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Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching
A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian
ISBN: 0-231-11817-1
Columbia University Press
Robert G. Henricks
In 1993, an astonishing discovery was made at a tomb in Guodian in Hubei province (east central China). Written on strips of bamboo that have miraculously survived intact since 300 B.C., the "Guodian Laozi," is by far the earliest version of the Tao Te Ching ever unearthed. Students of ancient Chinese civilization proclaimed the text a decisive breakthrough in the understanding of this famous text: it provides the most conclusive evidence to date that the text was the work of multiple authors and editors over hundreds of years, rather than the achievement of a single individual writing during the time of Confucius.
Robert Henricks now presents the first English translation of the "bamboo slip Laozi." Differing substantially from other versions we have of the text, the Guodian Laozi provides us with clues on how and when the text came into being. As Henricks's translation shows, many chapters are missing in this form of the text, and some chapters remain incomplete. All of this seems to suggest that the Tao Te Ching was not yet "complete" when these slips were copied.
"This is an extremely valuable study of the so-called bamboo slip Lao Tzu found among the recently discovered manuscripts from the village of Kuo-tien in Hupeh Province. Aside from having major implications for the formation of the celebrated foundational text of Taoism known as the Tao Te Ching, Robert Henricks’s book is a model for the presentation and analysis of archeologically recovered texts. Only an acknowledged master of the Lao Tzu who has been doing intensive research on related issues for more than two decades could have brought out the bamboo-slip version in such an authoritative and timely fashion."
—Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania
Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching
A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian
ISBN: 0-231-11817-1
Columbia University Press
Robert G. Henricks
In 1993, an astonishing discovery was made at a tomb in Guodian in Hubei province (east central China). Written on strips of bamboo that have miraculously survived intact since 300 B.C., the "Guodian Laozi," is by far the earliest version of the Tao Te Ching ever unearthed. Students of ancient Chinese civilization proclaimed the text a decisive breakthrough in the understanding of this famous text: it provides the most conclusive evidence to date that the text was the work of multiple authors and editors over hundreds of years, rather than the achievement of a single individual writing during the time of Confucius.
Robert Henricks now presents the first English translation of the "bamboo slip Laozi." Differing substantially from other versions we have of the text, the Guodian Laozi provides us with clues on how and when the text came into being. As Henricks's translation shows, many chapters are missing in this form of the text, and some chapters remain incomplete. All of this seems to suggest that the Tao Te Ching was not yet "complete" when these slips were copied.
"This is an extremely valuable study of the so-called bamboo slip Lao Tzu found among the recently discovered manuscripts from the village of Kuo-tien in Hupeh Province. Aside from having major implications for the formation of the celebrated foundational text of Taoism known as the Tao Te Ching, Robert Henricks’s book is a model for the presentation and analysis of archeologically recovered texts. Only an acknowledged master of the Lao Tzu who has been doing intensive research on related issues for more than two decades could have brought out the bamboo-slip version in such an authoritative and timely fashion."
—Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania