Historical Introduction

to the Tao-te-ching

by M. LaFargue

The origins of the Tao Te Ching (Daode Jing), are shrouded in mystery. The earliest manuscript has no title and names no author. Most critical scholars today think it is a collection of sayings from an oral tradition, rather than the work of any single individual, and that its traditional author "Lao-tzu" (or Laozi, literally "Old Master") may not have been an historical person. Perhaps the best one can do by way of historical introduction, therefore, is first to sketch the general situation in China about the time the Tao Te Ching was written (circa 350-250 b.c.), and then make some suggestions as to how the Tao Te Ching came into being.

During the period from roughly 1000-700 b.c., China was unified under the rule of a single Emperor of the Chou Dynasty. The Chou Dynasty Empire was divided into many smaller states, with each state governed by a noble family who ruled on behalf of the Emperor, in a system similar to the "feudal" order of medieval Europe. An idealized picture of this "united China" maintained its hold on Chinese thinkers long after the system itself had disintegrated.

Starting in the 8th century b.c. the Chou Empire began to disintegrate. The Emperor lost all effective control. Noble families within each state competed with the official ruling family for power, and the heads of the various states waged constant territorial wars against each other, each vying to reunite the now fragmented empire under his own rule. Over time, larger states swallowed up smaller ones, so that by 300 b.c. only seven large states remained. The latter part of this era is called the "Warring States" period because of the great unrest. However, this period was also a time of considerable material progress and prosperity. And the self-destruction of the nobility during this time gave rise to great opportunities for those lower on the social scale to advance to positions of power, influence, and wealth. One of these groups was a class of men called shih, drawn from ambitious peasantry or dispossessed nobility, who became professional soldiers, administrators, and advisors to the new rulers of the various states during this period. It is from this group that most classical Chinese philosophers came.

The Warring States period came to an end in 221 b.c. when a military leader from the Western state of Ch'in conquered the other states and reunited the Empire under his military dictatorship. His dynasty was very soon replaced in 206 b.c. by the Han dynasty (206 b.c. - 220 a.d.), and it was this dynasty that finally established the pattern of Chinese political organization that was to last until 1912: An Emperor who ruled through a large corps of elite specially trained bureaucrats, open (in theory at least) to all ranks of Chinese society. It was this corps that inherited the role of Warring States shih.

Some Warring States shih undoubtedly focused on purely practical matters. But others were very idealistic, and had hopes to reform Chinese political life by infusing it with high moral and spiritual ideals. They intended to do this through the administrative positions they aspired to hold, and through the advice they hoped to offer to contemporary rulers. The earliest and most famous of such idealistic shih was the group that gathered around Confucius (K'ung-tzu or Kongzi, circa 550-480 b.c.). By the time of the Warring States there were probably hundreds of such small groups of men, typically gathered around one or more highly respected shih teachers, often traveling from state to state hoping to gain positions of influence where they could convince local rulers to reform their policies. Intense discussion within, and debates between, these groups gave rise to most of what we know today as classical Chinese philosophy.

There were several groups who claimed to practice "the Tao of Confucius," emphasizing Benevolence, Uprightness, and Etiquette, and supporting family loyalties and social amenities. The Mohists, a very large and well organized group capable of deploying its own private army to come to the aid of unjustly victimized states, emphasized a utilitarian social morality motivated by love for all people equally. The fa-chia (usually translated "realists", or "legalists") devised political strategies based on analysis of political and economic forces, and emphasized legal and administrative governmental structure rather than the personal virtue of the ruler. Attempts by these groups to formulate doctrines and counter-doctrines gave rise to a specialized focus on language, stimulating the earliest Chinese "logicians". Most of the philosophers known to us from this period were greatly preoccupied with questions of leadership and social organization. Other shih, however, became disillusioned and withdrew from political life entirely. Among these are some Taoist groups described in the Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi), another book roughly contemporary with the Tao Te Ching and expressing similar ideas.

