Tao of Peace : Lessons from Ancient China on the Dynamics of Conflict

by CHEN, WANG

• ISBN13: 9781570625114
• ISBN10: 1570625115
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Wang Chen, a ninth-century military commander, was sickened by the carnage that had plagued the glorious Tang dynasty for decades. "All within the seas were poisoned," he wrote, "and pain and disaster was rife throughout the land." He wondered: How are we humans ever to rectify our self-destructive tendencies? How can we find a true pacifism, one that will end conflicts before they begin? For the answer he turned to a remarkable source: not to the prevailing theories of human nature and governance of Confucianism, but to the classic text known as theTao Te Ching. TheTao Te Chinghas been a philosophical linchpin of Taoism for more than a thousand years. Though it is often viewed as having a mystical, quietist, even nihilist dimension, Wang Chen found in theTao Te Chingquite a different aspect: one that offered a cosmological anchor for the patterns of human society and an explanation for the dynamics of conflict. Penetrating the Tao and embracing its patterns, he believed, would lead to true empowerment in the everyday world of political realities - not in some transcendent, ethereal realm. Here is his own rendering of and commentary on the ancient text, elucidating the ancient classic's "Tao of peace." Wang Chen's commentary is amplified and expanded by translator Ralph Sawyer, a leading scholar of Chinese military history.

Author Biography

Ralph D. Sawyer has studied Chinese intellectual history at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and National Taiwan University. He is the translator of Ling Ch'i Ching, The Art of War, The Seven Miltary Classics of Ancient China, and Sun Pin's Military Methods.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(64)
Wang Chen and His Time	1	(6)
Assumptions and Contradictions	7	(5)
The Tao of Government	12	(4)
Problems	16	(16)
The Root Cause of Disorder	16	(8)
The Baleful Nature of Weapons and Warfare	24	(4)
The Actuality of Warfare	28	(4)
Solutions	32	(33)
Virtue and Knowledge	34	(3)
The Army's Employment	37	(5)
Martial Noncontention	42	(4)
Pliancy in Conquest	46	(3)
The Role of the Sage	49	(7)
Positive Measures	56	(9)
Tao Ching
The Tao That Can Be Spoken Of	65	(3)
All under Heaven Know	68	(3)
Do Not Esteem Worthies	71	(3)
The Tao Is Vacuous	74	(1)
Heaven and Earth Are Not Benevolent	75	(2)
The Valley Spirit Does Not Die	77	(1)
Heaven Persists; Earth Endures	78	(2)
The Highest Good Is Like Water	80	(3)
Holding and Filling	83	(2)
Regulating the Earthly Soul to Embrace Unity	85	(2)
Thirty Spokes Collectively Form a Hub	87	(2)
The Five Colors Compel Humans	89	(1)
Be Startled at Favor and Disgrace	90	(2)
Looked at but Unseen	92	(2)
Those in Antiquity Who Excelled as Officers	94	(2)
Realizing the Pinnacle of Vacuity	96	(2)
Those beneath the Ultimate Know	98	(2)
The Great Tao Abandoned	100	(2)
Eliminate Sagacity, Abandon Wisdom	102	(2)
Eliminate Learning and There Will Be No Worry	104	(2)
Vast Encompassing Virtue	106	(1)
The Curved Will Be Preserved	107	(2)
Sparse Words Are Natural	109	(2)
Those on Tiptoe Do Not Stand	111	(1)
There Is Something Turbidly Complete	112	(1)
Weightiness Is the Root of Lightness	113	(2)
Those Who Excel in Moving Have No Tracks	115	(2)
Know the Masculine	117	(2)
About to Seize All under Heaven	119	(1)
Assisting the Ruler with the Tao	120	(4)
Superlative Weapons	124	(2)
Tao Eternal, Unnamed	126	(2)
Knowing Men Is Wisdom	128	(2)
The Great Tao Overflows	130	(1)
Grasp the Great Emblem	131	(2)
Wanting to Reduce Something	133	(2)
Tao Eternally Actionless	135	(4)
Te Ching
Superior Virtue Is Not Virtuous	139	(2)
Those in Antiquity Who Realized the One	141	(2)
Reversal Is the Movement of the Tao	143	(2)
When Superior Officers Hear about the Tao	145	(3)
Tao Gave Birth to the One	148	(2)
The Most Pliant under Heaven	150	(1)
Fame or the Body, Which Is More Intimate?	151	(2)
Great Achievement Seems Deficient	153	(1)
When the Tao Prevails throughout the Realm	154	(1)
Without Going out the Door, Know All under Heaven	155	(2)
Those Who Study Daily Increase	157	(2)
The Sage Has No Present Mind	159	(1)
Going Forth into Life, Entering Death	160	(3)
Tao Gave Them Birth	163	(1)
All under Heaven Had a Beginning	164	(2)
If I Minutely	166	(1)
Those Who Excel at Establishing Are Not Pulled Out	167	(2)
Abundantly Embodying Virtue	169	(3)
The Knowledgeable Do Not Speak	172	(2)
With Government, Order the State	174	(3)
The Government Is Morosely Quiet	177	(2)
Governing the People and Serving Heaven	179	(2)
Governing a Great State	181	(1)
Great States Defer to the Flow	182	(2)
Tao of the Myriad Things	184	(2)
Act Actionlessly	186	(2)
The Tranquil Is Easily Grasped	188	(3)
In Antiquity, Those Who Excelled in the Tao	191	(2)
How Rivers and Seas Can Be Kings of the Hundred Valley Streams	193	(1)
All under Heaven Term Me Vast	194	(4)
Those Who Excel as Warriors Are Not Martial	198	(3)
Those Who Employ the Military Have a Saving	201	(4)
My Words Are Very Easy to Comprehend	205	(1)
Knowing, Not Knowing	206	(1)
People Do Not Dread Awesomeness	207	(2)
One Courageous in Daring Slays	209	(2)
The People Do Not Dread Death	211	(2)
The People's Hunger	213	(1)
Life of the People	214	(2)
The Tao of Heaven	216	(2)
The Pliant and Weak under Heaven	218	(2)
Harmonizing Great Rancor	220	(1)
A Small State with Few People	221	(2)
Credible Words Are Not Beautiful	223