Chinese Reading of the Daodejing

Rudolf G. Wagner is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg.

• Preface Introduction 1. The Wang Bi Recension of the Laozi IntroductionThe ProblemWang Bi's Original Recension of the LaoziSuperimpositionThe Division into zhang and pian ConclusionAppendix A: Differences between Wang Bi Laozi Receptus and Laozi Text Used in Wang Bi CommentaryAppendix B: Differences between Wang Bi Laozi Receptus and Places Where Fan Yingyuan's Laozi Daode jing guben jizhu Comments That Wang Bi's Manuscript Coincided with the "Old Manuscript[s]" 2. Patronage and the Transmission of the Wang Bi Commentary: Foundations for a Critical Edition The ProblemA History of Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi: the EvidenceConclusions 3. Wang Bi: "The Structure of the Laozi's Subtle Pointers," Laozi weizhi lueli, a Philological Study and Translation Together with the Text IntroductionThe Authenticity of the Laozi weizhi lueli (LZWLL)Wang Bi's LZWLL and the Transmitted TextThe Genre of the LZWLLThe Laozi's Structure according to the LZWLLThe Basis for the Edition of the TextWang Bi: The Structure of the Laozi's Pointers 4. A Reconstruction and Critical Edition of the Laozi Text Used by Wang Bi; a Reconstruction and Critical Edition of Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi; an Extrapolative Translation of the Laozi through Wang Bi's Commentary; and a Translation of Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi A Note on the EditionA Note on the Extrapolative TranslationA Note on the Previous TranslationsWang Bi, Commentary on the Laozi Notes Bibliography Index

"I highly recommend this remarkable book and strongly encourage readers to do a critical reading themselves." — Xing Wen, Dao"…a painstaking effort … that merits praise and serious attention." — Journal of Chinese Religions"Perhaps the most meticulous and ambitious English-language 'philological study and translation' of a Chinese 'philosophical' text ever published." — Religious Studies Review"I like this book's identification and solution of a critical problem in our understanding of Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi, namely that the received text of the Laozi that has accompanied Wang Bi's Commentary for centuries is clearly not the version of the text that Wang Bi actually used. Given the tremendous influence that this important commentary has exerted for well over a millennium, the necessity of reconstructing the Laozi text that Wang Bi used is obvious. This book will provide a tremendous service to the field." — Joseph A. Adler, coauthor of Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching