“Professor Henricks’ new volume has two special merits for the general reader: One is that he succinctly explains the most recent discoveries in texts of the famous classic by ‘Lao-tzu.’ … The second merit of the Henrick’s translation is its sophistication and simplicity … [Mr. Henricks’] presents a version of each line which makes comparative sense out of phraseology that to some translators has seemed incomprehensible and inscrutable.”
John K. Fairbank
Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History
Emeritus, Harvard University
“No one can understand Chinese philosophy, religion, art, or social ethics without reading [the Te-Tao Ching]. We welcome, therefore, the translation of the recently discovered, the earliest, the most authentic, twenty-century old text … [It] will remain required reading for a long time whether in the classroom or in the home.”
Wing-tsit Chan
Author of The Way of Lao-tzu and
A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy
ALSO IN THIS SERIES
SUN-TZU: THE ART OF WARFARE
THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION
INCORPORATING THE RECENTLY
DISCOVERED YIN-CH’UEH TEXTS
TRANSLATED, WITH AN
INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY,
BY ROGER T. AMES
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Translation and New Text Copyright © 1989 by Robert G. Henricks
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Macmillan Publishing Company for permission to reprint excerpts from The Way of Lao Tzu by Wing-tsit Chan. Copyright © 1964 by Bobbs-Merrill Company. Reprinted with permission of Macmillan Publishing Company.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-90641
eISBN: 978-0-307-77534-4
Calligraphy by K. S. Wong
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.1
For Herrlee Glessner Creel
Who will undoubtedly disagree with my
interpretation of the Lao-tzu but whose
strong support of my work on the Ma-wang-tui
texts has meant a great deal.
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Introduction I. The Ma-wang-tui Texts
II. The Ma-wang-tui Manuscripts of the Lao-tzu and Other Versions of the Text
III. The Philosophy of Lao-tzu
A. The Tao
B. Returning to the Way
C. Health, Long Life, and Immortality
Part One: Translation Translator’s Note
Te (Virtue)
[CHAPTER 38]
[CHAPTER 39]
[CHAPTER 41]
[CHAPTER 40]
[CHAPTER 42]
[CHAPTER 43]
[CHAPTER 44]
[CHAPTER 45]
[CHAPTER 46]
[CHAPTER 47]
[CHAPTER 48]
[CHAPTER 49]
[CHAPTER 50]
[CHAPTER 51]
[CHAPTER 52]
[CHAPTER 53]
[CHAPTER 54]
[CHAPTER 55]
[CHAPTER 56]
[CHAPTER 57]
[CHAPTER 58]
[CHAPTER 59]
[CHAPTER 60]
[CHAPTER 61]
[CHAPTER 62]
[CHAPTER 63]
[CHAPTER 64]
[CHAPTER 65]
[CHAPTER 66]
[CHAPTER 80]
[CHAPTER 81]
[CHAPTER 67]
[CHAPTER 68]
[CHAPTER 69]
[CHAPTER 70]
[CHAPTER 71]
[CHAPTER 72]
[CHAPTER 73]
[CHAPTER 74]
[CHAPTER 75]
[CHAPTER 76]
[CHAPTER 77]
[CHAPTER 78]
[CHAPTER 79]
Tao (The Way)
[CHAPTER 1]
[CHAPTER 2]
[CHAPTER 3]
[CHAPTER 4]
[CHAPTER 5]
[CHAPTER 6]
[CHAPTER 7]
[CHAPTER 8]
[CHAPTER 9]
[CHAPTER 10]
[CHAPTER 11]
[CHAPTER 12]
[CHAPTER 13]
[CHAPTER 14]
[CHAPTER 15]
[CHAPTER 16]
[CHAPTER 17]
[CHAPTER 18]
[CHAPTER 19]
[CHAPTER 20]
[CHAPTER 21]
[CHAPTER 24]
[CHAPTER 22]
[CHAPTER 23]
[CHAPTER 25]
[CHAPTER 26]
[CHAPTER 27]
[CHAPTER 28]
[CHAPTER 29]
[CHAPTER 30]
[CHAPTER 31]
[CHAPTER 32]
[CHAPTER 33]
[CHAPTER 34]
[CHAPTER 35]
[CHAPTER 36]
[CHAPTER 37]
Part Two: Translation with Text, Commentary, and Notes Translator’s Note
Te (Virtue)
[CHAPTER 38]
[CHAPTER 39]
[CHAPTER 41]
[CHAPTER 40]
[CHAPTER 42, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 43, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 44, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 45, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 46, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 47]
[CHAPTER 48]
[CHAPTER 49]
[CHAPTER 50, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 51, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 52, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 53]
[CHAPTER 54]
[CHAPTER 55]
