unknowing” with “unprincipled knowing,” that is, a way of perception that involves receptive and responsive mirroring. Reading the political message of the text as favoring noncoercive structures as well as tolerance and appropriateness, they see family relationships as the primary metaphor of social interaction. Every individual in this vision is inherently defined through a web of relations and interconnections—​closely linked to everybody in some way or another while yet also uniquely expressing him-​or herself. The importance of family, a trait the text shares with other early Chinese thinkers, sheds a different light on its repeated appeals to the feminine, the maternal, and the child-​like—​representing different nexus spots in the webwork, be they creative, receptive, or spontaneous—​as well as on its poetic metaphors, such as water, the vessel, and the bellows.

Poetic Versions A clear focus on the poetic appears in a yet different type of translation as exemplified in the work of Diane Dreher (1995) and Ursula LeGuin (1998), neither of whom know classical Chinese. The most prominent is by the renowned poet Harold Witter Bynner (1881–​1968), as studied by Livia Kohn (2015). Born in Brooklyn and raised near Boston, he graduated from Harvard University and first worked as a journalist and editor, then turned to writing. During World War I, he was drafted to do civil service by teaching English at the University of California at Berkeley, where he met the Chinese thinker Jiang Kanghu (1883–​1954). In 1920, he traveled to China with him; in 1929, they jointly published a translation of Tang poetry under the title The Jade Mountain.

232  Part Three: Modern Reception After relocating to Santa Fe in 1922, Bynner became a poet of some renown and engaged with the great literary and artistic figures of his generation:  Georgia O’Keeffe, D.  H. Lawrence, Igor Stravinsky, Aldous Huxley, and more. He continued to be fascinated with China and, in the 1940s, stumbled across the Daode jing when preparing an anthology called Chinese People and Poetry. To aid the war effort, he served as the New Mexico chairman of United China Relief, and in this context realized that the Daode jing had a lot more to offer than its previous translations warranted. Seeing that the text could make a real difference to a war-​torn world, he decided to shift focus and “make a personal contribution in the form of a book,” using the Daode jing as a major defense against tanks. Acting on an internal impulse and following a calling deeper than society and intellect, he let go of both useful activity and intellectual labor in favor of a task that reasonable people would have judged at once impossible and redundant. Unable to rely on the help of Professor Kang, who was imprisoned in China at the time, he relied on earlier translations by Arthur Waley and Lin Yutang; working furiously, he completed his version in nine months (see Fig. 14). “Democracy,” Bynner says in the introduction to his The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu, “cannot be a successful general practice unless it is first a true individual conviction” (1944, 16). To him, Laozi has no “faith in any authority but the authority of the heart. If those in charge of human affairs would act on instinct and conscience, there would be less and less need of organized authority” (1944, 25). His goal as an American (and, by adoption, Chinese) patriot in bringing Laozi’s thought to the West, then, is to enhance the personal responsibility of the individual and thereby contribute to an overarching social and political transformation. The book was a great success, offering a voice of profundity and harmony to a war-​torn world. It sold over 40,000 copies over the next few decades and has continued to inspire people from all walks of life.

Chapter 11: English Translations  233

Fig. 14.  Witter Bynner’s version. Source: Cover of book. Photograph by the author, 2016.

Although technically matching the Daode jing, Witter Bynner’s work is not all that close to the original. As Owen Lattimore puts it (1978), “If it does not always read like Laozi, it also does not read like a translation.” He chooses his own words for central concepts, varying them as context demands, which enhances readability but obscures connections within the original. To him, Dao is “existence” (chs. 1, 32), “way of life” (ch. 25), “the way life flows” (chs. 4, 15), or “life whole as it is” (ch. 21). Great Dao is “bountiful life” (ch. 34) or the “fullness of life” (ch. 25). De, usually rendered “virtue” or “power,” to him is “fitness” (ch. 38), while mysterious virtue is “the core of life” (chs. 10, 51), a phrase also used to render wu or

234  Part Three: Modern Reception nonbeing (ch. 1). Shengren, commonly translated as “sage,” here is the “sane man” (ch. 2), “sound man” (chs. 27, 49), “sensible man” (chs. 12, 79), or “wise man” (ch. 22). Some chapters, moreover, read quite differently from the original yet give voice to a profundity that shakes the reader up in unexpected ways. Life on its way returns into a mist, Its quickness is its quietness again: Existence of this world of things and men Renews their never needing to exist. (ch. 40)

Others, although departing somewhat from the original, hit the nail on the head, packing a punch that goes right to the core. Which means more to you, you or your renown? Which brings more to you, you or what you own? And which would cost you more if it were gone? The niggard pays, the miser loses. The least ashamed of men goes back if he chooses: He knows both ways, he starts again. (ch. 44)

Social Relevance Another version based on earlier renditions that follows personal intuition and offers ancient teachings as relevant for modern society is by Stephen Mitchell. Born in Brooklyn in 1943, he studied literature at Amherst College, the University of Paris, and Yale. A lovers’ breakup started him on a spiritual quest that led first to a deeper involvement with the Bible, notably the book of Job, then to thirteen years of intensive Zen practice. Emerging from there, he wrote several books presenting work of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–​1926), then turned his attention to the Daode

Chapter 11: English Translations  235 jing, with which he felt an “umbilical connection” based on his Zen experience. Following “a passion for the genuine, a fascination with words, and a constant awareness that the ancient masters are alive and well in the mind that doesn’t know a thing,” as he says in an interview with Scott London, without any training in classical Chinese, he published a highly popular version in 1988. Based on a variety of earlier translations, this work sold over a million copies and in the minds of many is the Daode jing. Later he turned his attention to other classics, such as Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Gospel, the Bhagavad Gita, and more, also writing children’s books, editing various works, and coauthoring self-​help manuals. In his introduction to the Daode jing, he calls the text The Book of the Way and of How It Manifests Itself in the World and describes it as “the classic manual of the art of living.” Rather than fleeing society, he notes, Laozi was deeply concerned with it and instructs rulers in the art of government. Here, as much as for life in general, he recommends nonaction—​far from doing nothing, it means moving like an athlete or dancer in the zone, “the purest and most effective form of action,” a way of living in softness, that is, flexibility and suppleness, that fully trusts “the intelligence of the universe.” The person who has realized this, moreover, is the Master—​a generic term that translates various words in the original, including “king,” “sage,” “leader,” and “one who embraces Dao.” This figure is defined in an ungendered way as “someone who lives completely in harmony with the way things are, without any concepts getting in the way,” in other words, very much like an enlightened Zen master. Deeply moral yet free from conscious categories and judgments, the Master has compassion for all and serves to heal the world. While Mitchell presents his Daode jing in succinct but graceful English, he has a tendency to be rather free with the original, on occasion adding phrases and lines that correspond to nothing in the Chinese text, at other places leaving parts of chapters out and variously supplying notes based on Zen koans, Indian wisdom,

236  Part Three: Modern Reception and modern visionaries. For example, where the Chinese says, “not competing, so no blame” (ch. 8), he has, “When you are content to be simply yourself and do not compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” Where the text says, “empty and use, not fill” (ch. 4), he has, “The Tao is like a well: used but never used up,” not only adding an image, but then going on to add two further lines that match nothing in the original: “It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities.” Conversely, in some chapters he leaves out parts and takes away the text’s power. Thus, he says, “Just stay in the center of the circle and let things take their course” (ch. 19), where the original has the much more intense:  “Manifest plainness! Embrace simplicity! Reduce selfishness! Have few desires!” In other places, he changes the text’s intent. For example, the lines, “The people take death lightly because the ruler strives for life too vigorously; therefore, they take death lightly” (ch. 75), become the tightly phrased, “If you aren’t afraid of dying, there is nothing you can’t achieve.” This not only omits the repeated phrase and the reference to government, but it transforms a political statement into personal self-​ help advice. Similarly, the statement “The all-​embracing quality of great virtue follows from Dao alone” (ch. 21), is changed to refer to a person rather than an abstract concept. It now reads, “The Master keeps her mind always at one with Tao. That is what gives her radiance.” A related issue is Mitchell’s well-​intentioned tendency to bring the Daode jing into the twentieth century, which eliminates the cultural divide but also limits the scope. To illustrate, the text describes a good, peace-​loving country which gives saddle horses the mundane but productive task of hauling manure, and contrasts it with a bad, war-​loving country where people “raise war horses outside the towns” (ch. 46). Understanding the imagery here requires projecting oneself back to a time when wars were fought on horseback, and in which most people valued saddle horses too much to

Chapter 11: English Translations  237 wear them out hauling manure. Mitchell writes, “When a country is in harmony with the Tao, the factories make trucks and tractors. When a country goes counter to the Tao, warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.” Moving the text even more closely into modern society, in the early 2000s Mitchell read it to his wife, Byron Katie (b. 1942), herself a teacher of self-​inquiry and self-​improvement. Her project, called “The Work,” is a systematic way of questioning the accuracy of one’s thoughts by asking of each disturbing notion 1) whether it is true, 2) whether I can know absolutely that it is true, 3) how this thought makes me react, and 4) who I would be without it. Together reading the Daode jing chapter by chapter and line by line for about a year, the couple discovered many stimulating observations and inspiring teachings that eventually grew into a joint volume entitled A Thousand Names for Joy (2007). Like the Daode jing, this book has eighty-​one chapters, each highlighting one line from anywhere in the corresponding chapter of the Daode jing. Katie explicates it from her perspective, relating personal reality to God and continually emphasizing how our thinking determines our emotions, reactions, and way of life. Supplementing the discourses by records of dialogues with workshop participants, she makes the text’s ideas real and practical for ordinary life.

