The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) is a Chinese classic text containing the wisdom and philosophy of Lao Tzu. Written in the 6th century BC by the ancient sage himself, the Tao Te Ching has been a source of wisdom and inspiration for Philosophical Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, various artists and some gardeners as well.
Tao Te Ching
Words of Wisdom
A collection of 81 chapters of Tao Te Ching wisdom, here from Peter Merel's interpolation*.
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
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
64. Care
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
* This is not the English translation of the original Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu's (Lao Tse's) original itself has been transliterated and rewritten many times over, reinterpreted in the course of time, so that it cannot be said of any of the numerous translations that they are faithful translations of the original. Peter Merel's interpolation takes the best known modern translations of various authors and combines them into an easy to read modern text.
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