On the other hand, due to the burning of books by Qin Shihuang and the war at the end of Qin Dynasty, a large number of books were lost. Many books were recited and not copied again until after Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. Due to the long time, memory mistakes and mistakes are inevitable.
Lao Zi, a silk book unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb, has two versions, A and B.
The second book avoided Liu Bang's taboo, and it can be concluded that it was undoubtedly copied from the Han Dynasty. Because Jia Ben did not avoid Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, it can be inferred that he copied it before Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor. It is quite possible that Silk Book A was copied directly from bamboo slips of the Warring States Period. It is the most completely preserved and closest to the original version of Laozi discovered so far.
The two manuscripts of Laozi are basically the same, but compared with the current edition (the last edition is the Tao Te Ching annotated by Wang Bi of the Three Kingdoms), there are great differences in words and chapters.
The last four ancient lost books in the first volume of Laozi have no titles, so the literature can't be searched. The first article *** 18 1 line, about 5400 words. It is about the contents of "cautious independence" and "good nature" in Confucianism. The second article is about Yi Yin's "Nine Masters", 52 lines, about 1500 words. The article talks about nine kinds of monarchs, especially affirming the "legitimate monarch". The third part ***48 lines, about 1, 500 words. It's about the discussion of offensive and defensive by military strategists. The fourth article *** 13 lines, about 400 words. The text is short and summarizes the "five elements"
"And the relationship between morality, sacredness and wisdom. Because there are many flaws in the back, the meaning of the text is unknown. The first four lost books in the second volume of Laozi all have titles, namely Classic Method, Top Ten Classics, Weighing and Daoyuan. * * * There are 175 lines, about 1 1, 160 words. Except for a few words, they are completely preserved.
According to the research of the organizer, the book was written in the Warring States or Qin Dynasty. Some people think that these four lost books are the Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor listed in Han Art Literature. Because Emperor Wen respected Huang Lao, he copied four articles of Huangdi and Laozi into one volume. Some people think that The Post-Ten Classics records the deeds and mutual answers of the Yellow Emperor and his ministers Li Hei (that is, Li Mu), Ran Yan, Guo Tong, Taishan Ji (that is, Dashan Ji) and Levin in the early days of the establishment of the Yellow Emperor, so it may be the Yellow Emperor's monarch and his subjects listed in the Records of Han Shu Literature and Art, or Li Mu listed in The Art of Yin and Yang.