After the eighth issue of "Xu Xiake's Travels" broadcast on September 5, the ninth issue of "Tao Te Ching" was broadcast a week later, which brilliantly interpreted the life of Lao Tzu in seeking the Tao, enlightening the Tao, and preaching, so that we have a more intimate understanding of the "Tao Te Ching", the pioneering work of Chinese philosophy.
Curiosity kills cats, after watching the show, we are also like young laozi, curious about some questions, can't help but be a "Mr. Problem". For example, in the show, Lao Tzu's name is Li Er, and he is also jokingly called "Li Big Ear", so why is Lao Tzu with the surname Li not called "Plum" like other pre-Qin sons (such as Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, etc.)? When Sabine met Lao Tzu, he said that Lao Tzu's book was called the Tao Te Ching in later life, so why did some people call it Lao Tzu? Which of these two titles is the first and the last? Did Lao Tzu really have an enlightenment teacher named Shang Rong? Let's explore these issues with you.
Why is the same book called both the Tao Te Ching and Lao Tzu?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > Lao tzu is not actually surnamed Li</h1>
The program says that LaoZi's name is Li Er, which should be based on the record of Lao Tzu in the "History of Lao Tzu Han Fei Lie Biography", which says: "Lao Tzu, a native of Qurenli in Lixiang, Chuku County, surnamed Li, named Ear, Zi Jie, and the history of Zhou Shou's tibetan room. "Here Sima Qian said very clearly, Lao Tzu's surname is Li, his name is ear, and his character is 聃.
"History" (Classics, Comparison of Texts and Whites)
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History ¥258.3 Purchase
It is reasonable to say that Sima Qian's "Records of History" is so clearly recorded that the problem of LaoZi's surname should seem beyond doubt. But the problem lies in the four words "Lao Tzu surnamed Li". Why? We all know that the pre-Qin sons of the same identity as Lao Tzu, such as Confucius, Mozi, Sun Tzu, Zengzi, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Xunzi, etc., are called by their surnames plus "Zi". And so on, since Lao Tzu's surname is Li, he should be called "Plum", so why is it called "Lao Tzu"? This is not playing cards according to the routine. Moreover, according to scholars' research, in the pre-Qin literature, such as the Book of Rites, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi, Lü's Spring and Autumn, etc., all callEdu Tzu "Lao Tzu" and "Lao Tzu (耽)", and there is no record that LaoZi's surname is Li. Therefore, Lao Tzu may not really be surnamed Li.
Han Feizi's "Xie Lao" and "Yu Lao" are the earliest commentaries on Lao Tzu
Well, you said that Lao Tzu is not surnamed Li, so what is his surname, is the surname "Lao"? Congratulations, the answer is correct, indeed the surname is old. Some scholars have pointed out that the ancient commentary cites the Shiben that emperor Had a son named "Lao Tong", and the "Customs and Customs and Surnames" also said: "Lao Shi, after the old boy of the Old Boy." Moreover, the "Zuo Chuan" records that in the fifteenth year of the Duke of Chenggong, song used "Lao Zuo as Sima and the fourteenth year of Zhao Gong recorded that Lu had "Situ Laoqi", which shows that the Spring and Autumn Period did have the surname of "Lao". Some scholars even believe that during the Spring and Autumn Period, there may not have been a "Li" surname, and the earliest characters with the surname Li were "Li Wu" and "Li Ke" found in the "Warring States Policy" and "Han Feizi". Therefore, according to the convention of the titles of the sons, it is more likely that Lao Tzu's surname is Lao.
I prove that there are really old people with the surname!
