What does "Tao Te Ching" Mean?
Early in its history, the text was known as the Lao Tsu (or Laozi in the Pinyin system) . The Chinese characters for Lao Tsu are 老 Lao, meaning “old”, and 子 Tsu, an honorific used to indicate scholars and gentlemen. As Lao Tsu is a reference to the author (whose existence is still a matter of debate), the combination might roughly be conveyed in English as “(Writings of) The Old Master.”
The more familiar title of Tao Te Ching, or “Classic of the Way and (Its) Virtues”, dates from sometime after Emperor Jin of the Han dynasty (156-141 BCE). This version is rendered with three Chinese characters:
i) 道 Tao is typically translated as “road”, “path, “approach”, or “way”. The ideogram also clearly takes on a more esoteric meaning in the context of Taoist writings, for which reason it is sometimes written in English with a capital (“Way”). 道 is still in widespread use in Asian languages, where it appears for example in the names of martial arts and other skilled traditions.
ii) 德 Te is typically rendered as “virtue”, in the old English sense of efficacy or power. It also has connotations of ethics and morality.
iii) 經 Ching or “classic” is added as a suffix to indicate a revered text. Other historic titles for this work include Dao De Zhen Jing (“True Classic of the Way and Its Virtues”), and Wuqian Wen (“The 5,000-Character Work”).
The more familiar title of Tao Te Ching, or “Classic of the Way and (Its) Virtues”, dates from sometime after Emperor Jin of the Han dynasty (156-141 BCE). This version is rendered with three Chinese characters:
i) 道 Tao is typically translated as “road”, “path, “approach”, or “way”. The ideogram also clearly takes on a more esoteric meaning in the context of Taoist writings, for which reason it is sometimes written in English with a capital (“Way”). 道 is still in widespread use in Asian languages, where it appears for example in the names of martial arts and other skilled traditions.
ii) 德 Te is typically rendered as “virtue”, in the old English sense of efficacy or power. It also has connotations of ethics and morality.
iii) 經 Ching or “classic” is added as a suffix to indicate a revered text. Other historic titles for this work include Dao De Zhen Jing (“True Classic of the Way and Its Virtues”), and Wuqian Wen (“The 5,000-Character Work”).
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