1 Essay 1 In The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan Lao-Tzu is depicted as one person from two different kingdoms. There is a phrase on the first page that is interesting and is the following “a good merchant fills his store-houses but appears to have nothing: a true gentleman is overflowing with virtue but looks as if he was a fool” (pp.23) and this man was from Chou. The next phrase that is interesting is “Lao-Tzu lived at least 160 years, some say at least 200 years, as a result of cultivating the Way and nurturing longevity (pp.24)” and this man was from Ch’u. It appears that those two phrases relate the best to the Dao De Jing the best (at least what we looked at so far in class). With these couple of phrases it appears that the tale of Laozi is Daoist; but compared to Confucianism to make it completely Chinese in origin. The first phrase that I mentioned about the merchant filling his store house but appears to have nothing seems to be referring to what the Dao De Jing says “he accumulates an abundance of virtue.” This passage seems to be behind the description of Laozi, because a merchant with nothing tangible to sell cannot be a merchant (for long). The first part also appears to be talking about “that which is completely empty endures” in the Dao that we have read so far it mentions that to follow the Dao to be whole you must be empty. The second part of the first phrase I think came from the Dao De Jing as well and not from Confucianism. In the first part of the Guodian it says “cut off knowledge and discard disputation, cut off skill and discard benefit, and cut off purposiveness and discard worry.” By cutting off all these things a person would look like a fool. Also, by cutting off these things a person would appear to have nothing and therefore would appear to be the only one left in his family, which would be a bad thing in Confucianism (have no family). 2 The second phrase that I mentioned also appears to be written after the Dao De Jing and to be Daoist in origin. In Confucianism you continuously live through being remembered by later generations; but in Daoism there are passages that appear to try and lead you toward finding immortality or long life. The second phrase mentioned that Laozi lived for as long as 200 years by cultivating the Way thus was able to nurture longevity. One of the parts of the Dao says “they are born and move, move and reach death” and another passage says “through attempting nothing, everything will be done.” These two passages would seem to promote a Daoist origin, because they are encouraging longevity and eventually immortality. The first passage that I wrote appears to be talking about making only necessary movements as to not waste the energy that feeds the souls. The second passage appears to mean that through following the Dao things will fall into place on their own which will promote longevity because you do not ...

1. 1
Essay 1
In The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan Lao-Tzu is depicted
as one person from two
different kingdoms. There is a phrase on the first page that is
interesting and is the following “a
good merchant fills his store-houses but appears to have
nothing: a true gentleman is overflowing
with virtue but looks as if he was a fool” (pp.23) and this man
was from Chou. The next phrase
that is interesting is “Lao-Tzu lived at least 160 years, some say
at least 200 years, as a result of
cultivating the Way and nurturing longevity (pp.24)” and this
man was from Ch’u. It appears that
those two phrases relate the best to the Dao De Jing the best (at
least what we looked at so far in
class). With these couple of phrases it appears that the tale of
Laozi is Daoist; but compared to
Confucianism to make it completely Chinese in origin.
The first phrase that I mentioned about the merchant filling his

2. store house but appears to
have nothing seems to be referring to what the Dao De Jing says
“he accumulates an abundance
of virtue.” This passage seems to be behind the description of
Laozi, because a merchant with
nothing tangible to sell cannot be a merchant (for long). The
first part also appears to be talking
about “that which is completely empty endures” in the Dao that
we have read so far it mentions
that to follow the Dao to be whole you must be empty.
The second part of the first phrase I think came from the Dao
De Jing as well and not
from Confucianism. In the first part of the Guodian it says “cut
off knowledge and discard
disputation, cut off skill and discard benefit, and cut off
purposiveness and discard worry.” By
cutting off all these things a person would look like a fool.
Also, by cutting off these things a
person would appear to have nothing and therefore would
appear to be the only one left in his
family, which would be a bad thing in Confucianism (have no
family).

3. 2
The second phrase that I mentioned also appears to be written
after the Dao De Jing and
to be Daoist in origin. In Confucianism you continuously live
through being remembered by later
generations; but in Daoism there are passages that appear to try
and lead you toward finding
immortality or long life. The second phrase mentioned that
Laozi lived for as long as 200 years
by cultivating the Way thus was able to nurture longevity.
One of the parts of the Dao says “they are born and move,
move and reach death” and
another passage says “through attempting nothing, everything
will be done.” These two passages
would seem to promote a Daoist origin, because they are
encouraging longevity and eventually
immortality. The first passage that I wrote appears to be talking
about making only necessary
movements as to not waste the energy that feeds the souls. The
second passage appears to mean
that through following the Dao things will fall into place on
their own which will promote
longevity because you do not move or endanger yourself.

