The Daode jing Commentary of Cheng Xuanying: Daoism, Buddhism, and the Laozi in the Tang Dynasty

“What I find so interesting is what happens with this highly ambiguous, poetic philosophical text, because the Daodejing is a series of 81 aphoristic poems. They’re highly interpretable and plastic. Different commentaries arise through the Daoist tradition. Some of them take this series of 81 aphoristic poems and turn them into systematic philosophical systems—and no one does that better than Cheng Xuanying. I really enjoy this coincidence of opposites, having a series of philosophical poems that are very non-specific in their implications, and then a highly systematic interpretation and rendition of them in almost a structured theology.” Read more...

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Simon Cox, Historian