The Imperial Subcommentary on Dao De Jing 唐玄宗御制道德真经疏

The Imperial Subcommentary on Dao De Jing

Originally attributed to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang as an imperial composition.

Consisting of four volumes, it is included in the Yujue (Jade Commentary) category of the Dongshen Section of the Daozang (Daoist Canon).

Prefaced by Outer Biography of the Dao De Zheng Jing. According to Annotated Bibliography of the Revised Siku Quanshu, "It is clear that this work is not an imperial composition by Emperor Xuanzong... It was presumably compiled by his ministers or written by later generations". Catalogue of Surviving Books in Tianyi Pavilion states that the ten-volume version of the Subcommentary on the Dao De Zheng Jing attributed to Emperor Xuanzong is vastly different from the four-volume version. In addition, contemporary scholars have examined the text and concluded that this work was written after Emperor Xuanzong’s reign. Based on current research, this work is actually an abridged edition of Expanded Exegesis of the Sage's Meaning in the Classic of the Dao and Virtue by Du Guangting, a Taoist priest at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The so-called Outer Biography of the Dao De Zheng Jing in the preface is Du Guangting’s Preface to the Expanded Exegesis of the Sage's Meaning in the Classic of the Dao and Virtue, and the four volumes of the main text are also excerpted from Du’s work.

Du Guangting wrote exegeses on Emperor Xuanzong’s commentary and subcommentary on the Dao De Zheng Jing, and the passages marked "Yi yue" (It is said that) are his own interpretations.