LAO TZU

Shermetova Bermet & Mamadjanova Fatima

Content
Life of Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

LaoTzu&Taoism

Taoism & Confcianism

 Life of Lao Tzu
Lao-Tzu (l. c. 500 BCE, also known as Laozi or Lao-
Tze) was a Chinese philosopher credited with founding
the philosophical system of Taoism. He is best known as
the author of the Laozi (later retitled the Tao-Te-
Ching translated as “The Way of Virtue” or “The Classic
of the Way and Virtue”) the work which exemplifies his
thought. The name by which he is known is not a personal
name but an honorific title meaning 'Old Man' or 'Old
Master' and the debate continues as to whether an
individual by that name ever existed or whether Lao-Tzu
is an amalgam of many different philosophers. 
All that is known of Lao-Tzu comes from the classic work Records of the
Grand Historian by the Han Dynasty writer Sima Qian (l. 145/135-86
BCE). Sima, working from older historical and literary documents,
claims that Lao-Tzu was one of the curators at the Royal Library in the
state of Chu and was known as a philosopher. He advocated a deep,
connective empathy between people as the means to peace and
harmony and claimed that such empathy was possible through
recognition of the cosmic force of the Tao
He was especially interested in converting the ruling class to his belief
because the country was, at this time, in the midst of the era known as
the Warring States Period (c. 481-221 BCE) during which seven states
fought each other nearly constantly for supremacy and control of the
Chinese government.
The wars continued and various schools of Chinese philosophy were
established which tried to suggest the best way to end the violence and
establish a moral government that would care for its citizens. Lao-Tzu,
according to Sima Qian, persisted in his efforts to convince people to accept
the Tao and live a life in harmony with each other and the universe, and
when he finally understood they never would listen to him, he abandoned
human society for self-exile
On his way out of China, by way of the Western Pass, the
gatekeeper, Yin Hsi, recognized him and asked him to please write
down his philosophy before leaving humanity behind. Lao-Tzu took
the materials from Yin Hsi, wrote until he had nothing left to say,
handed the manuscript to him, and walked through the pass, never
to be seen again. Yin Hsi, presumably, then had the manuscript
published.

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 Tao Te Ching

When Lao Tzu lived in the capital of Zhou, he created the Treatise
of the Tao Te Ching on the Way of Things and Its Manifestations,
written in ancient Chinese, which is difficult for today’s Chinese to
understand. However, its author deliberately used ambiguous
words. In addition, some key concepts do not have exact
correspondences in either English or Russian. James Legg, in his
introduction to the translation of the treatise, writes: «The written
signs of the Chinese language do not represent words, but ideas,
and the sequence of these signs represents not what the author
wants to say, but what he thinks.» According to tradition, Lao Tzu
is considered the author of the book, therefore sometimes the
book is called by his name. However, some historians question its
authorship; it is assumed that the author of the book could have
been another contemporary of Confucius – Lao Lai-tzu.
Taoism

One of the main beliefs of Taoism

is wu-wei, or “not doing.” Taoists
believe that the path to wisdom and
happiness involves emptying the mind
and settling into a deep stillness. Like
Buddhists and Hindus, Taoists practice
intensive spiritual meditation as a
method for understanding the world
and living a better life.
 Yin-Yang
Taoism is strongly associated with the yin-yang sign,
which symbolizes the Taoist belief in matched
opposites: light and dark, hot and cold, wet and dry,
masculine and feminine. However, the real point of a
yin-yang symbol isn’t just the black and white halves –
it’s also the fact that each half contains part of the other!
The black side has some white in it, and the white side
has some black. This is a central belief in Taoism: that
even though the world is made up of matched opposites,
it’s not a simple matter of “this vs. that.” Moreover,
there is no ethical dimension here: light is not “better”
than dark just as summer is not “better” than winter;
they are just different. In Taoism, good and evil are
illusions.
 Tao

Tao (Pinyin Dào ) is a metaphysical concept found in Taosism. The

Chinese character translates as «way,» «path,» or «route,». In
Taoism, the Tao was the origin of the whole universe. Taoists believe
that the «myriad things», or everything in the universe from animals
to materials to ideas, originally came from the Tao, and when
something disappears, it’s energy (or qi) goes back to the Tao to be
absorbed and re-birthed in a different form.
The Tao flows without effort and, like water, goes where it will
without striving and effects change and growth. To be virtuous, one
should emulate the Tao and engage in non-action (not forcing an
effect or outcome). Human-made laws, it claims, cannot make one
virtuous and cannot contribute to good behavior, inner peace, or
empathy with others because they are not in tune with nature.
One cannot grasp the actual Tao through
intellectual pursuits but, rather, by submitting to
and expressing its essence in one’s life, through
self-reflection and harmonious interaction with
others. Rulers, especially, are encouraged to
embrace the Tao since, by their example, their
subjects will do likewise. According to the Tao-Te-
Ching, the best ruler is one who governs so
effortlessly that it seems he has done nothing,
and yet everything has been done (Verse 17).

The best individual is the one who can recognize

the current of existence and move with it, as
effortlessly as water flowing, without upset or
resistance
 Yield and Overcome: one cannot
Yield and overcome fully listen to another person’s
views if one is full of one’s own;
Bend and become
yielding to another encourages
straight
personal growth.
Empty and become Bend and become Straight: one
full. (Verse 22) cannot reach an accord with
someone else if one is unwilling
to compromise and one cannot
correct bad behavior if one is
unable to accept criticism.
Empty and become Full: one has
little hope of success, in any
enterprise or relationship, if one
clings to what one thinks one
knows instead of opening one’s
self to new ideas and other views.
«LAO-TZU’S TAOISM
EMPHASIZED THE
IMPORTANCE OF NON-
ACTION, NON-RESISTANCE,
“GOING WITH THE FLOW”
TO LIVE AN ELEVATED &
TRANSFORMATIVE LIFE».
Lao-Tzu’s Taoism – or, at least, the Taoism of the 6th century BCE –
emphasized the importance of non-action, non-resistance, “going
with the flow” to live an elevated and transformative life. In so
doing, it refuted Confucius’ philosophy and its insistence on
education, knowledge-as-power, and strict adherence to social
custom and ritual in improving one’s character and quality of life.
Lao-Tzu’s claim (paraphrased) that “the more rules one makes, the
more criminals one creates” is the antithesis of Confucius’s
assertion that adherence to ritual improves one’s moral character
and produces better citizens.

Taosism vs Confucianism
Confucianism Taoism

How can justice and social order be

preserved? What is the true nature of existence?

What are our duties and

responsibilities in life? How can we find inner peace?

What does it mean to be a good What can people do to be happy?

parent/student/friend, etc.?
Vinegar tasters
In the present day, Taoism is recognized as a philosophy, a
religion, and, in one aspect, a pop-culture phenomenon. Its
concept of a cosmic current flowing through and binding all
things served as the inspiration for the Force in the Star Wars
franchise and the image of the Taoist sage Lao-Tzu, and those
who followed him, informed the paradigm of the Jedi Knights.

Whether there ever was a Lao-Tzu who wrote the Tao-Te-Ching

before cutting ties with humanity hardly matters anymore. The
philosophy he may or may not have founded has long ago
taken on a life of its own and continues to develop as it
attracts more adherents intrigued by the vision it presents of a
life lived in accord with the natural world as opposed to one
which struggles against it.
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