Editing Tao Te Ching (section)

== Textual history ==
=== Principal versions ===
Among the many transmitted editions of the ''Tao Te Ching'' text, the three primary ones are named after early commentaries. The "Yan Zun Version", which is only extant for the ''Te Ching'', derives from a commentary attributed to [[Han dynasty]] scholar Yan Zun ({{lang|lzh|巖尊}}, {{fl.|80&nbsp;BC{{snd}}10&nbsp;AD}}). The "Heshang Gong" version is named after the legendary [[Heshang Gong]] ('legendary sage'), who supposedly lived during the reign of [[Emperor Wen of Han]] (180–157&nbsp;BC). This commentary has a preface written by [[Ge Xuan]] (164–244&nbsp;AD), granduncle of [[Ge Hong]], and scholarship dates this version to {{circa|the 3rd century&nbsp;AD}}. The origins of the "Wang Bi" version have greater verification than either of the above. [[Wang Bi]] (226–249&nbsp;AD) was a [[Three Kingdoms]]-period philosopher and commentator on the ''Tao Te Ching'' and ''[[I Ching]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Rudolf G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3DvtkuXRfBsC&pg=PA10 | page=10 |title=The Craft of a Chinese Commentator: Wang Bi on the Laozi |date=2000 |place=Albany|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-4395-8  |language=en}}</ref>

=== Archaeologically recovered manuscripts ===
''Tao Te Ching'' scholarship has advanced from archaeological discoveries of manuscripts, some of which are older than any of the received texts. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, [[Marc Aurel Stein]] and others found thousands of scrolls in the [[Mogao Caves]] near [[Dunhuang]]. They included more than 50 partial and complete manuscripts. Another partial manuscript has the ''[[Xiang'er]]'' commentary, which had previously been lost.<ref>{{Citation |last=Boltz |first=William G. |title=The Religious and Philosophical Significance of the Hsiang erh Lao tzu 相爾老子 in the Light of the Ma-wang-tui Silk Manuscripts |work=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=45 |year=1982 |jstor=615191 |author-link=William G. Boltz}}</ref>{{rp|95ff}}<ref>{{Citation |last=Zandbergen |first=Robbert |title=The Ludibrium of Living Well |journal=Monumenta Serica |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=367–388 |year=2022 |doi=10.1080/02549948.2022.2131802 |s2cid=254151927}}</ref>

In 1973, archaeologists discovered copies of early Chinese books, known as the [[Mawangdui Silk Texts]], in a tomb dated to 168&nbsp;BC.<ref name="stanford" /> They included two nearly complete copies of the text, referred to as Text A ({{lang|lzh|甲}}) and Text B ({{lang|lzh|乙}}), both of which reverse the traditional ordering and put the ''Te Ching'' section before the ''Tao Ching'', which is why the Henricks translation of them is named "Te-Tao Ching". Based on calligraphic styles and imperial [[naming taboo]] avoidances, scholars believe that Text A can be dated to about the first decade and Text B to about the third decade of the 2nd century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Citation |last=Loewe |first=Michael |title=Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide |pages=269 |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e10hAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China |language=en |isbn=978-1-55729-043-4}}</ref>

In 1993, the oldest known version of the text, written on [[bamboo slips]], was found in a tomb near the town of Guodian ({{zhi|郭店}}) in [[Jingmen]], Hubei, and dated prior to 300&nbsp;BC.<ref name="stanford" /> The [[Guodian Chu Slips]] comprise around 800 slips of bamboo with a total of over 13,000 characters, about 2,000 of which correspond with the ''Tao Te Ching.''<ref name="stanford" />

Both the Mawangdui and Guodian versions are generally consistent with the received texts, excepting differences in chapter sequence and graphic variants. Several recent ''Tao Te Ching'' translations utilise these two versions, sometimes with the verses reordered to synthesize the new finds.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvp|Lau|1989}}|{{harvp|Henricks|1989}}|{{harvp|Mair|1990}}|Henricks (2000)|Allan and Williams (2000)|Roberts (2004)}}</ref>

