There are at least six different ancient sources of the text
(all dates are approximate) :
“Guodian” (GUO) – discovered in 1993 and written around 300
BCE or slightly earlier, this version matches only about 31 chapters of the
later versions of the DDJ, and its chapters are ordered completely differently
than the later versions. The Chinese symbols are so ancient that scholars
disagree on what modern symbols they should correspond to, and there are
occasional spots on the originals where the characters can no longer be
read.
“Mawangdui” (MWD) – discovered in 1973, there are two
slightly different versions (“A” and “B”), obviously written by two different
people, dating to about 200 BCE and 175 BCE respectively. While all 81
chapters are present, both versions reverse the two major parts (“Dao” and
“De”) compared to later versions. In addition, the order of a few of the
chapters within the parts is different, as is the order of some sections within
the chapters! The Chinese symbols are also so ancient that scholars
disagree on what modern symbols they should correspond to, and there are many
spots where the characters cannot be read.
“Fu Yi” (FY) – Fu Yi was a scholar who lived around 600 CE
and claimed that the version he presents and discusses was found in a grave
that from his description could possibly be dated to around 200 BCE.
“Wang Bi” (WB) – written around 240 CE, this is the
“standard” version that most translators use, although there are several
slightly different variations of it.
“He Shang Gong” (HSG) – a legendary and possibly mythical
person who may have lived around 170 BCE, but the work which presents and
discusses the version of the DDJ associated with him is not mentioned by others
until 300 CE. Many scholars think this version was probably written
closer to 300 CE and attributed to He Shang Gong to give it authority.
There are also many slightly different variations of this text available.
In comparing the six sources, it is easy to see the changes
in philosophy of the early Daoists over the centuries. In general, the
three earliest versions (GUO, MWD/A, MWD/B) more-or-less agree with each other,
the three later versions (FY, WB, HSG) more-or-less agree with each other
(despite the tentative dating of FY to 200 BCE), the two groups are often
slightly different from each other, and occasionally very different.
However, FY does sometimes agree with the three earlier versions. Only
the later versions contain the vast majority of criticisms of Confucianism,
although even GUO has a few.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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