The Tao Te Ching

Study Guide

The Tao Te Ching is a collection of verses that is both philosphy and literature. It is
the repository of Taoist thought and should be read on a day good for meditation.

Read all the passages. We will focus on certain passages that illustrate the most
important tenets of Taoism.

The Tao Te Ching is famous for its use of parallelism, a difficult poetic devise which
plays with syntax. A good example is Passage 33 The Virtue of Discrimination:

1. One who knows others is clever, but one who knows himself is enlightened.
2. One who conquers others is powerful, but one who conquers himself is
mightly.

Note here the parallel sentence structure. Note also how the philosophy becomes
more powerful because of the verse form.

Here is a good one: Passage 56

One who knows does not talk. One who talks does not know.

The inversion is brilliant. It also explains why many Asian students do not like to
talk in class. ☺

Passage 8 Easy by Nature

The passage uses the image of water, the most important image in Taoism. Water is
symbolic of the freedom nature provides. The fourth line is interesting: It
quarreleth not. Imagine water flowing in a river. Imagine a rock in the middle of the
river. What does water do? It splits and goes around the rock. It quarreleth not.
Taoism is famous for the line ‘go with the flow.’ Water will lead you naturally to
where it wants you to go.

What does this passage say about the Taoist attitude to challenge? Does it
contradict its martial arts principle of doing things according to nature?

Passage 11 The Function of the Non-existent

This passage determines the nature of non-being. What is not seen is more useful
than what is seen. The passage uses three examples here. The first is the wheel.
The ancient wheel has spokes and a nave. The nave, the hole in the middle, is more
important the spokes. Why? The second is a clay vessel. What is the more
important part of the vessel, the clay structure or the space within? Why? And the
third is the house. Are walls and doors the most important part of the house?
Why/why not? Why is non existence more useful?

Passage 19 Returning to Simplicity

The passage tells us what to abandon to live a good life. This is of course a divesting
process. What must one abandone? The list says saintliness, benevolence,
smartness and greed. To which philosophy do these concepts belong? Which
philosphy does Taoism contradict?

Passage 31 Quelling War

The passage tells us the Taoist attitude towards war. It says that only inferior men
use war weapons. If war can be avoided, so much the better. War is a last resort.
One who enjoys victory in war “will not obtain his will in the empire.”

Why do you think war is not favored by the Taoists? What does a physical war do?
A famous Chinese author, Sun Tzu, wrote a book called The Art of War which uses
Taoist priniciples in conducting warfare. It favors psychological warfare which
saves manpower and resources. It is now used in corporate boardrooms.

Passage 76 Beware of Strength

The passage details Taoist attitudes towards strong and tender, hard and soft. Most
cultures prefer the hard and the strong, but Taoism prefer the tender. The former is
a companion of death, while the latter is a companion of life.

What aspects of Taoism do you find useful or meaningful? Do you think Taoist
beliefs can be relevant in the modern world?

Li Bai/ Li Po

Li Po is famous for his nature poems with strong Taoist elements. For this
discussion, a Li Po poem will be compared with a Tu Fu poem to see the difference
in sensibility.

“In the Mountains on A Summer Day” suggests a persona who is in a natural

setting. The first word is “Lazily”. He is quietly fanning himself. What does this
imply regarding the persona’s state of mind? In the second line, he is now reclining
naked within the green wood. Why kind of bed does he have? Why does he lie
down naked? What does the nakedness suggest?
In the third line, he hangs his hat on a pointed rock. What does the act of hanging a
hat suggest? When does one hang a hat? Where does one usually hang a hat?
Where does the persona hang his hat? The last line suggest feeling the wind, not
through an electric fan or aircon but through a natural breeze. The last line
supports the first line in terms of mood and tone.

In the poem, how is nature seen? There is a mood of relaxation in the poem. Where
does one feel most relaxed?

Compare this poem to Tu Fu’s “Spring”. In this poem, the persona is also
surrounded by nature. There is in fact an enumeration of natural images, both flora
and fauna, as well as geological and water formation. The images suggest someone
who is travelling, as one would see the scenery say while inside a car. The persona
of course is on foot and was walking long distances. How would the use of
movement in this poem compare with the Li Po poem?

The word “procession” in the second to the last line is our clue to the persona’s
travelling. But where is he heading? He mentions home.

Compare and contrast the meaning of home in the two poems. Compare and
contrast the use and meaning of Nature in the two poems.

We cannot end a discussion of Li Po without looking at his drinking poems. The

Chinese have a literary tradition called “rapt with wine” which includes wine in the
creative process. When one says rapt with wine, it does not refer to being dead
drunk. It is that level of drunkenness that may be called tipsy and is supposed to
release the creative juices without fail. Why is wine able to change personalities and
able to create poets out of ordinary folk? Have you been there? ☺

Li Po knows how to enjoy his wine but he often drinks alone. In his poem, Drinking
Alone Under Moonlight, he explains why. This is one of his most famous poems for
obvious reasons, and worth studying for its Taoist elements.

The first four lines indicate that he is alone enjoying his wine but he also invites the
moon. That makes two. But there is another presence, which is his shadow, so that
makes three. This is a party of three. In the next four lines, the persona admits that
the moon does not drink and the shadow just follows him about, but he does not
mind. Does the persona feel lonely drinking alone? Why does he invite the moon
and include the shadow to his party? Think Taoism.

Are the moon and shadow good party participants? “The moon loiters as I sing my
songs”/My shadow looks confused as I dance.” What kind of participation do the
moon and shadow contribute? What does the moon do as he sings, what does the
shadow do when he dances?
The poem is not just a party poem but a celebration of the union between man and
nature. The persona is man and the moon is nature. What connects the two? How
does the connection express man’s relationship with nature?

Discussion Questions

Explain these lines from Li Po:

If you were to ask me why I dwell among green mountains,

I shall laugh silently; my soul is serene.