4. In conclusion, the tale of Laozi appears to be written after the
Dao De Jing and Daoist in
origin, because of what appear to be references to the Dao De
Jing. Also, with the discussion of
souls and long life in your body you can see the differences
between Daoist thought and
Confucian thought.
3
Paper #7
Please read the papers assigned to you carefully two or three
times and then complete the following:
1) What is the author’s thesis statement?
The tale of Laozi appears to be written after the Dao De Jing
and Daoist in origin, because of what
appear to be references to the Dao De Jing.
2) Does the author argue for his or her thesis consistently and
logically? List three sentences that
support the main thesis.
His or her argument seems a little scattered and unorganized…

5. a. The second phrase that I mentioned also appears to be written
after the Dao De Jing and
to be Daoist in origin.
b. These two passages would seem to promote a Daoist origin,
because they are
encouraging longevity and eventually immortality
c. The first part also appears to be talking about “that which is
completely empty endures”
in the Dao that we have read so far it mentions that to follow
the Dao to be whole you must
be empty.
3) Were you convinced by the argument? Why or why not?
Not really, sorry. I had a hard time following what you were
arguing and some of the things in your paper
did not seem to relate well with the other things, such as the
opening paragraph when you talk about the
man from two kingdoms and the parts about Confucianism.
4) Write down two constructive suggestions that might improve
the paper.
a. Move your first sentence of your conclusion to the beginning
and make it your thesis. It
was the clearest sentence in terms of telling me what your
argument really was, but it

6. didn’t come until the end.
b. Cut out or work on tying in better the parts of your paper that
don’t solidly support that
thesis. The parts about Confucianism could be related better,
they just seemed to come
out of nowhere. Maybe you could say something like, “A
Confucian author would not
have made Laozi this way because of this.”
Xiang'er Commentary
The Xiang'er commentary was meant for a wide audience
especially those interested in original Dao's teachings and also
contains strong advice for a stable Daoist community that was
looking for a worthy monarch to adopt its ideas of governance
based on Dao's teaching. The Xiang'er emphasizes on the idea
of unity where it says that those who keep and do not transgress
the precepts maintains unity and those who do not practice the
precepts looses unity. He was addressing a worthy monarch.
The commentary also advices human beings: especially the
leaders to gauge any action against the precepts of the Dao and
carefully establish whether their actions contravene the Dao
expectations. It argues that those who follow and pursue the
precepts of the Dao, the Dao of life will not depart from them.
It warns those who do not keep the precepts of the Dao in
everything they do, they will miss the intentions of the Dao and
the Dao will depart from them. The commentary is a worthy
advice for a ruler since it teaches them on good leadership
based on Dao's teachings and intentions.
The Xiang'er also encouraged leaders to remake a society

7. on the model of the Dao. He advised leaders to remake a society
that is not based on the desire for wealth and fame. It called for
a society that was based on fear for the Dao and the respect of
heaven. The Xiang'er commentary gave 27 precepts that would
direct the society towards the intentions of the Dao. The
precepts warned against acting recklessly, killing, seeking fame,
coveting glory, neglecting the law, injuring the
ascendant pneumas among other warnings. These precepts
include guiding laws to both the rulers and subject for a just
society. The precepts portrayed morality in a way
that encompassed the necessity of physiological cultivation
practices. It also warned that material goods usually led
contravening of the precepts. The Xaing'er taught that common
people and the rulers pursued morality in hope of earthly
rewards and societal acclaim that led to a sad state of affairs. It
went ahead to advice that the solution for the good state of
affairs was religious morality that was not based on earthy
things desire but that was based on fear and respect for heaven.
The Xiang'er was advising rulers on the ways of creating a
good society which follows the Dao's intention. The Xiang'er
targeted the rulers when it stipulated punishment for offenders.
Minor offenders were given road repair duties. The Xiang'er
was written when the community offered leniency and concern
for suffering of the coon people. It is said that the commoners
and non-Chinese people were very happy about the Celestial
Masters rule. The libationers during those days used to set up
responsibility huts along roads leading to their territories so
that they can feed travellers and refugees. They had rules
regarding the eating habits and even those who broke the
ordinance were pardoned. The Xiang'er wants rulers to learn
from that administration in order to create a stable Daoist
society.
The Xiang'er commentary gave sufficient information
regarding the physiological practices for healing and

