Daodejing

Dàodéjīng ( 道德 經 ) - kl. Seal script

The Daodejing ( Chinese  道德 經  /  道德 经 , Pinyin Dàodéjīng ^{? / I} , W.-G. Tao ⁴ Te ² Ching ¹ , Jyutping Dou ⁶ dak ¹ went ¹ ) is a collection of chapters of sayings that, according to Chinese legend, were written by a wise man named Lǎozǐ , who, according to the Dàodéjīng, disappeared in a westerly direction. It contains a humanistic political doctrine, which aims at the liberation from violence and poverty and the permanent establishment of a harmonious coexistence and ultimately world peace . The history of its origins is uncertain and is the subject of sinological research. Regardless of other translations, Dao ( 道 ) means way, flow, principle and meaning, and De ( 德 ) means virtue, goodness, integrity and inner strength (strength of character). Jing ( 經  /  经 ) denotes a canonical work , a manual or a classical collection of texts. The two names given by the name stand for something that cannot be definitively determined, the actual meaning of which the book would like to indicate. For this reason, they are often left untranslated. The work is considered to be the founding script of Daoism . Although this includes various currents that can differ significantly from the teachings of Dao Jing, it is regarded as a canonical , sacred text by the followers of all Daoist schools .

The book

Spellings

In addition to different spelling , there are also different writing systems in Chinese writing . Besides various fonts , a distinction now generally already in the Empire used traditional characters that only in Hong Kong , Macau and Taiwan are officially, and in the People's Republic created abbreviation which in mainland China , Singapore and Malaysia are considered official standard. In older historical sources the Daodejing is reproduced in traditional characters, newer sources also reproduce it in short characters. There are also different systems for translating characters into the Latin alphabet ; The Hanyu-Pinyin system (mostly short: Pinyin ) is by far the most frequently used for standard Chinese and is now official in all states with Chinese as the official language .

character		Couvreur	Lessing-Othmer	Pinyin	pole	Tongyong Pinyin	Unger	Wade-Giles	Wilhelm	Yale
道	道	tao	last	dào	tao	dào	tao	tao	tao	last
德	德	té	de	dé	tê	dé	têh	tê	te	de
經	经	king	djing	jīng	king	jing	king	ching	king	jing

Source for the tables:
Note: " 經  /  经 " also possible as " Ging "

Authorship

→ Main article : Lǎozǐ

Laozi is an honorary title and basically means the old master and describes the supposed author of the Daodejing, but occasionally also the book itself. Apart from the work itself, we only have a short legend about the person presented as the author and some mentions of later historians ( Sima Qian ) and several fictional conversations (written by students of Confucius and Zhuangzi ). The fact that the "official" Li Er, scholarly name Bo Yang (Count Sun), later Lao Dan (old teacher), who was referred to with the honorary name Lǎozǐ, really existed, is therefore strongly doubted today. "And yet, from the available aphorisms , we speak to an original and inimitable personality, in our opinion the best proof of its historicity." (R.Wilhelm) This claim by Richard Wilhelm must be contradicted for the reason that the individual chapters of the Daodejing have considerable differences in the style of language, so that the text certainly does not come from a pen and also not from a lifetime of an individual person. Since the Chinese language does not generally differentiate between singular and plural, the term Lǎozǐ could simply mean the old masters .

According to the Chinese tradition , Lǎoz soll is said to be at the time of the spring and autumn annals in the 6th century BC. Chr. Lived. The time was marked by unrest and wars and a heyday of Chinese philosophy , as many scholars wondered how peace and stability could be achieved again. According to legend, Lǎozǐ was an imperial archivist and librarian. It is said, for example, of Zhuangzi that Confucius came to him to learn from him. To escape the turmoil of time, Lǎozǐ is said to have withdrawn into the solitude of the mountains. The border guard of the mountain pass is said to have asked him not to withhold his wisdom from the world, whereupon Lǎozǐ wrote the Daodejing and gave it to the border guard. This story, like the other parts of the biography of the "old master", is considered by most to be a legend today.

