A Sense of Doubt blog post #2280 - BE LIKE WATER - my favorite from Tao te Ching
Comic book Sunday will return next week on 2105.23.
SOME WIKI BASICS
The Tao Te Ching (/ˈdaʊ ˈdɛ ˈdʒɪŋ/ DOW DEH JING), also
known by its pinyin romanization Dao De Jing, is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to
the 6th-century BC sage Laozi. The
text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated.[1] The
oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC,[2] but modern scholarship
dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later
than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi.[3]
The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi,
is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. It
also strongly influenced other schools of Chinese philosophy and religion,
including Legalism, Confucianism,
and Buddhism, which was largely interpreted through the
use of Taoist words and concepts when it was originally introduced to China.
Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers,
and gardeners, have used the Tao Te Ching as
a source of inspiration. Its influence has spread widely outside East Asia and
it is among the most translated works in world literature.[2]
Tao Te Ching is
the Wade–Giles romanization of the same name as
the pinyin Daodejing and should be
pronounced in the same way.[a] That is, its ⟨t⟩s should be pronounced closer to English ⟨d⟩s. The Chinese characters in the title are:
Dào/tao literally means "way", or one
of its synonyms, but was extended to mean "the Way". This term, which
was variously used by other Chinese philosophers (including Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, and Hanfeizi),
has special meaning within the context of Taoism, where it implies the
essential, unnamable process of the universe.
Dé/te means "virtue", "personal
character", "inner strength" (virtuosity), or
"integrity". The semantics of this Chinese word resemble
English virtue, which developed from the Italian virtù,
an archaic sense of "inner potency" or "divine power" (as
in "healing virtue of a drug") to the modern meaning of "moral
excellence" or "goodness". Compare the compound
word taote
(Chinese: 道德; pinyin: Dàodé; literally: "ethics",
"ethical principles", "morals" or "morality"). Jīng/ching as it is used
here means "canon", "great book", or "classic".
The Tao Te Ching is ascribed to Lao Tzu, whose historical existence has been a matter of scholastic debate. His name, which means "Old Master", has only fueled controversy on this issue.[16]
The first reliable reference to Laozi is his
"biography" in Shiji (63, tr. Chan 1963:35–37), by Chinese
historian Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC), which combines three stories.
First, Lao Tzu was a contemporary of Confucius (551–479 BC). His surname was Li (李 "plum"), and his personal name
was Er (耳 "ear") or Dan (聃 "long ear"). He was an
official in the imperial archives, and wrote a book in two parts before
departing to the West. Second, Laozi was Lao Laizi (老來子 "Old Come Master"), also a contemporary of
Confucius, who wrote a book in 15 parts. Third, Laozi was the grand historian
and astrologer Lao Dan (老聃 "Old
Long-ears"), who lived during the reign (384–362 BC) of Duke Xian (獻公) of Qin).
Generations of scholars have debated the historicity of Laozi
and the dating of the Tao Te Ching. Linguistic studies of the
text's vocabulary and rhyme scheme
point to a date of composition after the Shi
Jing yet before
the Zhuangzi. Legends claim variously that Laozi was "born old";
that he lived for 996 years, with twelve previous incarnations starting around
the time of the Three Sovereigns before the thirteenth as Laozi. Some Western
scholars have expressed doubts over Lao Tzu's historical existence, claiming
that the Tao Te Ching is actually a collection of the work of
various authors.
Many Taoists venerate Lao Tzu as Daotsu, the founder
of the school of Dao, the Daode Tianjun in the Three
Pure Ones, and one of the eight
elders transformed from Taiji in the Chinese creation myth.
LOW POWER MODE: I sometimes put the blog in what I call LOW POWER MODE. If you see this note, the blog is operating like a sleeping computer, maintaining static memory, but making no new computations. If I am in low power mode, it's because I do not have time to do much that's inventive, original, or even substantive on the blog. This means I am posting straight shares, limited content posts, reprints, often something qualifying for the THAT ONE THING category and other easy to make posts to keep me daily. That's the deal. Thanks for reading.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2105.16 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2144 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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