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Tao Te Ching: TABLE OF CONTENTS

  The author of the "Tao Te Ching", Lao Tzu, kept the Imperial Archives of the Court of Chou, in the province of Honan in the sixth century, B.C. Some historical records indicate that he had personally instructed Confucius and was an elderly contemporary, although others claim that he passed away before the birth of Confucius.

Lao Tzu, thoughout his life, taught that "The Tao that can be told, is not the eternal Tao", as is referenced within his writings. According to legend, when Lao Tzu was about to retire from public service, he mounted a horse and began riding west into the desert regions of China. When the guardian of the pass to the province of Ch'in requested that he write down his

thoughts so that it could be passed on to mankind, Lao Tzu sat down for two days and wrote the "Tao Te Ching". After turning over the works to the guardian, he rode into the desert, never to be seen from again.

In its original form, the "Tao Te Ching" is believed to have consisted of eighty-one short chapters, arranged in two sections, known as the 'Tao Ching' and the 'Te Ching'. The first of these scrolls was thirty-seven chapters, and the second was forty-four chapters. The essence of Taoism is contained in these eighty-one chapters (roughly 5,000 words) which, for 2,500 years, has provided a major influence in Chinese thought and culture.

  This scholar called "Lao Tze" most likely had another name, because the characters for Lao Tze also mean "old man" or sometimes translated as "old scholar". The same characters in Japanese are reserved for a master of Zen teachings, promounced as "roshi" in that language. Although there are many who disagree with who wrote the "Tao Te Ching", and when it was written, there is virtually no dissent among scholars as to its value as a literary and philosophical work for all of humans.

 

 PART ONE:
Jump to beginning of Part One

1. THE WAY
2. ABSTRACTION
3. WITHOUT ACTION
4. LIMITLESS
5. NATURE
6. EXPERIENCE
7. COMPLETE
8. WATER
9. RETIRE
10. HARMONY
11. TOOLS
12. SUBSTANCE
13. SELF
14. MYSTERY
15. ENLIGHTENMENT
16. DECAY AND RENEWAL
17. RULERS
18. HYPOCRISY
19. SIMPLIFY
20. WANDERING
21. ACCEPT
22. HOME
23. WORDS
24. INDULGENCE
25. BENEATH ABSTRACTION
26. CALM
27. PERFECTION
28. BECOMING
29. AMBITION
30. VIOLENCE
31. ARMIES
32. SHAPES
33. VIRTUES
34. CONTROL
35. PEACE
36. OPPOSITION
37. TRANQUILLITY

 

 PART TWO:
Jump to beginning of Part Two

38. RITUAL
39. SUPPORT
40. MOTION AND USE
41. FOLLOWING
42. MIND
43. OVERCOMING
44. CONTENTMENT
45. QUIET
46. HORSES
47. KNOWING
48. INACTION
49. PEOPLE
50. DEATH
51. NURTURE
52. CLARITY
53. DIFFICULT PATHS
54. CULTIVATE HARMONY
55. SOFT BONES
56. IMPARTIALITY
57. CONQUER WITH INACTION
58. NO END
59. RESTRAINT
60. DEMONS
61. SUBMISSION
62. SIN
63. DIFFICULTY
64a. CARE AT THE BEGINNING
64 b. CARE AT THE END
65. SUBTLETY
66. LEAD BY FOLLOWING
67. UNIMPORTANCE
68. COMPASSION
69. AMBUSH
70. INDIVIDUALITY
71. LIMITATION
72. REVOLUTION
73. FATE
74. EXECUTION
75. REBELLION
76. FLEXIBILITY
77. NEED
78. YIELDING
79. RECONCILIATION
80. UTOPIA
81. THE SAGE



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