Lao-tzu and the Tao-te-ching (review)

Reviews 171 Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, editors. Lao-tzu and the Tao-te-ching. Albany: State University ofNew York Press, 1998. xii, 330 pp. Paperback $20.95, isbn 0-7914-3599-7. This book, consisting of twelve essays by different authors, is an anthology on the relationship between the man Laozi and die book Daodejing (hereafter abbreviated as DDJ; this reviewer will use pinyin spelling throughout, except where Wade-Giles, the system used in this book, appears in quoted titles and passages). The volume is divided into four parts, each containing three articles. These four respective parts deal with (1) myths ofLaozi in the pre-Political Disunion and post-Political Union periods; (2) commentaries on the DDJfrom the late Eastern Han to the Yuan dynasty (mid-second century ce. to 1368 c.e.); (3) modern understandings ofthe DDJin the West; and (4) linguistic studies ofthe DDJtext, arguments for the original meaning of the DDJ, and problems concerning the translations of the DDJ. The editors say that it is through this method of division tiiat the relationship between the man Laozi and the text DDJcan be conveyed to the reader. However, the present book actually consists ofthree sections: one section (part 3 minus the essay by Hardy) discusses the ideas and values ofthe DDJas viewed by some Western scholars; one section (part 4) deals with the textual problems ofthe DDJas discerned by some contemporary Western scholars; and one section (parts 1 and 2 plus Hardy's essay in part 3) concerns the relationship between Laozi the man and the text DDJ. This section fulfills the proposed purpose of the book (p. 7). Here, the authors of the various essays show how the commentators on the DDJand the Daoists interpreted the text religiously: they saw it in terms of the concepts ofinner alchemy, ofyin-yangpolarity and the cosmology ofthe five phases, and ofother Han or post-Han cultural symbols. These Daoists also considered the DDJas a book that revealed the teachings of a deified Laozi. This fourth section, consisting ofseven essays, portrays the transformation ofthe DDJfrom a philosophical text into a religious one. Because the other two sections (most ofparts 3 and 4) deal with the textual problems ofthe DDJonly and do not touch upon Daoist religion, the essays within them are independent of the long fourth section described above. However, the essays in these two other sections are by no means less important than the ones in the longer section: they are critical essays that offer considerable© 1999 by University intellectual stimulation. ofHawai'i PressJn wnat f0]]0WS) after a discussion ofthe essays dealing with the textual problems and the ideas of the DDJ, I shall concentrate on the articles pertaining to religious Daoism. 172 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. ?, Spring 1999 Benjamin Schwartz' essay "The Thought ofthe Tao-te-ching," in part 3, proposes that the DDJis a book ofmysticism and delineates its gnosis through an analysis ofthe concept of wuwei MM as nonbeing: "some thirty ofthe eighty-one chapters of the book deal with the mystic dimension." It is in this respect that Schwartz takes issue with D. C. Lau and Joseph Needham, for both ofthese men believe that the DDJis not a "mystical" book. Schwartz says that the mystical quality ofthe DDJdoes not negate the world; this is evident in the text's emphasis on the yin qualities of the world. Schwartz believes that Confucian efforts to improve the world represent a kind of "false consciousness" that is ultimately selfdefeating . He also says that the civilization-negating policies of the sage-ruler in the DDJ are themselves an example of deliberate action. Hence there is an unresolved contradiction in the DDJ. The other essay in part 3 is Liu Xiaogan's "Naturalness (Tzu-jan ¡Ü$S), the Core Value in Taoism: Its Ancient Meaning and Its Significance Today." Liu delineates the meaning of ziran and demonstrates its relevance to present-day Western society. Part 4 begins with the essay "Situating the Language ofthe Lao-tzu," by William Baxter, whose specialization is Chinese linguistics. Baxter attempts to determine the date ofthe DDJthrough an analysis ofits language structure. His starting point is to assume that the DDJadopts a pattern...