In 1988, the then president of America Ronald Reagan quoted Lao Tzu in his Stateof the Union, saying “governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish; do not overdo it.” How could it be that a Christian president of the United States should come to quote an old man who lived in China 2,500 in the teachings of Lao Tzu is due to its pacifist philosophy. In a troubled century, as the 20th century most definitely was, people naturally turn to a voice of peace and ideas of calm amid the clamour of war.
Most Westerners learn about Lao Tzu from the Tao Te Ching. The first edition in Europe was the French version translated by Stanislas Julien and published in Paris in 1842. Soon after that, German and English versions began to appear. Julien’s French translation caused enormous diagreement. Another Frenchman claimed to have already translated the work indeed claiming that Julien had plagiarized his work. It was a fierce dispute and lasted all of 15 years.
One of Russia’s most famous writers, Tolstoy knew of Lao Tzu through the French version of Tao Te Ching. It was to have a profound influence on his philosophy of life.
On March 10,1884, Tolstoy wrote in his diary:“People should conduct themselves like water as Lao Tzu said. The water runs forward when there is no obstacle ahead. When it meets a dike, it stops. When a gap occurs in the dike, the water continues on its course. It becomes square in a square container and becomes round in a round container. Thus the water is more important than all things and stronger than all things.”
After World War I, William II, the then emperor of the defeated Germany, sighed with great emotion after reading the Tao Te Ching for the first time. “If only I have read the book earlier! Perhaps world history could have been rewritten.” United Nations statistics show that among all the cultural classics in the world, Tao Te Chingis second only to the Bible in terms of circulation of translated copies.
Tao Te Ching has broken the boundaries of nations and countries and attracted global attention and recognition. The New York Times recently voted Lao Tzu first of the ten greatest ancient writers of the world.