Text shape

Daodejing ( 道德 經 ) - Mawangdui silk book "Version B" ( 馬王堆 帛書 乙 本 )

time

Since the authorship is unclear, the opinions of the research on the exact time of origin of the Daodejing differ greatly: The estimates ranged from 800 to 200 BC; According to current knowledge (linguistic, citations etc.) the text is probably around 400 BC. BC originated. Quotations from the Daodéjīng can be found in many other traditions of this period, but it cannot be clarified with certainty who cited whom. The Daodejing contains a handful of explicit quotations, but not the names of the authors and no historical references. However, the timing of the text appears to be of little importance for the “timeless” teaching therein.

shape

The work was only given the title Daodejing by the Han emperor Jing (157–141 BC). The current division into 81 sections was also only given to the text in the 3rd century . It is believed that the text is the written version of an older oral tradition and that it has taken up and integrated other traditions. The traditional form of the text is not the only one that has ever existed. In 1973, two parallel versions of the text (approx. 206 BC and 179 BC) were found in a grave in Mawangdui , the content of which differed surprisingly little, mostly only grammatically, from the traditional text. The version A ( 甲本 ) is in a written form between the seal script and clerical script written, while the version B ( 乙本 ) as clerical script was written. The same applies to the so-called Guodian text (approx. 300–280 BC), which was only discovered in the early 1990s , and which approximates about a third of the text (32 chapters in whole or in part) to the original over approx. 100 years; ; Both finds were analyzed character by character in the West by the American sinologist Robert G. Henricks and presented in comparison with the traditional text.

features

Daodejing contains nothing less than a cosmology, at the same time a kind of guide for individual personality development and also a political guide for the attitude of the ruler and the development of the state. Style and vocabulary are typical of classical Chinese. The density of information that is already available due to the linguistic structure of classical Chinese is reinforced by the form of the text as a poem originally rhymed to around 80% . There is an extreme context dependency for the interpretation of the text. The text also contains some passages in the text that are puzzling at first sight, which are difficult to understand, but have now been the subject of scientific research.

Translations

"Look! - But it cannot be seen. His name is "invisible". Listen! - But it cannot be heard. His name is "inaudible". Reach for it! - But it is beyond belief. His name is «unbelievable». "

- Daodejing 14

The Daodejing is considered to be the most translated text after the Bible - there are about 300 English, over 100 German and at least 300 other translations (about 70 in Spanish, 60 in French, 50 each in Italian and Dutch), with one still remaining rapidly increasing number of both good scientific papers and purely interpretive versions by amateurs.

Dealing with translations of this text is problematic: Even in Chinese , traditional damage and the ambiguity of the content of Chinese characters cause difficulties for the interpreter, which is why several hundred comments on the text were created. When translated into another language, the script loses clarity again and, ultimately, it can hardly be avoided that the translator, in an effort to deliver a readable text, only presents one of several possible interpretations with his translation, or in that Endeavor to summarize different interpretive approaches in one expression, then there are hardly any fluently readable word creations; therefore more recent works with information on the working method and the creation of the transmission are an important reference point for readers and Western Daoists.

The first translation of Daodejing into a Western language was that of the Jesuit Jean-François Noëlas around 1720 into Latin.

The content

Dao and De

The current title of the work - "The Book of the Dao and the De" - refers to the two central concepts of Lǎozǐ's worldview . There are different translations of these two words; “Way” and “virtue”, which were used as early as the 19th century, are relatively common (e.g. in Debon) . Richard Wilhelm considered the moralizing "virtue" to be absurd and saw extensive agreement with the terms "meaning" and "life", which earned him some criticism. The terms Dào and Dé are used in all directions of Chinese philosophy, but are given one in Daodejing special meaning where they were first used in the sense of a highest or deepest reality and a comprehensive principle . The Daodejing does not approach these expressions in a definitional way, especially not the Dao, but limit it by negations: if it is not possible to indicate positively What it is, one can say what it is not. As an origin, elemental force that shapes change and the immanent connection of all being, the Dao permeates all phenomena in the world, it permeates everything as a principle that reveals itself through deep insight into the phenomena what there is and what is happening. By making it different from partial thoughts and precaution Underlying all being, it is eternal. Daodejing illustrates this with parables . ^{(1, 4, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 32, 34, 41, 53, 77)}

“In the depths of man there is the possibility of knowing the origin. If the depth is buried, the waves of existence go over it as if it were not at all. "

- K. Jaspers : Munich 1957, p. 910

Man is able to connect with the Dao in silence and self-reflection. Then all appearances reveal themselves to him in their true, unadulterated nature.

Lǎozǐ describes the origin of life as feminine or maternal. The religious scholar Friedrich Heiler suspects that Lǎozǐ came from a cultural area under maternal law .

