The Tao Te Ching is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism, and strongly influenced Legalism, Confucianism and Chan Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was interpreted through the use of Taoist concepts. Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers and gardeners, have been greatly influenced by Tao Te Ching. Its influence spread widely outside East Asia, and is among the most translated works in world literature, only next to Bible. 

The passages in Tao Te Ching are ambiguous, with topics ranging from advice for rulers and profound religious experience of cosmic origin of Tao and its application in all realms of life. The book has 81 chapters ,this course teaches the first half: the Book of Tao. The central values of Tao Te Ching are the ineffability of Tao, the privileging of the female attributes, the force of Yin--such as softness, yielding, humility, resilience and non-action effecting all actions. The returning movement as the movement of Tao, the interchangeability of the opposites, political rule with least interference, philosophical and religious experience of vacuity and power of nothingness. 

The Tao Te Ching has been translated into Western languages over 250 times, its cryptic and poetic language is a famous puzzle which everyone would like to resolve.

    In learning the course, print out the PDF of Analects text in the introduction chapter, and with it in hand, study the selected chapters in the following lectures (because there is no subtitle of the text in the video). For each lecture, I will explain word by word the meaning of the classical Chinese text, and then I will explain to you the philosophical implication of these texts, often comparing it with other schools of Chinese philosophies. Finally I will lead you to read the text twice so that you can recite and memorize them.