The Wings of Laozi Compiled by Jiao Hong 老子翼

Compiled by Jiao Hong of the Ming Dynasty.

It is recorded as three volumes in Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao (Annotated Bibliography of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries).

The version in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) has six volumes and is included in the Xu Daozang (Supplement to the Daoist Canon).

The Wings of Laozi

This work is a collected commentary on the Laozi, compiling annotations from sixty-four scholars including Han Fei, Yan Junping, Heshi Gong, Wang Bi, Kumarajiva, Fu Yi, Li Yue, Sima Guang, Su Ziyou, Wang Pang, Chen Jingyuan, Lin Xiyi and Du Daojian. It also quotes dozens of ancient texts such as the Shijing (Book of Songs), Zuo Zhuan (Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals), Guanzi (Book of Guan Zhong) and Zhuangzi (Book of Zhuangzi), with passages from Jiao Hong’s own work Bicheng (Random Notes) appended to the end of each chapter. The author argues that the essential purport of the Laozi lies in "clarifying non-action", that is, verifying non-being through being. Following the main text, there is one volume of Fulu (Appendix), which collects sixty-five entries including biographies, anecdotes and evaluations of Laozi from various sources. There is also one volume of Kaoyi (Textual Research on Variant Readings), which collates and examines textual differences among various versions of the Laozi. With extensive research and selective compilation, this comprehensive work is an essential source for the study of Laozi scholarship.