Self-​Help Manuals Equally personal and similarly aimed at a transformation of how we think is Wayne W. Dyer’s (1940–​2015) Change Your Thoughts—​ Change Your Life (2007), in which he presents a personally felt if not in fact translated version of the Daode jing with extensive commentary that encourages people to adopt its teachings in their lives today, changing from fear to curiosity, from control to trust, and from entitlement to humility. Born in Detroit and growing up in

238  Part Three: Modern Reception an orphanage, he served in the navy, then pursued a doctorate in education and worked as a high school counselor in New York City. Developing his own unique take on psychological development, he wrote articles and gave motivational talks, emphasizing positive thinking and the power of intention. Publishing his vision in a number of increasingly successful books, he came to appear on talk shows and grew into a well known public figure of wide, international influence. Living in Hawaii, he spent his entire sixty-​fifth year meditating on individual chapters of the Daode jing, which he read in various translations while surrounded by pictures of Laozi. Allowing the chapter to sink into his mind and body, heart and soul, he was, as he notes in his epilogue, fueled by “an almost mystical attraction to Laozi” and felt that the ancient thinker was speaking directly to him. Always seeking wisdom that could apply to everyone, he would allow each chapter to percolate through him for three days, while jotting down impressions, thoughts, and reflections. These in turn led to a new version of the text, complete with a unique heading for each chapter, all starting with “Living”—​for example, the Mystery, Contentment, Beyond Form, Self-​Mastery. Maintaining a fairly literal rendition with few alterations, Dyer makes few changes. For example, he speaks of nonaction as “noninterference,” explains the idea of knowing when to stop as, “when your cup is full, stop pouring,” and in some instances changes a description of how the sage acts into a direct imperative. The main difference to other works lies in his lengthy, detailed commentary that turns the Daode jing into a modern self-​help manual as it spells out just how exactly the text’s teaching can change one’s thinking and thereby transform life. The process of doing the work, Dyer says in his introduction, was itself transformative. “Writing this book was a complete surrender to ideas that didn’t always seem to fit a linear rational approach, and it has changed me in a way that’s like the Tao itself, unexplainable and unnameable.”

Chapter 11: English Translations  239 The central thrust, then, is to reorganize one’s life toward a position of Dao, reaffirming one’s own true nature, and centering oneself in the heavenly as opposed to the human. Each chapter has a section “Do the Tao Now,” providing specific exercises toward mental and emotional restructuring. For example, remembering an instance of annoyance or irritation, one should “decide to do the Tao by turning inward with curiosity where you are on the continuum between desire and allowing” (ch. 1). Or, “Take ten minutes to sit quietly while contemplating all you have and all that is flowing into your life on a Divinely orchestrated timetable. Be at peace and give thanks for what is allowing your life to unfold so perfectly” (ch. 15). Other instructions include to spend time with a child (ch. 41), take time to listen (ch. 67), refrain from interfering (ch. 29), and devote a day to food (ch. 80). All playful and practical, each encourages people to take a step back from their busy lives and complex thoughts to focus instead on themselves, their innermost intentions, and the greater powers beyond.

Whimsical Renditions In addition to these translations, there are also some recreations of the Daode jing that are rather whimsical and on occasion enter the realm of the scurrilous and exotic. One example is The Tao is Silent (1997), by the mathematician and philosopher by Raymond Smullyan (1919–​2017), which uses the Daode jing as a springboard for the exploration of unconventional ideas about a variety of subjects. Another is the cartoon version by Tsai Chih-​chung (b. 1948)  from Taiwan, entitled The Tao Speaks:  Lao-​Tzu’s Whispers of Wisdom (1995). This renders the text and its setting accessible in concrete, often funny images—​such as when Laozi, described in the texts as an “archivist,” appears as a librarian who checks out books to customers.

240  Part Three: Modern Reception The most potent of these odd versions, however, is The Tao of Meow, a version written by and for cats by Waldo Japussy (1990), the oldest cat in the household of Carl Japikse. Born in 1947 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Japikse graduated from Dartmouth College in 1969, and went to work as a journalist. Eventually he became a teacher of Active Meditation, a spiritual system developed by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh that mixes deep and fast breathing with intense movement and deep quietude. Moving into publishing, he founded Light and Ariel Press in 1976, Enthea Press in 1990, Kudzu House (Literature of an Invasive Species) in 1995, and Pierian Spring Academy—​providing courses in a number of different areas, from politics through literature to personal growth—​in Sarasota, Florida, in 2000. Living near Atlanta, he teaches writing and serves as a business and publishing consultant. One day he noticed that Waldo, an unusual cat to begin with, began to produce mysterious hieroglyphic paw prints on scraps of paper that turned out to be an adaptation of the Daode jing into the world of felines, “translated from the original text by one of the Nameless Ones,” which he then proceeded to transpose into English. Since Waldo most definitely “is not able to read Chinese and probably thinks Laozi is just a variety of dim sum,” the book is coincidentally similar to the Daode jing but does not claim translation status. Rather, it is more of a case of “great minds think alike.” The introduction accordingly begins, “It is always somewhat humbling to discover that your cat, no matter how fond of him you may be, is a deeper thinker than you are,” and proceeds to outline the core teaching of The Tao of Meow—​loving someone wholly for who and what they are and letting them be completely themselves. Not only did the Japikse family cure Waldo from a destructive affliction of chewing the fur along his hind legs in this manner, but it also helped them realize the Waldo Principle—​“that the vast majority of human beings go through life chewing away at their own self-​image,” a condition that can only be remedied through

Chapter 11: English Translations  241 unconditional love. In addition, the core of life here is simplicity and comfort, ease and relaxation—​the best way of being a cat. Dao here is “the Meow,” the “one true sound” that opens all doors and makes food appear in the bowl: “Through the Meow it is possible to get what you want,” and “The purr of perfection is the door of all contentment” (ch. 1). Nonaction, too, takes on a whole new dimension. Which is better—​ Doing good or taking a nap? If you do good, you will exhaust your strength, And collapse into a deep fog of sleep. You should have taken a nap in the first place—​ Then you would still have your strength! I believe in serving the world by taking naps; Many people have concurred That this is the best way I can be of help. In my opinion, most people who try to do good Probably ought to be taking naps, too. (ch. 43)

The sage, moreover, is now the Wise Cat who “is content to be who he is” (ch. 5), who “knows his limits” (ch. 46), “makes no claims” (ch. 7), and whose way is to “do the opposite of what people expect, and they will give you what you want” (ch. 3). He has fully understood the realities of life: Do not cheat the Way—​ It charges a very high interest on overdue accounts. Do not run away from Virtue—​ It will mug you in a dark alley. Do not get into a shoving match with Fate—​ It will knee you in the groin. These are Waldo’s rules for sane living. (ch. 51)

242  Part Three: Modern Reception

Further Readings Addiss, Stephen, and Stanley Lombardo. 1993. Tao Te Ching. Indianapolis:  Hackett Publishing Company. Ames, Roger T., and David L. Hall. 2003. Daode jing:  “Making This Life Significant”: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine. Bynner, Witter. 1944. The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu. New York: Perigree. Dreher, Diane. 1995. The Tao of Inner Peace. New York: Penguin Putnam. Dyer, Wayne W. 2007. Change Your Thoughts—​Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House. Japussy, Waldo. 1990. The Tao of Meow. Columbus, OH: Enthea Press. Katie, Byron, with Stephen Mitchell. 2007. A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are. New York: Harmony Books. Kohn, Livia. 2015. “The Inspirational Laozi: Poetry, Business, and the Blues.” Journal of Daoist Studies 8:137–​51. LaFargue, Michael. 1992. The Tao of the Tao-​te-​ching. Albany: State University of New York Press. LaFargue, Michael, and Julian Pas. 1998. “On Translating the Tao-​te-​ching. In Lao-​tzu and the Tao-​te-​ching, edited by Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, 277–​302. Albany: State University of New York Press. Lattimore, Owen. 1978 [1965]. “Introduction to The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu. In Witter Bynner, The Chinese Translations, edited by James Kraft, 309–​27. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Lau, D. C. 1963. Lao-​tzu: Tao Te Ching. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Le Guin, Ursula K. 1998. Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way. Boston: Shambhala. Lin, Yutang. 1942. The Wisdom of Lao Tse. New York: Modern Library. Mair, Victor. 1998. Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way. New York: Quality Paperback Club. Mitchell, Stephen. 1988. Tao Te Ching:  A New English Version. New  York:  HarperPerennial. Waley, Arthur. 1934. The Way and Its Power: A Study of the Tao Te Ching and Its Place in Chinese Thought. London: Allen and Unwin. Wilhelm, Richard. 1921. Tao The King: Das Buch des Alten vom Sinn und Leben. Jena: Diederichs.

