The Essential Commentary on Dao De Jing 道德真经注

The Essential Commentary on Dao De Jing

Composed by Wang Bi during the Zhengshi period of the Cao Wei Dynasty (240–249 CE), this work originally consisted of two volumes. The version preserved in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) is divided into four volumes and included in the Yujue (Jade Commentary) category of the Dongshen Section.

Other surviving versions include the Ming Dynasty edition carved by Zhang Zhixiang of Huating, published by the Zhejiang Shuju (Zhejiang Publishing Bureau). As a preeminent figure of Zhengshi Xuanxue (Neo-Taoism of the Zhengshi period), Wang Bi’s commentary on the Laozi is concise yet profound. Adhering to the doctrines of "taking non-being as the root" and "upholding the origin to unify the branches," it elaborates on Laozi’s political philosophy of tranquility and non-action, exerting a profound influence on the history of Chinese philosophy.