8. transcendence according to the early Celestial
master movement. It taught on ways of achieving transcendence
where a person was required to preserve and harmonize the
internal spirits.It warned against desires, anger and violent
emotions consequences as they could only result to destructive
movement of the pneumas. It stipulated that an individual was
supposed to avoid these tendencies of the heart so that they can
achieve clarity and stillness in their lives. These teaching were
meant for rulers since a good ruler is supposed to eradicate the
heart deviant tendencies for a just society in accordance to the
Dao's needs and expectations.
The Xiang'er commentary targets a wide audience of human
beings seeking to follow the teaching of the Celestial Masters
and the Dao when it creates its new methods for physiological
cultivation. The advance method was identified with the rite of
merging pneumas which is referred to as Celestial Master
marriage rite. It called for a sexual penetration after a thorough
series of massages and visualizations of one partner by the next.
It attacked the classics of sexual hygiene.In addition, it
taught that since the Dao had unconditional love for humans and
he had desire for the species to continue, sexual intercourse was
only meant for reproduction purposes only. At the age of fifty,
one was supposed to stop the essences to produce life according
to the Xiang'er. Youths were advised to preserve their essence
but not to cut it off according to the Xiang'er.
The Xiang'er commentary was largely addressed to a stable
Daoist community that was looking for a worthy leader who
would adopt the Dao's teachings in his or her leadership. It also
targets the society that needs the original teachings and rules of
the Dao. It gives an insight of what the Dao expects from the
humans.

9. Work cited
Bokenkamp, S. R., & Nickerson, P. S. (1997). Early Daoist
Scriptures (Vol. 1). Univ of California Press.
Ben Nandin
February 26, 2017
Essay #4
Bokenkamp
Lords and People: The Audience of the Xiang'er Commentary
The Xiang'er Commentary is an ancient text on Celestial Master
variation of Daoism, and
is one of the earliest texts that interprets the Laozi (also known
as the Dao de Jing) and gives
additional explanation and context on the Laozi. This
commentary was later used as education
text to be recited by those faithful to Daoism. Though the
purpose of the Xiang’er Commentary
was to include additional context for the Laozi, most of the
commentary and the Laozi are

10. worded to speak to a broad audience, but specific passages seem
to target those in government.
Just like the Laozi, the Xiang'er Commentary was written for a
large audience. The
commentary addresses the ideal follower of the Dao as the
“Sage”, but it uses many other
inclusive words, such as “One” and”Those who are with the
Dao”. This inclusive wording allows
any reader to interpret it as themselves. In its early chapters, the
Laozi first speaks of the “Sage”;
“The Sage regulates through emptying his heart and filling his
belly, through weakening his will
and strengthening his bones.” The Xiang'er Commentary
provides additional context for this
chapter of the Laozi; “The heart is a regulator. It may hold
fortune or misfortune good or evil.
The belly is a sack for the Dao; it’s pneumas constantly wish to
fill it. When the heart produces
ill-omened and evil conduct, the Dao departs, leaving the sack
empty. Once it is empty, deviance
enters, killing the person. If one drives off the misfortune and
evil in the heart, the Dao will
return to it and the belly will be filled.” The Xiang'er

11. Commentary specifically addresses those
with a heart and a belly can be a vessel of the Dao, which is to
say everyone. “Thus, if one acts
in accord with the Dao, the Dao will accept one.”
Also like the Laozi, the Xiang'er Commentary was written for
Rulers and people of the
Government. Most of the Laozi speaks on how to follow the
Dao, however, there are specific
passages that address how to model a government after the Dao.
The Laozi speaks on the subject
of ruling;“This is why the Sages, through never being made
great, are able to complete their
greatness. Grasp the great image and a ll under heaven will
proceed to you. When they proceed
to you, there will be no barm. There will be peace and great
happiness.” The plural “Sages” in
this section refer to those in power and who follow the Dao. The
Xiang'er Commentary
extrapolates on this section of the Laozi; “If the king grasps the
correct law and models himself
on the great Dao, all under heaven will take refuge in him…
When the king rules in this fashion,
there will be great happiness.” The Xiang'er Commentary
reinforces the interpretation that the

12. Laozi speaks to those in power on how to model governance on
the Dao. Another passage of the
Laozi says “[S]ince the Dao never acts falsely, nothing is left
undone. If the king and lords are
able to cling to it, then the myriad of beings will transform of
themselves”. This is direct advice
to rulers and lords. The Xiang'er Commentary continues the
passage by including “[I]f the king’s
governance is patterned on the Dao, the officers and populace -
even the lowly and the evil - will
all convert to the Dao.”
Like the Laozi, the Xiang'er Commentary is addressing a large
audience for most of the
passages but later passages speak directly on Daoist
governance.