12 Western Adaptations Daoist Leadership The Daode jing widely extols the virtues, attitudes, and mindset of the sage, a person designated as ruler but not necessarily an aristocrat or specially trained agent. Expanding from this base, many people today look to the text to provide inspiration for optimal leadership. They understand a top-​notch leader to be like water—​ invisible and only taking form through its container—​and thus imbued with altruism, humility, flexibility, transparency, honesty, and gentle persistence (ch. 8). Living in fulfillment of the virtues of noncompetition, kindness, faithfulness, order, timeliness, and competence (ch. 8), such leaders “place themselves in the background, put themselves away, and have no personal interests” (ch. 7). Good leaders never engage in self-​justification or strut in the limelight, remaining consistently without pride, possessiveness, and personal acclaim (ch. 22). They may act in the world, but “withdraw as soon as the work is done” (ch. 9), “managing affairs without action and spreading relevant teachings without words” (ch. 2). In other words, recognizing the underlying spiritual dimension of reality and respecting all beings for what they are, they live simply and humbly and consistently reject the trappings of rank and status. As John Heider notes in his Tao of Leadership (1985), in modern terms Daoist leaders are democratic as opposed to autocratic, laissez-​faire as opposed to coercive, service-​oriented as opposed to domineering, and charismatic as opposed to bureaucratic. They represent the highest type as defined in the Daode jing:

244  Part Three: Modern Reception The highest—​you don’t even know they’re there. The next—​you love and praise them. The next—​you fear them. The lowest—​you despise them. (ch. 17)

Unlike tyrants and micromanagers, such leaders encourage participation and input from everyone, facilitating optimal performance in an otherwise largely egalitarian setting. Under their guidance, leadership is consensual and highly fluid, so that it can focus on the well-​being of the entire group. Competent, intelligent, strong, and healthy, good leaders receive deference and make decisions yet remain in the background, so that their subordinates take all the credit. Without force or coercion, they have authority, that is, recognized and accepted capabilities to which followers respond with willing obedience, and thereby “sustain the smooth operation of their society.” The humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908–​1970), in his Eupsychian Management (1965), calls this “Being-​leadership,” reflecting a way of life that focuses on being rather than deficiency, on the present rather than the future, the well-​being of all rather than the might of a few. The executive coach Stephen Josephs (b. 1945), in cooperation with the management consultant Bill Joiner (b. 1939), calls it “synergistic leadership,” the highest of nine stages of personal growth. Expanding on the understanding of the developmental stages of childhood as developed by psychologists, such as Jean Piaget (1896–​1980) and Erik Erikson (1902–​1994), as well as of spiritual unfolding as proposed by Ken Wilber (b. 1949), Bill Torbert (b. 1944), and others, each stage leads to greater power, expanding awareness, wider openness, larger contexts, and increasingly subtler ways of self-​reflection and guidance of others. The first three, at the pre-​conventional level, reflect human growth through childhood. First, during the Explorer stage in the first two years of life, infants explore being in the world through physical sensations and interactions. Second, the Enthusiast level,

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  245 until about age six, is characterized by the acquisition of language and an emotional sense of identity. The Operator, third, lasts into the early teens: it involves the ability to think about the properties of specific objects and organize them accordingly. The next three stages make up the conventional level. The Conformer is characterized by rudimentary abstract thought and a great urge to be part of the group and conform to others. Reached in young adolescence, this may be the highest level many people ever attain. From here, leadership stages evolve throughout adulthood. Thus, next, people on the Expert stage, which may be reached as early as the mid-​teens, “develop a strong problem-​solving orientation and an ability to think more independently and analytically,” growing an interest in standing out from the group, while those on the last, Achiever level, expand their awareness to the wider context of society and have a greater sense of empathy and more flexibility in dealing with various situations. Among business and society leaders, about half are Experts and 35  percent Achievers. They still focus strongly on putting themselves forward and take heroic measures to achieve their goals, being in many ways warriors in the world. Only 12 percent of leaders reach the next level, the three post-​ conventional stages of Catalyst, Co-​ Creator, and Synergist. A  Catalyst is open to others’ viewpoints, able to zoom attention in or out as needed, and constantly self-​reflecting even in tight situations. No longer equating the exercise of power with self-​ interest, he or she empowers all around him and stimulates things to evolve in new ways. The Co-​Creator goes further, plugging more into the larger social, even global context, always intent on developing organizations animated by shared purpose. The highest is the Synergist, close to the sage in the Daode jing. Awareness here is present-​centered and easily flowing, vision is expansive—​global and even universal; purpose reaches far beyond the self to the greater good of all; and the execution of power is highly flexible. Synergists like Daoist masters take a playful

246  Part Three: Modern Reception approach to life and are highly agile, creative, and imaginative. Purposeful without being rigid, they stay connected to the present and work with their intuition, allowing Dao to flow through them. They have a feeling of rightness about their actions that provides guidance from a higher power and expands into wider reaches. Synergists truly synchronize energies in ever widening circles, fully human yet also fully cosmic, inspired and deeply empowered people who bring benefits wherever they go.

Doing Business In his practice as an executive coach and consultant in California since 2002, Stephen Josephs systematically guides business leaders to build their vitality and focus, helping them make their companies profitable and great places to work. His vision is to bring the Daode jing sense of connection to the universe and its impulse toward social responsibility into business leadership, with feelings of ease and harmony in the physical body and a powerful, focused mental awareness, developed through the practice of qigong and taiji quan. The method is best documented in his book, Dragons at Work (2013), which tells the story of the transformation of Dan Schaeffer, a high-​level executive staggering under the weight of a project that his command-​and-​control style could not manage. His executive coach, Michele Wu, has practiced taiji quan with her grandfather from an early age and has deep roots in both Daoist wisdom and Western culture. She gradually raises Dan’s awareness and guides him toward a more balanced way of life, opening him to input from his team members and new perspectives on himself and his role. Several of these new perspectives come directly from the Daode jing, which Josephs prefers in Witter Bynner’s rendition. For one, to put work and money in their proper place, Michele asks Dan, “Which means more to you, you or your renown?” (ch. 44). Later

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  247 she receives advice from her grandfather, who insists that Dan needs to dissolve his small self and live in the awareness of his true self, a notion the Daode jing puts in terms of rising above success and failure. How can success and failure be called equal ailments? Because a man thinks of the personal body as self. When he no longer thinks of the personal body as self, Neither failure nor success can ail him. (ch. 13)

An important part of reaching the higher self, moreover, is overcoming strong emotions by learning to embrace them and ride them out. Not only teaching Dan methods of deep breathing and some basic moves of taiji quan, Michele also quotes the Daode jing: When a man is in turmoil, how shall he find peace Save by staying patient till the stream clears? How can a man’s life keep its course If he will not let it flow? (ch. 15)

As he becomes more whole in himself, the Daoist-​inspired executive connects to a deeper level, described as the “source of life” or “mother” of the world (ch. 52). From here, he can develop the ability to let his coworkers and subordinates come into their own, develop enthusiasm for their tasks, and be fearless in proposing new ideas and methods. As the Daode jing formulates this “light touch,” If you can guide without claim or strife, If you can stay in the lead of men without their knowing, You are at the core of life. (ch. 10)

This also means that he overcomes all pride and the urge to take credit for good outcomes. As the Daode jing has it, “When the work

248  Part Three: Modern Reception is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, ‘We did this ourselves’ ” (ch. 17). The same freedom from pride and posturing, moreover, comes in handy when conflict arises. As long as there be a foe, value him, Respect him, measure him, be humble toward him; Let him not strip from you, however strong he be, Compassion, the one wealth which can afford him. (ch. 69)

It is essential to remain full of care and concern for others from a position of security and personal integrity, what the Daode jing calls “the invincible shield of caring” (ch. 67). In the end, Dan lets go of his destructive behaviors, develops an integrative and respectful leadership style, which helps him to both retain good employees and foil a company plot to oust him. Learning to be ALIVE—​an acronym that stands for the five essential qualities of “awareness, love, insight, vitality, and ease” (2013, 92), he moves to a whole new level of leadership and being in the world. As a result, he gains what James Aurty and Stephen Mitchell describe as “real power” in their book Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching (1998). Commenting on the first forty-​eight chapters of the text, they too encourage managers to be “careful, alert, courteous, flexible, receptive, thoughtful, and open-​minded,” to engage passionately with their work and their community, and to always strive for further improvement, thinking of themselves as “a work in progress.” Top managers cultivate the Daoist values of “softness and weakness,” here understood as “suppleness, flexibility, and openness of body and mind,” using difficulties as learning opportunities and empowering others to contribute as much as possible. They constantly let go of the desire to know everything, the need to be in control, and all ambition for power, money, and prestige. They become perfect leaders precisely because they do not actively lead.

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Ecology A similarly integrative and accepting position is also at the core of ecological thinking as shaped by the Daode jing. To many, the text provides an environmental ethic that matches resources creatively to human needs and activities. Thus, for example, in Nature’s Web: Rethinking Our Way on Earth (1994), Peter Marshall singles the text out as the first expression of human ecological awareness, noting that it “offered the most profound and eloquent philosophy of nature ever elaborated and the first stirrings of ecological sensibility.” Similarly, in the volume Daoism and Ecology (Girardot et al. 2001), contributors praise ancient Chinese thinking as being anthropocosmic, focusing on the cultivation of harmony with nature while closely attuned to the movements of Dao and cosmos. Daode jing core values such as self-​being and nonaction, moreover, match the ideals of Deep Ecology, an expression of ecocentrism, where the system of environmental cooperation as a whole is at the center of concern as opposed to the well-​being of merely one part, be it humans or nature. Developed by the Norwegian thinker Arne Naess (1912–​2009) and formulated in his book Ecology, Community, and Lifestyle (1991), it sees the flourishing of all life and all species in their full diversity as having intrinsic value, and their role in the earth’s community as interdependent and equal. Human beings have no right to diminish it in any way and should work responsibly with the natural world. Ideologies, politics, and methods must thoroughly change to shift the balance toward favoring the environmental equilibrium as a whole. The ultimate norm in Deep Ecology is “maximize Self-​realization,” allowing all beings to unfold toward a large comprehensive and universal Self that embraces all life forms together with their separate, individual selves. The Daode jing in this context is read not only to advocate an ideal rustic life in small communities (ch. 80), but also to offer an archaic wisdom that sees life as universally interconnected, values

