For Friday: Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Verses 22-41

 

As before, answer TWO of the following in a short response--a very sentences at least, just enough to get yourself thinking (and so I can see you're thinking, too!).

Q1: Many of these poems are very repetitive, playing with the same ideas, images, and even metaphors. Discuss a poem from this section that seems like the mirror image of one of the earlier ones. What does the new poem add to the old one; or, which poem seems to express the idea most clearly? 

Q2: One of the images the Tao te Ching likes to play with is that of the "Uncarved Block." Why is this a useful metaphor for understanding concepts such as Tao, the Way, Wu, etc.? And how does it relate to the idea of "Tao is empty/yet it fills every vessel with endless supply" (Verse 4)?

Q3: Many versions of the Tao te Ching say that "Book Two: The Book of Virtue" opens with Verse 38, and that the first 37 poems comprise "Book One: The Book of the Way." Do you see any difference in poems 38-41 that we didn't see in the previous ones? Anything to do with the concept of "virtue"?

Q4: Some critics have suggested that these poems, for all their poetic relevance, are actually quite practical: they were meant to be a guide to teach kings and governors how to rule their provinces. Are there any poems that seem to be geared for this purpose? Is this really a book like Sun Tzu's famous Art of War, but this one is more an Art of Governing? Or are those merely metaphors from the 'real world' to help us see abstract ideas?