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Work

Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue

Laozi

The Daodejing explores a Way that cannot be possessed by names and an action that avoids needless force. Its compressed sayings join government, simplicity, withdrawal, and the power of what appears weak.

Composition
layered composition, 4th-3rd centuries BCE
Sources and precision

The range describes formation of the collection. Individual units may have different dates.

Confidence D · disputed range

Period
Antiquity
Languages
Classical Chinese · English · French
Extent
81 passages · 10,432 words

Before reading

What you will learn

Interpret non-action without confusing it with passivity, follow reversals of weak and strong, and understand the limits placed on language.

Short summary

The Daodejing explores a Way that cannot be possessed by names and an action that avoids needless force. Its compressed sayings join government, simplicity, withdrawal, and the power of what appears weak.

Long summary

The short chapters set speech against silence, fullness against emptiness, and domination against flexibility. Non-action does not command passivity; it names a way of avoiding unnecessary control, especially in political conduct.

The work has a layered history of composition and transmission, and the name Laozi does not guarantee one individual author. Paradoxes and images of water, valley, or uncarved wood require relational reading rather than immediate conversion into slogans.

Inside this work

The table of contents follows the divisions actually carried by the corpus.

Work › Received chapter

  1. Chapter 1
  2. Chapter 2
  3. Chapter 3
  4. Chapter 4
  5. Chapter 5
  6. Chapter 6
  7. Chapter 7
  8. Chapter 8
  9. Chapter 9
  10. Chapter 10
  11. Chapter 11
  12. Chapter 12
  13. Chapter 13
  14. Chapter 14
  15. Chapter 15
  16. Chapter 16
  17. Chapter 17
  18. Chapter 18
  19. Chapter 19
  20. Chapter 20
  21. Chapter 21
  22. Chapter 22
  23. Chapter 23
  24. Chapter 24
  25. Chapter 25
  26. Chapter 26
  27. Chapter 27
  28. Chapter 28
  29. Chapter 29
  30. Chapter 30
  31. Chapter 31
  32. Chapter 32
  33. Chapter 33
  34. Chapter 34
  35. Chapter 35
  36. Chapter 36
  37. Chapter 37
  38. Chapter 38
  39. Chapter 39
  40. Chapter 40
  41. Chapter 41
  42. Chapter 42
  43. Chapter 43
  44. Chapter 44
  45. Chapter 45
  46. Chapter 46
  47. Chapter 47
  48. Chapter 48
  49. Chapter 49
  50. Chapter 50
  51. Chapter 51
  52. Chapter 52
  53. Chapter 53
  54. Chapter 54
  55. Chapter 55
  56. Chapter 56
  57. Chapter 57
  58. Chapter 58
  59. Chapter 59
  60. Chapter 60
  61. Chapter 61
  62. Chapter 62
  63. Chapter 63
  64. Chapter 64
  65. Chapter 65
  66. Chapter 66
  67. Chapter 67
  68. Chapter 68
  69. Chapter 69
  70. Chapter 70
  71. Chapter 71
  72. Chapter 72
  73. Chapter 73
  74. Chapter 74
  75. Chapter 75
  76. Chapter 76
  77. Chapter 77
  78. Chapter 78
  79. Chapter 79
  80. Chapter 80
  81. Chapter 81

Concepts covered

Historical context

The world around the text

The Daodejing is generally situated in an age of competing states and intense political experiment. Its chapters have a layered history of composition and transmission. The scenes evoke a world of courts, roads, and withdrawal without claiming to reconstruct one author at work.

These are modern reconstructions. They situate a documented place, practice, or transmission and are not period documents.

Modern reconstruction of Chu cultural region for Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue on Prokopton42.com
Chu cultural regionA plausible cultural setting for early Laozi materials, not a secure biographical location. The environment represents a textual witness and never claims a documented journey by one historical author.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Laozi
Modern reconstruction of Nearby historical landmark, 221 BCE for Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue on Prokopton42.com
Nearby historical landmark, 221 BCEThe Qin unify the rival Chinese kingdoms into a single imperial state. The image situates Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue without claiming to show its scene of composition.
Modern reconstruction of Nearby historical landmark, 221 BCE for Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue on Prokopton42.com
Nearby historical landmark, 221 BCEThe Qin unify the rival Chinese kingdoms into a single imperial state. The image situates Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue without claiming to show its scene of composition.

What the world looked like

Eastern Zhou and Qin China

Modern reconstruction of the material world around Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue: Technology, science, and care
Technology, science, and careCast iron, crossbows, roads, canals, and standardization let states mobilize people and resources on a large scale. Calendars, court astronomy, administrative mathematics, and agricultural observation produce precise knowledge tied to government. Herbs, diet, cautery, and traditions of breath coexist. Diagnosis relies on observation without microbiology.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue: Travel and communication
Travel and communicationWalking, chariots, carts, cavalry, and river craft use networks that rulers seek to standardize. Messengers, bells, drums, bamboo-slip documents, and administrative scripts carry orders and texts.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue: Farming and food
Farming and foodMillet, rice, wheat, livestock, and irrigation feed rural populations subject to taxes and labour service.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Daodejing, Book of the Way and Virtue: Clothing, women and men
Clothing, women and menCross-collared robes, tunics, trousers for some riders, hairstyles, and ornaments vary by rank, gender, and region.
State of technology
Cast iron, crossbows, roads, canals, and standardization let states mobilize people and resources on a large scale.
Science and knowledge
Calendars, court astronomy, administrative mathematics, and agricultural observation produce precise knowledge tied to government.
Medicine and care
Herbs, diet, cautery, and traditions of breath coexist. Diagnosis relies on observation without microbiology.
Transport
Walking, chariots, carts, cavalry, and river craft use networks that rulers seek to standardize.
Agriculture and food
Millet, rice, wheat, livestock, and irrigation feed rural populations subject to taxes and labour service.
Communication
Messengers, bells, drums, bamboo-slip documents, and administrative scripts carry orders and texts.
Clothing and fashion
Cross-collared robes, tunics, trousers for some riders, hairstyles, and ornaments vary by rank, gender, and region.

Editions, translations, and provenance

The following carriers represent the text. They do not create new passage identities.

  • Classical Chinesereceived_original
  • Englishhistorical_translation · 1891
  • Frenchhistorical_translation · 1842

Source manifests: laozi.daodejing

Reader

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Daodejing, Book of the Way and VirtueLaozi

Before reading

What you will learn

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