1. Laozi

3. Laozi ( born 604 BC) was a great Chinese ancient thinker and philosopher.
He is credited with writing the seminal Daoist work, the Dao De Jing (道德经), and became a popular deity in the Daoist religion's pantheon.

4. Lao Zi in Historical Perspective
The “Axial Age” of Philosophy and Religion Worldwide BC
Israel: Isaiah BC
Greece: Socrates BC; Plato: BC; Aristotle: BC
India: Siddhārtha Gautama乔达摩 BC
China: Laozi BC ; Confucius BC;

5. Lao Zi’s Influence Today
In Ronald Regan’s address before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union January 25th, 1988 he said: “And as an ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu, said: "Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish; do not overdo it."

6. Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, says on the opening ceremony of the Special Olympic Games on Oct. 2, 2007 "Thousands of years ago, a great Chinese philosopher, Laozi, wrote in a book that the way of heaven is to benefit, not to harm. The way of the sage is to do his duty, not to strive for anything else. Today, all people present here, and thousands of Chinese people, are the best interpretation of this. It is because all of you, that we have this moment of hope." 

8. At the international economic forum held in St
At the international economic forum held in St. Petersburg on June 19, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed to deal with the world financial crisis by following the teachings of the great ancient Chinese philosopher and thinker Laozi's Tao Te Ching.
President Medvedev says: "If we follow the teachings of the Chinese philosopher, I think we can find balance and stand the tremendous test."

10. President Medvedev says: "If we follow the teachings of the Chinese philosopher, I think we can find balance and stand the tremendous test.”
The passage to which he referred asks:

11. "Which one is more harmful, gains or losses
"Which one is more harmful, gains or losses? The more people like something, the more they must pay; the more people collect precious things, the sadder they feel when they lose them. Therefore, people will have no humiliation if they are content with their lots and will not be in danger if they stop where they should stop and thus will last long."

12. This is the core content about relations between gains and losses in the Tao Te Ching. It exhorts people to be content, maintain balance and advocate natural moral principles and a peaceful mentality. This is also the core idea of traditional Chinese culture.

13. He believes that traditional Chinese culture tells the concept of "degree," emphasizing that going too far is as bad as not going far enough, while the root cause of the economic crisis is the endless desire of capital and human beings triggered by consumption.

14. According to Shi Ji (Records of the Historian) Laozi’s first name was Er (耳) and his family name was Li (李).
Tradition says he was born in Ku Prefecture (苦县) of the state of Chu (楚), which today is Luyi County (鹿邑) of Henan Province, in the later years of Spring and Autumn Period ( BC).

15. According to the tradition, and a biography included in Sima Qian's work, Laozi was an older contemporary of Confucius and worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou Dynasty court.
Confucius intentionally or accidentally met him in Zhou, nearly a location of modern Luoyang where Confucius was going to browse the library scroll.

16. According to these stories, Confucius, over the following months, discussed ritual and propriety, cornerstones of Confucianism, with Laozi. The latter strongly opposed what he felt to be hollow practices.
Daoist legend claims that these discussions proved more educational for Confucius than the contents of the libraries.

17. Later, Laozi quit his work, perhaps because the authority of Zhou's court was disappearing. Some accounts claim he traveled west on his water buffalo through the state of Qin and from there disappeared into the vast desert.
These accounts have a guard at the western-most gate convincing Laozi to write down his wisdom before heading out into the desert.
Laozi's response to the soldier's request was the Dao De Jing.

18. Laozi’s Work
Until this time, Laozi had shared his philosophy in spoken words only, as was also the case with Jesus, the Buddha and Confucius.
Laozi's work, titled Dao De Jing (The Scripture of Ethics), is one of the most significant treatise in China’s philosophy, a magnum opus covering many area of philosophy from individual spirituality, existentialism, inter-personal dynamics to techniques for governing polities.

19. Deeply rooted in Chinese culture, Dao De Jing is the basic doctrine of Daoism (Taoism), which is one of the three main pillars of Chinese thoughts, i.e.,
Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism.

20. Dao De Jing is composed of two parts: Dao Jing and De Jing
Dao De Jing is composed of two parts: Dao Jing and De Jing. The two volumes have over 5,000 words in 81 chapters.
Dao is the most basic principle in the philosophy of Laozi and De is the interpretation for this principle.

21. The book’s content can be classified into three segments: his universal view, life view and political view.
These segments are interwoven with one another and show a theory of imaginary and magical idealism.
Laozi’s universal view is mainly embodied in his interpretation of Dao.