[CHAPTER 56, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 57]
[CHAPTER 58]
[CHAPTER 59]
[CHAPTER 60]
[CHAPTER 61, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 62, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 63, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 64]
[CHAPTER 65]
[CHAPTER 66]
[CHAPTER 80]
[CHAPTER 81]
[CHAPTER 67]
[CHAPTER 68]
[CHAPTER 69, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 70]
[CHAPTER 71]
[CHAPTER 72]
[CHAPTER 73]
[CHAPTER 74]
[CHAPTER 75]
[CHAPTER 76, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 77]
[CHAPTER 78]
[CHAPTER 79, TEXT A]
Tao (The Way)
[CHAPTER 1, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 2]
[CHAPTER 3]
[CHAPTER 4]
[CHAPTER 5]
[CHAPTER 6]
[CHAPTER 7]
[CHAPTER 8]
[CHAPTER 9]
[CHAPTER 10]
[CHAPTER 11]
[CHAPTER 12]
[CHAPTER 13]
[CHAPTER 14]
[CHAPTER 15]
[CHAPTER 16]
[CHAPTER 17]
[CHAPTER 18]
[CHAPTER 19]
[CHAPTER 20]
[CHAPTER 21]
[CHAPTER 24]
[CHAPTER 22]
[CHAPTER 23]
[CHAPTER 25]
[CHAPTER 26]
[CHAPTER 27]
[CHAPTER 28]
[CHAPTER 29]
[CHAPTER 30]
/> [CHAPTER 31, TEXT A]
[CHAPTER 32]
[CHAPTER 33]
[CHAPTER 34]
[CHAPTER 35]
[CHAPTER 36]
[CHAPTER 37]
Additional Notes
Bibliography
PREFACE
In the winter of 1976 I read through the Ma-wang-tui texts of Lao-tzu with a colleague and two students and immediately, and excitedly, had thoughts of doing a translation. The following year, doctoral dissertation out of the way, I began to study the texts seriously, being initially interested in determining how they differed from later texts of the Lao-tzu and why. One project seemed to lead to another, such that over the years I ended up publishing no less than ten articles on the texts, the original thought of doing a translation now far from my mind.
I was delighted, therefore, to receive a phone call from Owen Lock, editor in chief of Del Rey Books (an imprint of Ballantine Books), in November 1986, asking whether I might be interested in translating the Ma-wang-tui texts for popular consumption. Giving the matter some thought, I soon saw that this would give me the opportunity to bring to a completion in some ways the previous work I had done on the texts; at the same time, this makes available for the general readership the latest knowledge we have of this important text in Taoism.
I am indebted to Owen Lock for having the foresight to realize the significance of this project and for his support of and belief in my work. I also owe much to my good friend Richard Gotshalk, who first urged me to look into this text many years ago. Dick and I have had many long talks together over the years about the philosophy of this text, and he carefully read through my first draft translation and introduction and suggested a number of important changes and different ways in which the text might be read. Finally I want to thank my colleague at Dartmouth, Li Hua-yüan Mowry, who kindly, as she has done on many occasions before, went over a number of troubling passages in the text with me, sharing with me her sense of the text from the point of view of a native speaker.
INTRODUCTION
Specialists on Chinese religion and thought find it useful to distinguish, initially at least, between the Taoist religion on the one hand and philosophical Taoism on the other. We agree in dating the formal beginning of the Taoist religion to the establishment of the Celestial Master Sect, c. A.D. 150, by a man named Chang Taoling; philosophical Taoism is best represented for us in the thought of two texts written in early China, one called the Chuang-tzu, which preserves the ideas of the philosopher Chuang Chou (fl. 350-320 B.C.), the other an anonymous product known as the Lao-tzu (which means “the Old Master” or “Old Philosopher”) or the Tao-te ching (The Book of the Way and Its Power). The Lao-tzu, like the Chuang-tzu, probably represents currents of thought in China around 300 B.C., though by tradition the Lao-tzu was written by a contemporary of Confucius named Li Erh, Confucius’ dates being 551-479 B.C.
