Frequently Asked Questions
Why the book Lao Tzu(aka Tao Te Ching) is so difficult to understand?
Because the language of the disorderly text of Tao Te Ching(originally called Lao Tzu for his name sake) is expressed in the very archaic classical Chinese language of the seventh century B.C.. Furthermore, Lao Tzu's thought was profound. It is so profound that a reader must work extremely hard to recapitulate the path of his thought even after the initial linguistic hardship has been overcome.
How can a person meditate like him since he is not personally around to instruct us how to meditate(a very individualistic affair)?
We can only retrace his thoughts through his difficult text. Notwithstanding meanings of his words could not even be intuitively perceived by people who lived a couple hundred years after him. He had already said to his contemporary that there were only a handful people who were able understand him(chapter 70.III). The heart of the matter is that his text, though disorderly reconstructed by posterity, has a firm framework to hold all his statements together consistently. The case is comparable to thoughts of Frederick Nietzsche of modern days; they appeared to be unsystematically expressed, yet inconsistency was scarce(cf. B.Russell: A History of Western Philosophy).
Was Lao Tzu's thought esoteric?
Absolutely not. On the contrary, his thought is exoteric(suitable to communicate to the general public), if only its logic has been apprehended or expounded.
Was Lao Tzu a philosopher?
Definitely. In the same rank as Plato and Nietzsche. Even though his thoughts were expressed through very disorderly text of Tao Te Ching(originally called Lao Tzu), yet his framework holds all statements in his book together firmly consistently. Because of this, his Tao is inherently coherent. It is as logical and rational as the thought of Plato is. Notwithstanding, Taoism professed by people other than Lao Tzu may have suffered from being paradoxical or self-stultifying. Lao Tzu was indeed a very great Meistersinger, whose genius cannot be either duplicated or fittingly imitated.
How different is Lao Tzu's original Taoism from generally talked about Taoism?
Perhaps like day and night. There are more differences than similarities between the Tao of Lao Tzu and Tao of many other self-claimed Taoist thinkers. Strictly speaking, even talented Chuang Tzu's Taoism has only paraphrased elliptically Lao Tzu's philosophy. Similar to Sun Tzu, Confucius, Mecius and Han Fei Tzu, Confucius was just one of Lao Tzu's followers, .
So the Master's original Taoism is so different from the Generally discussed Taoism? How come?
As the ninteenth century French Sinologist Steinus Julien said "To be great is to be misunderstood". Julien's translation of Lao Tzu was remarkably thorough and comprehensive. Similarly, to be profound and complicate will also incite misunderstanding. The Taoism, in general, proliferated(not derived) from the original is a much inferior imitation of the original. Commonly discussed Taoism should also be distinguished as follows:
(1) Taoism of Chuang Tzu莊子: It is the irrational version of Lao Tzu's Taoism. It could be accepted as irrational philosophies were accepted. However, Chuang Tzu's co-authors, i.e. his disciples, may have failed to hold the line.
(2) Taoism thinkers 道家 originated in the third century B.C. through the application of free- wheeling syncretism(combining together elements in spite of their incompability). Yin-Yang symbols were thus introduced as the logo for Taoism. Their Taoism is a far cry from Lao Tzu's philosophy.
(3) Taoism circulated by religious Taoists道士, who were traditionally semi-literate or illiterate. How can we blame them for their incapacity to break free from their ignorance?
