The Section Division of the Laozi and its Examination

Abstract

EDITOR’S ABSTRACT This article argues that the early Laozi text underwent three stages: The first (in the middle Warring States period) had section divisions on the basis of the meaning. The second stage (from late Warring States period to early Han) was the formative period of the Laozi text influenced by cosmological numerology; the Silk Manuscript version A is its testimony. The third stage (in the mid-Western Han) finalized the text through the canonization of the Classic by Emperor Jing; it is represented by the Peking University Han Bamboo Slips, Yan Zun, and Liu Xiang versions and became the received edition. From the Han Bamboo Slips to the Liu Xiang version, the Laozi’s two parts and section numbering became increasingly balanced and symmetric. Ding urges scholars to pay attention to all these developments when studying the Laozi text.