250  Part Three: Modern Reception diversity as a fundamental condition for flourishing, and insists on the fundamental compatibility of all life forms as well as the need for humans to treat other species with respect. Here, as Erik Nelson says, “nature is not a teleological realization of a fixed trajectory and end,” rather, “wayfaring itself forms the way,” that is, living is more important than achieving (2009, 298). Ordering the world aesthetically rather than logically or eschatologically, the Daode jing in this reading sees natural parity as the sum of all orders so that none is superior or dominant. With cooperation as its main focus, it characterizes human and other experience in a practical, experiential, and norm-​less manner, encouraging mirroring rather than controlling, and applying a language of difference and deference rather than of domination and control. Dao, then, comes to indicate the process of living and growing as well as the constituents and conditions of life. Nameless, intangible, empty, simple, all-​pervasive, eternal, life-​sustaining, and nourishing, it is soft and pliant, characterized by placidity, fluidity, regularity, and rhythm, the perfect force for the fulfillment of life. Multicentric and supportive of all, it provides an ethos that allows the full realization of all-​embracing nature in the spontaneous processes of life-​generation. Like Deep Ecology, the Daode jing is understood to see the cosmos as the unfolding of continuous creativity in organismic, dynamic patterns of interlocking energy fields. Free from distrust of the natural processes, it extols continuity, wholeness, dynamism, and harmonious interconnection. Nonaction in this context becomes noninterference, a steadfast congruence with nature, a way of nonconfrontational living that makes changes gently, slowly, and consciously in close alignment with the self-​being of all. It means taking the most appropriate action under the circumstances, letting go of preconceived notions and adjusting rapidly to all constituting factors. The opposite of mastery, control, and conquest, it means merging with nature’s flow and contributing to a new identity of the system from within:  building houses that blend completely into the natural

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  251 setting, designing gardens that enhance and highlight natural forms, or training horses with gentle whispering to excel in their natural powers. Science and technology in this understanding are not in themselves bad but need to be reconfigured so that they serve humanity and contribute to the richness of life. Prosperity and wealth are beneficial, but in excess lead to great loss—​just as an overemphasis on frugality will create tension. Harmony and balance being central virtues, nonaction in its ecological manifestation is thus a synthesis of relaxing and doing, letting go and control, chaos and order, detachment and utter dedication. To find this perfect balance, moreover, the Daode jing emphasis on self-​cultivation comes into play, now interpreted as a step-​ by-​step process of continuous cleansing of the heart and mind. Becoming free from distractions and focusing strongly on their natural, inherent qualities, people can become superconductors of Dao, like the ideal business leader minimizing friction, conflict, or resistance, and instead enhancing a universal webwork of equal and harmonious connectivity.

The Tao of  . . .  This ideal is also at the center of a number of practical adaptations of Daode jing ideas, typically entitled “The Tao of . . .” For example, there are several works by Ray Grigg (b. 1938), a Canadian English teacher and Zen practitioner from British Columbia who also designed a course in world religions and increasingly turned to writing. His most important works in this context are The Tao of Being (1989) and The Tao of Relationships (1988). The former, subtitled A Think and Do Workbook, is based on earlier English translations and consists of eighty-​one chapters, matching the original. Each one page in length and accompanied by lovely ink drawings by William Gaetz, a Canadian Zen practitioner,

252  Part Three: Modern Reception it presents essentially a rephrasing of the Daode jing in prose, made applicable to modernity. Grigg reads the text as a “guide in the common challenge of everyday living” (p. xi), describing its main task as teaching readers how to become empty of words and untie concepts, to offer ways of how best to respond to life’s challenges holistically. Thus, for example, c­ hapter 11, called “Using What is Not,” repeats the Daode jing statement about the importance of empty space in a vessel and the hub of a wheel. It then interprets this to mean “attend to the unknown as well as the known” and proceeds to extol the benefits of unknowing as “the uncertainty that permits movement.” The chapter’s gist appears a bit later: “Search the empty, embrace the changing.” The second book on relationships, with the subtitle A Balancing of Man and Woman, consists of 212 short vignettes under nine headings, beginning with “The Tao” and moving through “Man/​ Woman,” “Separateness/​Togetherness,” “Hardness/​Softness,” and further complementary pairs to “Fullness/​Emptiness” and finally “Union.” Being a lover here is equated to sageliness in the Daode jing, both honoring themselves deeply within while giving themselves over to the moving whole and thus becoming one with Dao. A loving relationship is like flowing along with life, being in accord with the way of the universe and living in perfect balance of the various complementary opposites described in the work. Love as much as Dao is like water, naturally flowing; deep emotion is so strong it can only be expressed in potent silence and moving stillness. Both using the original and moving away from it, Grigg again emphasizes the importance of letting go of thoughts and negative emotions, of creating trust and ease, balance and harmony. Similar principles are also key concepts in the work of Laurence G. Boldt (b. 1954), a Zen practitioner and career consultant who has authored numerous books and developed a variety of courses on professional and personal growth. The Tao of Abundance (1999) focuses on eight principles taken directly from the Daode

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  253 jing: namelessness, naturalness (self-​being), ease (nonaction), flow (qi), power (virtue), harmony (yin-​yang), leisure (benevolence), and beauty (principle). Through them, people can learn to live in creative unity with all things, develop their inherent qualities to the utmost, follow the path of least resistance to great success, circulate energy and material goods to create an appropriate balance of flow, find the time to grow and nurture relationships, and develop an inner beauty by trusting life and destiny. Also referring to the works of other Daoist writers, Zen masters, Native American leaders, and American transcendentalists, he defines abundance as the ongoing inflow of prosperity and goodness in individual lives, the natural way of the universe, a cosmic reality that is always there and can be fully experienced as people trust in and move with the flow of Dao. Overcoming dualistic and antagonistic visions of the world, a separation created by the ego, people can let go of thinking and awaken to a transcendent level of consciousness that allows them the full realization of true self-​ being, with the help of mindful breathing and calming meditations. From this position, they can develop a willingness to receive—​ strengthening attitudes the Daode jing associates with yin, femininity, softness, and weakness—​and learn to be at one with all, to think and feel positively all around. This, in turn, will enhance real creativity, that is, a conscious and active participation in the transformations of nature that grows effortlessly and even leisurely out of being whole and integrated in oneself. After a detailed discussion of the eight principles, the book also provides a work section that asks readers to specify their vision of abundance and explore their relationship with money, outline what they want most in life, and challenge their self-​judgments and limiting beliefs. Using visualizations, they open to inspirations and picture the results they seek; applying positive affirmations, they strengthen their intention, grow joy for their project, and see it in the larger context of the universal circulation of talents, products, and wealth. Abundance arrives as self-​reliance grows, qi

254  Part Three: Modern Reception flows more vigorously, and life becomes more creative and more prosperous all around. Applying the same basic focus on ease and harmony, personal creativity and yin-​yang balance—​the key phrases associated with the Daode jing in the popular mind—​other “Tao of ” books specify the best way to be successful at golf, sailing, photography, and more. For example, as Leland Lewis specifies in The Tao of Golf (1992), “we maintain a joyful spirit . . . and appreciate what we are doing,” so that “the Taoist golf swing can be an uncomplicated, straightforward, athletic move.” Should shots go awry, “the golfer is wholly out of connection with the Tao,” but can remedy this by learning to raise his level of awareness, ranging from psychosis through fear and ego-​ aggrandization to divine light and unity. To do so, he should practice a variety of physical and mental relaxation techniques in combination with putting and striking exercises. As in the pursuit of abundance, encouraging imagery and visualizations of success are helpful as are positive attitudes of gratitude and respect. More particularly, the volume also presents a set of eight golfing meditations based on the trigrams of the Yijing, complete with more Daoist affirmations, such as “I am the link between Heaven and Earth.” Tom Ang’s The Tao of Photography (2000), too, places his art into a wider context, connecting to the “Way in harmony with all” while “linking creative understanding with the appropriate technology.” Here the balance of yin and yang finds particular expression in the relationship of light and shadow, high-​speed film and slow focus, technical expertise and artistic vision. In addition, “the Tao approach to exposure is simplicity itself,” ideally realized by “forgetting the technicalities and focusing on the results.” Letting go of the ultimately illusory notion of control, the Tao photographer lets things be, allowing “a situation to find its own level,” opening a space for self-​being or naturalness so that “spontaneity replaces artifice.” Creativity comes to the fore as the photographer learns to tolerate ambiguity, remains flexible in all circumstances, and generally follows wherever life leads in nonaction and responsiveness.

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Literary Allegories A literary expression of the text’s core notions appears in the Oregon writer Benjamin Hoff ’s (b. 1946) The Tao of Pooh (1982), which abounds in allegories, creative images, and engaging fables. Using characters from Winnie-​the-​Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), written by the British author A. A. Milne (1882–​1956) for his son, Christopher Robin, who also appears in the books, it illustrates and illuminates Daode jing wisdom in a unique, creative, and appealing way, linking different dimensions of human nature with particular animals. The original bear, named after a Canadian black bear at the London zoo, is naive and slow-​witted but also friendly, thoughtful, steadfast, and always happy, seeing the good in everything and wishing people “a very happy Thursday” for no special reason. All agree that he is a “bear of little brain,” yet full of practical intelligence and given to poetry. All this makes him a prime candidate to represent the Daoist ideals of clear wisdom, sufficiency, and joy in living, expressed as “simplicity” and coincidentally called pu in Chinese, literally the “uncarved block.” In addition, Pooh also rhymes with wu or nonbeing and links to wuwei or nonaction. His closest friend is Piglet, a very small animal of a generally timid disposition with a squeaky voice, whose big heart and deep sense of harmony allow him to stand for virtue that functions smoothly in the world but comes with a degree of awareness that creates hesitation and limits the pure immediacy of pu. The two are further surrounded by three other animals, who represent different kinds of knowledge. To begin, Wise Owl is a scholar, showing Knowledge for the Sake of Appearing Wise, studying to “increase every day,” as the Daode jing has it. Overly analytical in his thinking, esoteric in his pursuits, hard to understand in his exposition, and irrelevant for practical living, Owl remains detached and impractical, keeping what he learns to himself or to his own small group rather than working for the enlightenment of others.

