Wang Bi was wei ren in the Three Kingdoms period. Monk Gong was a man in the time of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. Silk is not taboo for Liu Bang and Liu Heng, and the writing is ancient, so it is judged that this book was written before the high-impedance Liu Bang. In other words, the time sequence of the three editions should be: Silk Edition, River Edition and Wang Bi Edition.
Some people think that the older the version of Tao Te Ching, the more valuable it is, so they admire the silk version or even the earlier Chu bamboo slips. In fact, it may be incorrect for two reasons:
1. Both silk books and earlier Chu bamboo slips are incomplete books and cannot reflect the whole picture of Tao Te Ching.
2. What has influenced the cultural history of China for thousands of years has always been Wang Bi's best seller. Even if this level is wrong, everyone will be wrong and there is no need to correct it. For example, there is a saying in Tao Te Ching that "a late bloomer". According to Chu bamboo slips, some people say that it should be a big musical instrument, which is more in line with Laozi's thought. Personally, I really don't think it is necessary to entangle these details. Wang Bi instinctively became a popular book for its own reasons: the greatest advantage of this book is that it removes many meaningless function words, is concise and catchy, and is easier to spread and read. Wang Bi is a brilliant philosopher and a great contributor to the wide spread of Tao Te Ching.