Lao Tzu And Confucius

Lao tzu was a native of Ch’u which is a Honan Province. He lived in the fourth century B.C. although it is debated depending of dates of his and Confucius’ writings. He was nearly twenty years older than Confucius, who supposedly visited him once to discuss philosophy with him even though their teachings were a bit contrary. Lao tzu is known to have written the Tao Te Ching, what is seen as a sort of bible of Taoism. The book consists of slightly more than 5000 Chinese characters, and it is divided and translated into 81 short numbered sections, many of which are poems. It has been translated many times into several languages, and it is important to note the fact that these translations frequently differ from each other to a high degree. It is often not clear what the original text actually says. And this is not helped very much by reading the text in the original language, because even Chinese scholars often disagree as to how particular section are to be understood. Depending on their own particular personal inclinations, scholars emphasize quite different aspects of the teachings attributed to Lao tzu.

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"Te" is often translated as "virtue," but that can be misleading in its translations. The Latin term "virtus" is often better translated as "manliness," or even "power," power in the sense of inner strength that grows out of being close to one's real inner self. Tao Te can therefore be interpreted not only as The Way of Virtue, but also as The Way of Power. Although Ching is part of the title, it is not part of the name of the book. It is mainly an indicator that the book is a classic. The Tao Te Ching summarizes the practical wisdom of Taoism. It spells out in some detail how a wise person conducts his or her life-in contrast, presumably, to the way in which most people lived and live their lives then and