256  Part Three: Modern Reception Clever Rabbit, in contrast, stands for Knowledge of Being Clever. All agree that he has Brain, but that creates its own limitations. Cleverness full of mechanical judgments and smart remarks often proves inaccurate over time, because it does not look very deeply into things but always strives for a quick fix and immediate results. It cannot really appreciate what makes someone truly different or unique, what creates a deeper level of meaning and being in the world. The old gray donkey Eeyore, third, shows Knowledge for the Sake of Complaining About Something. His pervasively pessimistic attitude gets in the way of wisdom and happiness and prevents real accomplishments in life. He looks at things from all different angles and comes to the conclusion that they are essentially “pathetic,” with nothing good about them, just waiting to blow down and go to ruin. The relationship between these four is best characterized by the ditty:  “While Eeyore frets and Piglet hesitates and Rabbit calculates and Owl pontificates, Pooh just is!” Beyond the inner circle, there is also Bouncy Tigger, the cat, who is energetic and fun, emotional and noisy, rash and impulsive, demonstrating an overall lack of knowledge, especially of his own limitations. He gets himself into no end of trouble, having to be rescued variously by the other animals. Even he is fundamentally all right, though, and has a deep inner nature that would tell him what best to do if he only listened. Kanga, a small kangaroo with a big pouch, is sweet and nurturing with a mothering attitude and a fondness for small children, taking care of Roo, her infant, who keeps getting into various sorts of scraps. When he falls into the stream, the contrast between the different ways of knowing and living come to the fore: Who was going to rescue Roo? Panicky Piglet was jumping up and down and making noises. Ineffective Owl was instructing Roo to keep his head above water. Concerned Kanga was asking if he was all right. Captain Rabbit was calling out commands. . . . But

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  257 Positive Pooh was looking at the situation, seeing what he could do about it, and trying something.

Finding a long pole, Pooh got Kanga to hold it across the stream so that Roo would fetch up against it. Long after, “Dismal Eeyore halfheartedly hung his tail over the water” for Roo to grab on, but really only “so that Eeyore would get credit for having tried something.” Christopher Robin, the human child in the mix, finally appears as a sounding board for various ideas and situations, but he also represents the Bisy Backson, a misspelling of “Busy, Back Soon.” A person who lives like this always rushes from one place to the next, working like crazy, playing every kind of sport, always pushing to move ahead, and getting involved with lots of schemes. All this leaves her little time for reflection and no chance to enjoy the simple things in life. Thus, “if you want to be healthy, relaxed, and contented, just watch what a Bisy Backson does and then do the opposite.” In other words, follow the basic wisdom of Pooh: “What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It is today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day!” said Pooh.

Songs of Dao The simple enjoyment of life the Daode jing encourages has found further expression in modern music, notably blues, jazz, rock, and rap. One form is by Stephen Josephs, the author of Dragons at Work. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1945, he received a BA in psychology from Clark University, an MA in education from Harvard, and a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His doctoral training was in “Aesthetics in Education,” exploring modes of teaching beyond words through music, art,

258  Part Three: Modern Reception dance, and other forms of self-​expression, what we now call embodied learning. After graduation, he moved on to train in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and began to work in this field. Josephs first encountered Daoism as a practitioner in the 1980s. Having spent most of the 1970s with Yogi Bhajan (1929–​2004) studying Indian tantra and kundalini, he one day shook hands with Gunther Weil, one of his fellow seekers, and was amazed at the strong energy coming through him. “Where did you learn that?” he asked and was guided to Mantak Chia (b. 1944), the founder of Healing Dao who had just begun teaching in New England. Gradually moving away from Indian and toward Daoist practice, he began to study internal alchemy. To cope with the transition, Josephs also went into psychotherapy, taking sessions with the human potential psychologist Mel Bucholtz (b. 1940)  in Cambridge. On his birthday in 1982, Bucholtz gave him Witter Bynner’s Daode jing translation as a present. He was amazed at the book and found it deeply inspiring, using it as the basis for meditation. Learning that the text was originally a collection of aphorisms and consisted of rhymed verses or jingles that people would recite to commit to memory, he found the musical side of his nature attracted. A guitar player and composer, he especially liked the rhythmic verses in Bynner’s translation and selected thirteen chapters to compose music to, using jazz (ch. 5), blues (ch. 44), renaissance chords (ch. 18), and more. Some chapters speak to sensory and meditation experience (chs. 10, 12, 35, 52); others deal with social skills and leadership (chs. 3, 13, 18, 29, 67, 69). He then proceeded to find a vocalist in Paula Dudley-​Tagiuri (1955–​2008), Mel Bucholtz’s girlfriend at the time, who was similarly inspired by the Daode jing. Calling their project “Songs of Lao Tsu,” they played them together, vocals accompanied by guitar, then recorded a sample tape. Accepted by the local company Selcer

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  259 Sound, they added further instruments, including mandolin, banjo, piano, violin, clarinet, trombone, harmonica, and percussion. When the Witter Bynner Foundation, which owns the copyright to the words, gave its blessing, the project took off, leading not only to the creation of an audio recording but also to several live performances. The “Songs” create a unique rendition of the Daode jing and form a key to understanding its power in the West, both symptomatic for its continuous yet ever changing expression in art and literature, and also as carriers of an inspiration that can only be described as wondrous. They are today available on Stephen Josephs’s website.1 More recently, Peter Firebrace has recorded various blues and rap songs on Daoist and Chinese medicine themes. British by birth, he began his acupuncture studies in 1980 at the International College of Oriental Medicine (ICOM) in East Grinstead south of London, then did further studies at the European School of Acupuncture in Paris and the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chengdu, Sichuan. He has also studied Chinese language and philosophy at the Ricci Institute in Paris. Past principal of ICOM, he is a cofounder of Monkey Press, publishing the “Chinese Medicine from the Classics” series. Coauthor of A Guide to Acupuncture, he has published a book of poems on Chinese medical and Daoist themes entitled Cloud Falls Rap, and has produced various educational DVDs. His songs, published in several collections, notably Sea Gong (2011) (see Fig. 15), a word play on “qigong,” Chinese Medicine Blues (2013), and Satellite (2016), tend to focus on topics of Chinese medicine. They often outline the organs and meridians of acupuncture, present Chinese healing practices, and praise modes of self-​ cultivation. They also record his own experiences and on occasion wax poetic. In addition, Firebrace has several songs on Dao, such as “Dao Blues” and “Only the Dao.” The former outlines his search for Dao, calling on various heroes of old—​Confucius, Laozi, Sun

260  Part Three: Modern Reception

Fig. 15.  Peter Firebrace’s Sea Gong. Source: Cover of CD, Photograph by the author, 2017.

Simiao, and the Queen of Heaven’s daughter, who finally enlightens him, closely echoing Daode jing terms: You’ll find it in the evening, It’s there in the midnight hour. It’s with you in the morning and at high noon: You can feel its power. You can see it in the top of a hair, You can see it in the stars so high. There’s no place you can’t find it. Yet it’s way beyond Who what where when how and why! It was there before you even thought of thinking.

Chapter 12: Western Adaptations  261 There’s no limit to its rising or its sinking. No front, no back, no bottom, no top, No left, no right, it’s always coming, yet it never stops.

In many songs, Firebrace encourages his listeners to develop their own inner potency and be independent from outer circumstances—​ “don’t be a satellite, but have your own light”—​ to enhance health and well-​being by attuning themselves to the seasons and nurturing their spirit. Most importantly, they should let go and let Dao: “Swallow your pride, let the Dao be your guide, and your life will sort out on its own.” The chorus of “Only the Dao” says, There’s only so much you can do on your own, And when you’ve done that, then just let it be. Don’t muddle and meddle, stand back and let it all settle. ’Cos only the Dao can set you free!

Note 1. For specific songs, go to http://​www.dragonsatwork.com/​those-​who-​would-​take-​over-​the-​earth/​ http://​ w ww.dragonsatwork.com/ ​ l ao- ​ t zu- ​ s ong- ​ t he- ​ h andbook- ​ o f- ​ t he-​ strategist/​ http://​www.dragonsatwork.com/​ancient-​wisdom-​song-​of-​lao-​tzu/​.

Further Readings Ang, Tom. 2000. Tao of Photography: Unlock Your Creativity Using the Wisdom of the East. New York: Amphoto Books. Autry, James A., and Stephen Mitchell. 1998. Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching. New York: Riverhead Books. Boldt, Laurence G. 1999. The Tao of Abundance: Eight Ancient Principles for Abundant Living. New York: Penguin/​Arkana. Chen, Chao-​ Chuan, and Yueh-​ Ting Lee, eds. 2008. Leadership and Management in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

262  Part Three: Modern Reception Girardot, N. J., James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, eds. 2001. Daoism and Ecology:  Ways within a Cosmic Landscape. Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press, Center for the Study of World Religions. Grigg, Ray. 2010. The Tao of Relationships: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age. New York: Humanics. Heider, John. 1985. Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age. Atlanta: Humanics New Age. Hoff, Benjamin. 1982. The Tao of Pooh. New York: Dutton. Joiner, Bill, and Stephen Josephs. 2007. Leadership Agility:  Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. Hoboken:  John Wiley & Sons. Josephs, Stephen. 2013. Dragons at Work. Charleston: Tao Alchemical Press. Lewis, Leland. T. 1992. The Tao of Golf. Saratoga, CA: R & E Publishers. Nelson, Eric S. 2009. “Responding with Dao:  Early Daoist Ethics and the Environment.” Philosophy East & West 59.3:294–​316.

