The Tao Te Ching
Legend has it that Lao-Tzu lived in China during the sixth century before Christ, at the same time as Confucius. As state historian, he was in charge of the secret archives and lived a life of reason and virtue in Cho. One day, after travelling West to the frontier, he was stopped by the customs officer who said, "Sir, since it pleases you to retire, I request you for my sake to write a book." Thereupon, he wrote a work in which he discussed the concepts of reason and virtue, give it to Yin-Hi and departed. No one knows where he died.
This is that book. It consists of eight-one short chapters, the first thirty-seven of which form 'The Book Of The Way' (the Tao) and the remaining forty-four 'The Book Of Virtue Or Power' (the Te). The basic tenet is that one will become wise if one understands the way the universe works, lives in harmony with it by accepting the forces at play, and acts intuitively and spontaneously in accordance with them. These ideas inform not only Taoism but are also an important part of Buddhist and Confucian philosophy - and have also been taken up by the New Age to some extent.
