Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Daodejing

by Ai Yuan (Editor), Xiaogan Liu (Editor)

Overview

This comprehensive collection introduces the rich and deep textual and philosophical ideas related to the received Daodejing. Readers will find out, for example, why Daodejing continues to greatly influence our ways of thinking and living worldwide. How can ancient Chinese philosophy respond to contemporary cultural concerns and interests? How can we develop a philosophy of the Daodejing while critically engaging with textual resources? And finally, how can future research benefit and develop from current debates?

This volume has eight parts, collecting 41 chapters. Part 1 discusses textual and historical issues of excavated texts and received versions of the Daodejing, its linguistic features in these different versions, and influential translations. Part 2 examines key ideas in the Daodejing. Part 3 asks how other early Chinese texts debate with, and develop the Daodejing-related texts. Part 4 introduces several influential commentaries on the Daodejing. Part 5 highlights ancient intellectual and religious interactions with the Daodejing that are overlooked in contemporary philosophical inquiry. Part 6 brings new questions to the ancient texts, and explores how they can respond to contemporary concerns on the basis of textual studies. Part 7 turns to modern perspectives on the Daodejing. Part 8 presents comparative studies of the Daodejing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783032001054
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	01/22/2026
Series:	Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy , #20
Pages:	890
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. LIU Xiaogan has retired as professor and director of the International Graduate Programme at the School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University, and professor of the philosophy department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also taught and conducted research at Peking University, NUS, Harvard, and Princeton. He has received numerous awards and prizes for excellence in research and teaching in Beijing, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Dr. YUAN Ai is an associate professor at the Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities, Tsinghua University. Her research has received several awards and questions why we should care about nonverbal communication in early China, how we can understand intentions, emotions and relations nonverbally, and how ideas are created through communication.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents:.- Acknowledgment.- Introduction: Daodejing as Contemporary World Philosophy.- Part 1. Textual and Historical Issues.- 1. Excavated Manuscripts of the Laozi.- 2. From Bamboo Slips to Received Versions: Common Features in the Transformation of the Laozi.- 3. Revisiting the Date of Daodejing in Light of the Guodian Manuscript.- 4. Western Translations of the Daodejing.- Part 2. Key Concepts and Ideas.- 1. Dao道 in the Daodejing.- 6. Acting Naturally: A Case Study of Applied Wuwei 無為.- 7. De 德in the Daodejing.- 8. Tian 天 in the Laozi.- 9．Prioritizing the Shengren 聖人 in the Laozi.- 10. Cosmic and Human Agency in the Daodejing.- 11. The Notion of Wu 無 or Nonbeing as the Root of the Universe and a Guide for Life in the Daodejing.- 12. The Philosophical Concept of Peace: Thinking through the Laozi’s Daoist Thought.- 13. Yi 一 in the Daodejing.- Part 3. Daodejing and Related Texts.- 14. The Yin Method: Strategic Leadership in Sunzi’s Art of Warfare in View of the Laozi’s Art of Governance.- 15. The Daodejing and the Lüshi Chunqiu: Huang-Lao Cosmic and Political Order.- 16. The Laozi and HAN Feizi through the Lens of the “Jie Lao”.- 17. The Origins of the Legend of Master Wen: The Relation Between the Laozi and the Wenzi.- 18. “LIEZI Said”: Interpretations on the Daodejing’s Unwinding Thread of Dao.- Part 4. Influential Commentaries to the Daodejing.- 19. Undying Chaos: YAN Zun’s Purport of the Laozi and the Guiding Points of His Thought.- 20. The Heshang Gong Companion to the Laozi.- 21. The Innovation of Daoist Hermeneutics for Daoist Philosophy: An Analysis of WANG Bi’s Interpretation of the Laozi.- 22. Monarchical Interpretations of the Laozi: Four Emperors’ Commentaries.- Part 5. Intellectual and Religious Interactions with the Daodejing.- 23. The Daodejing in Daoist Practice.- 24. The Daodejing’s Philosophy of Alignment: Interpreting Heshang Gong.- 25. A Philosophical Defense of Wang Fuzhi’s Harsh Critique of Laozi,- Part 6. Logical and Linguistic Approaches to the Daodejing.- 26. A Logical Perspective on Dao in the Daodejing.- 27. Dao Pursuit, Language Engagement, Semantic-Truth Approach.- 28. Metaphors in the Laozi.- 29. Silence and Rhetorical Questions in the Daodejing.- Part 7. Modern Perspectives on the Daodejing.- 30. Wuwei and Ziran: The Daodejing and Environmental Philosophy.- 31. Reconsidering the Feminine: Insights from the Daodejing.- 32. The Daodejing and Political Philosophy.- 33. Convergence of the Daodejing and Thoreau’s Political Writing in Nineteenth Century America.- Part 8. Comparative Studies of the Daodejing.- 34. The Virtuous Person and the Sage: The Nicomachean Ethics and the Laozi as Virtue Ethics.- 35. The Centaur and the Dragon: Flexibility, Emptiness, and Survival in the Daodejing and the Philosophy of Machiavelli.- 36. Laozi’s and Hegel’s Political Thoughts: A Comparison.- 37. Life in Digitigrade: A Cautionary Tale about Human Hubris and Cosmic Humility.- 38. Overcoming the Heideggerian Laozi: Revisiting Heidegger and the Daodejing.- 39. All-Embracing: A Laozian Version of Toleration.- 40. “Great Authority” in the Daodejing as Framed by Hannah Arendt.- 41. Levinas and the Daodejing: On the Primordiality of the Feminine/Ci 雌.