In this Book

A Translation of Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching and Wang Pi’s Commentary

Book
Translated by Paul J. Lin
2020
Published by: University of Michigan Press
Series: Michigan Monographs In Chinese Studies
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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summary
During the Spring-Autumn period (722–420 BCE) and the time of the Warring States (480–222 CE), China was in great turmoil. Intellectuals and social reformers sifted through their wisdom and knowledge of China’s experiences up to then, attempting to find a solution to their situation.
The Tao Te Ching, one of the foremost products of the era, is a metaphysical book, a source of the highest political thought. Many readers have found in it representations of the highest ideals of human endeavors. Yet given its likely oral origin and the technological limitations of its early textual transmission, the Tao Te Ching raises numerous questions related to authorship, date of origin, internal organization, textual coherence, and editorial history.
Of the scores of translations of the Tao Te Ching, the great majority are based on the edition prepared by the third-century scholar Wang Pi. Wang’s profound commentary is itself a deeply influential text in the development of Taoist thought. Paul Lin presents the commentary, otherwise unavailable in English, in the form of footnotes accompanying his meticulous rendition of the Taoist classic.

Table of Contents

open access

Cover

Series Page

pp. i-ii

Title Page

pp. iii

Copyright

pp. iv

Contents

pp. v-vi

Acknowledgments

pp. vii-viii

Introduction

pp. ix-xxvii

Book One

pp. 1-2

1

pp. 3-4

2

pp. 5-6

3

pp. 7-8

4

pp. 9-10

5

pp. 11-12

6

pp. 13

7

pp. 14-

8

pp. 15

9

pp. 16

10

pp. 17-18

11

pp. 19

12

pp. 20-21

13

pp. 22-23

14

pp. 24-25

15

pp. 26-27

16

pp. 28-29

17

pp. 30-31

18

pp. 32-33

19

pp. 34

20

pp. 35-37

21

pp. 38-39

22

pp. 40-41

23

pp. 42-43

24

pp. 44

25

pp. 45-47

26

pp. 48

27

pp. 49-50

28

pp. 51-52

29

pp. 53-54

30

pp. 55-56

31

pp. 57

32

pp. 58

33

pp. 60

34

pp. 61-62

35

pp. 63

36

pp. 64

37

pp. 65-66

Book Two

pp. 67-68

38

pp. 69-70

39

pp. 75-76

40

pp. 77

41

pp. 78-80

42

pp. 81-82

43

pp. 83

44

pp. 84

45

pp. 85-86

46

pp. 87

47

pp. 88

48

pp. 89

49

pp. 90-92

50

pp. 93-94

51

pp. 95-96

52

pp. 97-98

53

pp. 99-100

54

pp. 101-102

55

pp. 103-104

56

pp. 105-106

57

pp. 107-108

58

pp. 109-110

59

pp. 111

60

pp. 112-113

61

pp. 114-115

62

pp. 116-117

63

pp. 118

64

pp. 119

65

pp. 121-122

66

pp. 123

67

pp. 124-125

68

pp. 126

69

pp. 127

70

pp. 128-129

71

pp. 130

72

pp. 131-132

73

pp. 133-134

74

pp. 135

75

pp. 136

76

pp. 137

77

pp. 138

78

pp. 139

79

pp. 140

80

pp. 141-142

81

pp. 143-144

Appendices

pp. 145-146

Appendix I. The Collective Biography Of Lao Tzu

pp. 147-150

Appendix II. The Biography Of Wang Pi

pp. 151-156

Appendix III. The Major Differences Between Wang Pi’s Edition And The Ma-wang-tui Editions A And B

pp. 157-176

Selected Bibliography

pp. 177-198

Series Page

pp. 199-201
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