By aligning his life with the Dao, a person receives his De (. In the language of classical Chinese, the De probably goes back to ideas of a force as it was associated with the figure of the shamans in China of the Shang Dynasty , the possessed a magical power connected with the idea of Qi (Ch'i). The first part of the character dé 德 is assigned the original meaning is crossroads (彳). In this symbol it indicates that it is is an expression that relates to the way in which one approaches people and things, which "path" one takes. 直 means "on a straight path"; the eyes also appear in this sign, i.e. in that the correct, correct way. The executing organ is the heart 心, which contains all functions of the spirit-soul (dispatch, consciousness, perception, sensation). The old dictionary shuo-wen explains the meaning as follows: "in the outer den (other en) Reaching people, reaching oneself inside ". What is meant is the appropriate, sincere, straight, direct path to one's own heart and that of others. The ability to meet yourself and others and to enable real touch.

The wise

Much of the Daodejing deals with the figure of the wise, saint ( Shengren , 聖人  /  圣人 , shèngrén ) or called, who has brought the Dao into account in his work to mastery. Numerous chapters end with the lessons he draws from the observations made. ^{(2, 7, 22, 49, 58, 64)} Of course, a head of government should be guided by this example, as his decisions influence the fate of many.

Particular attention is paid to the return of his self up to the self-emptying. The very fact that he does not want anything of his own requires the completion of his own. ⁽⁷⁾ He does not claim his products and works for himself. Rather, he then withdraws (which is why he does not remain abandoned). ⁽²⁾ It is precisely the non-persistence in the completed work is the Dao of heaven , which underlines the positive effectiveness of this procedure. ⁽⁹⁾ This occurs completely by itself, without arguing, without talking, without waving. ⁽⁷³⁾ The wise dwell in work without action (Wu Wei). Its value lies in the instruction without words , which is particularly difficult to obtain ⁽⁴³⁾ . It is not explained further, so you have to use your own imagination to give meaning to this term.

Wu Wei

character			Pinyin	Jyutping	meaning
無	無	无	wú	mou 4	without, not, no
爲	為	为	wéi	wai 4	(to) do (to) act

Source : See below

One basis that results from knowledge of the Dao is non-action ( Wu Wei ). This non-intervention in all areas of life seems to the western reader at first utopian and unworldly. It is based on the insight that the Dao, which is the origin and goal of all things, pushes itself to balance all forces and thus to the optimal solution. For Lǎozǐ, doing is a (deliberate) deviation from natural balance through human excess. Every deviation therefore results in an (unintentional) countermovement that tries to restore the disturbed balance.

"Actual unintentionality, which in its simplicity is the riddle, has perhaps never been made so decidedly the basis of all truth of action in philosophizing as it was by Lao Tzu."

- K. Jaspers : Munich 1957, p. 908

Whose government is quiet and unobtrusive, whose people are sincere and honest. Whose government is astute and staunch, its people are insidious and unreliable. Unhappiness is what happiness is based on, happiness is what misfortune lurks on. But who knows that it is the highest if it is not ordered? For otherwise the order turns into miraculous things and the good turns into superstition. And the days of the people's delusion are indeed long. ⁽⁵⁸⁾

By doing what spontaneously corresponds to the natural conditions, he does not intervene in the work of the Dao and thus chooses the beneficial path. A person, according to Lǎozǐ, who abandons willful action becomes yielding and soft. It ranks at the bottom and thus achieves first place. Because it is soft and pliable like a young tree, it survives the storms of time. Because he doesn't argue, no one can argue with him. ⁽⁶⁶⁾ In this way a person lives in accordance with the origin of life. But life also includes death. And yet Lǎoz heißt says that whoever knows how to lead life well has no mortal place . ⁽⁵⁰⁾

The goodness of water

The Daodejing recognizes properties of the Dao in the water. There is nothing softer and weaker than water . But it is incomparable to the hard. ⁽⁷⁸⁾ The soft and weak triumph over the hard and strong. ⁽³⁶⁾ A newborn being is soft and weak, but when it dies, it is hard and strong. ⁽⁷⁶⁾ The strong and the great are below. So is the water: because it can hold down well, mountain streams and valley water pour into streams and seas. This is how the Dao is related to the world. ^{(66, 32)} The Dao is always flowing, ⁽⁴⁾ overflowing, ⁽³⁴⁾ and it gives harmony to the always aspiring beings. ⁽⁴²⁾ Supreme goodness be like water: It is useful to all beings without quarreling. ⁽⁸⁾ Do not deny them the Dao either; ^{(34) not} even the wise one. ⁽²⁾

