Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei, credited to Lao Tzu, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei, by Lao Tzu; translation by Dwight Goddard, Henri Borel, and M.E. Reynolds. Read by Melanie Schleeter McCalmont and Jc Guan. The classic of the Way and of High Virtue is the Tao Teh Ching. Its author is generally held as a contemporary of Confucius, Lao Tzu, or Laozi. The exact date of the book's origin is disputed. The book is divided into two parts, the Upper Part and the Lower Part. The Upper Part consists of chapters 1-37, and each chapter begins with the word "Tao," or the Way. The Lower Part consists of chapters 38-81, and each chapter begins with the words "Shang Teh," or High Virtue. This 1919 edition names the Lower Part as the Wu Wei, or translated variously as "not doing," "non-ado," or "non-assertion." This edition also contains a history of the book and its author, Lao Tzu, along with a discussion of the Wu Wei. Lao Tzu's classic has been cherished as suggestions, rather than commandments, for finding one's path to beauty, goodness, and quality of life through a non-assertive understanding of the Way. (Summary by Melanie McCalmont)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei
• Author credits: Lao Tzu
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 8
• Listed recording duration: 3:23:38

Catalogue topics

• Laozi
• Tao
• Tao te ching
• philosophy

Track guide

1. 0 - Introduction — 15:49
2. 1 - Tao Teh King, Chapters 1-18 — 17:06
3. 2 - Tao Teh King, Chapters 19-37 — 19:14
4. 3 - Tao Teh King, Chapters 38-50 — 13:22
5. 4 - Tao Teh King, Chapters 51-81 and Valedictory — 28:39
6. 5 - Wu Wei, Preface and Chapter 1: Tao — 45:37
7. 6 - Wu Wei, Chapter 2: Art — 34:32
8. 7 - Wu Wei, Chapter 3: Love — 29:24

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.