So why does the "Chronicle of History" record that Lao Tzu was called Li Er? There are multiple possibilities for this. There is a view that in ancient times, "Li" and "old" were close to each other, and Li was turned from the old tone. Another possibility is that this record of the present "Records of History" is not Sima Qian's original text, but has been tampered with. For example, "Chu Ku County", Tang Kong Yingda's "Etiquette Justice, Zeng Zi Qing" quoted as "Chen Guo Ku County". Another example is that Sima Zhen of Tang mentioned in the "History of Suoyin" that he saw that some versions of the "History" recorded Laozi 'Zi Boyang' instead of "Zi Yin". It can be seen that there are many different versions of this text in the "Shi Ji" seen in the Tang Dynasty, and the current "Shi Ji" may not be Sima Qian's original text. However, we believe that the former is more likely. Because Sima Qian's later text also recorded the situation of Laozi's descendants serving as officials in the Han Dynasty, it is likely that Laozi's descendants at that time said that their ancestors' surname was Li, so Sima Qian recorded it in this way.
The Chronicle of History (Revised Edition of the Twenty-Four Histories of the Dian school book)
Of course, for ordinary people, whether Lao Tzu is surnamed "Old" or "Li", it seems that there is no need to be too entangled, since Sima Qian's "History" all says that the surname is Li, it is better to be surnamed Li. By the way, let's talk about the nickname of "Li Big Ears" in the show, in fact, this is also based on evidence. The old man's word for "聃", "Shuowen" says "Erman ye", is the meaning of the ear growing. According to legend, people with long ears live long, Lao Tzu is said to live a long life, it is estimated that the ears are also long, so it is called "Lao Nie", "Li Big Ears" This nickname is derived from the word "聃".
Lo and behold, my "Big Ears Lee" is worthy of the name!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="12" > the Tao Te Ching was not originally called the Tao Te Ching</h1>
In the program, Sabine met Lao Tzu and said that Lao Tzu's book was called the Tao Te Ching in later generations. In fact, Laozi's book was not called the Tao Te Ching at the beginning, but like the pre-Qin books such as Zhuangzi and Mencius, it was called LaoZi. Judging from the Mawangdui books, Lao Tzu already had the titles of "Tao" and "De" at that time, so when did the title of the book become "Tao Te Ching"?
Around the time of the Western Han Dynasty, the situation of honoring Lao Tzu as the "classic" began to appear. The Book of Han and Yiwenzhi records several kinds of Books of Lao Tzu that "say the scriptures". The later compilation of the Seven Sketches also records that Liu Xiangding wrote two chapters and eighty-one chapters of Lao Tzu, "thirty-four chapters of the upper classic and forty-seven chapters of the lower classic." It is said that the Biography of Liexian written for Liu Xiang also refers to Lao Tzu as "the second volume of the Tao Te Ching". It can be seen that at that time, there were probably already "Tao Jing" and "De Jing", but there was no case of collectively calling the "Tao Te Ching". Around the latest by the time of Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was already a saying that Lao Tzu was called the Tao Te Ching.
The Biography of Liexian (Chinese Classics Complete Annotated and Translated Series)
In fact, in addition to the two titles of "Lao Tzu" and "Tao Te Ching", there is a third title - "Tao Te Ching". The change from "Lao Tzu" to "Tao Te Ching" shows that the status of "Lao Tzu" has been upgraded from a sub-book to a "jing", so why add a word called "Tao Te Ching"?
According to the investigation, the title of the Tao Te Ching first appeared around the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty. The Taiping Guangji volume 61 "Wang Miaoxiang" records that the female Taoist monk Wang Miaoxiang met Di Shun, who said to her, "I once met Taishang Laojun and showed the Tao Te Ching." And this novel is from the late Tang Dynasty Five Dynasties Daoist Du Guangting's "Yongcheng Jixian Record". Although it is only a novel, it also shows that among the Taoists at that time, there was already a situation in which Lao Tzu was called the Tao Te Ching. The title of this book is probably related to Tang Xuanzong's action of giving the title of "True Scripture" to some Taoist works.