Morality is poverty

A Dao person abandons personal desires and desires as well as socially recognized goals and rules. In this respect, he no longer tries to be morally good. For Lǎozǐ, morality is already the final stage of the decline of motives: If the SENSE [Dao] is lost, then LIFE [De]. ... then love. … Justice. … the custom. The custom is faithfulness and poor faith and the beginning of confusion. ⁽³⁸⁾ Only when the Dao is lost do people invent customs and commandments, which distant them even further from natural activity. The government should not encourage this: abandon morality, throw away duty, and the people will return to filial duty and love. ⁽¹⁹⁾

With this, Laozi stands in stark contrast to the influential moral doctrine of Confutse , who upheld and cultivated custom and law as formulations of the ultimate truth. Likewise, Confutse speaks of the fact that in the art of government the “names” (words) must first be corrected, of which Lǎozǐ in turn says they cannot be dispensed with in order to survey all things , ⁽²¹⁾ but they do not affect their eternal essence. ⁽¹⁾ He recommends doing without: Seldom uses the words, then everything will go by itself. ⁽²³⁾ The SENSE as eternal is nameless simplicity. ⁽³²⁾ But many words are exhausted from it. It is better to keep the inside. ⁽⁵⁾

Philanthropy

The Daodejing not only calls for non-intervention, but also for standing up for fellow human beings, kindness and forbearance , similar to Christian love of neighbor and enemy . Chapter 49 (translated by Viktor Kalinke):

"The wise man's heart and mind are not always alike

He raises the heart and spirit of the people to his own

I treat the good well

good for the bad too

Virtue is goodness

I face the sincere with sincere

to the insincere also to be sincere

Virtue is sincerity

Does the wise rule under heaven:

reluctantly, he holds back

intervenes, following your heart and mind

with everyone under heaven to agree on simple things

In the people all strain their ears and eyes

The wise meet them like children "

government

Almost half of the 81 chapters of Daodejing relate in some form or another explicitly to the people, the consequences of various modes of government and the relationship with the military. The following is a compilation of central political positions, without explaining the arguments supporting them in detail, and insights and recommendations for the potential ruler (or the ruler, king, head of government ...) who might hope for such information from this book.

The way

Do not favor the able , do not value valuables , show nothing desirable , and the people do not quarrel, steal or worry. A wise government strengthens the body and vitality of the people, which, however, in the sense of Wu Wei, remains without knowledge and without desires , to weaken the will and the desires. ⁽³⁾ The Dao softens all sharpness, loosens all confusion, moderate all splendor, unites all dust of the ephemeral, like an endless, empty abyss at the beginning of the world. Such a deep insight into the transience of all beings in view of the indifferent primordial reason as the cause of the inexhaustible productive interaction of all cosmic forces is better to be preserved inside than to exhaust oneself with many words. Nevertheless, it is emphasized once again that the prerequisite for the preservation of creative activity, this deeply hidden, living fertility, is precisely the self- and effortless, eternal survival of heaven and earth. From all this the wise learn to put his self aside and not want anything of his own in order to accomplish his special work. ^(4-7)

Like water, the highest goodness benefits all beings without asserting oneself in a dispute and not shying away from any depression. Wealth and overabundance, and arrogance, attracts misfortune by itself . To withdraw from the finished work is the way of heaven. If the regent loves people, pervading everything with his clarity, he needs neither doing nor knowing. Generate and nourish, generate and not own, work and not keep, increase and not master is the powerful secret recipe. ^(8-10) The mode of action of every construction comes about through the absence of further material. Correspondingly, the wise work for the body and renounce senseless delusion. ^(11.12)

The continuous thread

Whoever honors and loves the world in his person, less his person, could well be entrusted with the kingdom . The seed of the unnamable wells up continuously in the imperceptibly small. Mastering the being of today with the Dao of antiquity reveal the ancient beginning, the continuous thread of the Dao. Who, like the unfathomable masters of antiquity , can gradually clear the gloom through silence , not desire abundance, be small and reach perfection? Create emptiness to the highest! Keep the silence to the fullest! Everything turns back to its fate. If one recognizes the eternal, one becomes tolerant. This leads safely step by step to heavenly rulership according to the model of the Dao. ^(13-16) If a really great one rules, the people hardly know that he is there. The works are done, the business goes on, and the people are free.

