The Subtle Meanings of Laozi 老子微旨例略

Also known as Laozi Zhi Lue (A Brief Outline of the Laozi), this work was composed by Wang Bi of the Wei State during the Three Kingdoms Period.

Lu Deming’s Jingdian Shiwen Xu Lu (Preface and Catalog of the Commentary on Classics and Records) of the Tang Dynasty already recorded it as a one-volume text. The surviving version in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) is one volume, included in the Zhengyi Section. Additionally, the Yunji Qiqian (Seven Slips of the Cloud Satchel) excerpts this work under the title "Laojun Zhi Gui Lue Li" (A Brief Outline of the Essential Meaning of the Old Lord).

As a renowned text of Xuanxue (Neo-Taoism) in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it elaborates on the core ideas of the Laozi through ontological philosophy. The text states: "The Laozi can almost be summed up in one phrase. Alas! It is nothing but revering the root and suppressing the branches!" The so-called "ben" (root) refers to the ontological essence of all things in the world, namely The Dao or "wu" (non-being). The so-called "mo" (branches) denotes all concrete things in the world. All things exist by virtue of the ontological essence and are its manifestations; only by understanding the essence can one avoid being misled by phenomena. In both governing a state and cultivating one’s moral character, one must revere the root and suppress the branches, uphold the unity to control multiplicity. If one "abandons the root and attacks the branches," the result will be the opposite.

The publication of this work sparked the trend of Xuanxue in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, bringing about a major turning point in Taoist philosophy—shifting from the cosmogony of the Huang-Lao school in the Han Dynasty to the ontologism of Wei-Jin Xuanxue.

In modern times, Wang Weicheng compiled and collated the text into the book Laozi Zhi Lue (A Brief Outline of the Laozi) based on the Daozang version and the excerpt from the Yunji Qiqian.