Redaction Criticism and the Early History of Taoism

Abstract

This study employs the critical methodology called “redaction criticism” originally developed in New Testament studies, for the analysis of the relationship between two important but overlooked sources of early Taoist thought: theKuan Tzuessays entitledNei-yehandHsin-shu, hsia. Although the relationship between these essays has long been the subject of controversy, the author concludes thatHsin-shu, hsia(written ca. 200 B.C.) is a deliberate abridgement, rearrangement, and restatement ofNei-yeh(written ca. 330 B.C.) that demonstrates a different ideological viewpoint. WhereasNei-yehis a collection of twenty-two mostly rhymed stanzas devoted to the practice of guided breathing meditation, its cosmological significance and its physiological, psychological, and spiritual effects,Hsin-shu, hsiais a work of mixed prose and verse that is expressly concerned with the political benefits of such “inner cultivation” practices. In other words, it sees them as techniques for rulership. This new ideological position is significant. Based upon previous research by the author and on the work of other scholars, the author hypothesizes that there were three distinct, but related, aspects of early Taoism: the Individualist, the Primitivist, and the Syncretist. According to this categorization,Nei-yehis an Individualist text andHsin-shu, hsiais Syncretist The deliberate rearrangement and emendation ofNei-yehby theHsin-shu, hsiaauthor argues for the position that Syncretist Taoism is a direct descendant of Individualist Taoism — perhaps even its lineal descendant.