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23 - Texts.

23 - Texts.

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Texts. Some religious Taoist movements view traditional texts as scriptures that are considered sacred, authoritative, binding, and divinely inspired or revealed. However, the Tao Te Ching was originally viewed as "human wisdom" and "written by humans for humans." It and other important texts "acquired authority...that caused them to be regarded...as sacred." On the other hand, the Shangqing School has a tradition of approaching Taoism through scriptural study. It is believed that by reciting certain texts often enough one will be rewarded with immortality. The most influential texts in Taoism are the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi. Tao Te Ching. Throughout the history of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching has been a central text, used for ritual, self-cultivation, and philosophical purposes. According to legend, the Tao Te Ching (also known as the Laozi) was written by Laozi. Authorship, precise date of origin, and even unity of the text are still subject of debate[298] and will probably never be known with certainty. The earliest manuscripts of this work (written on bamboo tablets) date back to the late 4th century BCE, and these contain significant differences from the later received edition (of Wang Bi c. 226–249). Apart from the Guodian text and the Wang Bi edition, another alternative version exists, the Mawangdui Tao Te Chings. Louis Komjathy writes that the Tao Te Ching is "actually a multi-vocal anthology consisting of a variety of historical and textual layers; in certain respects, it is a collection of oral teachings of various members of the inner cultivation lineages." Meanwhile, Russell Kirkland argues that the text arose out of "various traditions of oral wisdom" from the state of Chu that were written, circulated, edited, and rewritten by different hands. He also suggests that authors from the Jixia academy may have been involved in the editing process. The Tao Te Ching is not organized in any clear fashion and is a collection of different sayings on various themes. The leading themes of the Tao Te Ching revolve around the nature of Tao, how to attain it and De, the inner power of Tao, as well as the idea of wu wei. Tao is said to be ineffable and accomplishes great things through small, lowly, effortless, and "feminine" (yin) ways (which are compared to the behavior of water). Ancient commentaries on the Tao Te Ching are important texts in their own right. Perhaps the oldest one, the Heshang Gong commentary, was most likely written in the 2nd century CE. Other important commentaries include the one from Wang Bi and the Xiang'er commentary. Zhuangzi. The Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang), named after its supposed author Zhuang Zhou, is a highly influential composite text of multi-vocal writings from various sources and historical periods. The commentator and editor Guo Xiang (c. 300 CE) helped establish the text as an important source for Taoist thought. One traditional view is that a sage called Zhuang Zhou wrote the first seven chapters (the "inner chapters"), and his students and related thinkers were responsible for the other parts (the outer and miscellaneous chapters). However, some modern scholars, like Russell Kirkland, argue that Guo Xiang is actually the creator of the 33-chapter Zhuangzi text and that there is no solid historical data for the existence of Zhuang Zhou himself (other than the sparse and unreliable mentions in Sima Qian). Zhuangzi also introduced seven versions of the meeting between Laozi and Confucius. Laozi is portrayed as growing old, and his Taoist teachings confuse his famous interlocutors. Zhuangzi also provides the only record of Laozi's death. The Zhuangzi uses anecdotes, parables, and dialogues to express one of its main themes—avoiding cultural constructs and instead living in a spontaneous way aligned with the natural world. This way of living might be perceived as "useless" by most people who follow their own "common sense" and social and political rules, but this uselessness is actually a wiser alternative, since it is more in accord with reality. Daozang. The Daozang (“Daoist Canon”) is the principal collection of Taoist scriptures and related writings. Although earlier Taoist canons were compiled (such as the "Three Caverns") and revised in the medieval and Song–Jin periods, the only complete canon extant today is the Ming-dynasty edition, the Zhengtong Daozang (published in 1445), which contains roughly 1,500 texts. Following the example of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka, it is divided into three dong ("caves" or "grottoes"). They are arranged from "highest" to "lowest": - Cavern of Truth / Authenticity (Dongzhen), associated primarily with Shangqing materials. - Cavern of Mystery (Dongxuan), associated primarily with Lingbao scriptures. - Cavern of Spirit (Dongshen), associated primarily with older traditions, especially the Sanhuang (Three Sovereigns) corpus. In practice, Taoist communities and lineages ...
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