===Chronological theories===
{{See also|Guanzi_(text)#Dating|label 1=Guanzi dating}}
Although debated more in early scholarship, early modern scholars like [[Feng Youlan]] and [[Herrlee G. Creel]] still considered the work a compilation,{{sfnp|Creel|1982|pp=1–2}} and most modern scholarship holds the text to be a compilation, as typical for long-form early Chinese texts.<ref>{{ Cite book | last= Zhang | first= Hanmo | date= 2018 | title= Authorship and Text-Making in Early China| series= Library of Sinology, vol. 2 | publisher= De Gruyter| chapter = Text, Author, and the Function of Authorship | doi= 10.1515/9781501505133-003 | doi-access= free| jstor= j.ctvbkk21j.5| jstor-access= free |pages=26, 30| isbn= 978-1-5015-0513-3 }}</ref> Linguistic studies of the ''Tao Te Ching''{{'}}s vocabulary and [[syllable rime|rime]] scheme point to a date of composition after the ''[[Classic of Poetry]]'' (or Book of Songs), but before the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]'',<ref>{{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching |pages=162 |year=1963 |author-mask=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4GMEAAAQBAJ |publisher=Penguin |language=en |isbn=978-0-14-044131-4 |translator-last=Lau |translator-first=D. C. |translator-link=D. C. Lau}}</ref> and would generally be taken as preceding the ''Zhuangzi''.{{sfn|Chan|2013}} This is the traditional "before Zhuangzi’ theory".{{sfn|Mou|2008|p=213}} Although the Book of Songs is a diverse work, they do not appear to bare any especial resemblance.{{sfn|Mou|2008|p=217}} 

Based on [[Sima Qian]], the text would traditionally be taken as preceding [[Shen Buhai]]. Creel proposed that Shen Buhai may have preceded it as well,{{sfnp|Creel|1982|pp=48-51,93}} but Shen Buhai does bare a "striking" resemblance to [[Daodejing|Laozi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Creel|1974|p=189 (Creel's opinion)}}; {{harvnb|Creel|1982|p=50}} (citing {{harvnb|Jin|1963|pp=241-246}}); {{harvnb|Liu|2014|p=248 (citing Jin 1962)}}</ref> Although not enough to eliminate a late dating, the discovery of the early [[Mawangdui silk texts]] and [[Guodian Chu Slips]] again made a dating before the third-century more probable.{{sfnm|1a1=Mou|1y=2008|1p=213,214|2a1=Barlow|2y=1985|2p=92}} Essentially the dating of [[A.C. Graham]], the [[Stanford Encyclopedia]] supposes compilation of the ''current'' text as dating back to {{circa|250 BCE}}, drawing on a wide range of versions further dating back a century or two.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Chan|first= Alan|entry-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/laozi/ |entry=Laozi|title =The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |edition=Winter 2018 |editor =Edward N. Zalta |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> [[Benjamin I. Schwartz]] still considered the Tao te Ching remarkably unified by the time of the Mawangdui, even if these versions swap the two halves of the text.<ref name="Schartz2009">{{cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=Benjamin Isadore |author-link = Benjamin I. Schwartz |title=The World of Thought in Ancient China |year=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-04331-2 |page=187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kA0c1hl3CXUC&pg=PA187}}</ref>

Termed the "After Zhuangzi" theory, representative of [[Ch'ien Mu]] and Graham, a lack of early references contributes to Graham's late dating. While the Zhuangzi is the first reference for the Tao te Ching, it's Inner Chapters do not demonstrate familiar with it. Thus, an early stratum representative of the ''Zhuangzi's'' core Inner Chapters may have preceded it.{{sfnm|1a1=Mou|1y=2008|1p=215|2a1=Graham|2y=1989|2pp=213,217}} Listed in the Outer ''Zhuangzi's'' history before Laozi and Zhuangzi, [[Shen Dao]] also shares content with the Inner ''Zhuangzi''.{{sfnm|1a1=Graham|1y=1989|1p=376|2a1=Hansen|2y=1992|2pp=345,205,208|3a1=Schwartz|3y=1985|3p=186|4a1=Liu|4y=1994|4p=55}}  Less technically complex than Shen Buhai, Shen Dao's current may even precede him, as espoused by [[Ban Gu]].{{sfn|Barlow|1985|p=93}} However, Shen Dao can also be directly compared with the Tao te Ching.{{sfn|Emerson|2013}}

