Editing Tao Te Ching (section)

== Title ==
In English, the title is commonly rendered ''Tao Te Ching'', following the [[Wade–Giles]] romanisation, or as ''Daodejing'', following [[pinyin]]. It can be translated as ''The Classic of the Way and its Power'',<ref>{{Citation |title=The Way and its Power |year=1958 |editor-last=Waley |editor-first=Arthur |url=https://archive.org/details/wayitspowerstudy0000wale |place=New York |publisher=Grove |isbn=0-8021-5085-3 |oclc=1151668016 |editor-link=Arthur Waley |url-access=registration}}</ref> ''The Book of the [[Tao]] and Its Virtue'',{{sfnp|Kohn & al.|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NXdzosdR0JUC&pg=PA1 1]}} ''The Book of the Way and of Virtue'',{{sfnp|Julien|1842}}{{sfnp|Giles & al.|1905|loc=[[:s:The Sayings of Lao Tzu/Introduction|Introduction]]}} ''The Tao and its Characteristics'',<ref name="legge" /> ''The Canon of Reason and Virtue'',<ref name="suziq" /> ''The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way'',{{sfnp|Mair|1990}} or ''A Treatise on the Principle and Its Action''.{{sfnp|Wieger|1913|p=[[:s:fr:Les pères du système taoïste/Préface#3|3]]}}{{sfnp|Bryce & al.|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aMLE056g6MsC&pg=PR9 ix]}}

Ancient Chinese books were commonly referenced by the name of their real or supposed author, in this case the "Old Master",{{sfnp|Chalmers|1868|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yxFBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR9 ix]}} Laozi. As such, the ''Tao Te Ching'' is also sometimes referred to as the ''Laozi'', especially in Chinese sources.<ref name="stanford" />

The title ''Tao Te Ching'', designating the work's status as a classic, was only first applied during the reign of [[Emperor Jing of Han]] (157–141&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{Citation |last=Seidel |first=Anna |title=La divinisation de Lao-tseu dans le taoïsme des Han |date=1969 |pages=24, 50 |place=Paris |publisher=École française d'Extrême‑Orient |language=fr |author-link=Anna Seidel}}</ref> Other titles for the work include the honorific ''[[Sutra]] of the Way and Its Power'' ({{zhi|c=道德真經|p=Dàodé zhēnjing}}) and the descriptive ''Five Thousand Character Classic'' ({{zhi|c=五千文|p=Wǔqiān wén}}).