The Tao Te Ching: Dr. Vaughn Cross's Cultural Perspectives

The Tao te Ching was written around the 500s BC in ancient China. That is the reason that the Tao te Ching is placed in the first section of Dr. Vaughn Cross’s Cultural Perspectives class because it correlates with the period of the ancients. The author of the work is actually debated. The accredited author is a man knows as Lao Tzu, or Laozi, but during the mid-twentieth century, many researchers and historians began to question the true existence of such a man. Evidentially, there is little to no verified evidence of this historical character existing (“History of the Tao te Ching”). The mythos behind Lao Tzu is very interesting. According to ancient Chinese folktales, Lao Tzu was born an old wise man which is actually represented

Although the text was supposedly written in the 500s BC, some of the core themes of the Tao te Ching still resonate with today’s readers. One of the major themes of the Tao te Ching is actually one of the words in the title: Tao. There are many different translations for the word “Tao,” but the most relevant translations are “the Way” or “the Heavenly Way” (Stenudd). Lao Tzu uses Tao to answer one of the four major questions of humanism: Where did I come from? Lao Tzu often refers to the Heavenly Way as something nameless because he believes in a concept called “the uncarved block” (Laozi). This concept states that if a person puts a name on something than that person has limited said thing. Lao Tzu addresses the creation of the universe by stating, “The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.” He also uses Tao or the Way to describe the true path to happiness or to summum bonum. Lao Tzu states that if a person is subscribing to the Tao than that person will live a full life, but the catch is to be completely following the Tao. This theme also answers another major humanist question: Why am I here? Lao Tzu believes that a person’s purpose is to be one with nature while subscribing to the