Return to simplicity

In contrast, lesser modes of rule evoked love and praise, fear or even contempt. ⁽¹⁷⁾ And with the decline of harmonious relationships, things that actually seem natural would suddenly become important in order to counter the great lies , disagreed relatives and states in confusion . ⁽¹⁸⁾ Conversely, the people will return and win a hundredfold if one no longer attaches importance to holiness, knowledge, morality, duty, skill and profit. But

ensures that people can hold onto something.

Show simplicity, hold fast to integrity!

Reduces selfishness, diminishes desires!

Give up learning!

This is how you become free from worry. ⁽¹⁹⁾

The little is the basis

Man in space is directed towards the earth. ⁽²⁵⁾ The master of the armed forces should not under any circumstances take the world lightly or lose calm for his own sake. If you take it lightly, you lose the root. You lose control through unrest. ⁽²⁶⁾ The wise do not need to curtail freedom and do not want to conquer the world. ^(28:29) To rape them with weapons come back on their own. The able seek a peaceful conflict resolution, only decision, far from violence and the horrors of war. A gun victory with many people killed is cause for great sadness . Whoever enjoyed it could not achieve his goal in the world. ^(30.31)

Let the Dao's nameless simplicity drip sweet dew and bring the people into balance. ⁽³²⁾ He who defeats himself is strong. He who knows enough is rich. ⁽³³⁾ Like the all-nourishing Dao: Never make himself great, that is why he brings about his great work. Whoever follows that great example will bring blissful peace and quiet to the world. Dao is said to be mild and tasteless , there is nothing special about it. ^{(34,35) One meets undesirable} developments with a lot of patience, knowing that they will exceed their zenith. The soft triumphs over the hard. The weak triumphs over the strong. The fish must not be taken from the depths. Strategic potential should not be shown. ⁽³⁶⁾ Nameless simplicity causes desirelessness , and the world becomes right by itself. ⁽³⁷⁾

High virtue has no intention of being virtue, but happens completely spontaneously. Other things are already outwardness, poverty, appearance and cause confusion. Without an inner unity, everything would perish. The low is the basis of the highest, kings in particular are aware of this. Or is it not so? ^(38.39) When viewed externally, the wisdom of the Dao appears doubtful or unsuitable for some, even ridiculous for some, no matter how they owe their lives to him and one day they return to it. Yet kings chose a humble tone. What others teach, I also teach: The violent do not die of natural causes. ^(40-42) Swords to plowshares correspond to the Dao. The satisfaction of frugality avoids the greatest mistakes and evils. ⁽⁴⁶⁾

Wu Wei instead of bustle

Those who practice [Dao] decrease daily. If you don't do anything, nothing remains unmade. You can only win the world if you are always free from hustle and bustle . ⁽⁴⁸⁾ May the wise widen his heart for the world. ⁽⁴⁹⁾ He live in the eternal, ^(50-52) rooting virtue in ever wider circles, ⁽⁵⁴⁾ in complete harmony and peace. ^(55,56) Just don't imagine anything: hoarding treasures in abundance in magnificent palaces, living luxuriantly and carrying weapons, but the fields are desolate and the barns empty - that means theft, not Dao! ⁽⁵³⁾ The more prohibitions, sharp devices, art and cunning, laws and orders, the more the people become impoverished and house and state come to ruin. The silence love , do nothing , have no desires , and the people walk by itself, will pretty, rich and simple-minded. ⁽⁵⁷⁾

Keep yourself among the people

One should rule quietly and unobtrusively, not impose one's order, otherwise the order and the good will turn into their opposite, and the delusion of the people really lasts for a long time. ⁽⁵⁸⁾ No remedy is therefore better than (self-) limitation (and thus treating things early ) in order to come permanently into harmony with nature. ⁽⁵⁹⁾ A large country should be run with extreme care , like frying small fish , so as not to disturb the dead and not to harm the living. ⁽⁶⁰⁾ [E] in great empire must stay down to unite the people [to] and nourish. ⁽⁶¹⁾ [T] he wicked among men should not be thrown away . ⁽⁶²⁾ Reward enmity with benevolence. One must pay attention to the small origins and act on them before the problems become large and difficult. Any attempt at a great deed would fail. ^(63,64) He who never governs by calculating prudence become a great example to the people. ⁽⁶⁵⁾ Let the wise keep himself among his people and [t] the whole world do not become unwilling [to advance him] . ⁽⁶⁶⁾ Love, frugality and reluctance are his treasures. ⁽⁶⁷⁾

