The Annotated Chapters of Laozi 老子道德经章句

Also known as Annotations on the Precious Scripture of Dao and De.

Traditionally attributed to the Hermit of the River during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty.

There have long been divergent opinions regarding its compilation time and author. According to textual research by modern scholar Wang Ming, it should be an apocryphal work composed by Huang-Lao scholars in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The original text consists of four scrolls (or two scrolls), with numerous versions including the fragmentary Tang Dynasty manuscript copied in Dunhuang, the old manuscript from the Tenmon era in Japan, the Song Dynasty edition facsimiled in Sibu Congkan, and the edition published by Shidetang in the Ming Dynasty. The version preserved in The Daozang (Taoist Canon) has four scrolls and is included in the Yujue Category of the Dongshen Section.

This book annotates Laozi based on the Huang-Lao school’s doctrine of tranquility and non-action in the Han Dynasty, elaborating on the essentials of governing a state and cultivating one’s body, with the ultimate goal of attaining the “path of natural longevity”. The author argues that the principles of governing a state and cultivating one’s body are identical, both rooted in tranquility and non-action, and that ruling by transforming the people through Dao and De is the supreme form of governance.

Rulers should cultivate Dao within themselves, uphold impartiality and selflessness, eliminate greed, lust, extravagance and waste, promote the welfare of the people and eliminate their sufferings, and govern and transform the people through “teaching without words”. In terms of the principles of physical cultivation and health preservation, it advocates eliminating emotions and desires, embracing Dao and upholding unity, guarding the spirits of the five internal organs within the body, inhaling and exhaling the refined harmonious qi, cherishing essence and valuing moderation, and preserving the spirit to nurture nature—this is the “constant Dao” of natural longevity. In summary, this book reflects the transformation of Huang-Lao learning in the Eastern Han Dynasty from a doctrine of statecraft and politics to a doctrine of natural health preservation in Immortal Taoism. After the Wei and Jin dynasties, it became one of the important classics of Taoism.