What is the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) What is or was its purpose REL WK 5DQ - Essay Example

The Way of Life Full Tao Te Ching is literally translated as the way of life. It is believed to have been given or written by a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu who left his country because he was not able to tolerate the growing political problems. This decision clearly shows that Lao Tzu personally lived a life full of virtue. Therefore, when he declared that he will be leaving, he was asked to write a book to leave behind. The purpose of Lao Tzu is to guide the people in their way of living.

There are several philosophical arguments found in the book which are applicable to real life situations. The person who asked the philosopher to write perhaps lived with him and has seen the wisdom of the author. Therefore the book was primarily written to serve as a guide to readers in how they should live a virtuous life. The circumstances presented relate not only to the intended audience during its writing but also to contemporary readers. This is probably the reason why it is very popular even to this day.

It counsels people on how to live with dignity and integrity in a world full of struggles, lies and envy. It also presents arguments about wealth, wisdom and power. The work is full of paradoxes, such as showing the wisdom of rich merchants burying their wealth to show that they have none. The author shows in his book that it is not wealth then, that makes a person what he is but how he deals with what he has. For instance, a wise person who boasts in his wisdom is in fact a fool but a humble person will always find wealth in his life because he is able to live in peace with his neighbors, not endangering his life by letting others know what he has.