Don't be strong, don't argue

A life of peacefulness in harmony with heaven is the highest goal of antiquity . (To anticipate the war) Not to quarrel with enemies, it is good to be victorious. ⁽⁶⁸⁾ Better to take a step backwards than to attack lightly. Because when it comes to a fight, the one who turns out wins. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ This teaching is very easy to understand and carry out, and yet only a few understand it. May the wise keep the jewel in his heart and do not consider himself wiser. ^(70.71) Life should just not be made narrow and vexatious. If the people lost their fear of dying , the most terrible thing would happen . ⁽⁷²⁾ The inclination of heaven, who knows the reason? The Daring comes to . The wise one sees the difficulties . ⁽⁷³⁾ The death penalty is a dangerous presumption . ^{(74) The} people are hungry , difficult to guide and take death too lightly because their superiors eat excessively taxes ( redistribution upwards) and are excessively ambitious and wasteful. ⁽⁷⁵⁾ The way of man diminishes what is insufficient in order to offer it to the overflowing. But who in the world can balance? Only the [D] ao has. ⁽⁷⁷⁾

Be an army strong (violent, cocky, ruthless), do not win it. The soft and the weak belong to life, just like something newborn, like water. Everyone knows that it overcomes the hard and strong, and yet no one acts accordingly. A wise man once said: whoever takes on the misfortune of the kingdom is the king of the world. ^(76.78) If one atoned for great grudges , how do you clear up the rest? Those who have De keep their promises and ask nothing of others. ⁽⁷⁹⁾ Let a country have few inhabitants. But nobody develops armaments , knowledge and technology. Make [the people's] food sweet and their clothes beautiful, their dwelling peaceful, and their customs joyful. Nobody should travel far into old age. ⁽⁸⁰⁾ True words are not beautiful. The wise man is not a persuader or a scholar, nor does he accumulate possessions. The Dao of Heaven is to be promoted without harming , the Dao of the sage be to work without quarreling . ⁽⁸¹⁾

Daodejing and Daoism

The religion that is known today as Daoism and worships Lǎozǐ as god (see Three Reins ) is not a direct implementation of Dàodéjīng, although it has points of contact with this and understands the text as a mystical instruction for attaining the Dao. However, it also derives from the old shamanistic religious traditions (see Fangshi ) of China and the area of ​​Chinese natural philosophy , whose wisdom and vocabulary are probably also quoted in Dàodéjīng. In the reading of a political and social doctrine, the text was understood as a guide for the saint or wise, by which one meant the ruler who contributes to the good of the world through his return to the path and the charisma of his virtue.

Furthermore, a view was systematically formulated by Chinese commentators such as Heshang Gong , Xiang Er and Jiejie around AD 200 to 400, which understood the text as a mystical doctrine for the attainment of wisdom , magical powers and immortality , and which is closely related to the alchemical Trying to find an elixir of immortality.

Legend of the origin of Daodejing

Bertolt Brecht's poem The Legend of the Origin of the Book Taoteking on Laotse's Path into Emigration is famous , which begins with the following words:

When he was seventy and was frail
, the teacher felt the urge to rest
because the kindness in the country was once again weak
and the malice increased in strength once again.
And he girdled the shoe.

It then goes on to say that Lǎozǐ was stopped by a border guard who ordered him to write down his teaching. After six days the author was done with it. Brecht's poem ends with the words:

That's why the customs officer should also be thanked:
he demanded it from him.

Web links

• Online collection of translations of the Dao De Jing ( Memento of April 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
• annotated overview of many different German editions of the Tao Te King
• Public domain audio book Daodejing by Laozi at LibriVox
• Interpretation variants in the 1st chapter of the Daodejing (PDF; 348 kB)
• The real story of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te King
• Chinese Text Project: Daodejing
• Hilmar Alquiros: 老子 Lǎozǐ 道德經 Daodejing verbatim + + analogous poetic; Chinese + English + German
• Hilmar Alquiros: timetable
• Hilmar Alquiros: Selected Sources