Index For the benefit of digital users, indexed terms that span two pages (e.g., 52–​53) may, on occasion, appear on only one of those pages. Abel-​Remusat, J. P., 207–​8 academies, Daoist, 179, 180 Academy of Social Sciences, 182,  183–​84 Addiss, Stephen, 224–​26 afterlife,  29–​31 alchemy, 202, 203–​4 internal,  164–​69 altruism, 77, 84, 243 Alvares, Jorge, 206 Ames, Roger, 46, 50–​51, 228–​31 Ang, Tom, 254 animals as constellations, 123, 127 instincts of, 45–​46, 95–​96 sacrificial, 110–​11, 118 as similes, 19, 62, 255–​57 wild, 101, 190, 219–​20 Anqi Sheng, 115 aphorisms, 26–​27, 222–​23, 227–​28,  258 apocrypha, 111–​12, 203 Art of War, 227 asceticism, 168 Assandri, Friederike, 155–​56 Aurty, James, 248 Axial Age, 7, 8, 211–​12   Bai Yuchan, 167 Baiyuan,  124–​25 Balfour, Frederic Henry, 208 Ban Gu, 40

Baopuzi, 119, 122–​23, 203–​4 Baxter, William, 28 Beijing, 179, 180, 181–​82, 183, 229 Benn, Charles, 130 Bhagavad Gita, 235 Black Sheep Temple, 120–​21, 181–​82 blandness,  79–​80 body alignment of, 103–​4 divine, 127 gods, 141 governance,  139–​40 health of, 189 personal, 161, 247 techniques of, 99–​100 types of, 150–​51 visualization of, 124–​25 Boldt, Laurence G., 252–​54 Book of the Way,  235–​37 Bozhou, 17–​18, 22–​23,  181–​82 breath control, 1–​2, 3–​4, 100, 102–​3, 114, 117, 141–​42, 247 Brecht, Bertold, 212 Buber, Martin, 212 Bucholtz, Mel, 258 Buddha, 7, 23, 130, 204–​5 Buddhism adoption of, 125, 129, 132, 148, 156 in China, 114, 120–​21, 128–​29, 150, 155 leaders of, 205–​6

264 Index Buddhism (cont.) studies of, 184, 206 teachings of, 81, 130, 132–​33, 163,  204–​5 Zen, 174, 196, 224, 234–​36,  251–​53 Buddhist, use of Daode jing,  195–​96 Bureau of Religious Affairs, 182 business, 215, 216–​17, 244–​57 Bynner, Witter, 231, 246–​47, 258   Cage, John, 224 Cao Cao, 41, 42–​43 Caodai,  204–​5 Carus, Paul, 209 Celestial Masters, 116–​18, 121–​ 22, 125–​26, 131, 179–​81, 202,  203–​4 Northern, 125–​29, 148 Southern, 129, 130 Chalmers, John, 208 Chan, Alan, 139 Chan, Wing-​tsit, 211, 225, 226 Chang’an, 41–​42, 128–​29, 155–​56,  160–​61 Change Your Thoughts—​Change Your Life,  237–​39 Changsha, 180, 192 chapter order, 228 Chen Guying, 19, 183, 185–​86 Chen Xia, 184–​85 Chen Xiang, 95 Chen, Ellen Marie, 63 Cheng Chung-​ying, 48 Cheng Xuanying, 155–​56, 157–​58,  159 Chengdu, 25, 39–​40, 120–​21, 180–​ 82, 184, 259 Chia, Mantak, 258 Chinese Daoist Association, 179, 182 Chinese Medicine Blues, 259–60 Chinese People and Poetry, 232 Christianity, 204–​5, 207–​9,  234–​35

Chuci, 28 Chunqiu, 14 Chunyu Kun, 105–​6 Ciyi wulao baojing, 124 clarity and stillness, 80–​81, 82–​83, 86, 116, 117, 163, 169–​72, 247 classics, 43, 114–​15 Claudel, Paul, 212 Cloud Falls Rap, 259 cognitive therapy, 192–​95 commentaries,  134–​35 community and business, 248 of earth, 249 in history, 7, 95 ideal, 93–​95, 236–​37,  249–​50 life, 109, 214 religious, 117–​18, 128–​29, 171 today, 181–​82, 184 compassion, 195, 248 Complete Perfection, 169–​74,  179–​81 Confucianism, 2, 11–​14, 136–​37, 204, 206 Confucius biography of, 12, 14, 106 and Laozi, 17–​21, 23–​24 as sage, 7, 32–​33, 204–​5, 259–60 words of, 45–​46, 59, 75 cosmology, 11, 26, 30–​31, 35, 37, 108, 111–​12, 122–​23, 137, 144, 168, 228,  229–​30 See also fangshi; five phases; Yin-​ Yang Cosmology creation, 47, 48, 49–​53, 127 Creel, Herlee, 210, 211 Cultural Revolution, 179   Danyang zhenren yulu, 170 Dao and animal allegory, 255–​57 doing of, 238 as existence, 233–​34

Index  265 as God, 208, 209–​10 image of, 48–​49 in internal alchemy, 167–​68 as love, 252 meaning of, 45–​49, 223 as Meow, 241 as mother, 62–​63, 247 in music, 259–​61 nature of, 171–​72 and nonaction, 67 and rulership, 11 as way-​making, 230 in Western view, 209–​12 in Xisheng jing,  149–​50 Daode jing academic studies of, 182 chapter order of, 40 commentaries to, 135 sanctification of, 161 standardization of, 39–​41 See also Tao Daode jing de aomi,  197–​98 Daode zhenjing xujue,  125–​27 Daode zhigui,  39–​40 Daoism definition of, 1–​3 organized, 24, 42, 116–​18 priesthood of, 160 Research Society of, 184–​85 schools of, 129–​30 temples of, 155–​61 Daoism and Ecology, 249 Daoist canon, 3, 115, 129–​30, 160, 161, 162, 167 Daxue, 32–​33,  137–​38 democracy, 1.2, 232, 243 Deng Xiaoping, 187 desires, 72–​73, 86, 88, 96, 100–​1, 103, 116, 139, 140, 158, 172, 174, 193 destiny, 75, 83, 121–​22, 167–​68, 170–​ 71, 190, 212–​13, 252–​53 Divine Empyrean, 162, 167 Divine Farmer, 95

Dragon Gate, 170 Dragons at Work, 246, 257–​58 Dreher, Diane, 231 Dudley-​Tagiuri, Paula,  258–​59 Dunhuang, 116, 125, 155–​56 Duren jing,  155–​56 Dyer, Wayne W., 237–​39   ecology, 189–​91, 193, 212, 249–​51 Ecology, Community, and Lifestyle, 249 education, 14, 136–​37, 188–​89, 216 Ministry of, 183 elixir field, 124, 164–​65, 166, 170 embryo respiration, 166, 169 emptiness, 46, 65, 83, 149, 157–​58, 216–​17,  251–​52 Engels, Friedrich, 186 Erdi zhang, 156 eremitism, 36, 82–​83, 98–​99, 100–​1, 122, 146, 168, 169, 201–​2, 235 essence, vital, 23, 97, 98, 139–​41, 143, 164–​65, 168,  170–​71 ethics, 12, 32–​33, 34–​35, 59, 74, 75, 89–​90, 116, 143, 144, 146, 171, 188, 204–​6, 208–​9, 214, 249 Eupsychian Management, 244   fangshi, 23, 111–​12, 142 femininity, 62–​63, 102 feng shui, 220 Feng Youlan, 185–​86 Fengdu, 122 Firebrace, Peter, 259–​61 First Emperor, 21, 36, 136–​37 five organs, 141 five phases, 15, 17, 36, 106, 109,  201–​2 five sacred mountains, 180–​81 five spirits, 140–​41, 142   Gaetz, William, 251–​52 Gasser, Johannes, 216

266 Index Ge Hong, 23, 38, 40–​41, 119, 122–​23,  203–​4 Genghis Khan, 170 Giles, Lionel, 208–​9 Golden Age, 1 golden elixir, 167 golden flower, 166 goodness, 89–​90, 147, 152–​53, 205–​6,  227–​28 Graham, A. C., 20, 21, 95 Granet, Marcel, 210 Great Peace, 24, 42, 129 Greek thought, 7–​8, 16–​17, 185–​86, 207–​8,  230 Grigg, Ray, 251–​52 Guan Feng, 185–​86 Guanzhui bian, 179 Guanzi, 102, 107–​8 Guide to Acupuncture, 259 Guo Moruo, 185 Guo Yongjin, 195   Hall, David L., 228–​31 Hall of Light, 124 Han dynasty, 22, 37, 40, 114–​15, 201 emperors, 37–​39,  114–​15 Han Feizi, 35, 136–​39 Hansen, Chad, 45–​46, 59–​60 Hanshu, 40 Hardy, Julia, 210 harmony cosmic, 2–​4, 14, 50, 72, 142, 254 and ecology, 198–​99, 247, 251 personal, 11, 67, 96, 100, 103–​4, 194–​95, 235, 246, 254, 255 in politics, 188, 193 social, 11–​12, 13, 14, 16–​17, 74, 88, 106, 108–​9, 110, 129, 136–​37, 143, 147, 188, 198–​99, 205–​7, 214, 217, 226–​27 Harnett, Richard, 105 He Xu, 96 He Yan, 41–​43

Healing Dao, 258 Heavenly Pass, 166 Heavenly Worthy, 130, 202 Hegel, Georg, 207 Heidegger, Martin, 212–​14 Heider, John, 243 Hengshan, 180 Henricks, Robert, 226 Heshang gong zhangju, 39, 139–​43 Heshang Gong, 37–​39, 126, 131, 139–​43, 144–​45, 203, 204,  222–​23 Hesse, Hermann, 212 Highest Clarity, 121–​25, 129, 130 Hoff, Benjamin, 255 Hou Wailu, 185 Hsiao, Paul Shih-​yi, 212 Hu Jintao, 187–​88 Hu Shi, 183, 185 Hu Wenhe, 184 Huainanzi, 110, 190 Huang Haide, 184 Huang-​Lao,  107–​11 Huangdi sijing,  107–​8 Huizong,  162–​63 human condition, 1, 67, 136–​37, 212, 229–​30, 232, 250 humility, 61–​62, 75, 76–​77, 78–​79, 83, 85, 88, 243   Iliad, 235 immortal embryo, 164, 166 immortality, 118–​21, 122, 152, 164,  201–​2 immortals, 3–​4, 21, 23, 98–​99, 112, 118, 120, 126, 162, 166,  201–​2 India, 7, 120–​21, 155–​56, 235–​36 ineffability, 47, 48, 83, 149 inner nature, 54–​55, 56–​57, 87, 95–​96, 99, 101, 109, 136–​37, 141, 147, 167–​68, 170–​72, 173, 190,  194–​95 

