This work is a translation of the Xiang'er commentary to the Daodejing and Jao Tsung-i's (1917-2018) supplemental notes and analysis. Jao Tsung-i offers a historically and hermeneutically rich study of the Xiang’er Commentary, discovered in the Mogao caves at Dunhuang in the final years of the Qing Dynasty, and its author Zhang Daoling. Opening a new and fascinating window into the early reception of the Daodejing, Jao Tsung-i also uncovers the important influence texts such as the Scripture of Great Peace (Taiping jing) had on Celestial Masters Daoism and the construction of the Xiang'er commentary.

Edited and translated by: David Chai