Heshang Gong
Heshang Gong (河上公, "Master on the River") is the traditional name associated with the Laozi zhangju (Commentary in Chapters and Verses on the Laozi), an influential commentary on the Tao Te Ching. The work is conventionally placed in the Han period, though its date and authorship remain uncertain; modern scholarship often places it in the second century CE. Tradition depicts Heshang Gong as a teacher to Emperor Wen of Han (r. 179–157 BCE).[1]
Commentary
The Heshang Gong commentary reads the Tao Te Ching in relation to Daoist religious practice, physical cultivation, and meditation. It differs from the philosophical approach later associated with Wang Bi, who emphasized the Dao as nonbeing and the logic of the relation between being and nonbeing.[2]
The commentary occupied a position of preeminence in traditional China at least until the Song dynasty, and it became deeply associated with religious Daoism. The division of the text into 81 chapters with chapter titles is associated particularly with the Heshang Gong version.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Laozi". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
- ↑ Livia Kohn (2019-11-27). "Commentary Exegeses". The Daode Jing: A Guide. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-30.