[[Sinologist]] Chad Hansen does not consider the Outer ''Zhuangzi'' entirely accurate chronologically, but still recalls it as part of a theoretical framework for the [[Stanford Encyclopedia]] of Daoism, positioning Shen Dao as "Pre-Laozi Daoist Theory". Discussing concepts of names and realities in its opening, Feng Youlan proposed the [[school of names]] as preceding the ''Tao Te Ching''. But while some may have, it does not demonstrate school of names influence the way the ''Zhuangzi'' does. The ''Tao te Ching'' is not as paradoxical, it tries to demonstrate that the ''way'' or [[dao]] is not constant. Although differing, [[Mohism]] and Confucianism also discuss concepts of names and realities.{{sfnm|1a1=Hansen|1y=2020|2a1=Hansen|2y=2024|3a1=Feng|3y=1948|3p=93|4a1=Hansen|4y=1992|4p=217}}

=== Authorship ===
The ''Tao Te Ching'' was traditionally ascribed to [[Laozi]], whose historical existence has been a matter of scholarly debate. His name, which means "Old Master", has only fuelled controversy on this issue.<ref>{{Citation |last=Cao |first=Feng |title=Daoism in Early China: Huang–Lao Thought in Light of Excavated Texts |date=20 October 2017 |author-mask=Cao Feng |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vf06DwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |language=en |isbn=978-1-137-55094-1}}</ref> Legends claim variously that Laozi was "born old" and that he lived for 996 years, with twelve previous incarnations starting around the time of the Three Sovereigns before the thirteenth as Laozi. Some scholars have expressed doubts over Laozi's historicity.<ref>{{Citation |last=Laozi |title=Tao Te Ching |pages=162 |year=1963 |author-mask=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4GMEAAAQBAJ |publisher=Penguin |language=en |isbn=978-0-14-044131-4 |quote=The tentative conclusion we have arrived at concerning Lao Tzu the man is this. There is no certain evidence that he was a historical figure. |translator-last=Lau |translator-first=D. C. |translator-link=D. C. Lau}}</ref>

[[File:Laozi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Laozi riding a [[water buffalo]]]]

The first biographical reference to Laozi is in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Records of the Grand Historian|loc=vol. 63}}, tr. Chan 1963:35–37.</ref> by Chinese historian [[Sima Qian]] ({{circa|145–86 BC}}), which combines three stories.<ref>{{Cite Shiji |63 | anchor=老子| lp=y|trans-chapter=Vol. 63, biography of Laozi |ref={{sfnref|Records of the Grand Historian}}}}</ref> In the first, Laozi was a contemporary of [[Confucius]] (551–479&nbsp;BC). His surname was Li ({{zhi|李}}), and his personal name was Er ({{zhi|耳}}) or Dan ({{zhi|聃}}). He was an official in the imperial archives, and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the West; at the request of the keeper of the Han-ku Pass, [[Yinxi]], Laozi composed the ''Tao Te Ching''. In the second story, Laozi, also a contemporary of Confucius, was Lao Laizi ({{lang|lzh|[[:zh:老莱子|老萊子]]}}), who wrote a book in 15 parts. Third, Laozi was the grand historian and astrologer Lao Dan ({{lang|lzh|老聃}}), who lived during the reign of [[Duke Xian of Qin (424–362 BC)|Duke Xian of Qin]] ({{reign|384|362&nbsp;BC}}).{{sfnp|Records of the Grand Historian|loc=vol. 63}}