The Imperial Commentary on Dao De Jing 宋徽宗御解道德真经

Composed by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.

The Imperial Commentary on Dao De Jing

As stated in History of the Song Dynasty·Annals of Emperor Huizong, in the eighth month of the autumn of the first year of Chonghe reign period (1118), "an imperial edict was issued to promulgate the Imperial Commentary on the Daodejing", and the commentary should have been completed in this year.

Originally consisting of two volumes, the version in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) is divided into four volumes and included in the Yujue (Jade Commentary) category of the Dongshen Section. This commentary extols the Dao of Laozi, stating: "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are received according to one’s capacity and practiced in accordance with the times—these are merely manifestations of virtue. Those who embody the Dao are different from this". It further asserts: "The Dao is the universal path that all people follow; virtue is the inherent attainment of the mind. The Dao remains unimpaired throughout ten thousand generations; virtue endures as a constant presence within one’s innate nature". Annotated Bibliography of the Revised Siku Quanshu comments on this commentary: "It interprets 'Dao' as 'the path one follows' and 'De' as 'the attainment of the mind'; it holds that 'wei' and 'a' are of the same sound, and good and evil share the same nature—all interpretations conform to ancient meanings without forced elaboration".