literature

• Laotse: Tao Te-King. trans. u. ed. by Richard Wilhelm . Eugen Diederich, Leipzig 1910, Marix, Wiesbaden 2004. ISBN 3-937715-07-X
• Jörn Jacobs: Text study of Laozi, Daodejing. Frankfurt Main 2001, ISBN 3-631-37254-X (reference edition with notes and appendices for the practical work)
• Viktor Kalinke (ed.): Studies on Laozi, Daodejing. German-Chinese edition of the Daodejing in 3 volumes. Leipziger Literaturverlag, Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-934015-00-X (Volume 1), ISBN 3-934015-01-8 (Volume 2), ISBN 978-3-86660-115-4 (Volume 3)
• Laotse: Tao Te King, Based on the silk texts by Mawangdui. Trans. U. ed. by Hans-Georg Möller. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-596-12135-3
• Gellért Béky: The world of the Tao . Alber, Freiburg / Munich 1972, ISBN 3-495-47257-6
• Ansgar Gerstner: The book Laozi: Translations of several Chinese editions with comments . VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2008, ISBN 3-639-04917-9
• Hilmar Klaus: The Tao of Wisdom. Laozi - Daodejing. Literally, in essence, poetic. Hochschulverlag, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8107-0041-4
• Rainald Simon: Daodejing. The book of the path and its effect. New translation. Reclam, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-15-010718-8

Individual evidence

1. ^ Institute for Sinology and East Asian Studies, WWU Münster - "Table for converting different transcriptions": [1] In: www.uni-muenster.de, accessed on October 29, 2018
2. ↑ Transcription table - A Non-Exhaustive Euro-Hannic Transcription Engine - " English, French, German and Chinese Romanizations of Chinese ", (English): [2] In: www.sinistra.net, accessed on October 29, 2018
3. ↑ Transcription table - Hanyu Pinyin romanization system for Mandarin Chinese , (English): [3] In: www.pinyin.info, accessed on October 29, 2018
4. ↑ Zhuangzi, Book XIII, 7; Book XIV, 5, 6 and 8
5. ↑ Lao-Tzu Te-Tao Ching: A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts. New York: Ballantine Books. 1989; Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching: A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian; Columbia University Press, New York, 2000
6. ↑ H. Klaus, after Prof. JP Gumbert (NL), who should have the largest collection
7. ↑ Original Revelation and Daoism. Jesuit mission hermeneutics of Daoism. Translated by Collani, Claudia von / Holz, Harald / Wegmann, Konrad. Introduction by Collani, Claudia von / Holz, Harald / Wegmann, Konrad, European University Press, ISBN 978-3-89966-263-4 , 145 p. 2008
8. ↑ "Basically, the expression does not matter, since even for Lao Tzu it is only, so to speak, an algebraic symbol for something inexpressible. There are essentially aesthetic reasons that make it desirable to use a German word in a German translation to have." He also explains in a footnote: "In the Chinese translations of the Bible, λόγος is almost always given with a dhow." Laotse, Tao te king, introduction, the content of the Tao te king, translated from Chinese and provided with a comment by Richard Wilhelm, Bastei Lübbe Taschenbücher, licensed edition 1978 by Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-404-70141-0
9. ↑ "The Chinese word» de «, which is usually translated as» virtue «, actually has a much broader meaning. The Chinese commentaries explain it: What beings receive in order to arise, to live is called» de « . It includes the very essence of personality and the power that emanates from a person. " Footnote to Book II, Section 1, Kungfutse, Gespächs, translated from Chinese and edited by Richard Wilhelm, Diederichs Yellow Series, Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag, Kreuzlingen / Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7205-3055-2
10. ↑ F. Heiler: "The Religion of the Chinese", in: F. H .: "The Religions of Mankind", 1991, 5.
11. ^ Term " wú - 无 / 無 ". In: xh.5156edu.com. Retrieved June 22, 2019 (Chinese).  
12. ^ Term " wú - 无 / 無 ". In: leo.org . Retrieved June 22, 2019 (Chinese, German).  
13. ↑ term " wéi -为/為 ". In: xh.5156edu.com. Retrieved June 22, 2019 (Chinese).  
14. ↑ term " wéi -为/為 ". In: leo.org . Retrieved June 22, 2019 (Chinese, German).  
15. ↑ Liezi already quotes the legendary Emperor Huangdi , lord of the yellow earth , with this saying . Liezi, Book I, 1
16. ↑ Bertolt Brecht - "" Legend of the origin of the book TAO TE KING on the Laotse's path to emigration "" ( Memento from March 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). As a print also in Brecht's widespread calendar stories , accessed on June 22, 2019

This version was added to the list of excellent articles on August 22nd, 2004 .