China 35: Lao Tzu & the Tao Te Ching

• Lao Tzu’s connection to the Tao Te Ching

• Passing through the Gates of the City into the Mountains

Chapter 35: Lao Tzu (602-478 BCE) & the Tao Te Ching

Before proceeding out of the Chinese Bronze Age, let us examine the legendary life of Lao Tzu. Just as Confucius was the founder of Confucianism according to tradition, so was Lao Tzu the founder of Taoism. Lao Tzu was an older contemporary of Confucius, as indicated by his dates. According to many later sources the two interacted on many occasions. While Confucius praised Lao Tzu as a dragon, Lao Tzu criticized Confucius for being too backwards looking. Let us look a little deeper, beginning with traditional Taoist history.

Traditional Taoist History

In traditional histories of Taoism, we find the simplistic version that Lao Tzu at an advanced age passed on the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist Bible, to a gatekeeper, Yin Hsi, after which he walked into the mountains. This then became the beginning of Taoism. This occurs about 488 BC. Under this simplistic and widely held view, Lao Tzu becomes the founder and father of Taoism and the Tao Te Ching becomes the Bible upon which its truths are based.

The following origination story from Encyclopedia Britannica is typical.

“Another school, Taoism, had as its foundation classic the Tao Te Ching and attributed this to one Lao Tzu, who is said to have been an older contemporary of Confucius. … The solution for the woes of mankind offered by the Tao Te Ching was conformity to the way of the universe. The way of the universe was believed to be the absence of all man-made restraints and freedom from elaborate regulations and from what passed for civilization. This solution was, obviously, quite different from that advocated by Confucius, and the two schools engaged in frequent controversy.” [i]1

This is the traditional story and makes a lot of sense to us Westerners with a real Jesus, a real Plato, a real Aristotle, a real Mohammed, a real Buddha, founding schools and religions based upon their teachings and or writings. Even in recent history, we have the Marxists inspired by Karl Marx. It makes a lot of sense for a great man to write his great ideas down in a book, which will inspire the world and influence the course of history. This makes a lot of sense but is not true in the case of Taoism.

Lao Tzu, a mythological character

Despite great efforts, all attempts to establish Lao Tzu’s historicity have failed, or are rendered useless due to widespread disputed. Even China’s great historian, Ssu-ma Ch'ien, writing in the first century BC, can’t separate myth from reality concerning Lao Tzu. He offers three different historical personalities as possibilities for the real Lao Tzu; their lives are separated by over 200 years.[ii] Modern Chinese scholars have argued that he lived somewhere in a 300 year time period, from 600-300 BC.

“It may safely be said that those who believe Lao Tzu lived in the Spring and Autumn period and those who believe he lived in the Warring States period are about equal in number. Only a very, very small minority has treated him as a myth.”[iii]

Further of those that believed that he lived in the Spring and Autumn Era, only a fraction believes that he actually interacted with Confucius. Even a smaller number believe that he wrote the Tao-te Ching. Virtually no scholar believes the gatekeeper story.

“Suffice it to say here that few scholars believe that Lao Tzu went through a pass and wrote a book at the request of the pass-keeper.”[iv]

Thus while Lao Tzu might have existed as an individual, there are still great questions about his leading the legendary life attributed to him. While there may have been a Lao Tzu, it is the legend of his life that matters. Similarly it doesn’t matter if Jesus really rose from the dead after 3 days. But it is quite meaningful that millions of people’s lives have been affected by their belief in the Resurrection. Skirting the issue of historicity, the only historically potent reality is the legendary Lao Tzu, connected by a thread to the historical Lao Tzu. Hence whether he existed or not is secondary to his legendary influence.

Lao Tzu’s connection to the Tao Te Ching

His primary influence is through the book he supposedly transmitted to the gatekeeper, Yin Hsi, the Tao Te Ching.

According to literary analysts the book that Lao Tzu supposedly dictated has phrases that are from the late Warring States Period, 3rd century BCE, just before the First Emperor took charge of China. This is a century or more after any of the historical Lao Tzu’s lived, and centuries after the legendary Lao Tzu transmitted it to the Gatekeeper.

According to literary analysis, the Tao Te Ching has many historical layers, dating from prehistoric sources of ancient wisdom to just before the First Emperor. According to Thomas Cleary, it “is an anthology of ancient sayings, poems, and proverbs”[v]. There are many references to the sayings of Lao Tzu in the following Warring States Period and none in the Spring and Autumn Era. The first references to Lao Tzu’s sayings are in the 4th century[vi]. These evolved and grew; finally reaching their final state in the 3rd century BC.

