Lao Tzu and the Tao te Ching — Does ancient wisdom matter in the real world?
Along with Confucius, Lao Zi is probably one of the most renowned philosophers of ancient China.
So who was Lao Zi, what were his beliefs and words of wisdom, and do they matter in the real world? These are the questions that this article will attempt to answer.
Who was Lao Zi (or is it Lao Tzu, or Lao Tse)?
First off, is it Lao Zi, Lao Tzu or Lao Tse? The famous Chinese philosopher has been referred to with all three of these names, so all of these names are acceptable, however as a Mandarin speaker, I prefer — and will be using this name throughout this article — Lao Zi. It also goes with Hanyu Pinyin, which is the system of romanization for the Chinese written language. It’s not to say that the other pronunciations and names are incorrect, they would mostly come from the Cantonese pronunciation, and perhaps other dialects.
Lao (老) means old, and Zi (子) means master, so we’ve really been calling him old master. Zi could also mean child. I know, that seems weird, “Old child”? But hang in there, this’ll all be explained very soon.
Now that we’ve dealt with the issue of Lao Zi’s name, it’s time that we talk about who he was.
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A biography was written about him by historian Sima Qian, and its reliability has been questioned, but nevertheless, I thought it would be an interesting story to include.
Lao Zi was said to have been the founder of Daoism (道教) (or Taoism) and said to have lived during the Zhou dynasty and Warring States period. He was born native to Chu (a state of the Zhou dynasty) It is said that he has lived for 990 years. There are also many legends surrounding how he was born. Some say that he was conceived when his mother saw a falling star, others say that he was in his mother’s womb for quite a while, so that when he was born, he was born as an old man with long earlobes, hence the meaning of his name maybe being “Old child”.
As you may have already guessed, Lao Zi was not his actual name (who would name their child Old master or Old child?). In fact, he was born with the surname of Li (李) and given name of Er (耳, meaning ear, most likely related to the legend of him being born with long ears). I know that I had said that we would no longer be dealing with his name, but, well…
Back to his story and who he was.
So Lao Zi Served as a keeper of the archival records at the court of Zhou, which was known to be very corrupt during its last years. Realizing that Zhou was in decline, Lao Zi decided to leave on a water buffalo, and as he was reaching the northwest border of China, he met an official named Yin Xi. Yin Xi was in charge of the border crossing and recognized Lao Zi, despite him being dressed as a farmer. He asked him to put his teachings into writing, resulting the legendary work called the Dao De Jing (道德经).
Huh? You must be asking. I’ve heard of the Tao Te Ching, but not the Dao De Jing. Is it another one of those dialect naming things, and is it the same thing? Yes, and yes. The Dao De Jing / Tao Te Ching was Lao Zi’s last gift to the universe before he disappeared and was never seen again.
The Dao De Jing
What we know of his philosophy and teachings come from the Dao De Jing.
There are many lovely quotes from this bible-like book, that I think is worth taking a minute to appreciate:
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
So true Lao Zi, you had this all figured out before the birth of 21st century highschool, and the endless nights of school work torture due to procrastination.
“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
“To live till you die is to live long enough.”
For some reason, I’m reminded of the poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight by Dylan Thomas (maybe it’s because I just recently watched Interstellar by director Christopher Nolan).
Did Lao Zi really exist?
It’s been many years, so we cannot be sure, but some people believe that Lao Zi was not a real person, and that the Dao De Jing was most likely a compilation of the works of many authors over time.
This article’s focus
No, I did not forget the question in the main title about whether or not Lao Zi’s old wisdom matters in the real world or not, but I do think that it is important to carefully consider the meaning behind the word “matter”.
In this context, to find out whether or not this matters, I think that it is important to explore if there is any significance of what he has said and if it is relevant and applicable to us right now.
His philosophy
Finally, we’re getting to the important stuff.
Lao Zi believed in something called the “Dao” (道), which can translate to the word “Way” in English. The “Dao” is about the way of life and how to live a good life. It is the way to happiness, virtue and harmony.
Non action
The Dao also consists of something called wuwei (无为), or non action. It means to not interfere and let things take their natural course.
“The one who knows [the Dao] does not speak; the one who speaks does not know. The wise man shuts his mouth and closes his gates.”
Emptying of the mind
According to Lao Zi, we should let go of all our schedules, worries and complex thoughts. We should empty ourselves of frivolous thoughts so that we can fill ourselves with matters that are truly important.
“The usefulness of a pot comes from its emptiness.”
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”
We should withdraw from society and retreat into contemplation. Instead of being worried and being filled with complex thoughts, we should instead live in the moment, and learn to be satisfied and appreciative with simplicity, harmony and contentment, instead of searching for wealth and status.
We should minimize our desires, which are the roots of harmful relationships between the self and others, and lead us to do selfish acts for our own satisfaction. We should not be bothered with ambition, desire or competitive striving, which will help to eliminate the man made evils of this world.
Is there significance and relevance of Lao Zi’s teachings?
What I agree with
I think that there are many points that are relevant to our lives now.
In our time, stuff happens so quickly, we barely have time to stop and think. I’ve noticed that there’s been an overall surge in self improvement. This also includes meditation. Nowadays, people set some time off everyday to empty the mind of negative thoughts, as well as worries, which is something that Lao Zi has been telling us to do.
He also says that we should minimize competitive striving, which I think is a useful reminder that we should stop comparing ourselves to others, and pushing ourselves to be someone that we’re not.
What I disagree with
I think that Lao Zi’s views are very idealistic, extreme and very hard to follow, especially in today’s world. Imagine walking up to your boss’s office, telling them that you’re quitting, and leave for some far off mountain or forest, where you will learn to put your survival skills to the test, and survive away from society for the rest of your life.
Yeah… that’s what I thought. That is something that almost no one will be willing to do.
Although I do agree that we should minimize our negative emotions and thoughts, I think that there is also importance in having competitiveness, ambition, desires and passions. These are the qualities that form a successful person, and with more people pushing to be the best, and working hard towards their ambitions, society, education and technology can evolve. It’s like the theory of evolution; Competition is vital to pick out the fittest. It is about survival of the fittest, and the evolution of species to better adapt to an environment and be a better version of themselves.
The verdict
In conclusion, I don’t think that this is a question that can be answered very simply. There are many pros and cons to consider, and I think that we should take everything in moderation. There are some aspects of Lao Zi’s philosophy that are valuable, but others that would be impossible to carry out, and may not be effective and good for society as a whole.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment, and I’d love to hear what you have to say :)