Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" is a work written by the pre-Qin philosophers in ancient China before they split up. It is an important source of Taoist philosophical thought.

"Tao Te Ching", a philosophical work by Lao Tzu during the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as "Tao Te Ching", "Lao Tzu", "Five Thousand Words", and "Lao Tzu's Five Thousand Essays", is a pre-Qin scholar in ancient China. A work written before the split is an important source of Taoist philosophical thought.

The Tao Te Ching is divided into two parts. The original text is the first part "De Jing" and the second part "Tao Jing". They are not divided into chapters. Later they were changed to "Tao Jing". Chapter 37 comes first, and after chapter 38 it is "De Jing", divided into 81 chapters. ?

The text of the "Tao Te Ching" takes morals in a philosophical sense as its outline, discusses self-cultivation, governance, military use, and health preservation, and mostly takes politics as its purpose. It is the so-called study of inner saints and outer kings. The literary meaning Profound and comprehensive, it is known as the King of Scriptures.

Extended information:

Famous aphorisms in the "Tao Te Ching":

1. The Tao can be Tao, but it is not the eternal Tao. A name can be named, but it is not a permanent name. Nameless is the beginning of all things, and named is the mother of all things. Therefore, if you always have no desire, you can observe its desire; if you always have desire, you can observe its desire. They come from the same place, have different names and the same predicate. Mysterious and mysterious, the gate of all evil.

Translation: If a Tao can be expressed in words, then it is a regular Tao. If a name can be named in words, then it is a regular name. Wu can be used to describe the state of the world when it was chaotic and unopened, while existence is the name of the origin of the creation of all things in the universe.

Therefore, we must always observe and understand the mystery of Tao from nothingness. We should always observe and understand the clues of Tao from existence. Nothingness and Being have the same origin but different names.

It can be called mysterious and profound. It is not ordinary mysterious and profound, but mysterious and mysterious, profound and profound. It is the general gate of the mystery of the universe, heaven and earth, and all things.

2. If you are not a virtuous person, the people will not fight. If you do not value hard-to-find goods, the people will not steal. There is no desire to be seen, so that the people will not be in chaos. Therefore, the rule of the sage is to empty his heart and strengthen his belly, weaken his will and strengthen his bones, always making the people ignorant and without desires. If the husband knows that he does not dare to do anything, then everything will be cured. ?

Translation:

Not respecting talented and virtuous people will lead people not to compete with each other; not cherishing rare property will lead people not to steal; not showing off will lead to greed. Things that keep people’s minds from being confused.

Therefore, the sage's governance principle is to empty the people's minds, fill the people's bellies, weaken the people's competitive intentions, and strengthen the people's muscles and bodies, often leaving the people without wisdom and desire.

Even those who are talented do not dare to do anything rashly. If the saint acts according to the principle of inaction and obeys nature, then the genius will not be unbalanced. ?

3. The sky is long and the earth is long. The reason why heaven and earth can last forever is because they do not generate themselves, so they can live forever. Therefore, the sage follows his body first and his body exists outside his body. It is not because he is selfless that he can achieve his selfishness.

Translation:

Heaven and earth last forever. The reason why heaven and earth can exist for a long time is because they do not move naturally for their own survival, so they can survive for a long time.

Therefore, a righteous saint who is humble and retreats without fighting when encountering difficulties can actually take the lead among others. Putting yourself out of control can actually preserve your own survival. Isn't it precisely because he is selfless that he can achieve his own success?

Baidu Encyclopedia—Tao Te Ching