Lièzǐ 列子
Master Liè — the classical Daoist text
attributed to 列禦寇 (Liè Yùkòu; traditional Warring States; received text early 4th cent. CE, pseudepigraphic)
A text-edition of the Lièzǐ 列子 (canonical title Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng 沖虛至德真經) in the 8-piān arrangement, sourced from the CHANT V44 electronic edition of the Chinese Ancient Text database and using the Kanseki TLS (Thesaurus Linguae Sericae, Christoph Harbsmeier’s critical-linguistic edition) as base. This is a parallel text-witness to the more comprehensive Daozang edition at KR5c0049; the present entry serves primarily as a linguistically-indexed critical text.
About the work
The Lièzǐ — comprehensively treated at KR5c0049 — is one of the four Táng-canonised Daoist classics, along with the Dàodé jīng, Zhuāngzǐ, and Kàngcāng zǐ. The 8-piān structure is canonical:
- 天瑞 (Tiān ruì — Auspice of Heaven)
- 黃帝 (Huángdì — The Yellow Emperor)
- 周穆王 (Zhōu Mù wáng — King Mù of Zhōu)
- 仲尼 (Zhòng Ní — Confucius)
- 湯問 (Tāng wèn — Questions of Tāng)
- 力命 (Lì mìng — Power and Fate)
- 楊朱 (Yáng Zhū)
- 說符 (Shuō fú — Explanations of Resonances)
The received text is — per A. C. Graham’s foundational philological analysis — a c. 300–370 CE Eastern-Jìn forgery composed in the immediate circle of Zhāng Zhàn 張湛 (fl. 370). See KR5c0049 for the full account of the text’s provenance, contents, and philosophical themes.
Relation to KR5c0049
The present KR5c0124 is a parallel, bare-text edition of the Lièzǐ, serving as a linguistically-indexed digital resource. The comprehensive bibliographical and philosophical treatment of the Lièzǐ should be consulted at KR5c0049 (DZ 668, the canonical Daozang edition). This entry provides only the minimal framing required for the text’s inclusion in the Kanripo corpus.
Prefaces
No preface is transmitted with this bare-text edition.
Abstract
See KR5c0049 for the full treatment of the Lièzǐ’s authorship, dating, philosophical content, canonisation in 742, and modern scholarship. This KR5c0124 entry is a parallel text-witness derived from an independent source tradition (CHANT / TLS rather than the Daozang).
Dating. Per KR5c0049: Eastern-Jìn 東晉 c. 300–370 CE for the received recension. Traditional attribution is to Liè Yùkòu (Warring States). The frontmatter gives 300–370 as the composition window. Dynasty: 東晉.
Translations and research
See KR5c0049 for the full bibliography. Primary English translation: Graham, A. C. The Book of Lieh-tzu (1960, rev. Columbia 1990).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5c0124
- Parallel Daozang edition: KR5c0049 Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng.
- CHANT (Chinese Ancient Text) database — ongoing CUHK project.
- ctext.org: Liezi — searchable text.