Tao Te Ching Analysis

What does the first thing emerge in the mind when you see a book title—Tao Te Ching? Is that just a name of a book title or a meaningful word? Based on the information from the internet, “Tao” means the “way” which is an attitude to live in the world. “Te” has multiple meanings which include strength, virtue and power. Lastly, “Ching” can mean “book” or “tone.” Knowing the meaning of the book title—Tao Te Ching, people can obtain a basic idea of what content will be discussed in a book. The religious and philosophical book Tao Te Ching is written around 600 BC by Lao Tzu. This book basically talks about what Tao is by using a lot of things to explain, such as paradox, nature, simplicity and others. Using these

For instance, in Tao Te Ching’s sixtieth verse, he mentions that “governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.” He uses this daily activity to create a picture so that his audiences can understand his meaning easily. Also, his audience will motivate to read his text because of the metaphor. Lao Tzu uses this action to show how a leader should govern a country. The way is that a leader should not control or force to a country too much because that may cause his enemies to obtain chances to

In Tao Te Ching’s fifty-eighth verse, he mentions that “if a country is governed with tolerance, the people are comfortable and honest. If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty.” Using the “if” structure, he not only compares the results of executing different methods to people, but also creates flow in his text by manipulating the “if” structure. Most importantly, these comparisons convince the audiences to believe his concept of governing a country. Also, these contraries imply that “the higher the ideals, the lower the result,” which means if a master keeps imposing people, people may have negative emotion. As a result, the country becomes poor. In contrast, if a master keeps people happy, their country may become prosperous. Lao Tzu uses these comparisons in order to address to the “Tao” concept. He states that a master should not control their people too hard, but he should let the people to do what they want freely. In the book Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu employs different ways to explain what “Tao” is to people. He uses different techniques—using simplicity, nature, metaphor, and comparison—to affect people’s mind so that they would rethink and relearn the things in their daily life. As a consequence, people can understand well the main concept—“Tao.” Overall, Lao Tzu wants to express the importance