There are many similar ideas in the texts of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu; there are major differences between the two texts as well. For example, a good part of the Lao-tzu is addressed to the man who would be king and is concerned with the correct, Taoist way to rule; Chuang-tzu has no interest in social-political matters. Chuang-tzu’s message is addressed to the rugged individualist who turns his back on social commitment in his search for the fulfilled life. There are also major differences between the two books in style. The Chuang-tzu is composed of thirty-three chapters, each chapter a mixture of philosophic discourse, anecdote, fable, and tale, stories filled with delightful, unforgettable characters. The Lao-tzu, by contrast, has a total of eighty-one chapters, each one being more like a poem in form.
I. THE MA-WANG-TUI TEXTS
A number of extraordinary textual discoveries have been made by archaeologists in China in the last twenty years, those discoveries providing the reason, and the materials, for the present translation series. At Yin-ch’üeh-shan in Shantung, for example, portions of a number of early philosophical texts—including the Kuan-tzu, the Yen-tzu ch’un-ch’iu, and the militarist treatises Sun Pin ping-fa and Sun Wu ping-fa (i.e., Sun-tzu’s Art of War)—have been unearthed; while at Shui-hu-ti in Hupeh archaeologists found, among other things, materials relating to a Ch’in (221-207 B.C.) code of law.
Of greatest significance to date, a tremendous discovery was made in the last months of 1973 in south-central China near Changsha (Hunan Province) in the small village of Ma-wang-tui. In Han Tomb No. 3 at Ma-wang-tui, the grave of the son of a man named Li Ts’ang, Li Ts’ang having been marquis of Tai and prime minister of Changsha in early Han dynasty times,* archaeologists discovered a rich cache of funerary goods including a large group of texts. An inventory slip in the tomb informs us that this man was buried on the equivalent in the Western calendar of April 4, 168 B.C., thus providing a terminus ante quem for these materials. But more precise dating is possible in some cases based on the style of the calligraphy used and the practice of taboo-name avoidance—the personal name of an emperor in ancient China was not to be used in texts copied during his reign (more on these matters below).
A total of fifty-one items have been identified in the find by Chinese specialists working on the materials; most of these are written on silk, though a few are recorded on slips of bamboo and/or wood. Though most of the materials found are texts, there are maps, charts, and diagrams among the finds as well.* The importance of these materials to our understanding of early Chinese philosophy, history, literature, political thought, scientific thought, etc., was recognized right from the start and can hardly be overestimated.
There are texts on medical theories and practices, texts on Yin and Yang and the Five Elements (or “Phases”—wu-hsing), texts on political philosophy, and texts on astronomy and astrology. The medical treatises treat such matters as the conduits of the circulatory system, the fatal signs exhibited by these conduits, remedies and prescriptions for fifty-two diseases (Wu-shih-erh ping-fang), childbirth, methods for nourishing life, and the benefits of grain avoidance in diet. One of the medical treatises may in fact be the long lost Huang-ti wai-ching (External Classic of the Yellow Emperor). The texts on astronomy and astrology are mainly concerned with good and bad omens. One of these plots the orbits of five planets for the years 246-177 B.C.: this is called Prognostications Related to the Five Planets (Wu-hsing chan). Another illustrated scroll called Prognostications Related to Astronomical and Meteorological Phenomena (T’ien-wen ch’i-hsiang chan) has twenty-nine vivid drawings of comets. Needless to say, these are extremely important materials for tracing the development of astronomy in early China.
One of the Ma-wang-tui texts contains anecdotal material similar to what we now find in the Tso-chuan, recording historical events in the Spring and Autumn (Ch’un-ch’iu) period in China (722-481 B.C.). Also found was an early version of the Chan-kuo ts’e (Intrigues of the Warring States), a version with a total of twenty-seven chapters, sixteen of these not previously seen, all of this providing new information on the history of this important age (c. 480-222 B.C.).
Most of the texts found at Ma-wang-tui are documents of which we had no prior knowledge, though in some cases we knew of the item by name. Most significant in this regard, perhaps, are the texts being identified as the lost Huang-ti ssu-ching (Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor). The Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor tell us much about the syncretic political thought known as “Huang-Lao” that was in vogue in early Han times. The Yellow Emperor texts present a view of good government which combines practical Confucian and Legalist principles with Taoist metaphysics and psychology.
In two important cases the manuscripts found at Ma-wang-tui provide us with what are now the earliest known versions of well-known Chinese philosophical classics. One of these is the I Ching (The Book of Changes), for which we find here the basic text for the sixty-four hexagrams and five different commentaries only one of which was previously known, the Hsi-tz’u, or “Appended Judgments” (the others are called Erh-san-tzu wen [“The Questions of the Disciples”], Mo
u Ho, Chao Li, and Yao).
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