Laozi was born in the Quren (Ch’ü-Jen) hamlet of Li
village in the state of Chu. There is no information
on his life and exploits, as there exists no comprehensive
or even brief description of Laozi’s life other
than that found in Sima Qian’s (Ssu-ma Chien’s)
works and a few other isolated statements in historical
documents of the Chu and Zhou (Chou) states.
There are, however, legends and traditions associated
with Laozi. According to one legend, he lived in the
state of Zhou for a long time as the keeper of the imperial
archives. Disappointed with the decline, constant
chaos, and disorder of the state, he saddled a
water buffalo and set off for the West.
Sima Qian’s brief biography of this old sage contains
two interesting facts. The first pertains to a
meeting between Laozi and CONFUCIUS during
which Confucius asks Laozi to instruct him in the
performing of ancestral rites, then chastises and
rejects him for his ignorance. This episode of the
meeting between the two philosophers set the basis
for a philosophical rivalry that was perpetuated by
their followers. The second fact relates Laozi’s westward
journey through a mountain pass. According
to Sima Qian, the keeper of the pass pleaded with
the old man to write a book. Laozi did, and the
book became known as the Daodejing (Tao Te
Ching), Laozi’s definitive work. Based on the
Daodejing, most scholars consider Laozi to be the
founder of Daoism (Taoism), an important school
of thought in China and Chinese-influenced areas.
One of the basic concepts of Laozi’s teachings
is wuwei, which means “no excessive action.” This
has often been misinterpreted to mean passivity,
but Laozi emphasized nonaction as the most effective
form of action because he believed that if people
are immersed in activity, they will become one
with the act, rather than becoming bored or restless
and looking for something else to do or forcing
acceptance. The emphasis of nonaction is on softness,
endurance, and adaptability. As Laozi explains
in the Daodejing:
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
In spite of Laozi’s teachings of wuwei, he was at
times dissatisfied with his wandering lifestyle:
I alone am inert, showing no sign of desires,
like an infant that has not yet smiled.
Wearied, indeed, I seem to be without a
home.
The multitude all possess more than
enough,
I alone seem to have lost all . . .
Common folks are indeed brilliant;
I alone seem to be in the dark.
The Daodejing’s importance has not diminished
with time. It has had a deep influence on
Chinese culture, thought, and literature throughout
history, and it is one of the most widely read
books in both China and the world. In English
alone, there exist well over 30 translations. Not
only does the Daodejing embody and reflect the
variety of teachings and ideology that emerged
during the chaotic period of the Warring States
(402–221 B.C.), it also exemplifies the literary creativity
of what is often perceived as the Golden Age
of Chinese philosophical thought.
Critical Analysis
The key idea in Laozi’s text is the Dao (referred to
as both “the way” and “the One”):
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way.
. . . . . . . . . . .
The valley in virtue of the One is full;
The myriad creatures in virtue of the One
are alive;
Lords and princes in virtue of the One become
leaders
in the empire.
It is the One that makes these what they
are.
Laozi saw the Dao as the essence, or foundation, for
the creation and preservation of the universe. The
idea of the Dao as the creator of the universe deviates
from the traditional Chinese concept of Heaven, or
Tien, as the entity that created the universe.
The central idea of the Daodejing is simple:
Human beings should model their lives on the
Dao.Whether people are rulers of nations or peasants working in fields, they must first and foremost
survive. According to Laozi, it is submissiveness
that enables people to live life most efficiently. The
de element of Laozi’s philosophy, which refers to
“virtue,” constitutes the manner in which a person
must live according to the Dao.
There are, however, some contradictions within
the Daodejing. For example, Laozi believed people
became enlightened when they learned to accept
life as it is. Yet he states at one point in the text,
“The reason I have great trouble is that I have a
body.When I no longer have a body, what trouble
have I?” This idea of transcending the limits of
corporeal form hints at the influence of Hindu-
Buddhist ideology and repudiates to some extent
the Daoist belief in nonaction.
In another part of the Daodejing, Laozi comments
on the balance of opposition:
Thus Something and Nothing produce each
other;
The difficult and the easy complement each
other;
The long and the short off-set each other;
The high and the low incline towards each
other;
Note and sound harmonize each other;
Before and after follow each other.
As explained in the passage, what is high is determined
by its opposite, which is low. If either one is
removed, the other cannot exist in isolation.
Therefore, perhaps Laozi’s comment on transcending
life balances the realities of life with
dreams, for what person does not dream beyond
their real abilities?
This balance is most clearly revealed in the
Daodejing’s themes: the mundane and worldly
concerns of human life and mysticism. Laozi
clearly presents these themes in two distinct types
of passages. The first concerns cosmogony and the
origins of the universe. A common metaphor that
he uses in these passages is the womb. Just as living
beings emerge from a mother’s womb, so is the
universe born from the womb of what Laozi refers
to as the “mysterious female”:
The spirit of the valley never dies.
This is called the mysterious female.
The gateway of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth. . . .
The second type of passage details the actions
and practices of the individual. Laozi uses the
image of a newly born baby to represent a being
that is submissive, weak, and helpless. The baby’s
frailty and innocence has the power to cause adults
to care for it. Ironically, this frailty symbolizes
strength, and this, Laozi suggests, is the ideal form
of human virtue.
Laozi’s descriptions of balance—nonaction as
effective action, having all and nothing, everything
in view of the One, submissiveness and force, acceptance
versus transcendence, reality versus
dream, and the worldly versus the mystical—are
what have made the Daodejing a work for all ages
and all time. As Stephen Mitchell states in the introduction
to his translation of the text, “Like an
Iroquois woodsman, [Laozi] left no traces. All he
left us is his book: the classic manual on the art of
living,written in a style of gemlike lucidity, radiant
with humor and grace and large-heartedness and
deep wisdom: one of the wonders of the world.”
English Versions of the Daodejing
Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching. Translated with an introduction
by D. C. Lau. Middlesex, U.K.: Penguin
Books, 1963.
Tao Te Ching. Translated with foreword and notes by
Stephen Mitchell. London:Macmillan, 1988.
Works about Laozi
Fung-Yu Lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy, Translated
by Derk Bodde. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1952, 171–172, 186–190.
Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism. Sacred Books of the
East, Vol. 40. New York: Dover, 1962, Chapters 3
and 4.
Wing-Tsit Chan. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969.