The Tao Te Ching is an ancient Chinese classic text written by the sage Lao Tzu in the sixth century BC.  Also spelled as Tao Teh King, Daodejing and Dao De Jing, and referred to in China simply as Laozi or Lao Tsu, it can be translated into English as “The Classic Book of the Virtuous Way”.   (“Tao” means “way “de” means “virtue” or “integrity”; and “ching” means “great book” or “classic”.) The first verse famously sets out the ineffable mystery of the Tao, which is nameless, beyond words and distinctions, passive, intuitive, and attentive to wu wei, or effortless action.

The book is a sequence of 81 short poems structured in two parts – the Tao Ching (chapters 1-37) and the Te Ching (chapters 38-81).  The style combines two elements: laconic, poetic, and memorable declarative statements and intentional contradictions that force the listener to reconcile the resulting ambiguities.  The absence of grammatical connectors increases the ambiguity and gives rise to endless varying interpretations. The Tao Te Ching has a long and complex history and an abundant body of scholarship resulting from the study of three versions ranging from the second century BC to the third century AD.  The oldest version dated prior to 300 BC was discovered in 1993 and consists of 800 slips of bamboo.

The Tao Te Ching is a fundamental text in both religious and philosophical Taoism and has greatly influenced Confucianism, Legalism, and Chinese Buddhism, which was originally introduced to China through Taoist concepts and terminology.  It is a continuing source of inspiration to Chinese artists and is one of the most translated works in all of world literature.

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