The Essential Guidance to Dao De Jing 道德真经指归

Also known as Laozi Zhi Gui (The Essential Meaning of the Laozi) or Dao De Zhi Gui Lun (Treatise on the Essential Meaning of the Dao and De), this work was composed by Yan Zun (also known as Yan Junping) of the Han Dynasty and annotated by Gu Shenzi (Feng Kuo) of the Tang Dynasty.

Both the "Old and New Book of Tang·Bibliography" and Chao Gongwu’s Jun Zhai Du Shu Zhi (Bibliography of the Junzhai Study) recorded it as a thirteen-volume text. The surviving version in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) is incomplete, lacking the first six volumes and retaining only the latter seven, which are included in the Yujue (Jade Commentary) category of the Dongshen Section. Additionally, there are six-volume versions preserved in Hu Zhenheng’s Mi Ce Hui Han (Collected Secret Albums) and Mao Jin’s Jin Dai Mi Shu (Secret Books Transmitted Through Generations) from the Ming Dynasty, which further omit the thirteenth volume compared to the Daozang version.

As one of the earliest surviving commentaries on the Laozi, the work divides the original text into seventy-two chapters, differing from other versions. The core tenet of the annotations centers on "ziran wuwei" (naturalness and non-action). "Ziran" (naturalness) is identified as the "Xu Wu Zhi Dao" (Dao of Emptiness and Nothingness), from which divine spirits and "Tai He" (Great Harmony) emanate, and further give birth to heaven, earth, and all things. The author advocates that rulers should cultivate their moral character and rectify themselves to align with Dao, De, ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness), li (rituals), and fa (laws), extending this principle into strategies for nurturing all creatures and governing the people. This reflects the statecraft of the Huang-Lao school in the Han Dynasty, which integrated Daoist thought with practical governance.