22. He believed that the universe itself was vast and boundless, and was mother of all things.
Dao (the Way) was eternal and moved without stop.
He said that there was something formless yet complete, that existed before heaven and earth, without sound or substance, independent, unchanging, all pervading, unfailing.

23. One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven.
Its true name we do not know, so Dao (the way) is the by-name that we give it.
“The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;

24. Lao Zi used the concept of the “Dao” (Way) to explain all changes in the universe, and put forward dialectical ideas such as “Dao gives rise to one, one gives rise to two, two gives rise to three and three gives rise to all other things”, “All things under Heaven came from something which in turn came from nothing”.

25. Laozi’s interpretation for Tao:
He said that Tao was an unvarying way that could not be explained , but existed externally. Since it could not be named, it was called Tao, which was an external unvarying way for it.
Laozi did not only just define the term Tao, but also expounded its influences and functions on governing a state.
According to him, the king with Tao knew the law of great Tao, then people would submit to his authority.

26. It was because people submitted to him and he did not hurt them that the state could be stable and peaceful.
Laozi’s life view and political view are mainly embodied in his thought wuwei (无为or non-action in English).
The characters hung in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in Forbidden City were no other than Wuwei.

28. Chapter 37 The Dao always remains inactive,
Yet it acts upon everything in the world.
If lords and kings can keep it,
All creatures will grow and develop naturally.
When desires are kindled
in the growth and development,
I can suppress them
with the nameless Simplicity of the Dao.

29. Once I do so
desire will be repressed,
Once desires are repressed,
The whole world will be naturally at peace.

30. Chapter 57 … Thus the sage says, If I prefer inaction,
The people will naturally crave for peace;
If I act little,
The people will be naturally rectified.
If I am not meddlesome,
The people will naturally become rich;
If I get rid of desires
The people will naturally become simple.

31. Laozi’s idea of non action was challenged by the tribal or state wars.
He saw the destruction of war on society:

32. Laozi says: “Dao never does, yet through it all things are done.”
The thought of this philosophy was that the action of all sages of Daoism came from their intuitive wisdom so that they were spontaneous actions and were in harmony with the surroundings.

33. They did not need to force themselves or the things around them, but just adapted their actions to the law of Tao.
Joseph Needham believed that Wuwei meant to curb actions that were against nature.

34. Zhuang Zi stated that Wuwei did not mean doing nothing and keeping quiet, instead, it let everything develop to the full satisfaction of its nature in its own way.
If actions that went against nature could be curbed, disharmony could be avoided. Thus human beings could be in harmony with Dao, and their actions could achieve success.

35. Chapter 77 Does not Dao of heaven
resemble the bending of a bow (aiming):
Pressing down the high,
Lifting up the low,
Reducing the excessive,
Compensating the deficient?
So the Dao of heaven means to compensate

36. the deficient by reducing the excess.
The Dao of man is different:
It gives to one
who already has more than enough
by taking from one who is in want.
Who can offer what he has
in excess to the people?
Only the man of Dao.

37. Chapter 60 When the Dao prevails in the world,
Even Ghosts and spirits become harmless.
It is not that ghosts become harmless
But that their potencies
can no longer harm people.
Not only ghosts become harmless,
Sages harm no people either.

38. Hence neither does any harm to the people
And both sages and ghosts
help the people to enjoy the benefit of virtue.
In Laozi’s political view, he rules out the interference of Ghosts and spirits.

39. Chapter 49 The sage often has no will,
He takes the people’s will as his own.
What is good
I will treat with goodness;
What is not good
I also treat with goodness.
Thus I obtain goodness.

40. …
When the sage governs the world,
He simplifies his
as well as the people’s minds.
The people are all preoccupied
with their eyes and ears,
The sage helps them return
to the childhood state.

41. Chapter 30 He who assists the ruler by means of the Dao
Does not conquer other countries
by the military force.
Military actions usually invite
retaliatory aftermath.
Wherever armies station,
Thistles and thorn grow;

42. A great war is always followed
by a great famine.
He who is well versed in the art of war
only uses the force to win the war,
and not to bully or conquer
other countries. …

43. Chapter 46 When the Dao prevails in the world,
the battle steeds are returned to farmers for tilling the fields;
When the Dao does not prevail
in the world,
Even pregnant mares
are taken over for wars.

44. Chapter 31 Arms are tools of ill omen, Detested by everybody.
And a man of the Dao does not use them. …
Not the instrument of the gentlemen.
Even if compelled to use them
The gentleman does not use them with pleasure.