This book evolution is quite common in China. The constantly evolving I Ching is attributed to three giants of the Chou period, Wen Wang, Chou Kung, i.e. King Wen, the Duke of Chou, and K’ung tzu, i.e. Confucius, although it is unlikely that any of them had anything to do with the writing of the book. As we saw probably none of the books attributed to Confucius were actually written by him. As we’ve seen it was common practice in China to attribute writings to an important character to give the writings weight and strength. This then has nothing to do with the historicity of Lao Tzu and everything to do with the nature of the Tao Te Ching.

The Tao Te Ching was originally called ‘the Lao Tzu’. Lao Tzu means Master Lao or Old Master. Hence they were a collection of sayings from the Old Master. Whether there was an Old Master, or whether it was an archetypal Old Master, or a group of Old Masters doesn’t really matter. This collection of sayings of the Old Master accumulated like a snowball over the centuries. It also acquired a structure and organization. In final form it acquired a new name, the Tao Te Ching, and its own mythological transmission.

Further it is even traditional for Taoist authors to deny authorship and historical context in the pursuit of universal truth.

“The Lao-tzu (better known as the Tao-te Ching {The Book of the Way and its Virtue) supposedly did not obtain its present form until the third century BC. The a-historical nature of the Tao-te Ching is shared by almost all the texts that make up the Taoist Canon. The latter, which comprises some 1500 works and is representative of Taoist literature throughout the centuries, abounds in works that carry no signature, no date, nor any proper name. It is as if, to their authors, linear history made no sense at all and as if individual authorship was considered contrary to the nature of things.”[vii]

Thus it would be quite natural for a circle of Taoists to anonymously collect wise sayings under the name of the “Old Master”. Indeed in one of the wings of the I Ching, the Great Treatise, Ta Chuan, which probably precedes the Tao Te Ching, there is already a tradition of the Master. Questions are posed to an anonymous Master, who responds about the meanings of the hexagrams.

In summary, probably the ‘Lao Tzu’, i.e. the Tao Te Ching, was not written by Lao Tzu but instead “is an anthology of ancient sayings, poems, and proverbs”[viii]. The Old Master who ‘wrote’ ‘the Lao Tzu’ was probably a collection of Old Masters who anonymously compiled these sayings, poems and proverbs over the centuries, reaching its modern form in about the 3rd century BC. Lao Tzu, the archetype of the Wise Old Sage in the shamanistic traditions, was given a body and assigned authorship of the Tao Te Ching. This book generated its own group of followers, eventually called Taoists. Scholars are still arguing if Lao Tzu was an archetype or an individual.

Mythology of Lao Tzu

Although it might appear that this is an attack upon Taoist history, instead it is a support for Taoist mythology. As we de-emphasize historicity we emphasize the legends. Let us look at this mythology.

Once we realize that the story of Lao Tzu and the Gatekeeper is not historical, we look to the reasons behind the propagation of the myth, the meaning of its symbolism. On the most immediate level the Gatekeeper is like St. Peter at the Gates to Heaven. The Gatekeeper acts as the initiate who opens the gateway to truth. Through him, the Initiate is able to enter in. The Key to the Gate, of course, is the text of the Tao Te Ching, transmitted by the Old Master.

The mythological Lao Tzu, the Old Master, is a typical Taoist Immortal. The Immortals are humans that have achieved divine status through certain practices. They do not necessarily help mortal humans, but they might. Hence we have this godlike being transmitting truth before leaving civilization. He does not deliberately find a gatekeeper to tell his truths to. Instead the Gatekeeper stops Lao Tzu and requests the truth. This corresponds to the irresponsible nature of the Immortals.

Further most Chinese Taoists know that Lao Tzu did not achieve his status as Master through the wisdom of words. They know that he achieved this state through physical practices, which probably include meditation, exercises, proper action and diet. Hence his truths are the fruit of these physical practices, rather than being independent of them. Thus for the Taoist the words of the Tao Te Ching are just keys to the Gate.

Thus the keys just get us past the gate. They do not walk us down the path. We must do that ourselves. We see the same theme in The Journey. At the river crossing of the Sand River, Piggy asks Monkey why he can’t just fly Tripitaka across with his great magic powers. He responds to the effect that while he can defeat monsters and travel thousands of miles with his cloud somersault, that he cannot even carry Tripitaka one step down the path. This Tripitaka must do for himself.

