Tao Te Ching
Wenzi 文子
(Wénzǐ)
(fl. 5th century BCE)
"Authentic Presence of Pervading Mystery.”
Close disciple of Lao Tzu, nobleman from the Jin state, astronomer, teacher of the Yueh state prime minister, inspiration for the famous commentary of the same name written by his disciples; Wenzi’s life is clouded in myth, magic, and superstition. The text itself - regarded the 4th main Taoist scripture after the Tao Te Ching itself, the Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu), and Lie Zi (Lieh Tzu) - was considered a forgery written much later until an archeological team discovered a copy written on bamboo strips in a a tomb buried in 55 BCE. In 742 CE, Tang emperor Xuanzong gave this book the name, "Authentic Presence of Pervading Mystery.”
Lineages
Taoist
Eras
Western
Egyptian Civilization (3150 – 305 BCE)The Axial Age, “The Great Leap of Being” (800 – 200 BCE)
Sources
Unlisted Sources
Quotes by Wenzi (18 quotes)
“When we realize the universal oneness, there will be nothing we do not know. But if we do not realize the oneness, there will be nothing that we truly know.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Existence arises from nonexistence, and the Full emerges from the Empty. . . . The Way is the oneness from which all beings arise.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Don’t be materialistic trying to either create fortune or avoid misfortune.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“The governments of latter-day society have not stored up the necessities of life, they have not diluted the purity of the world, destroyed the simplicity of the world, and made the people confused and hungry... law and justice are at odds”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“When rulers don't exploit them, the people naturally grow rich, when the rulers don't manipulate them, the people naturally become civilized.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Local rulers establish laws that are each different, and cultivate customs that are mutually antagonistic. They pull out the root and abandon the foundation... After this, the world can never be at peace in its essential life.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“If you drink and eat immoderately and treat the body carelessly and cheaply, then illnesses will kill you.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“when sages govern people, they see to it that people suit their individual natures, are secure in their homes, live where they are comfortable, work at what they can do, and give their best. In this way all people are equal, with no way to overshadow each other.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“When you do not crave what is useless, you do not hurt your nature by greed... If you are endlessly greedy and ambitious, then penalties will kill you.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Those who embrace reality and exercise true sincerity move the spirits of heaven and earth... Even if they don't say a single word, nevertheless all the people in the world evolve along with them.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“listen to people's music and you know their manners, observe them at play and you know their customs.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“When the upper and lower classes are on good terms with each other even philanthropists have to projects to undertake.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Whatever is written or inscribed and can be handed on to others is crude generalization... the world does not know to esteem those who do not speak.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Nothing pleases them, nothing pains them, nothing delights them, nothing angers them... When you have no likes or dislikes, this is the consummation of evenness... When you neither grieve nor delight, this is the consummation of virtue.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“The Great Way is level and not far from oneself. Those who seek it afar go and then return.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Limiting what is kept results in clarity, minimizing what is sought results in attainment... If you can attain the center, then you can govern the eternal.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“Sagehood has nothing to do with governing others but is a matter of ordering oneself... esteem self-government and disdain governing others.”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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“When there is one, there is stability; with two, there is contention”
from The Wenzi, Wénzǐ 文子
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Quotes about Wenzi (1 quotes)
“The author of the Wen-tzu [a disciple Lao Tzu passed on to a collection of ancient Taoist teachings] is supposed to have advised King P'ing of the Chou dynasty hundreds of year before Lao Tzu... The assignment of authorship in ancient Taoism is generally symbolic rather than historical.”
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