Background to the Writing of the Tao Te Ching

The Warring States was by all accounts a bleak period in Chinese history, and amidst the uncertainty of the times, leaders and commoners alike yearned for principles that would help restore society to the glory days of Shang/Western Zhou.

At the same time however, the weakening of social structures also cleared the way for new ideas, particularly among the shi, a new, burgeoning class of educated elite. In the writings of such scholars we have a passionate and committed response to the turmoil of the times; the fact that a portion of the Warring States becomes known as the “Hundred Schools” hints at the demand for their guidance.