The Gate opens onto the Path. Lao Tzu follows his own Path. We each follow our own path. This is one reason why he disappears into the mountains. The ‘Old Masters’ who originated the myth did not want the Initiates to fixate on Lao Tzu as an individual statesman, military hero, or even wise sage. He almost reluctantly gives up his wisdom and leaves on his own path.

Many never even find the Path. Many never even know that it exists. Many have heard of it but don’t believe that it exists. Thus the excitement of finding a key for the non-Initiate elevates the key to a place of greater importance than the Path itself. The fisherman has mistaken the net for the fish and starves to death. Enlightenment is the net, not the fish.

The symbolism of The Journey also reveals that the Path is of a temporal nature. Enlightenment is only one of the keys to the Path. It is not the goal of Path. Basically each of the members of the Quest, including the Dragon-Horse, has gone through intense self-cultivation. This has only given them the necessary powers needed to deal with the various demons, monsters, and fiends on the path. Thus self-cultivation or enlightenment is not an end in itself. Similarly the Tao Te Ching is only a beginning, not the end. Becoming a specialist on the ideas behind the Tao Te Ching has nothing to do with becoming a Master. Practicing the elements of the Tao Te Ching has everything to do with becoming a Taoist Immortal like Lao Tzu.

Here is one of the more obvious keys from the Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu says empty the mind and fill the belly. While for the intellectual this comes as a curse, and for the politician it might mean that they should concern themselves with the nutrition of the populace before they worry about their mental state, for the Taoist it is very simple. It means empty the mind of thoughts and fill the belly with chi. However as has been elaborated on elsewhere, this is not an anti-intellectual nihilist comment. Instead it is simply a suggestion for meditation, for Taiji, for life. It means return to the state of all yin to prepare for the Return of the Yang. From a state of mental stillness, we accumulate chi, readying ourselves for the inevitable pure manifestation of yang. This state is not achieved by insight anymore than playing a flute is achieved by insight. It is a state that is achieved only through practice. Emptying the mind of thoughts is the focus of both Buddhist and Taoist mediation techniques. The insight is supplied by the wisdom of the Old Master, but initiates must perform the practices by themselves. Just as Tripitaka must make the steps himself, so must the student do his own work. The Tao Te Ching only provides the keys to the Path.

Passing through the Gates of the City into the Mountains

One last part of the story of the transmission bears mentioning. After transmitting the Old Master passes through the gates of the City to go to the Mountains. This feature has to do with necessity of leaving the City to follow the Path. The City represents the normal way, the way that you are programmed to follow from birth. Instead of following the Tao of Heaven, one follows the tao of popular culture, wherever that might lead. The Mountains represent the heights of Heaven, wildness, insecurity, freedom.

The Journey regularly addresses this issue. Tripitaka leaves the civilization and protection of the T’ang dynasty to go to Thunderclap mountain in India where the Buddha lives. When he crosses the boundary between civilized and wild, he picks up his first disciple, Monkey. Part of the implication behind this is that the wild, brilliant, independent, martial part of the personality is not needed if one stays in the symbolic City. It is only the challenges of the Wild that brings Monkey back from under the Mountain of Five Phases.

Regularly the members of the Journey are tempted to disband the Journey and go home. Piggy, with an overly abundant desire for comfort and security, is, of course, tempted most frequently. Monkey chides him that it is necessary to leave the home to achieve Immortality. Again leaving the home has to do with leaving the comfort and security of the ordinary path.

Let it be stressed that most people do not choose to be Immortals. Most prefer the ordinary path with more security. The path of Immortality is difficult and insecure. Hence just as most Chinese would not have left the comforts and security of the T’ang Empire to journey through the wilds to Thunderclap Mountain, similarly most people would not choose the Path to the heights of the Mountains that Lao Tzu chose.

While most do not choose to align themselves with the wild and woolly Will of Heaven, many did choose to learn from the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu. These individuals might apply Taoist principles to their lives and actions, but if they have not left the home of popular culture, then they are not on the Path to Immortality. This is form without essence: a self-proclaimed musician with no instrument.

Reiterating, Lao Tzu’s main importance is as a legendary Immortal, not as a historical personage. As such the story of the propagation of the Tao Te Ching achieves mythical significance. It contains the idea of the Gate between the Civilized City and the Wild Mountains. The words of the Tao Te Ching are the Key to the Gateway opening onto the Path. The words point to body practices. They are not the practice.