Introduction

SAMPLE: FOR COMPLETE BOOK FOLLOW LINK---->http://store.payloadz.com/details/783909-eBooks-Philosophy-The-Process-of-Power-Lao-Tzu-s-Guide-to-Success-Politics-Governance.html

I.  A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE TAO TE CHING


    The Tao Te Ching, or the Lao Tzu, as the text was originally known, provides the basis for the philosophical school of thought commonly referred to as Taoism. The writing of the Tao Te Ching is traditionally associated with the semi-historical figure of Lao Tzu. Little, if anything, that is truly historical is known about Lao Tzu’s existence. There have been many attempts to link Lao Tzu with actual historical figures, the most common being that of the Chou historian Li Er. Li Er is said to have served as the chief historian and archivist for the region of Chou during a turbulent period of Chinese history referred to as the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Chou dynasty (c. 722 B.C.E. �"  c. 481 B.C.E.). After a long career, and after developing a reputation for wisdom, Li Er became increasingly dissatisfied living in a civilization that was in decline and set off for the Western wilderness. Before he left civilization, a border patrolman asked him to write down the bulk of his teachings. This he did, writing out a volume of his teaching in two books, which was originally known simply as the Lao Tzu after its purported author, but which is now better known as the Tao Te Ching.

    The text of the Tao Te Ching is traditionally divided into two “books.” Book one contains the first thirty-seven chapters and book two comprises the remaining chapters. There is, however, no sense of structural, thematic, or literary cohesion that justifies such a division. The division of the text into two books seems to have come about as a means of confirming the traditional history that Lao Tzu wrote two books. Nevertheless, the division of Lao Tzu’s writing into the two books, the Tao Ching and the Te Ching goes back at least to the first century C.E. and eventually gives rise to the title of Tao Te Ching sometime in the second century C.E. when referring to the work as a whole.