45. Laozi thought things are in pairs, such as big and small, birth and death, beautiful and ugly, etc. As long as there is "good," there will be "bad."
All things are created from existence, and existence is created from nonexistence, then there will be existence before nonexistence.

46. Then what are De and the relation between Tao and De?
Since Dao does not have a human character, Laozi invented De for human being in particular and all things in general.
He said, "Dao bears us, De nurtures us, nature shapes us, and circumstance completes us." De is thus the embodiment or form of Tao.

47. Confucius was searching for ways of making the world’ a better place to live in.
The philosophy of Daoism, however, turned its back on worldly preoccupations and concerned itself with the individual and his inner life.
Whereas Confucius was concerned with the problem of the world, Laozi preoccupied with matters of the spirit.

48. Although much of Dao De Jing is concerned with nature and the principle of the Tao, it also includes references to how the individual should behave and how a ruler should conduct himself.
The ideal individual is the sage, and a sage is one who comprehends the Way.
The ideal ruler is also the sage, who might be supposed to be able to apply his knowledge of the Way to the task of ruling.

49. However, the question arises: how far should the ruler intervene?
For Laozi the key phrase is Wuwei (without action), the implication being that the task of the ruler is to avoid doing anything which might upset the natural order.
The state is a delicate thing which may be ruined by the least handling.

50. As a consequence, “governing a large state is like cooking a small fish”. By avoiding intervention and by setting an example, the ruler might succeed in leading his people to a state of innocence and simplicity.

51. The theory of Lao Zi exerted a great impact on the development of philosophy in China, and later scholars made use of his thinking in various ways .
About life he says "Good fortune lies within bad, bad fortune lurks within good".
In aesthetics, he advocated the concepts of "Great sound is rarely heard" and "Great images have no forms".

52. Quotations from Laozi 知人者智，自知者明。胜人者有力，自胜者强。（摘自《道德经》第三十三章）
 He who knows others is learned; He who knows himself is wise. He who conquers others has power of muscles; He who conquers himself is strong. (Daodejing, Chapter 33)

53. 知足不辱，知止不殆，可以长久。（摘自《道德经》第四十四章）
 The contented man meets no disgrace; Who knows when to stop runs into no danger – He can long endure. (Daodejing, Chapter 44)

54. 天下难事，必作于易；天下大事，必作于细。（摘自《道德经》第六十三章）
The difficult (problems) of the world Must be dealt with while they are yet easy; The great (problems) of the world Must be dealt with while they are yet small. (Daodejing, Chapter 63)

55. 天之道损有余而补不足。（摘自《道德经》第七十七章）
It is the Way of Heaven to take away from those that have too much And give to those that have not enough. (Daodejing, Chapter 77) 

56. 大器晚成，大音希声，大象无形。（摘自《道德经》第四十一章）
 Great talent takes long to mature; Great music is faintly heard; Great form has no contour; (Daodejing, Chapter 41)

57. 大成若缺，大直若屈，大巧若拙，大辩若讷。（摘自《道德经》第四十五章）
 The highest perfection is like imperfection, What is most straight appears devious, The greatest skill appears like clumsiness; The greatest eloquence seems like stuttering. (Daodejing, Chapter 45)

58. 以正治国，以奇用兵。（摘自《道德经》第五十七章） 
Rule a kingdom by the Normal. Fight a battle by (abnormal) tactics of surprise. (Daodejing, Chapter 57)

59. 千里之行，始于足下。（摘自《道德经》第六十四章） 
A journey of a thousand li begins at one’s feet. (Daodejing, Chapter 64)

60. 慎终如始，则无败事。（摘自《道德经》第六十四章）
By being careful at the end as at the beginning Failure is averted. (Daodejing, Chapter 64)

61. 天网恢恢，疏而不失。（摘自《道德经》第七十三章）
 The heaven’s net is broad and wide. With big meshes, yet letting nothing slip through. (Daodejing, Chapter 73)

62. 天之道，利而不害；圣人之道，为而不争。（摘自《道德经》第八十一章）
 The Dao of Heaven Blesses, but does not harm. The Way of the Sage Accomplishes, but does not contend. (Daodejing, Chapter 81)

63. 信言不美，美言不信。善者不辩，辩者不善。（摘自《道德经》第八十一章） 
True words are not fine-sounding; Fine-sounding words are not true. A good man does not argue; He who argues is not a good man. (Daodejing, Chapter 81)

64. 知和曰常，知常曰明。（摘自《道德经》第五十五章） 
To know harmony is to be in accord with the eternal, (And) to know eternity is called discerning. (Daodejing, Chapter 55)