Index  267 Jade Emperor, 162 Jade Mountain, 231 Japan, 201, 203–​4 Japikse, Carl, 240 Japussy, Waldo, 240 Jaspers, Karl, 7 Jesuits, 206, 207 Jiang Kanghu, 231, 232 Jielao,  137–​38 Jixia Academy, 105–​8 Jizang,  156–​57 Johnson, Ian, 182 Johnson, Samuel, 208–​9 Joiner, Bill, 244 Josephs, Stephen, 244, 246–​48,  257–​59 Julien, Stanislas, 208 Jung, Jae-​Seo, 202   Kafka, Franz, 212 Kaifōsō, 203 Kaiti xujue yishu,  155–​56 Kaltenmark, Max, 48, 210 Kant, Immanuel, 207, 211 Katie, Byron, 237 knights, 10–​11, 31–​32, 136, 211,  226–​27 Kōguryo, 202 Kohn, Livia, 231 Kong Ji, 32–​33 Konghai, Venerable, 195–​97 Korea, 160, 201, 202 Kou Qianzhi, 125, 128–​29 Kuafu, 190 Kunlun, 122–​23, 124   La pensee chinoise, 210 LaFargue, Michael, 226–​28 language allegories, 172, 255–​57 of Daode jing, 26–​28, 135 in Heidegger, 213–​14 linguistics,  186–​87

metaphors, 19–​20, 60–​62, 63, 135, 150, 165–​66, 167–​68, 189–​90, 213–​14,  231 paradoxes, 68–​69, 193, 213–​14, 218,  227–​28 poetry, 2–​3, 190, 208, 213–​14, 222–​23, 231–​34,  255 studies of, 186–​87 and translation, 222–​23 in Wang Bi, 145–​46 Lao Dan, 19, 101, 119 Laoshan,  180–​81 Laozi as author, 14 biography of, 17–​19, 195, 239 as dim sum, 240 divinization of, 23–​24 emigration of, 21, 24, 62, 119–​20, 131, 148, 180–​82 family of, 22–​23, 159 historicity of, 20 as Hunyuan huangdi, 159–​60 legend of, 20–​22 as Lord Lao, 24, 42, 116, 118–​25, 160, 180, 204 as modern inspiration, 197–​98, 232, 235, 238 and ordination, 131 research organizations of, 183, 184–​85,  188 as sage, 7, 101, 107–​8, 148–​49, 197–​98, 204–​5, 207–​8, 209, 259–60 visualized, 126, 127 Laozi and Daoism, 210 Laozi bianhua jing, 24, 118 Laozi de rensheng zhihui, 197 Laozi huahu jing,  120–​21 Laozi jiejie, 131 Laozi ming, 23 Laozi neijie, 131 Laozi tong,  185–​86 Laozi zhilue, 146 Laozi zhongjing, 131

268 Index Later Han dynasty, 41, 42, 115, 134, 144 Lattimore, Owen, 233–​34 Lau, D. C., 20, 228–​29 leadership,  243–​46 Legalism, 11, 108, 110, 137 Legge, James, 208 LeGuin, Ursula, 231 Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 206–​7 Lewis, Leland, 254 Lewis, Mark Edward, 9 Li Cang, 36 Li Gang, 184 Li Guangfu, 179 Li Rong, 155, 156, 157 Li Shaojun, 112 Li Si, 136 Li Taifeng, 185–​86 Li Xi, 36 Liang Shumin, 183 Liexian zhuan, 23 Liezi, 163 Liji, 14, 19, 32–​33, 137–​38 Lin Lingsu, 162 Lin Yutang, 228–​29, 232 Linzi, 105 literacy, 7–​8, 29 Liu Weiyong, 168–​69 Liu Xiang, 40 Liu Xiaogan, 68 Liu Xin, 40 Lombardo, Stanley, 224 London, Scott, 235 longevity techniques, 3–​4, 97, 99–​101, 112,  164–​65 Longhu shan, 180–​81 Louguan, 128–​29, 131, 148 Lowry, Robert, 212 Luan Da, 112 Lunyu, 12, 13, 14, 19 Luoyang, 17–​18,  160–​61 Lüshi chunqiu, 19, 35  

Ma Yu, 170 Madhyamika,  156–​57 Mair, Victor, 226 manuscripts Guodian, 31–​35, 64, 72 Mawangdui, 35–​37, 40, 99 in tombs, 29 Maoshan, 121–​22,  180–​81 Marcus Aurelius, 208–​9 Marshall, Peter, 249 martial arts, 99–​100, 180–​81, 216 Marxism, 185, 186, 189 Maslow, Abraham, 244 Maspero, Henri, 210 Masuo, Shin’ichirō, 203 medicine, Chinese, 99, 122–​23, 195, 220, 259–60 meditation active, 240 concentration, 82, 102–​4 Confucian,  80–​81 and fangshi, 112 and health, 1–​4 inner observation, 171–​72, 173 internal alchemy, 164–​69 oblivion, 163 for oneness, 148–​49, 156, 157 oratory for, 80–​81, 125–​26 and ritual, 125–​26, 130, 131 and self-​cultivation, 134, 142, 143, 164, 218 as self-​help, 194–​97, 238, 253 and sensory withdrawal, 82–​83 visualization, 1–​2, 121–​26,  253–​54 See also clarity and stillness; recitation; self-​cultivation Mencius, 106, 190 Miaozhen jing, 131 Milne, A. A., 255 Mitchell, Stephen, 234–​37, 248 moderation, 73, 99, 103, 193 Montessori, Maria, 216

Index  269 Mozi, 11, 19–​20, 45–​46 music, 12, 14, 45–​46, 64, 96, 110–​11, 159, 180, 224, 257–​61 mysterious, 144, 156, 169 female, 141 Mystery Learning, 43, 144 mysticism, 1, 83, 148, 149–​53, 157, 163, 173, 211–​12, 238   Nabokov, Vladimir, 222 Naess, Arne, 249 naturalness, see self-​being nature body and, 122–​23 definition of, 190 dynamics of, 48–​49, 52, 53–​56, 111, 215 laws of, 15, 108–​11, 187, 211 metaphors from, 63 power in, 58, 86, 98–​99 See also ecology Nature’s Web, 249 Neiye, 102–​4, 107–​8, 143 Nelson, Erik, 249–​50 New Age, 219–​20 Ngo Minh Chien, 204–​5 Nietzsche,  185–​87 Nine Palaces, 124 Niu Miaochuan, 169 Nivison, David, 58 Niwan, 124, 126 Noel, Francois, 202 nonaction, 2, 25, 95, 100–​1, 107–​8, 187, 189 definition of, 67–​69 as Gelassenheit, 213 as naps, 241 as noninterference, 230–​31, 238,  249–​51 personal, 73, 76–​77, 80, 86, 88, 104, 152–​53,  194–​95 in politics, 37–​38, 71, 109–​10

as practice, 143, 149–​50, 151–​52, 168, 198, 215–​16, 235, 252–​53 as precept, 116, 117 nonbeing, 53–​54, 65, 149, 157, 158, 173, 212, 230–​31 original,  144–​45 numerology,  40–​41 Numinous Treasure, 125, 129, 130,  155–​56   Odyssey, 235 On Habit and Mindfulness,  205–​6 oneness, 34, 50–​52, 109–​10, 142, 146, 163, 196, 212 Ong, Walter, 8 ontology, 144, 145 orality, 8–​9, 27 ordination, 130–​33,  179–​80 Orientalism,  218–​19   Palace of Great Clarity, 181–​82 Parker, Edward Harper, 208–​9 Paz, Octavio, 222 Peking University, 183 Penglai, 21 Pengzu, 101 Perfect Warrior, 180–​81 Persia, 7 Philosophical Translation,  228–​31 Piaget, Jean, 244 Plato,  207–​8 power in business, 245, 248 of Dao, 103, 130, 149, 163, 195–​96 of gods, 123–​24 of intention, 237–​38, 244 magical, 37–​38, 116, 119, 120–​21, 139,  203–​4 of oneness, 51, 53–​54 personal, 97–​99, 120–​21, 152 political, 10, 24–​25, 42–​43, 105, 137, 155, 170, 202, 245–​46, 250

270 Index power (cont.) of sage, 88, 152, 153 of texts, 29, 115, 236, 258–​59, 260 virtue as, 57–​58, 61–​62, 233–​34,  252–​53 precepts, 116–​18, 125, 132, 170–​71 primitivism,  95–​96 propensity, 86 propriety, 11, 12–​14, 58, 59, 72, 106, 137, 143, 149–​50 prosperity, 19–​20, 138–​39, 152–​53, 188, 251, 252–​54 psychology,  192–​95 Pure Talk, 41–​42, 144   Qi state, 22, 105–​8 qi in body, 140–​41, 150, 164–​65 channels, 36 cosmic, 29, 52, 109, 111–​12, 139, 185,  252–​53 definition of, 15–​16 as diet, 98–​99, 117 and essence, 97, 98 nurturing of, 23, 30, 50, 82, 99, 102–​3, 104, 118, 143, 166, 170 and ruling, 139–​41 upright,  103–​4 Qian Zhongshu, 186 qigong, 1–​2, 99–​100, 194–​95, 246, 259–60 Qilue, 40 Qin state, 21, 31, 136 Qing Xitai, 183 Qingcheng shan, 180–​81 Qingjing jing, 172–​74, 180, 182 Qingjing xinjing,  171–​72 Qiu Chuji, 170 Queen, Sarah, 137   Rajneesh, Shree, 240 Real Power, 248

recitation, 114–​15, 119–​20, 122, 125–​27, 128–​29, 182, 189 Reichwein, Adolf, 209 Ren Farong, 179 Ren Jiyu, 186 revelation, 39, 116, 121–​22, 131, 162, 167, 169, 180–​81, 204–​5,  209 reversal, 46, 53–​54, 83, 117, 146–​47 Ricci, Matteo, 206 Rilke, Rainer Maria, 234–​35 ritual, 3, 9, 131, 159–​60, 162, 167, 180, 182 Robin, Christopher, 255, 257 Robinet, Isabelle, 48, 167 Rousseau, Jean-​Jacques,  206–​7 Ruggieri, Michele, 206 rulers, types of, 94, 243–​44 rulership, 69, 74, 94–​95, 105, 110, 136, 137–​39, 152–​53, 161, 217, 226–​28, 231, 235   sage actions of, 238 characteristics of, 76–​80, 84–​90, 147, 217 as leader, 243, 245–​46 as Master, 235, 236 as mystic, 152–​53 and relationships, 252 as ruler, 69, 143, 158 as sane man, 233–​34 as Wise Cat, 241 Said, Edward, 218–​19 Samguk sagi, 202 Sanlun xuanyi, 156 Satellite, 259–60 Saussure, Ferdinand de, 186–​87 Schaeffer, Dan, 246–​47 Schwartz, Benjamin, 48 sciences, 17, 111–​12 seasons, 16, 51–​52, 108, 110–​11

