TAO TE CHING: A Literary Analysis Essay.
The book Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, and translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, is a book about Lao Tsu's feelings on life and taoism. Some 2,600 years ago, Lao Tsu was the keeper of the imperial archives at loyang in the province of Honan in the sixth century B.C. and an older contemporary of Confucius. His life's teachings consisted of "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao". According to chinese legend, he was riding off to die in the desert because he was sick of how men were on this earth and sick of how they acted, but was persuaded by a northwestern China gatekeeper to write down his teaching for prosperity. .
In the Tao Te Ching, it can be depicted from its writings that there is a character of a protagonist and thus, also that of an antagonist. The protagonist is a sage, a wise (often thought of as an immortal) man, and the antagonist is played by that of ordinary men.
In writing these 81 chapters, Lao Tsu was writing it for future generations and also for the men of the world. His intentions and motives for writing it was to improve the hearts of men by living and experiencing the Tao. Although there is no real plot elements, or events, each of the 81 chapters tells a perspective of how to live. There is no chronological order of these chapters, neither do they have any plot value, but they are arranged in an order that can be sequenced.
There are 81 chapters in the book and each chapter is a poem that focuses on Taoism and the more spiritual level of being. Taoism, unlike Confucianism is not concerned with day-to-day rules of conduct, but with a spiritual way to live your life that can be experienced without words and can be known without a name.
The first chapter of Tao Te Ching talks about the embodiment of Tao itself. Tao is something that can be felt and it is to live your life without regrets. To find out what your life's potential is, and that potential is to be beneficial to all mankind.
