Executive Briefing: The Way That Can Be Spoken Is Not the Eternal Way
Laozi’s Tao Te Ching opens with the paradox of linguistic limitation. The Tao is the unnamable cosmological source and rhythmic order of all ten thousand things (Wanwu), best understood through natural simplicity (Pu).
1. Pu: The Uncarved Block
Laozi warns against artificial social carving: when society imposes rigid rules, innocence is lost. Returning to the virgin uncarved block preserves primordial psychic wholeness.
2. References
- Laozi. (c. 4th c. BCE). Tao Te Ching. Translated by D. C. Lau (1963). Penguin Classics.