Index  271 self control of, 58, 76–​77, 84, 100, 117, 152–​53,  245–​46 as identity, 2–​3, 8, 56–​57, 59, 78, 85, 149 and others, 13, 17–​18, 77, 80, 194 spontaneous, 57, 190 self-​being, 56–​57, 79, 87, 189, 190, 197–​98, 230–​31, 240–​41, 250–​51,  256 self-​cultivation definition of, 2–​4 and ecology, 249, 251 practitioners of, 23, 96–​99, 100–​1,  114–​15 pursuit of, 30–​31, 139, 143, 168, 170, 185, 194–​95, 218, 226–​27,  244 self-​help, 195, 236, 237–​39, 251–​52 senses, 81–​83, 96, 151–​52, 173 Seven Perfected, 170 Shan Bao, 101 Shang dynasty, 9, 17–​18, 23, 58 Shanghai,  181–​82 Shen Dao, 107–​8, 136 Shenxian zhuan, 23–​24, 38 Shida jing, 107–​8,  109–​10 Shiji, 17–​18, 20–​22, 24, 106, 136 Shijie jing, 132 Shijing, 14, 28 Shintō, 203 Shintō gobusho, 203 Shu Zhan, 138 Shugendō,  203–​4 Shujing, 14 Shuo Laozi, 40 Sichuan University, 183 Silk Road, 206 Sima Qian, 17–​18 Sima Tan, 11 Sima Yi, 42–​43 simplicity, 68, 76–​77, 79, 95–​96, 146, 188, 212, 213, 240–​41, 243, 255

Slingerland, Edward, 67 Smullyan, Raymond, 239 society aristocracy, 2–​3, 9–​10, 12, 23, 29, 30–​32, 41–​42, 84, 100–​1, 111–​ 12, 121–​25, 136, 226–​27, 243 change in, 9–​11, 104, 187–​88, 217, 232 governing of, 143–​47 groups in, 3–​4, 9–​11, 13, 45, 48, 78, 95, 118, 125, 231, 237, 245 as ideal community, 93–​94 and luxury, 43, 70, 73–​74, 100, 188 modern, 187, 234–​35 and translations, 234–​37 See also eremitism; harmony; rulership; virtues; violence Socrates, 7 soft and weak, 61, 99, 116, 194, 197, 216, 248 Song dynasty, 162–​63, 172 Song Xing, 106 Songs of Lao Tsu,  258–​59 souls, 29–​30, 51–​52, 102, 142, 196 Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 211, 225 spirit ancestral, 9–​10, 29–​30, 58, 112 and body, 150–​52, 166, 174, 204–​5 and creation, 34, 51 and mind, 157, 168, 170–​71, 254 people, 98 radiance, 81 spontaneity, see self-​being Spring and Autumn period, 9–​10,  138 stars, 2, 50–​51, 102–​3, 122–​23, 127 Stoicism,  208–​9 Stone Age, 94–​95 Strauss, Viktor von, 208 subtlety, 216 sufficiency, 72–​76, 77, 116, 193, 214,  251–​52

272 Index Sun Simiao, 259–60 Sunzi, 227 syncretism, 108–​11,  135–​36   taiji quan, 1–​2, 194–​95, 216, 220, 246, 247 Taiwan, 195 Taiyi shengshui, 34 talismans, 128–​29, 132–​33, 162, 181–​82,  203–​4 Tang dynasty, 39, 40–​41, 139, 155–​61, 201, 202 Tang Yongtong, 183 Tao Hongjing, 120, 202 Tao is Silent, 239 Tao of, 251–​54 Tao of Abundance,  252–​54 Tao of Being,  251–​52 Tao of Golf, 254 Tao of Leadership, 243 Tao of Meow,  240–​41 Tao of Photography, 254 Tao of Pooh,  255–​57 Tao of Relationships, 251, 252 Tao of the Tao Te Ching, 226 Tao Speaks: Lao Tzu’s Whispers of Wisdom, 239 Taoism and Chinese Religion, 210 Temple of Eastern Brightness, 156 Temple of Western Florescence,  155–​56 Tennyson, 208 The Way and Its Power,  211–​12 Thich Nhat Hanh, 205–​6 Thousand Names for Joy, 237 Three Caverns, 129–​30 Three Pure Ones, 129–​30, 180 Three Sovereigns, 129, 130 Three Treasures, 130 thunder rites, 162, 167 Tian Pian, 106 Tian Wu, 105 Tian Yinqi, 105

Toba-​Wei, 125,  128–​29 Torbert, Bill, 244 tourism,  181–​82 Towler, Solala, 219 translations,  206–​9 translations, English, 222–​41 translations, modes of, 222 translations, popular, 219 trinity, 129–​30, 207 Tsai Chih-​chung, 239 Tu, Wei-​ming, 108 Twofold Mystery, 155–​59, 168, 171–​72,  173   valley spirit, 61–​62, 141, 144–​45, 168 Vietnam, 160, 201, 204–​6 violence, 9–​10, 11, 42, 69–​70, 71, 87, 227 virtue, 57–​60, 86, 98, 103–​4, 163, 168, 197–​98, 230, 233–​34, 261 virtues Confucian, 13, 14, 40–​41, 58, 72, 125, 171 Daoist, 72, 81–​82, 84, 107–​8, 187–​88, 191, 205–​6, 252–​54, 255 Western, 216 Voltaire,  206–​7   Waley, Arthur, 211–​12, 228–​29, 232 Wang Bi, 41–​43, 144–​47, 222–​23,  224 Wang Bo, 183 Wang Can, 41 Wang Chongyang, 169 Wang Zhongjiang, 109 war, 10, 69–​70, 232 Warring States, 9–​10, 29, 30–​31, 58, 62, 105, 136, 137 water, 60–​61, 75, 78, 81–​82, 84, 150, 188–​89, 197, 235–​36, 243 Watson, Burton, 224 Way of Life According to Lao Tzu,  232–​34

Index  273 Weber, Max, 207 Wei Huacun, 121–​22 Weil, Gunther, 258 Wen Jiabao, 187–​88 Wenshi neizhuan, 119–​20, 131 West artists of, 232 mystique in, 220 psychology, 194 reception in, 206–​9 remedy for, 214–​17 thinkers of, 185–​87, 206–​7,  228–​29 values of, 2 White Cloud Temple, 179, 180,  181–​82 Wilber, Ken, 244 Wilhelm, Richard, 209, 226 Winnie-​the-​Pooh, 255 Wu, Michele, 246–​47 Wudang shan, 180–​81 Wuqian wen, 22 Wuqian wen chaoyi, 131 Wuxing,  32–​33 Wuying,  124–​25   Xiang’er zhu, 116, 131 Xiang Xiu, 115 Xiaojing,  114–​15 Xiong Shili, 183 Xisheng jing, 131, 148–​53, 156, 163 Xu brothers, 121–​22 Xuanzong, 40–​41,  159–​61 Xunzi,  136–​37   Yamabushi,  203–​4 Yan Hui, 75 Yan Zun, 39–​40, 115 Yang Desen, 192 Yang Xi, 121–​22

Yang Zhiren, 169 Yellow Court, 122–​23 Yellow Emperor, 23, 105–​6, 107–​9,  110 Yijing, 14, 39–​40, 43, 50, 108, 115, 127, 155–​56, 164, 169, 197–​98, 203, 220, 254 Yin Xi, 23–​24, 119–​21, 126, 131, 148–​49,  181–​82 yin and yang, 50, 52, 53, 147, 165–​66, 201–​2, 214–​15,  254 Yin-​Yang Cosmology, 11, 15–​17, 62, 106, 108 Yuan Ke, 184 Yuejing, 14 Yulao, 137, 138 Yunji qiqian, 162   Zeng Shijiang, 197–​99 Zhang Daoling, 116, 180–​81 Zhang Guangbao, 184 Zhang Lu, 116 Zhang Sanyu, 188 Zhang Yalin, 192 Zhen’gao, 120 Zheng He, 197 Zhenglei bencao, 202 Zhongnan mountains, 180–​81, 188 Zhongyong,  32–​33 Zhu Yueli, 184 Zhuangzi, 19, 35, 43, 50, 56, 59–​60, 61, 75, 80–​81, 83, 95, 98, 100–​1, 104, 109, 155–​56, 159–​60, 190, 201–​2,  212 Zisi, 106 Ziyi,  32–​33 Zongjiao xue yanjiu, 183 Zoroaster, 7 Zou Ji, 106 Zou Yan, 15, 106, 109