Taiping Guangji
According to the New Book of Tang and Yiwen Zhi, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang issued an edict in the first year that "Zhuangzi is the True Scripture of South China," Liezi is the True Scripture of Chong Void, Wenzi is the True Scripture of Tongxuan, and Kang Sangzi is the True Scripture of Dongling. The Tao Te Ching is probably called the "Tao Te Ching" because it has long been called the "Sutra", so this time it has not been renamed the "Tao Te Ching". According to the Southern Song Dynasty Yang Zhongliang's "Chronicle of the Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang", emperor Daojun of the Late Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of Song, personally wrote instructions requesting that the "Tao Te Ching written by Taishang Laojun" be renamed "The Daode Sutra of emperor Shangshang Chaoyuan Shangde" to show respect. Probably from here, the title of the Tao Te Ching was officially confirmed.
It turns out that I also have a tall name called "South China True Scripture"!
However, probably because the title of "Lao Tzu" is too primitive, and the title of "Tao Te Ching" has some religious overtones, it seems that everyone's favorite is the title of "Tao Te Ching".
Zhuangzi ¥36 purchase
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="17" > Shang Rong is actually not surnamed Shang</h1>
In the program, because the young Lao Tzu always asked strange questions, no teacher was willing to accept him as a student, so his father took him to Teacher Shang Rong. So, is there really a Shang Rong person in history? Is he really Lao Tzu's teacher?
Yes, in the ancient books, there is indeed a record of Lao Tzu asking Shang Rong. Earlier, as recorded in the Huainan Zi Miao Zhixun, "Lao Tzu learned to be a businessman, and he saw the tongue and knew how to keep the softness." The account of this questioning activity in the Shuoyuan Jingshen is more vivid, but Shang Rong wrote "Chang Fir", saying that he opened his mouth and asked Lao Tzu: "Do you see my tongue?" Lao Tzu said, "Yes." He asked, "Are the teeth still there?" Lao Tzu said, "No more." And asked, "Do you understand?" Lao Tzu said, "The tongue exists because it is soft." The tooth is gone because it is strong. "The image vividly reveals the source of Lao Tzu's idea of softness over strength.
"Saying Garden" (Chinese Classics Complete Annotated And Translated Series)
However, Shang Rong, this person, readers who have watched the old version of the TV series "Fengshen List" should have the impression that he is the prime minister of the King of Shang. Although it is the novelist's statement, this character is not fictional, and there is indeed a person in history. According to the "History of Yin Benji", after King Wu of Zhou killed the King of Shang, he once "released the prisoner of JiZi, the tomb of Feng Bigan, and the lu of Shang Rong", then Shang Rong should be a great sage in the last years of Yin Shang, so King Wu of Zhou should show him special respect to appease the people.
Stills of the old version of "Fengshen List" Shangrong
According to common sense, the Shang Rong at the end of the Yin Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty could not have lived to the Spring and Autumn Period and become Lao Tzu's teacher. How to understand this? There are also several ways to say this. For example, the ancient commentary of "Huainanzi" says that Shang Rong is a "god man", and since he is a god man, it is normal to live for hundreds of years. For another example, Zheng Xuan believes that Shangrong is not a personal name, but a professional name, referring to the emcee who understands Yin Shang's etiquette. In ancient times, several generations often engaged in the same profession, so although they were all called Shangrong, they were not actually the same person. In this way, Shang Rong may not actually be surnamed "Shang".
Well, on the topic of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching, I will share this with you. The Tao Te Ching has been published in many editions by the Zhonghua Bookstore. For example, there are both "Lao Tzu" and "Tao Te Ching" in the Three Complete Books, the former focuses on annotations, from which you can understand the different understandings of each family; the latter focuses on interpretation, combined with story cases to explain the wisdom of the "Tao Te Ching", which is easy to understand, and is a good introductory reading. As the program said, "Classics are like lamps, which can illuminate the world", so please open the Tao Te Ching and light a lamp of wisdom for yourself!
Tao Te Ching ¥26 purchase