(sixth century B.C.) philosopher, essayist
Laozi was born in the Quren (Ch’u-Jen) hamlet of Li village in the state of Chu. There is no information on his life and exploits, as there exists no comprehensive or even brief description of Laozi’s life other than that found in Sima Qian’s (Ssu-ma Chien’s) works and a few other isolated statements in historical documents of the Chu and Zhou (Chou) states.
There are, however, legends and traditions associated with Laozi. According to one legend, he lived in the state of Zhou for a long time as the keeper of the imperial archives. Disappointed with the decline, constant chaos, and disorder of the state, he saddled a water buffalo and set off for the West.
Sima Qian’s brief biography of this old sage contains two interesting facts. The first pertains to a meeting between Laozi and confucius during which Confucius asks Laozi to instruct him in the performing of ancestral rites, then chastises and rejects him for his ignorance. This episode of the meeting between the two philosophers set the basis for a philosophical rivalry that was perpetuated by their followers. The second fact relates Laozi’s westward journey through a mountain pass. According to Sima Qian, the keeper of the pass pleaded with the old man to write a book. Laozi did, and the book became known as the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), Laozi’s definitive work. Based on the Daodejing, most scholars consider Laozi to be the founder of Daoism (Taoism), an important school of thought in China and Chinese-influenced areas.
One of the basic concepts of Laozi’s teachings is wuwei, which means “no excessive action.” This has often been misinterpreted to mean passivity, but Laozi emphasized nonaction as the most effective form of action because he believed that if people are immersed in activity, they will become one with the act, rather than becoming bored or restless and looking for something else to do or forcing acceptance. The emphasis of nonaction is on softness, endurance, and adaptability. As Laozi explains in the Daodejing:
Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
In spite of Laozi’s teachings of wuwei, he was at times dissatisfied with his wandering lifestyle:
I alone am inert, showing no sign of desires, like an infant that has not yet smiled.
Wearied, indeed, I seem to be without a home.
The multitude all possess more than enough,
I alone seem to have lost all…
Common folks are indeed brilliant;
I alone seem to be in the dark.
The Daodejing’s importance has not diminished with time. It has had a deep influence on Chinese culture, thought, and literature throughout history. In English alone, there exist well over 30 translations. Not only does the Daodejing embody and reflect the variety of teachings and ideology that emerged during the chaotic period of the Warring States (402-221 b.c.), it also exemplifies the literary creativity of what is often perceived as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophical thought.
Critical Analysis
The key idea in Laozi’s text is the Dao (referred to as both “the way” and “the One”):
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way.
The valley in virtue of the One is full;
The myriad creatures in virtue of the One are alive;
Lords and princes in virtue of the One become leaders
in the empire.
It is the One that makes these what they are.
Laozi saw the Dao as the essence, or foundation, for the creation and preservation of the universe. The idea of the Dao as the creator of the universe deviates from the traditional Chinese concept of Heaven, or Tien, as the entity that created the universe.
The central idea of the Daodejing is simple: Human beings should model their lives on the Dao. Whether people are rulers of nations or peas ants working in fields, they must first and foremost survive. According to Laozi, it is submissiveness that enables people to live life most efficiently. The de element of Laozi’s philosophy, which refers to “virtue,” constitutes the manner in which a person must live according to the Dao.
There are, however, some contradictions within the Daodejing. For example, Laozi believed people became enlightened when they learned to accept life as it is. Yet he states at one point in the text, “The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?” This idea of transcending the limits of corporeal form hints at the influence of Hindu-Buddhist ideology and repudiates to some extent the Daoist belief in nonaction.
In another part of the Daodejing, Laozi comments on the balance of opposition:
Thus Something and Nothing produce each other;
The difficult and the easy complement each other;
The long and the short off-set each other;
The high and the low incline towards each other;
Note and sound harmonize each other;
Before and after follow each other.
As explained in the passage, what is high is determined by its opposite, which is low. If either one is removed, the other cannot exist in isolation. Therefore, perhaps Laozi’s comment on transcending life balances the realities of life with dreams, for what person does not dream beyond their real abilities?
This balance is most clearly revealed in the Daodejing’s themes: the mundane and worldly concerns of human life and mysticism. Laozi clearly presents these themes in two distinct types of passages. The first concerns cosmogony and the origins of the universe. A common metaphor that he uses in these passages is the womb. Just as living beings emerge from a mother’s womb, so is the universe born from the womb of what Laozi refers to as the “mysterious female”:
The spirit of the valley never dies. This is called the mysterious female. The gateway of the mysterious female Is called the root of heaven and earth….
The second type of passage details the actions and practices of the individual. Laozi uses the image of a newly born baby to represent a being that is submissive, weak, and helpless. The baby’s frailty and innocence has the power to cause adults to care for it. Ironically, this frailty symbolizes strength, and this, Laozi suggests, is the ideal form of human virtue.
Laozi’s descriptions of balance—nonaction as effective action, having all and nothing, everything in view of the One, submissiveness and force, acceptance versus transcendence, reality versus dream, and the worldly versus the mystical—are what have made the Daodejing a work for all ages and all time. As Stephen Mitchell states in the introduction to his translation of the text, “Like an Iroquois woodsman, [Laozi] left no traces. All he left us is his book: the classic manual on the art of living, written in a style of gemlike lucidity, radiant with humor and grace and large-heartedness and deep wisdom: one of the wonders of the world.”
English Versions of the Daodejing
Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching. Translated with an introduction by D. C. Lau. Middlesex, U.K.: Penguin Books, 1963.
Tao Te Ching. Translated with foreword and notes by Stephen Mitchell. London: Macmillan, 1988.
Works about Laozi
Fung-Yu Lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy, Translated by Derk Bodde. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952,171-172,186-190.
Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 40. New York: Dover, 1962, Chapters 3 and 4. Wing-Tsit Chan. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969.
