Tao Te Ching (The Way) - Lao Tzu - Book #473 of the Bucket List Book Adventure

 Tao Te Ching (The Way) - Lao Tzu - Book #473 of the Bucket List Book Adventure

By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

A Rite of Fancy Bucket List Book Adventure

Book #473 of the Bucket List Book Adventure is complete! Let me tell you all about the Tao Te Ching, also known as The Way, by Lao Tzu.

To begin, Lao Tzu is technically not a personal name but a title meaning "Old Master" or "Old Sage." Over time, however, that title became synonymous with a man who, according to Chinese tradition, was named Li Er or Li Dan and lived sometime in the fifth or sixth century BC in the state of Chu during the declining years of the Zhou dynasty.

He was believed to have served as a court archivist or historian until he, disgusted with government corruption and the general state of the world, decided to leave civilization behind. Before he disappeared into the great mystery that was "the West," he was stopped at a mountain pass by a guard named Yin Xi. Recognizing the old scholar, Yin Xi asked him to record his wisdom before departing. Lao Tzu supposedly wrote approximately five thousand Chinese characters, handed the manuscript to the guard, and vanished into the wilderness. Those five thousand characters became the Tao Te Ching.

It is a wonderful story, although probably more legend than biography. Historians remain uncertain whether Lao Tzu was one identifiable person, a composite of several teachers, or simply the legendary name eventually attached to a collection of ancient sayings. Somehow, though, a book written by a man who wanted to leave society and be forgotten became one of the most influential philosophical works in human history.

Unlike many Eastern and Western philosophies, The Way offers a much softer path. It does not encourage people to challenge, conquer, or overpower the world. Instead, it teaches alignment, restraint, and an awareness of the natural movement of things.

This is the principle commonly called wu wei, often translated as "non-action." That translation can make Lao Tzu sound as though he is advising everyone to sit down and do absolutely nothing. His argument is more subtle. He warns against forced action, needless interference, and the human tendency to make every situation worse by assuming that we alone possess the intelligence required to fix it.

The goal is not inactivity but action without coercion. Water does not attack the stone, yet it eventually reshapes it. A tree that bends in the wind survives while the rigid branch breaks. Lao Tzu repeatedly presents softness, humility, and flexibility not as weaknesses but as forms of extraordinary strength.

Another idea that struck me was the Daoist suggestion that the universe is not humane. Heaven and Earth are not cruel, exactly, but neither do they arrange themselves around human hopes, plans, or ideas of justice. Nature is neutral. It has its own patterns and its own direction, and those patterns may not align with yours.

I think there is a powerful modern temptation, particularly in Western popular spirituality, to imagine that the universe is cradling humanity and all its choices in a reassuring hug. Lao Tzu challenges that comforting notion. The universe does not necessarily approve of you, punish you, reward you, or even notice you. It simply continues along its Way.

One thing that does seem nearly universal across Eastern and Western philosophy is the call for simplicity: a return to nature, a loosening of the ego, and a suspicion of unchecked desire. Again and again, philosophers warn that human beings are led astray by the need for wealth, recognition, control, and a sense of importance. Apparently, wanting too much has been causing trouble for several thousand years.

The Tao Te Ching is also unusual because Daoism need not negate or defeat every competing philosophy. Despite their striking differences, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have often coexisted in Chinese tradition. Confucian thought might shape public duty and family life, Daoism might guide private reflection and one's relationship with nature, and Buddhism might address suffering, spiritual discipline, and death.

That may be one of Daoism's greatest strengths. The Way does not need to win an argument. It does not need to force everyone onto the same path. It can simply remain available to anyone wise enough, or exhausted enough, to stop fighting the current.

Like every great philosophical work, I was surprised by how timeless the Tao Te Ching remains. Its warnings about ambitious rulers, unnecessary wars, manufactured desires, noisy experts, excessive government, and people who are far too impressed with themselves could have been written yesterday.

Its lines would also make the pithiest memes.

Perhaps that is one measure of a worthwhile philosophy: several thousand years later, it still explains the world, still unsettles the reader, and never quite goes out of style.

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About the Author

a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

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