The opening paragraph of Chapter 15 of the Chuang Tzu contains the following description of the several main lifestyles adopted by different groups of Warring States shih:

[Shih who, out of scrupulous concern for their moral integrity, refuse to have anything to do with politics:] To have strict ideals and high-minded ways, to feel alien from the times and different from the ordinary masses, to discourse loftily and criticize vindictively, interested only in their strong convictions -- this describes the ways favored by the shih of mountains and valleys, men who condemn the age, and who wither away or drown themselves [in despair].

[High-minded Confucian reformers:] To preach Benevolence and Uprightness... being respectful, temperate, modest, deferential, interested only in improving themselves -- this describes the ways favored by shih who go putting the world to rights, the men who teach and advise, the "Learners" both of the wandering and the stay-at-home kind.

[Egotistic shih and political schemers:] To talk of great achievements and establishing great reputations, to make ruler and minister observe the formalities, and reform the ways both of superior and subject, interested only in maintaining order -- these are the ways preferred by shih at court, men who put kings on their thrones and strengthen their states, those who achieve great successes, conquering more territories.

[Shih who have withdrawn from the world to live a simple and happy private life:] To head for the woods and marshes, dwell in the unsettled wilderness, just fish and live untroubled, interested only in Doing Nothing [wu wei]-- these are the ways preferred by shih of the rivers and seaside, men who shun the times, untroubled idlers.

[Shih who became preoccupied with various yogic techniques for strengthening vital energy and increasing longevity:] To huff and puff, exhale and inhale, blow out the old breath and draw in the new, practice the 'bear-hang' and the 'bird-stretch' postures, interested only in attaining long life -- these are the ways preferred by shih of 'guide-and-pull' exercises, men who nurture their bodies, hoping to live as long as Grandfather Peng.

The Tao Te Ching shows an acquaintance with most of the schools and attitudes described above, incorporating some of these views into its own vision, while criticizing others. How did the book originate, and what is its message? Modern scholars are divided on this issue. Most scholars in the past regarded this book as the work of a single thinker, a philosopher or mystic. Some scholars see him as someone very frightened by the chaos and danger of the Warring States period, and preoccupied with devising strategies for achieving personal security. Others see him as a radical social critic, attacking the entire feudal political system and advocating a return to a more primitive communal society. Still others see him as the first metaphysician in China, discovering (perhaps through mystical insight) the Tao as the ultimate Ground of Being underlying all visible phenomena. And finally, some think that the paradoxes in the Tao Te Ching are meant simply to undermine all human value judgments, teaching us a radical skeptical relativism.

These difficulties in interpretation are due partly to the form of the book. It does not consist of organized essays, but a collection of terse aphorisms and comments strung together with very little indication as to how they are connected. Different interpreters see different passages as central to its message, and have different ways of relating various passages to one another. In addition, some see contradictions in the book, compounding problems for interpretation. Those who think that Tao is an Ultimate Reality beyond all determinations and dualities (like the Brahman of Hinduism), for example, have difficulty with the fact that the Tao Te Ching is clearly ("dualistically") partial to Softness, Femininity, and Emptiness, in contrast to Hardness, Masculinity, and Fullness. Many sections of the Tao Te Ching are obviously advice about how to rule a country, and this political orientation seems at odds with the contemplative "mysticism" many see in the book, with its advice to "do nothing", with its skepticism about value judgments, and finally with the alienation from conventional society and values expressed in many passages. Some think in fact that the Tao Te Ching was probably written in at least two stages: first as an apolitical, "mystical" book, advocating withdrawal from public life to contemplate the transcendent Tao; at a later stage someone added the "political" material, applying some of the mystical values to problems of political leadership.

My own recent research into the question of the the Tao Te Ching's origin. suggests that it consists mainly of sayings from the oral tradition of a Warring States shih school, coined probably by several anonymous teachers in the school, and artfully arranged by teachers in eighty-one "sayings collages" that make up our present book. It was not originally addressed to the general public, but to members of this "Laoist" school itself, who would have been already familiar with the meaning of its many enigmatic sayings.

