Abstract

This chapter examines Daodejing, a compilation of sayings written by Laozi which focuses on engagement in political and practical affairs in early China. It discusses the text of Daodejing, its difficulties, origin, and purpose as well as its emphasis on both action and process. It also outlines the character of Daodejing as an exposition of process, the work’s treatment of the unfolding of process through paradox, the mechanisms of process in imminence and latency, and the idea that something comes from nothing. Finally, it considers emptiness as a source of potentiality.