Like some of the shih described by Chuang Tzu, Laoists were alienated from conventional society of their time. This alienation is expressed in the many anti-conventional sayings, like "elegant words are not sincere" (i.e. speakers whom the public greatly admires are typically untrustworthy). Feeling alienated from society, Laoists developed an internal source of personal nourishment, a spirituality centered on cultivating certain states of mind, described by terms like Stillness, Emptiness, Softness, Femininity, Steadiness, Clarity, and Harmony. The terms "Tao" and "Te" (Dao and De) also refer to the state of mind that Laoists cultivated. Tao and Te were conceived of as "cosmic" forces because of the immense foundational importance this state of mind was felt to have in the lives of Laoists.

However, unlike some other Taoists, their alienation and spiritual orientation did not lead Laoists to abandon society and politics for life in the wilderness. They had great ambitions to replace the Emperor as spiritual leaders of China, and to exercise this leadership through the traditional middle-level positions held by shih as administrators and advisors to rulers. Although many sayings in the Tao Te Ching are relevant to people in all walks of life, it addresses particularly the problems, opportunities, and especially the vices typical of people in positions of authority. It is best seen as an internal critique of shih by shih, to elevate their attitudes and practice by uncompromising criticism of all the main vices to which people in their position are tempted.

For example, those actively engaged in practical affairs are prone to anxiety, stress, and overstimulation, wearing themselves out. To combat this, the Tao Te Ching joins those the Chuang Tzu calls "the nurturers of the body" in advocating meditative exercises that conserve one's life-energy and engender an unshakeable internal state of Stillness and Steadiness, immune from the ups and downs of political fortune (see chs. 4, 6, 10, 16, 26, 52). Some shih, according to the Chuang Tzu, tended toward ambitious egotism, eager to "talk of great achievements and establish great reputations". Many sayings in the Tao Te Ching speak directly against this kind of egotistic self-promotion; a good shih devotes himself to public service but is self-effacing about his own achievements (see chs. 7, 8, 9, 22, 24, 81).

Some idealistic shih of the Confucian persuasion tried to prepare themselves for a role in reformist politics by polishing their own characters, reshaping them according to high notions of Benevolence and Uprightness. The Tao Te Ching sees these "virtues" as artificial substitutes for a more natural goodness which the shih ought to cultivate instead (see chs. 18, 38, 48). People in charge often see themselves as "knowledge-experts", with a thorough understanding of reality and public affairs, able to articulate this knowledge very clearly in doctrines and laws about the way things are, and able to "work on the world" reshaping it the way it ought to be. Against this, the Tao Te Ching asserts the inability of conceptual knowledge to grasp the real "right Way" (Tao) in which things ought to be done. The truth about the world and how to manage it can only be intuitively understood by one who cultivates depth in his own mind. The Tao Te Ching also emphasizes the unpredictability of events in the real world, and recommends respecting the spontaneous organic order of the social world--wu-wei, "not working"-- rather than trying to "work it over" according to some ideal plan (see chs. 29, 58, 64).

Those in positions of responsibility often try to win the respect of those under them by awing them, and assertively insisting on recognition of their high status. Against this, the Tao Te Ching insists that the best ruler is like the ocean, which becomes the greatest of all bodies of water by being lower than all the rivers. Just as all rivers naturally flow toward the "low" ocean, so the allegiance of all the people will flow in a natural and unforced way toward the ruler who presents himself as someone "lower" than they (see ch. 61, 66, 68). Political leaders are often tempted to rely on physical violence to gain and maintain power. Against this, the Tao Te Ching recommends defeating one's opposition by indirect "soft" measures (this is the origin of Japanese "Judo", from Chinese jou-tao, literally "soft Tao"), resorting to war only as a last resort (see chs. 30, 31, 36). Finally, many Warring States shih were recommending that the rulers of states should gear up for economic progress by replacing the traditional ways of peasant farmers, encouraging instead personal ambition and calculating rationality as ways of increasing material prosperity. Against this, the Tao Te Ching was profoundly "conservative", supporting peasant-conservatism, opposing this disturbing "progress" and competitiveness in defense of a simpler, contented agricultural peasant society (see chs. 3, 57, 65, 80).